A Long Way Up

Even after days of walking, it felt like I had made no progress from where I began. The dark shadows and damp air that consumed this city was a constant reminder of the crevasse I had risen from. My very first memories of this place were cold and pitch black. Hard and rugged pressures pushed against all sides of my body but I could never make out what they were. I was alone, and so very scared. In my loneliness, memories of my former life steadily emerged, memories of a warm home and a mother figure. Her face was a blur, yet I could still remember the love and warmth she had given me all my life. Though I had been alone for for what felt like an eternity, I couldn't let this go. Within the cramped space that had once confined me, I attempted to break free, for I knew mother was waiting for me. 

I couldn't tell how much time had passed in my solitude. Many times I tried to move my body free from this prison of darkness, but to no avail. Then one fateful day, I had decided to move again, and a soft clattering had made its way to my ear from just above me. I began to thrash more and more, feeling the rugged surfaces surrounding me scrap my body, until the clattering from above became more and more frequent. Then, there was light. I squeezed my arm through the jagged space and pulled on the rock that was in my line of sight. I pulled and pulled and my body finally began to slip free.

There I stood upon the rubble I was once under, looking down at my prison. "How have I gotten myself under there?" I thought to myself. I was entranced for a while, running through my memories trying to remember what had happened to me, how I got here, and most importantly, how do I get home to my mother?

Before more confusion consumed me, I started to look around. It was then that I had realized that my prison was far bigger than that meager hole. Surrounding me were the corpses of long forgotten buildings covered in moss and overgrown vines. The large, rectangular stones from which every building was made from had somewhat smooth surfaces and a light brown color to them. Their surfaces sparkled slightly, revealing their diverse composition. As I gazed into the distance, more of the same decrepit buildings covered my sight, but something was off. For some odd reason, the scenery that should've been passed these buildings was absent; In the scenery's place was nothing but darkness. I could vaguely make out the shapes of more structures and foliage in the dark, but past that was nothing. 

The revelation of the infinite darkness around me brought dread to say the least, but with that came another realization. The faint glistening of the stone walls and the warmly illuminated mountain of cracked stone I stood on. Somewhere, somehow, there was light amongst the darkness, a light that could only come from one place. After I had taken in the landscape, I finally found the notion to look up. 

Above me, tens of thousands of the familiar stone structures systematically stack upon one another, each layer as vacant as the last. Large chunks of fauna covered and draped over many of the buildings, dividing the thousands of stone structures from each other. As I gazed further up, the layers of buildings closed onto a single focal point. At the center of the point, the towering structures pierced the pale blue sky. An opening at the very top of this seemingly endless city left just enough room for the light of the sky to seep down to the depths I stood at. Its rays were dim and hazy, being broken up by the intertwining infrastructure above, yet they granted me something I've been missing for a long time now: warmth. A warmth that was reminiscent of my mother.  I stared up at the tiny dot of sky for an unknown amount of time, encapsulated by the fluttering threads of light. All but one thought escaped my mind: "I need to get up there."

The pale light of the distant sky spoke to me in a way, like it was beckoning me to come get it. The thought of it seemed next to impossible for me. I was weak from being trapped for so long and I had no equipment to aid in such an ascent. Yet the light, without a single word, called out to me, saying something like "come find me." At this point, I knew what I had to do. If I could see the light, then there had to be a way to get to it. I finally found the courage to look back down and stare face to face with the endless dark. With that, I took my first steps off the rubble and into the dark that awaits me.

It's been days since I've left from that hole. I've been wandering aimlessly looking for a way to get to the upper levels of this towering city. Judging from the pinhole of sky light, I could tell I was somewhere near the bottom of this metropolis. When I first left to explore, I had worried that the light that first touched my skin would be the only light to reach me. For the days I've traveled, I've seen many other glorious rays of light cascading through the decay of the buildings above, all scattered throughout the ruin. Despite the never ending darkness in every directions, there was always light that reached me somehow. 

Walking amongst the scattered light had started to bring back some memories of my old home, though that wasn't quite the right way to put it. It was more like my old "world." Memories of my old life became more and more apparent as I journeyed, though some details were still blurry. Still, I was certain of one thing, and that the place I call my home is of a completely different world from where I am now.  The thought haunted me; I couldn't tell why I knew this but I did, and it made me worry if I would ever be able to make it back to my old world. Although this thought worried me, there was no way I would be able to find a way home without making it out of here, that I was certain of.

Soon, the sky light above began to dim into a crimson hue, and the only pin hole of sky I could see darkened. Another day has passed and I still haven't found a passage to the next floor. Still I shall continue on, with the light of the next day to guide me, and my yearning to feel the warm sun. I promised myself, I will return to my mother.