.:April - Ticket Month:.
The old saying had always felt like a promise.
“April showers bring May flowers.”
But this year, April arrived brittle and quiet. The earth, usually soft with rain, lay cracked beneath your feet. Each step stirred dust instead of mud. The sky stretched above in a pale and endless blue, empty and unmoving. It was increasingly unsettling.
You stand at the edge of a field that should be greening by now. Instead, it’s a patchwork of dull browns and faded yellows. The wind carries no scent of rain, only the faint, dry whisper of grass rubbing against itself. Somewhere in the distance, a thin column of smoke curls upward, just enough to tighten something in your chest.
They’ve been warning about fires again.
It reminds some of stories, years ago, when flames swept across the land faster than anyone expected, devouring fields, homes, entire horizons. You remember those stories too. Or maybe you remember more than stories.
Still, not everyone believes it will happen again.
Optional additional info: Your companion (or perhaps a stranger you meet along the way) watches the same sky but sees something different. Maybe they insist the rains are just late, that the clouds will gather any day now, heavy and gray, ready to break. Maybe they point to the wind shifting, or the faintest hint of humidity in the air, clinging to hope like it’s something tangible. Or maybe they’re the one who fears the worst and you’re the one trying to believe. :end optional info
As the days pass without rain, tension builds. The land feels like it’s holding its breath. Every spark, whether from lightning or carelessness, feels like a threat waiting to happen.
Will you prepare for fire, expecting history to repeat itself?
Or will you hold onto the belief that the rains will come, that the land hasn’t forgotten how to heal?
Prompt:
Write from the perspective of a character living through this unseasonably dry April. Describe the current weather and explore your character’s internal thoughts. Are they haunted by memories (or stories) of past fires, or do they remain hopeful that rain will arrive in time?
The sky hasn’t changed yet.
But something is coming, one way or another.
https://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?page=4&t=25685352#398470475
