The man was sitting on the bench, chubby, bold and dirty. He was wearing gray sweatpants, the bottoms were shredded, the strings dragged against the floor when he walked. He was wearing a tank top, it was ribbed and hugged the layers of fat that folded on his stomach. His mouth full, eating a candy bar, as he chewed with his mouth open, he looked at the lake. Then looked around at the people walking, making sure no one saw him. He took the wrapper of the candy bar and silently threw it on the ground. He then stood up and walked away, as he walked by a trash can the candy wrapper tumbled around. I then looked around me.

The lake he was looking at was jet black, no one knows what was in there. Trees that had tilted until their leaves reached the lake had slowly gone brown. Trying to pull themselves back up. The roads filled with hundreds of motorcycles. Following each one, a dusty cloud which eventually faded into the air. The sky turning darker each time a motor turns on. Everyone had pollution masks protecting them from the intoxicating air. The air that pierces their throats. The patches of grass surrounded by a fence because the green was so rare. On the road old women selling fake flowers, since real ones were too expensive to afford. The man dropping the candy wrapper.
Who knew where that candy wrapper would end up. The man thought he was innocent, and that it impacted no one. Except for the fish that died.

I then went towards the bench and picked up the wrapper, took a couple steps and threw it in the trashcan.
The air pollution had reached dangerous levels. In 2004 Vietnam was warned about the quality of the air in Hanoi. Every year the pollution gets worse, it is recommended to stay inside. Respiratory diseases are becoming more, and more common. The air quality in Hanoi is poor all year round. The main cause of this is the traffic. Thousands of vehicles are purchased every month, more roads are being built and the pollutants are becoming more of an issue. People walk around trashing the streets with, plastic bags, bottles, and wrappers. As Hanoi builds more buildings and becomes an urban destination they are destroying the quality of life. As the air becomes heavier, more trees are cut down. The ozone layer is slowly ripping apart. People believe that the respiratory problems would double in 2020, if not stopped. Instead, we are speeding up the process.

The man wasn’t the only one who had littered, on the floor were plastic bags and bottles. The wind taking them in different directions, leading them on a path of destruction. As they remained on the floor I turned and stared at the lake. I still didn’t know what was underneath the layer of filth. All I saw was jet black. The same color the air is slowly becoming, throughout the years the shades of the sky have been getting darker.