Sunlight

Sunlight

 

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a figure standing over me grinning. It was my brother. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I realized that next to my brother was my mother beaming from ear to ear. I smiled at them. They helped me up and I immediately hugged them both. I limped over to a fire that they had made. I sat down with them and we looked at each other for a moment without saying anything. 

"So, are you both fine?" I asked my brother and mother. My mother smiled at me before saying "Of course, we are all right Chenzi… we were running away from the village. One night we were sleeping when I rolled over something hard. When we checked to see what it was, we realized it was a trapdoor. We pulled it open and found a concealed staircase leading here."

I looked at my mother blankly using all of my intelligence until I finally came to a conclusion. "So…. The staircase, it leads out into the sunshine?" I said my voice filled to the brim with hope. My mother looked at me smiling, "Yes the staircase is over there, but Chenzi wait," my mother said stopping me from sprinting over to the direction in which she had pointed. 

"Chenzi, be careful, the Bone tribe are still on the search for us, and I am sure they suspect some of us to be hiding in this mountain," my mother said. At that moment I couldn't care less. I hadn't seen the light of day for almost a week. I ran toward a tiny ridge in the corner. I began climbing a steep incline that was more wall than staircase.  I pushed myself up ignoring the huge throbbing pain in my leg. 

"Chenzi! What happened to your leg!?" I heard my mother shout out in shock. I turned my head toward her. "It's broken," I said before turning back and continuing my climb. I finally reached the top to find my path obstructed by an iron square. I pushed it with all my force and managed to move it to the side. I looked up into a brilliant beam of light.