The feeling is foreign.

Beams of light—_sun_light—caress my face, opening my scrunched eyes to the wonders of the world, no longer projected in shadow but illuminated in technicolor. The sand that creeps between my toes is warm and red and sparkling, a stark contrast to the cold, monochrome grains I grew up knowing. Laughing people all around me wear fluttering robes of purple, white, gold, green; a few smiling men even approach me, holding out sun-stained hands and shaking mine.

Here, in the sun, the world is as bright and lively as Elysian. Truths previously unknowable unlock easily in my mind, and for the first time, I run, allowing the sun and wind to engulf me like water. It is suddenly easy to see that, while the cave kept my body alive, it neglected to sustain my soul.

But now, I am complete.

My bliss is interrupted with the realization that I must free the others. Those thirteen men, no worse than I, should not rot in darkness any longer—such a tragedy would be greater than death. Anything would be preferable, I think, to returning to the ignorant life, void of sunshine or color or joy.

I dash back to the cave.

The others sit there, unperturbed, kept in chains and shackles that force to face away from the open air; the sight of their gray, expressionless faces almost draws a tear to my eye. No need to worry, I tell myself. They will be freed soon enough.

“Friends,” I cry, already preparing to unburden the nearest man. “Let me undo your chains at once! You must see the world!” But the man merely shrugs me aside.

“Why should I?” he says. “Everything I need to survive is right here.” I try not to let this frustrate me—I thought so too only a few quick hours ago. Of course a prison should seem a comfort if one doesn’t yet know freedom.

“But you are wrong,” I explain, gesturing to the outside. “Beyond this cave is a paradise: full of light and love and clear skies. You must come with me—”

The man places an soft hand on my shoulder and guffaws.

“You’re just full of stories, fellow,” he says, dull eyes never leaving the blank stone of the cave wall, where only blurry shadows of the real world may reach.

I suppose it is much to ask, for someone to leave behind the only life they know. But that does not mean I won’t stop trying to show them light.