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bunched it into my fist, taking it all the
stains that it had accumulated throughout its history. I ripped a
small strip off the bottom and tied it around my wrist. As I
released it, I watched it sway gently in front of the opening,
providing a final glimpse into my den. I now had an answer, a way
to help everyone in the only way I could. Kissing my hand, I placed
it on the wall and turned around. It was time to get myself into
trouble.
    Ξ
    As a child, I was
always curious about sunlight. My mother told me that it's like a
giant ball of fire, lighting up the entire world until it leaves
the sky and darkness resumes. I used to tell her that I thought it
was sad how the setting sun leaves everyone in darkness, but then
she told me about the moon. Something like the sun, but not so
bright. And around the moon are specks of light called stars that
fill the darkness. I could only imagine what a world full of
colors, light, and darkness would look like. Before all the
students began avoiding me, we would draw pictures during breaks in
my mother ’ s
class about what we thought was on the surface. Sometimes my mother
would join us and draw pictures while telling stories that have
been passed down through generations about the world above, always
sure to draw a sun shining in the sky over the land and animals she
had created in the dirt.
    Here in Cethin,
everything is lit by lamplight. All the fuel for our lamps is mined
down here. Our eyes are used to the dim yellow light, having never
seen the sunlight. It takes the guards a bit longer to adapt to the
change; consequently, for the first few days of their service, they
are tasked with no other duty than to walk around the tunnels. A
few have gotten lost, wandering in the outskirts of the network.
Some were lucky enough to be stumbled upon by a Cethin, but the
majority were lost forever, most likely having run out of fuel for
their lantern and wandered deeper into the earth, where they may
have fallen into a crevice, a hot underground stream, or any of the
other risks that come with living underground. Mother says that the
men used to the sun can go insane if they have to stay underground
for too long. That ’ s why the King switches them out every few years, but with
some, even a few years can be too much. That ’ s what the sunroom is for. When
my mother was a child, she had heard news of a sunroom being
constructed in the guards ’ quarters, which would open a hole large enough
in the ceiling for the sunlight to come through and fill the room
with natural light. Unsurprisingly, this room was made to be off
limits from all Nethers, and as such, my mother absolutely forbade
me from trying to get a glimpse of it. Every child is warned to
stay away from the sunroom, mainly out of fear of what the guards
might do to a lost child. But, of course, as with all children, as
soon as my mother said it was off limits, I was immediately
entranced with the idea of an adventure to the sunroom, and for a
long time, I couldn ’ t think of anything but trying to find a way into the
room.
    As time went on,
thoughts of sunlight became rarer and rarer, replaced by
preoccupations with chores and other duties, and soon the forbidden
room was forced into a small corner in the back of my mind. I
forgot about my desire to see the sunroom, just like my ancestors.
The first ones exiled down here were too busy trying to establish a
way to survive to worry about things like sunlight. By the second
generation, we didn ’ t know any different. And so the cycle
continued.
    Tonight, I was going to break the
cycle. Approaching this very room, I wiped the grime off my face
with the sleeve of my tunic, let my hair down, combed it with my
fingers, and stepped through the entryway. Not knowing what to
expect, I put my hands over my eyes and looked around through the
cracks in my fingers.
    The first thing I noticed was that
there were many shirtless guards sleeping on raised mats. There
were whips, clubs, and