Coastline in Ruin

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The day started just as any other today. Everything had settled down, almost as if nothing ever happened. The sky is blue again, and the only thing that remains is the wind. That awful, cruel wind. In its wake, it leaves ruins, charred car frames surrounded by pools of melted metal, and loss.

The people who ran from the fire and spent a night in anxiety and fear are just now settling into what really happened. Now, when the danger is over, it’s dawning on them what happened, what could’ve happened, and what they lost.

In a tragic instant, people lost everything. It’s hard to find words to grasp the immensity of this event. Seeing the beautiful green coast I grew up in reduced to ash is heartbreaking. The people will say, as they try to comfort themselves and deal with this shock, that the most important thing is that they survived. It’s incredible that so many people managed to evacuate so quickly. That the casualties weren’t even greater. But that one lost life is a price too high.

There’s been speculation that the fire was human-made. The natural conditions helped spread it so far and so fast, but it never would’ve happened if it wasn’t for a man. A greedy, selfish man. What was it? Insurance fraud? Was it worth it? The biggest wildfire in my country’s history. Thousands evacuated. Two towns burned completely. I don’t even want to think about what they might find in the ruins. I really hope everyone managed to get out on time.

It was nighttime. People were asleep. Before they knew it, the fire was at their doorstep. Flames and clouds of smoke were the only things visible in the deep of the night. It enclosed everything. Now, in daytime, we are scared to look.

The other day, there was a prompt on here about people who restored our faith in other people. This thing right here first broke it, in a sense I cannot even comprehend, and then immediately restored it by seeing the sacrifice of all the professionals and the ordinary people who did what was within their ability to help. Without hesitation, they organized to save and help those in danger. Once confusion and shock pass, we’ll organize again to rebuild and bring people to their homes.

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