Orange Sky

There is something wrong with the sky.

I rose out of bed in partial darkness, overlooking a sunrise that looked more like a sky on fire than a sunrise. Its eight AM, and the sun is barely visible, its glow blocked by an unseen, yet very visible sight.

I draw a breath - the air feels weird, like its thinner, yet thick. I rub my eyes - they feel so dry and itchy. A look in the mirror tells me their red.

What is happening to the atmosphere? Will it last?

I check my phone, getting the immediate answers. The sky has carbon and tar in it from a wooded area far away burning to the ground due to the forty-degree infliction upon the land. Far enough there is no evacuation order for a forest fire, but close enough for their fallout to rain upon us.

Dammit, there is a deliveryman coming to the house today with the grocery order. One likely working a twelve-hour shift mostly out of his assigned truck... outdoors. Like the good little drone who wants to stay fed he showed up with a dolly stacked with bins of food. Upon his face a covid mask - for if it can block a tiny little virus it surely could keep out hydrocarbons. Better than barefaced given the circumstances.

I open the door to receive the week's supply of food. The scent of a bonfire smacked me in the face. A scent smelt everywhere.

Everything put away, nothing missing and no substitutions, I try to work. My nose runs and I'm coughing on and off again all day. Soon its one PM and its darker than an overcast day, and I'm not that far north. The sky a dull orange, lighting the surface with a faint candle.

The news tells of an air quality advisory and recommends to stay indoors in homes that are not sealed airtight. What of the wildlife? The squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons? Wolves, bears, and all the wildcats? All the various birds, who breath the air faster? Stays and ferals alike?

Its night, and I'm coughing. At least I have a cold shower and some Benadryl to keep some of the symptoms at bay. Course, coughing and sneezing is how the body expels pollutants out of one's lungs. Mucus is meant to trap it to help with explosion or to swallow it and have hydrochloride acid in the stomach take care of it. Such interfere with sleep.

The next morning the sky was blue, but still smelt of burnt wood. Not because the fire that caused it got put out, but because the wind shifted direction.

The Orange Sky will return.