After The Fire

by Mistress Elsha Hawk

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The moon rose orange in the smoky night and hung forlornly in the sky above the blackened remains of the forest. Wisps of smoke from smoldering hot spots caught on the cool evening breezes as ashes settle and blanket everything like snow. The sunset glows as orange as the distant glow of the flames, bathing everything in a shade of terra cotta. It is eerily quiet and calm.
A lone deer gingerly steps from lush greenery into the edge of the burn zone, head down, sniffing the charred stalks of grasses. It snaps delicate twigs and crispy carbon-coated things as it slowly pays its respects to the lost home it once loved. Then bored and slightly confused, it turns and bounds back into the lush greenery.
It begins to rain. Slowly at first, but then a steady downpour begins cleansing the wounded forest. The moon disappears behind some clouds and darkness settles in as if to give the forest some privacy and rest; a pause to gather itself and move on. Tomorrow there will begin a new chapter here.

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Comments

Average Reader Rating: 5.0 stars out of 5

  1. After The Fire

    Batak Beatrix's Buddy Icon Batak Beatrix

    Posted 11 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    An excellent description of the picture.

  2. After The Fire

    someday_93's Buddy Icon someday_93

    Posted 11 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Wow, it is such a great description of the picture. The two fit together perfectly!

    My favorite line is the first one—“The moon rose orange in the smoky night and hung forlornly in the sky above the blackened remains of the forest.” I love that!

  3. After The Fire

    Mistress Elsha Hawk's Buddy Icon Mistress Elsha Hawk

    Posted 10 months ago

    thanks! Even though its a picture of a soybean field…...I first glanced at it and thought…burnt forest! The small thumbnails on the inspiration page don’t provide a lot of details. LOL I decided not to change my story to a soybean field, but keep my original idea.

  4. After The Fire

    someday_93's Buddy Icon someday_93

    Posted 10 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    Yeah, just go with the story as it is. A soybean field doesn’t have quite the same effect…”and hung forlornly over the soybean field”...yeah. Burnt forest is much better.

  5. After The Fire

    SKermitgorf's Buddy Icon SKermitgorf

    Posted 10 months ago

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    The imagery was amazing, love that it was written in present tense, the here and now, rather than past tense.That you used s’s at the end of words rather than -ed, gave the feel of its being current happening now, not in the past.

  6. After The Fire

    Mistress Elsha Hawk's Buddy Icon Mistress Elsha Hawk

    Posted 10 months ago

    I write it like I see it!;)

  7. After The Fire

    Alexa ♥'s Buddy Icon Alexa ♥

    Posted 10 months ago

    4.0 out of 5 stars

    Nice word picture.
    ~
    _ I decided not to change my story to a soybean field_
    I don’t think the picture has to exactly match anyway.

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