The Sky Was Red (No, Orange)

The sky was red. 

Okay maybe it wasn’t completely red. 

Kinda orange. 

A scene from "Dune" when you think about it. 

Just bizarre. 

Things like this usually don’t happen in America. 

(At least what some people think.) 

We’re separated by oceans. 

All the floods, wildfires, they’re worse there. 

We have those here, but they’re controlled here. 

We’re not like them. 

But now, like the Whos from "Horton Hears A Who" (2007), 

Climate change is yelling: 

"We are here!" 

I take a breath. 

It’s as dry as school cafeteria chicken tenders. 

I cough immediately. 

Why did Canada allow this to happen? I wonder. 

I check Twitter. 

Everything around the area’s red. 

Memes, also abundant. 

Air purifiers and those hazmat-like Dyson masks are going the way of Supreme clothes. 

Will this be the new normal? 

Normally this is a once in a lifetime event. 

"This will become normal," said the nagging environmental activist in my head. 

I immediately silenced the activist voice. 

Like how some broke through Extinction Rebellion lines in the UK. 

And then I took another breath. 

Fire and smoke entered my throat. 

A wheezy cough. 

The activist had a point, my mind thought. 

My parents didn’t immigrate here for an apocalyptic skyline nor poor air. 

My generation and world has to change our ways a bit, I realized. 

Including myself. 

Later, Shawn Mendes uses the fiery skyline as album artwork. 

Now I think change has to happen quickly.