Everyone called it the Maze, but it wasn’t really a maze.  There was only one path through that led to the other end and it was clearly marked the entire way.  Part of it had light, some what like came from Randall’s MAGic Lite, some came from lanterns hung at rest locations, but a large part of it was dark and filled with large pieces of wood that were attached to long pieces of metal. These long pieces of metal could be used to guide you if you went slowly or you could end up twisting an ankle if you hurried along too quickly.
The difficult part of this journey were the dark parts between resting areas and that the path was entirely up hill.  It was gradual incline, but it was constant and the resting points were far between.  There was also a constant breeze that went against you and was enough to blow out a candle.
Most of the kids were carrying torches given to them just for the occasion. There was nothing special about the torches other than it was certainly made by someone that would use just the right amount of wrap and find just the right alcohol to douse it with along the way when the breeze was high.
It was a long enough walk that you would want a bit of food and water.  Randall brought along some tart bread and apple juice that he was certain he’d be able to eat along while walking.  If he stopped at one of the resting areas, his imagination might get the best of him and he’d risk the adults monitoring from the dark noticing his MAGic Lite.  He didn’t plan to stop and eat, but he last thing he needed was to fail because he hadn’t eaten anything today.

It wasn’t long before there was just one more before his turn.  That meant he only had about 20 minutes before it was his turn to head into the Maze.
He started to think about how his father would be proud that he was finally able to get through the entrance.  Before Randall’s first attempt at the Trials, there was no “Entrance” test.  One of the village elders felt that it might be frightening enough to other children that it should be officially recognized as the first step.  Randall knew he was the first to fail this first test, but since children were intentionally kept from knowing much about the Trials other than what was taught in classes, Randall did not realize that until he failed, it wasn’t a test, just a check to prevent “prohibited” items from being taken into the Maze.
Randall wasn’t even sure why he felt that his father would be proud.  He couldn’t really remember his father or his mother.  His mother had run off shortly after Randall was born and his father died in … an accident? Randall’s head started to hurt. Suddenly he ran from the front of the line and dry heaved where hopefully no one would step.  “That was odd” thought Randall, knowing that it wasn’t just his nervousness about the Maze.
Before he could give it any more thought, he heard his name called by the man at the entrance to the Maze.  “Randall? We doing this or not?” the man said, obviously irritated by the fact he was repeating himself.
“Yeah, sorry.  Just nervous about going in.  I never made it this far before…” Randall sort of trailed off realizing that everyone in the crowd was listening for his response. The folks near the betting boards had become completely silent.  Everyone was waiting for his next move.
He took a deep breath and walked into the entrance.  There were cries of joy by those who had bet he’d at least go in and a collective groan from everyone that bet he wouldn’t make it into the entrance.

Once Randall made it far enough in for the light from outside to barely be visible, he noticed that the crowd sounded a lot closer than they were.  He could have sworn he heard the man at the front muttering about losing his prized rooster.  The breeze must be carrying the noise.  He pulled out his MAGic Lite gave it a few shakes and pressed the protrusion to make it light up.
Randall wouldn’t have know that no one in his village for generations had been able to see as clearly in the tunnel as he saw now.  If they saw what he did now, they’d probably think the same thing,  “this is just a long tunnel that goes uphill”.  After walking some distance they’d probably think they same thing, “a really long tunnel that I can’t see the end of”.
For a moment, panic began to grow in the pit of his stomach.  He hadn’t considered that he might drop the MAGic Lite or that it would suddenly stop working.  He didn’t bring anything else to use if it suddenly gave out.  “If this light fails …” he started to whisper under his breath, but just as he was about to give in to panic, he saw the lights at the first resting area.  The panic he felt just a moment ago was gone as quick as it came.  Randall ran toward the light after hastily shoving the MAGic Lite into his knapsack. In his excitement he forgot to turn it off.

The sound of Randall’s feet hitting the ground got the attention of the adults at the rest area.  The look of shock on both of their faces was quickly replaced with concern.  “Randall! Is everything alright?” the tone of her voice had a tinge of worry to it.  “You shouldn’t run. in. the. dark...” those last few words were almost stuttered.  Both adults were looking confused at this point, just now realizing that it was Randall… and he was in the dark.
“Yeah.  I’m good, just happy to see some light.”  He did his best to sound truthful.  He was so nervous that he didn’t seem to notice that both adults at the rest area looked like someone had just told them they weren’t wet after being thrown in the water.  He knew he could stick around for at least a few minutes before he continued onward, but he didn’t want to answer any questions.
“I’m gonna keep going” he said over his shoulder as he quickly hoped down from the rest area and hurried along.

Randall had been gone a few moments, when both adults looked at each other.  “Did he loose his torch?” the other one asked realizing that it was an absurd question after it came out of his mouth.  He also just noticed they hadn’t smelled the acrid smoke of the torches the children normally use here.  They both just looked at each other, both of them had the same doubt but didn’t voice it, “was that really Randall?  In the dark?”

After a few terrifying moments in the dark, he pulled out his Lite and gave it a shake.  It lit up the area and he just realized he must have left in on when he went through the rest area.  He reasoned that neither of them noticed, if they had, they would have insisted on seeing whatever was in his bag.  He wasn’t sure, but he thought the adults at the rest area’s were supposed to stay hidden. It might have been because he’d been running at the last part and he may have had a terrified look on his face.  No, he was certain that the look on his face was absolute terror.  
“They must have come out thinking I was in trouble” he wasn’t sure if he had only thought that or said it aloud.  He had a habit of talking aloud when he was nervous. “I’ll have to watch that” he thought, focused on keeping quiet.  He also thought about how he forgot to turn off the Lite.
He was busy thinking of anything but the long walk uphill that was still left. He had no idea how much further it was going to be, but if it was going to take him to the top of the canyon walls, he knew it was going to be quite a bit longer.  How much longer? Did anyone actually say how long of a walk it was? He knew that he would make it before the end of the day and that he’d spent his first night outside of his village at the top. He hoped there would be dinner at the top too.  He was finally starting to feel just a little bit of an appetite but wasn’t quite ready to stop in the dark to eat his food.

After what seemed like dozens of rest areas later Randall saw a hint of light that wasn’t from a torch.  It was almost the same blueish white hue that his own light gave off. He didn’t recall being told of any artificial lighting that was in the Maze.  As he got a bit closer, he turned of his light and put it his knapsack, this time making sure that it was turned off.
He was just beginning to notice the rather large crowd gathering on just the other side of the light.  As Randall stepped into the light, the crowd all cheered loudly, hooted, hollered and whistled.  It was loud enough to stop Randall from stepping any further.
A few figures stepped into the light where he could see them.  His Adult friends had been waiting at the top for him.  Spence looked like he was about to cry but pulled Randall into a hug before he lost it.  Randall was glad his friends were up here.  He hadn’t expected them to be at the top.

Finally, Randall’s stomach protested the lack of food.  It gave an audible growl and with that he finally realized that he was absolutely famished. One of the first things you learned about when becoming an adult in Sanity was the nearly every celebration included a feast and plenty of drink that made the lips loose and the world spin.
The last thing Randall thought before his head hit his pillow was that world spun much faster up at the top of the canyon.  For the first time if a very long time Randall slept through the night without waking up in a cold sweat at least once.  It was a dreamless sleep too.  He slept well.