The village was buzzing with activity.  Today was the day that any boy or girl with more than 15 years to their age was given the Trial.  If they pass, they become a full adult with all the privilege and responsibility as an other member of the village.  Those that fail are still children and are limited in what they may do and had far fewer chores.  It was a happy day for most.  There were a few children that failed the Trial every year but they usually passed the next year.  Every few generations there was a child that could not physically or mentally endure the Trial, but that type of child usually required help for everything.
Randall was the first child in the villages history that was capable of enduring the trial, but would usually scream, pass out and soil himself shortly after the entrance would close behind him.
The only other children that hadn’t passed the Trial after a few tries were those that would need custodians to care for them their entire lives.  In trying times these children would have to be given up to the Machine in hopes that they would survive any corrective procedures the Machine would put them through.  The survivors were indebted based on procedure and so far no one has actually be allowed to leave the Machines service once admitted.
Randall had been rejected by the Machine as it had no procedure to correct his problem.  So every year, he faced the same humiliation of waking up soiled and not remembering what happened after the door closed.
But not this year.  This year, he had his Magic Lite and since it wasn’t detected at the village gates gargoyle, he knew he could take it in his knapsack.  Each child was allowed one knapsack filled with as much as they could carry themselves.
There were lots of items that would alert the gargoyle, but some of them has ways you could work around it.  You could take several small bottles containing water, but if you try taking one much bigger than a few large swallows the gargoyle will alert.  Candles, flint and any fire liquids would alert.  No one knew everything that the gargoyle would alert for, but most of it was just common sense for the denizens of Sanity.  The village got everything it needed from the surrounding ruins.  The ruins were deadly, but that’s why only the adults were allowed in and the Trials separated the children from the adults.
You had a much better chance of surviving most of the ruins once you got through the Trials.  If you were able to get through the entire thing, you were considered an adult and given a symbol that would allow you access in to the restricted areas know to have fatal measures for those bringing ‘unauthorized materials’ either in to or out.

With the Trials held once a year, everyone celebrated.  It was a day that the village  was proud of.  So many great adventures had been born here, including Randall’s father.  Being an adventurer usually meant fame, fortune and meeting a horrible death in one of the many ruins surrounding Sanity.  There were rumors of fates worse than death.

Like the childrens’ story of the boogey man who steals the voice from children who cry at night for no reason!  That one is surely a tale told by adults to their children to keep them from throwing a night time tantrum.  Surely.  Randall didn’t know any children who suddenly lost their voice, they had been born that way.

It was impossible to tell rumor from reality.  The Machine was a rumor until Randall’s great, great, great grandfather discovered it.  Some praise it, others curse it, but either way, it was Randall’s ancestor that made the first big discovery (or re-discovery) that helped Sanity become a village rather than just some old sign that was left over from ruined society.  He also found the first underground ruins that grew food like magic, which no one would believe at first since magic doesn’t work in the ruins.
It seemed like all of his ancestors had made great discoveries that made Sanity “the” place to be born if you wanted to be famous.
His great, great, great grandfather also discovered the ruins that became the Trials.
His great, great grandfather discovered ruins take the non-working magic lights from underground and give you another that would work; this got more underground food growth working again.
His great grandfather disappeared trying to find out more about the Machine shortly after his grandfather was born.
His grandfather didn’t have anything to do with the ruins and when his father announced he wanted to be an adventurer, he threw him out on his own.
His father was secretive in his work, but he knew it had something to do with his great grandfathers disappearance… his father hated the Machine, but thought there was more to it if he could just figure out what!  His father had a hunch that the Machine didn’t “want” the people it healed to stay, but he couldn’t say why.

With all that his ancestors had done for Sanity, the villagers just expected him to do the same.  No one asked Randall if he wanted to do the same work as his father, but then none of the children were asked if they wanted to take the Trials.  All the children were expected to go through the Trials.  Running away wouldn’t do much good as there wasn’t much around Sanity other than ruins for days.  If you ran away, you’d probably end up stuck in some ruin until you ran out of food and water.  That was the only thing that Randall feared more than the dark, he would rather die horribly than die of starvation, just the thought made him dizzy and feel like he was about to pass out.

Today was different.  Today, with his Magic Lite he would get through the entrance and the rest should be pretty easy.  The adults wouldn’t let children in the adult only areas of the Trial, but from the little his friends would tell him he only had one other concern and that was that his Magic Lite would need a shake when he was wedged in somewhere tight where he couldn’t give it a shake.  He might scream and pass out if that happened and then he’d probably have the Magic Lite taken away since children aren’t allowed to keep any relics of the old world.  Without it, he might never pass the Trials.

Randall skipped breakfast to make sure he wouldn’t have anything in his stomach in case he became nervous, but with his stomach growling and the ceremony to start he wasn’t sure that it had been the best idea.  The smell of baked goods wafted over from one of the food stands and it was a melody of sweet pies, frying meets and breads that could be called tart, but with a hint of sweet cream poured on top were simply delectable.

It was far too late to grab a snack, he’d just have to hope he was early enough to be one of the first few and that none of them would be stubborn if they got stuck and needed ‘rescue’.  He headed toward the outskirt of town closer to where the Trials would be held.  There were a few food stands that were along the way, but most of these served food that was cold and overpriced.  He walked as fast as he could without breaking a sweat.  He was starting to get really hungry and knew if he ate now, he might as well count on losing it shortly before his turn.

A bit later and quite a bit out of breath, he made it to the Trials and there were only a dozen or so children ahead of him.  Now just to wait until his turn and finally become an adult.