Words All The Way Down

Inspired by the following prompt: [WP] Something is wrong with the sun, over the centuries it’s been slowly dimming in brightness. For hundreds of years scientists have been desperately trying to figure it out, all while the nights get colder, and the days get darker.

During his lifetime, Hari had experienced the sun dim from something you could use to do work outside to something that could barely be used to see your hand in front of your face. He had experienced the great migration to the equator as people sought to eek out any extra sunlight, and any extra heat, they could get.

Scientists determined that the sun had been dimming since 1959. At first it wasn’t noticeable. Now there’s barely anything left. Through his own research Hari determined that the epicenter of the problem could be traced to an apartment in Manhattan.

Slowly he entered the ancient apartment, using a bio-luminescent tube to guide his way. He knew his destination was in a closet somewhere in the basement of the building. He took each step carefully, not fully trusting the old wooden beams to support his weight. At the back of the apartment, next to what used to be the kitchen, he found a door hanging on a single rusty hinge with stairs leading downwards. He put on cautious foot on the top step, only for the entire rest of the staircase to disintegrate beneath him.

Prepared for this sort of thing, Hari unraveled a length of rope from his gear. After tying the rope, first around himself and then around an old refrigerator, Hari slowly rappelled down into the basement. At the bottom, he noticed the closet he was looking for had been under the stairs. That would have been hard to find, he thought himself, and opened the door.

Inside, he found a small plaque and on old dimmer switch. The plaque read,

DO NOT TOUCH

The vertical slide that determined the dimness of the light was nearly to the bottom. Hari figured that, over the years, gravity had pulled at it until the switch had gotten to it’s current point. With that, Hari reached out to the dimmer and whispered to himself, “Let there be light.”

Then, all at once, a light brighter than any he had ever seen shined through the doorway he had rappelled through.