I’ve made my escape, at last–AT LAST!!
Having been chained to the walls of that cave for so long, I’d forgotten the truth. The rumors among the rest of the prisoners insisted there really was such a thing as “light” beyond the darkness. But it had been so very long…

It took forever, I think, to escape, scraping at the raw materials of the wall with little more than a quill, then dragging my weary body through the muck and mire until the water ran clear. Up the jagged stones, forcing my bleeding fingers to climb higher and higher still, to hold on, until…until…

LIGHT!!

‘Tis true! I can see it, brilliant and beautiful, beckoning me to leave the darkness and enter a world of color and air and life!
But wait–there are stirrings from below. One of the guardians has latched onto my dangling leg and is pulling me back. He’s murmuring something about edits, about having only finished the first round, and how I must return to the cave, embrace the shadows again.
Noooooo!

HELP ME!! If there’s anyone out, lend a hand, a rope, a prayer, for God’s sake!