The First Sunrise

• Hongic Won, Grade 12
• Short Story
• 2015

Harmonious singing of birds introduced the new day. However, the sky is still very dark. It has been dark for over twenty years.
Approximately twenty years ago, the sun had disappeared from our sky. They became invisible. Due to this strange phenomenon, artificially generated LED lights replaced sunlight for crops; street lamps are on for whole day; and average temperature dropped little bit around the world. When scientists discovered that the Sun still existed outside the Earth, everyone became shocked. This unfortunate miracle is known as the eighth wonder of the world.
For seventeen years, Eden, an adventurous boy, has been dreaming to see the Sun for once in his life. He always prayed to his God but the God seemed not to get Eden's message.
While going to the beach, Eden saw a running girl.
"Hi Skye!"
Skye turned to see Eden. She smiled.
"Good morning, Eden! Or should I say 'night'?"
"Haha. No, just keep going with morning. The word 'night’ is disturbing you know. It is one of my most despondent words."
"Speaking of morning, did you know that I actually envy my parents? I mean, they know how the Sun actually look like."
Eden and Skye walked along the busy street, talking. Many people were talking about the sun. Eden and Skye were not an exception.
"You know, Skye, I actually don't mind becoming blind after seeing the sun. It's that much I want to feel 'sunlight', you know. Or, if I win a lottery, I will buy a space shuttle, see the beautiful sun right in front of my face, then return home. It sounds amazing, doesn't it?"
Skye noticed Eden's bittersweet smile but she did not say anything.
After a few minutes, Eden and Skye arrived at the beach. They sat on the bench, hoping for a miracle as usual. They had been doing this every day before school.
After a few seconds, Eden opened his mouth.
"Skye, this will be the last time I will ever come to the beach."
Skye opened her eyes wide in horror. She did not believe what she just heard.
"Eden? Are you being serious? It has always been our dream to see the sun opening the new day! Timidly but excitingly waiting for the extraordinary event happening right in front of us! Why would you lose your faith?"
"I am just tired of waiting, that's all. If my dream can't come true, then I might as well accept my fate..."
Just as Eden let his last hope go, God complied with Eden's dying wish. The bright, optimistic sun appeared from shoreline. The light was so bright that Eden felt his eyes burning. However, Eden did not look away. He wanted to keep his memory with the sun as long as possible.
"My God... It's so beautiful!"
As Eden dropped his tears with appreciation, his eyesight slowly darkened away.