Into the gray

There I was amidst the color of gray which covered the whole sky. From September 2019 to February 2020, Australia suffered an unprecedentedly large scale forest fire mainly in the southeast of the country. The forest had burned down, and as far as the eye could reach, pitch-black trees were to be seen across the plain. There was no sign of any people or animals. Only the burnt scent was carried by the wind from the forest depths. The river water flowed, dark and murky from the accumulated burnt charcoal. The one long road leading into the forest was almost felt like a path to a very different world. The contrast between the black trees and the gray sky. The detailing of the scorched tree trunk glows black like fish scales. Mystical ripples of the reflections of black trees in the river. A world where their colors have fallen out. ...These scenes are not from a world where the flames incessantly burn the forest, blazing in bright red like it's reaching the end, nor is it from a world where rain falls, extinguishing the inferno to welcome the blue skies back. The fires I had seen were only during just a short period of time when the wildfires were on its way to being contained. Ironically, every one of those was a beautiful sight, to my eyes. Where the scenery in the gray I once visited, had been greeted again by the blue sky by the time I visited again from Japan. Fresh green leaves sprung from tree trunks and people were living and breathing to restore their livelihood