This might need some context:
A long time ago, I fell into a deep hole. I laid there at the bottom, bruised and hurt, no idea how to get out. Until one day, I started climbing. In the beginning I slipped and fell down a lot of times, but after a while I got used to the climb and started making my way up. I still slipped sometimes, but I never fell down.
After a while, I noticed someone climbing next to me. We started talking, became pretty close and he gave me one end of a safety rope he had on himself, so we could catch each other if we fell.
The climb had been long and exhausting and at some point, my energy started to be so constantly drained that I could barely keep moving at all. I started slipping more often again and fell back more and more. He kept assuring me to just keep moving, even if I was too exhausted, because the safety rope would catch me if I fell. And then, I did. I had done too much, drained myself to keep up with him and now I saw, while falling all the way back down, that he had never actually attached the safety rope to his own gear. The emotionless look, with even a slight smirk on his face, while watching me falling into a sure death, is something I will never forget.
And then I hit the bottom. And I was alive. Barely, but alive. I couldn't move, could barely breathe, and decided that for the moment, I would just stay at the bottom. I was tired of climbing, scared to fall again, and did not believe that the risk of falling again was worth it. I did nothing, for a long, long time.
After laying there, pondering over my inevitable demise, for a small eternity, I noticed that I had never actually looked around at the bottom of that hole. To pass some time I started observing. Some dead plants, a few insects, a lot of dust. Nothing that would bring me any joy down here. Then I noticed it. In a corner, hidden in the shadow, was a small hole, big enough for me to just fit in, forming a path in an upwards direction. It was dark inside - and I was always afraid of the dark - so it took me a while to gather some confidence, but I went inside.
The tunnel draped me in an endless, black nothingness. Only slight glances were possible in the darkness when the sun hit the entrance at the right angle. The walk up was much easier than the climb had been, but the uncertainty if this cave even had another exit at all kept nagging at me. But I continued walking, until...
A rumble, rocks went flying past me, and I fell to the ground. Everything around me was shaking and I was sure that this time, my end was finally to come. More rocks came falling down, the ceiling was giving in. Darkness.
There was nothing but darkness. I don't know how long, I wasn't even sure myself if I was still alive. But then I heard them. Voices, faint, barely understandable, but definitely human voices. These voices in the darkness kept reassuring me, they gave me new hope. So I picked myself back up and started following them through the darkness.
When I first saw the light, I thought I was imagining it. Then I thought that it must surely just be a lightning bug or something. But then, when I got closer, I had to admit it to myself. An exit, to the outside, the actual outside. And not just in the hole or into another one, but the wide, open world. I couldn't believe it, I had made it out alive.
The heat hit me like a BMW the guardrail on a german Autobahn. I looked around and saw nothing but sand. A desert. The exit of the cave lead me right into the middle of a desert. Even though this wasn't necessarily the ideal place to be, I only had one thought; I made it out, I finally made it out. Alive. This was what mattered, this and nothing else. I started walking.
The desert was a dry place. My skin was cracking, my lungs were hurting, but I kept walking. I made it out of the hole, so I would survive the desert as well.
When the clouds stated forming, my hopes started to rising up to Pluto. The shadows were soothing my bruised body and the wind finally brought some slight cooling. Then it finally started to rain and I knew that everything would turn out okay.
The rain gave me strength. It did not stay, but it came back once or twice. Ever since the rain started, I enjoyed the walk. The desert heat didn't seem to sting as much anymore. I started getting curious about what I was going to find at the end of the desert; I was hoping for a rich, green forest or a field of flowers. I continued walking.
When I reached the end of the desert I felt a slight bit of disappointment when all I saw was blue. An endless ocean laid in front of me. Nothing but water, no matter where I looked. But my heart had been set ablaze again; I would not let an ocean stop me from going on. I started collecting all the driftwood I could find.
Building a raft was easier than I expected. I had gotten lucky to find some other scrab around the beach and I had always been good at crafts after all. When the time came to set off, I did not hesitate for a second. The horizon was my destination and I was not gonna let it wait on me any longer.
The sea was nice for a while. The endless blue was a sight to see. Occasionally some seagulls would join me on my raft, have a nice conversation with me and then set off on their own adventures again. I wasn't getting bored, I was imagining what I might find and what I could do; were there other people somewhere? Civilization even? I couldn't wait to find out.
When the storm came I wasn't prepared at all. The waves, the rain; I was soaked and holding onto the raft like my life depended on it. And even though it might actually did, I did not feel scared. All my life I worried about every single thing that might go wrong, but now I was free and I undoubtedly believed in tomorrow. Then, I saw the lighthouse...
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