A blinding light made my eyes water and stream. I walked up slowly to the entrance of the cave but my legs were wobbly and sore after sitting down for so long. I rubbed my arms; they still hurt after breaking free from my chain. I clung onto the cave walls as I steadily got to the cave entrance. My eyes would not open from the brightness of the outside world I was discovering. I stood, and slowly, very slowly, began to open my eyes. I had seen more colour in that glimpse than I had in my entire life. Everything was so sharp and precise. My lungs filled up with so much air, I could hardly believe what I was seeing and feeling. Was this real?
Slowly, I placed my right foot on green material that covered the ground, it was warm and soft, I had been used to cold, hard cave floors. I then placed my other foot down and opened my eyes fully. I glanced upwards. Before my eyes, I saw a never ending blue reaching up as far as you could imagine.
Then, in the centre of this infinity of sky and air, I noticed something peculiar. I only saw it for a second but it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. My eyes watered as I strained to keep looking at this orange fireball, the source of all this light and life.
Never in my life had I ever been so confused but tranquil at the same time, I had never felt so peaceful and harmonious yet I had no idea where I was. I only knew it was better than that dark, dull cave.
What if we could learn to live in this world and not accept life for what I knew it was before? This unseen world seemed like such an extraordinary and blissful place, why couldn't we learn to live out here?
I ran back to the cave, desperately trying to release the other prisoners from their chains. They fought bac, slapping and pulling my hand away. I was confused and couldn't understand why they wouldn't want to see some extraordinary paradise that had been waiting outside this cave all our lives. I had to show them. Dragging the prisoners by their arms, I started dragging them up the hill to the light, they screamed and kicked and refused to let me take them. They just wanted to accept life as they knew it. A tedious, dull life with no risks and no surprises, with the idea that the only living other life form was misty, unclear shapes projected onto the wall in front of them.
