My feet crunched on the blackened ground. Even the rocks had not been spared. So intense was the heat from the bushfire, they too had been singed.
All around me was devastation.
Twisted sheets of metal were all that was left of the house. I bent down and touched the ground where our mailbox once stood, my fingers trailing through the ash.
I trudged the perimeter fence and noted with irony, the eucalypts still standing.
Charred.
Naked.
But still standing.
Then, I saw a tiny patch of green – the tree already beginning to regenerate itself!
We too would rebuild.
By Sarah ©2019
Carrot Ranch, May 16: Flash Fiction Challenge, Prompt – In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that goes in search of trees. It can be one particular tree, a grove, woods, or forest. What makes the tree worth seeking? Go where the prompt leads!
By Sarah 
What a great response, Sarah. Bushfires are so destructive, but out of the fire comes hope.
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Thanks Norah. When I did a stint in community services, I worked helping people affected by Black Saturday 10 years ago, I am amazed at their strength and determination to rebuild. The prompt led me in this direction 😊
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I wondered, and hoped you hadn’t been personally affected, Sarah.
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And some trees’ seeds only germinate after fire. Nicely told.
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You’ve caught that surreal feeling after a fire, and the regeneration of life, Sarah. This reminds me of the California fires, too.
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I wrote about regeneration and rebirth in my story as well. Great minds think alike!
I really liked the detail that you used in your piece.
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