Carnelia clasped her hands over her heart as she lay in the netting attached to the singular lifeline to the remote retirement community of Downtown. Lurching up foot by foot like she was, she was moving barely faster than if she had climbed up the rocks herself, but the slow, swaying ride gave her time to savor the moment. The way the falling air currents played with her hair, sending small lengths curling this way and that; how the surrounding rock face shifted from dark basalts and granites to bleached sandstone; the warming of the air around her as the light bouncing off the rock walls intensified…

Both her face and her heart hurt from smiling so much. She was on her way up!

As Carnelia etched every detail of this moment into the deepest parts of her brain, a work shanty began ringing down from above, sung by whoever was pulling her up. One voice sang the melody, and another responded with the chorus.

“When I was a little boy,

My moth-er once told me,
That if I didn’t kiss the girls,
My lips would grow all mold-y~”

“I’ll roam with you no more, fair maid,
As roamin’s b’n my ruin, hey-heave!”

“When I was in school all day,
My tea-cher once told me,
To dream as much as one can do,
‘Cause life’s so hard to fore-see~”

“I’ll run with you no more, fair maid,
As runnin’s b’n my ruin, hey-heave!”

Carnelia laughed as she lurched up in time with their singing. The hoarse strain in the singers’ voices gave away that neither were old enough to be swearing off women. They sounded like teens, maybe around her age, with a delivery that was more enthusiastic than technical. She liked that, though, since most of what was popular in Downtown were ballads of regrets, lost loves, and bittersweet memories. This fresh, earnest singing was more to her own pace.

About halfway up, something cast a shadow over her. She was having so much fun humming along to the shanty that she almost didn’t notice it until it was right above her. It was the netting attached to the opposite end of the pulley, similar to the one she rode, except it was stretched full with paper and twine-wrapped packages. Inside those packages were Downtown’s regular delivery of imports; the necessities and luxuries that kept life going ’round in the remote underground community. The other end, her end, was usually filled with hard-to-dispose garbage or mail that was being sent far away, never to return.

Carnelia leaned out of the way of the imports and tried not to think too hard about the symbolism.

“When I went to sail abroad,
My cap-tain once told me,
An eye kept on the horizon far,
Won’t keep the ocean storm-free~”

“I’ll row with you no more, fair maid,
As rowin’s b’n my ruin, hey-heave!”

“When I came back home again,
My fa-ther once told me,
Not to worry ’bout my nasty scars,
For they prove one’s worth, see~”

“I’ll rove with you no more, fair maid,
As rovin’s b’n my ruin, hey-heave!”

Symbolism. Pah! Such things were for nerds, not adventurers. Here she was, on her way to the surface, moments away from taking her first real step on her journey to Challengerhood—how could she be feeling any foreboding? Real sunlight wasn’t a once-in-a-year event anymore. There were rays of sunlight spilling over the jagged edges of the Chute’s exit, direct ones, alighting on patches of rock face that were but a stone’s throw away. She even tasted hints of parched desert air amongst the cooler cavern currents.

Yes, she was far too busy dealing with the excited butterflies in her stomach to have time to *scoff* worry.

“When I joined our country’s war,
My com-rade once told me,
That no cause is worth dying for,
‘cept one that saves my life, please~”

“I’ll ride with you no more, fair maid,
As ridin’s b’n my ruin, hey-heave!”

“When I had my first heartbreak,
My lo-ver once told me,
To share with her my deepest hurts,
And I couldn’t ‘cause I’m coward-ly~”

“I’ll race with you no more, fair maid,
As— Crap! My hand’s cramping up! Ow!”

Unfortunately, despite her best affirmations, just as Carnelia’s outstretched fingers were mere inches from grazing raw sunlight, the pulley ground to an uncomfortable off-beat halt and an unsettling string of curses rang out from above. That put a stop to her self-assured nodding, right quick.

Concerned, she tilted an ear up to listen. Swinging in a net some thousand feet above the ground, that was all she could really do. Still, she was protected by her shroud of positivity. She was on her grand adventure! Nothing could stop her now.

Except…

“Don’t let go, you idiot! We’re almost there!”

“I can’t! You’re gonna have to—!“

“Shit. Shit. Shitshitshit—!”

“What in the shining sun are you boys—Dear God! Honey!”

The longer the clamoring played on, the faster her armor fell apart. It was like tissue in water. And when another voice joined the struggle, only to fall into heavy, heavy silence, after some shouting and grunting…

Now there was no golden shroud, only a twisting panic in her stomach. Something had gone terribly wrong, and all Carnelia could do was stare upwards because—well, she bring herself to look down. A silent void howled below her. But above her, the pulley line was taut with uneasy energy—the same energy found at the peaks of roller coasters and bungee platforms.

It gave one long, final creak.

…

…

…

Then something, or someone, gave.

Bang.

With a noise like a starter pistol, Carnelia found herself flung into the depths of her netting as it launched up towards the exit of the Chute faster than she could comprehend. Above her, the pulley spun wildly as it let loose length after length of rope. A tremendous crash that sounded from below. This month’s imports, delivered ahead of schedule. She tried to scream, but she couldn’t even get the noise out of her throat.

Then she was launched out of the netting like a rock from a sling.

The light was fast approaching, and she was hurtling out of control. Around her, the surrounding rock face blurred as she shot by. She didn’t even register the pain from the whiplash. Not yet. The wind was howling so loudly in her ear that—

Suddenly, a wall of light. Then, slowly, slowly, slowly, a swoop of deceleration. When she was near-floating, her eyes finally adjusted and she found a sight in front of her that took whatever remained of her breath away.

A bright and early sun hung low in a sky that ranged from a pale celestite blue to a rich lapis, sending rays that enveloped her with warmth from her fingers to her toes. A faded moon hovered on the other side, lingering after its long night shift to say hello. Wisps of chalk-like clouds were smeared below them both, casting spotty shadows over the endless tan hills and dry yellow plains that lay lower still. A glimmering ocean on the horizon drew half the border between the sky and earth, leaving the rest to a mountain range that curved around and behind Carnelia for countless miles.

Like a gasp of air, the beauty, the truth of the world hit her. Here it was. The real thing. Not the pictures from her schoolbook. Aerth. Carnelia stared for what felt like an age.

Then she was falling.

“WoaaaaAAAAA!”

Carnelia screamed with all her life, fear, and dreams. What started as a light tug back to Aerth escalated into a plummet. Her awe was gone. All that lay below her was a long, lethal drop down to Downtown. Hundreds and hundreds of feet before an unpleasant meeting with some flat, unforgiving stone. She was gonna—!

“—HEAVE!“

Thwap!

A thick sheet of canvas suddenly appeared below Carnelia, and she landed on it, hard. It felt like being hit by a massive flyswatter.

“Hold! Hold!”

For a second, there was grunting and the sound of skidding feet as her descent was forcefully slowed. And then, finally, she stopped.

As she lay stunned and breathless, splayed out on the rough fabric, she vaguely sensed being pulled to safety. Hands on her arms and legs, and so on. Before long, she was placed on the ground, the solid, oh-so-certain ground. She clutched at it through without a thought for where the dirt and dust would end up.

In the midst of her rolling and sprawling, one of the operators, a middle-aged woman, broke the sunlight in her face. She leaned in, shouting at her like she’d gone deaf, avid concern lining her tanned face.

“Carnelia! Can you hear me? Are you alright?”

Carnelia barely registered the woman. She stared hazily past her, out at the beautiful blue sky. She stretched out languorously on the warm, embracing earth and started giggling.

“I’m diamonds. I’m all diamonds!”