[ WP ] Describe daily life in a world that experiences only an hour or two of sunlight every 24-hour period .

One must be underground when the light comes. It only comes sparingly thankfully, but one must be underground when it comes. Already the edge of the sky is pale, too bright to look at compared to the dark of night. Zenia ’ s feet pound the dirt, running towards the nearby shelter, echoing footsteps close behind. Vasko passes her, his longer legs able to place him at the head of the group. 
 
 “ Faster! Faster! ” He shouts back to them and Zenia pushes harder to run. It ’ s getting unbearably bright, her pale skin feels like it is already burning. Someone screams as they fall and there ’ s the sound of them scrambling to get back up again. Zenia can ’ t spare a glance, even though she ’ s certain that it is Idola ’ s brother Bastien. 
 
 The shelter is just in sight, barely so with how bright the world is becoming. Zenia is panting, already feeling what she knows are burns appearing across her skin. It feels hot and tight. Vasko hits the entrance first, disappearing into the blessed darkness. He hollers back a noise of triumph and Zenia follows him shortly after. 
 
 She stumbles a few more steps, unable to see until her eyes adjust to normal. The outside is extremely bright, it hurts her eyes as she looks up again. Idola stops short beside her as Darien joins them, shooting past much deeper into the shelter. Zenia can see the tears in his eyes as he holds hands to the reddened areas of his skin. 
 
 “ Bastien! Hurry! ” Idola shouts, looking towards the still brightening sky, Stefon shoving past her as he does the same as Darien. Her brother stumbles, giving another shout, skin already turning bright red. “ Bastien! ” Zenia grabs hold of Idola, digging her feet into the soft earth. 
 
 “ Vasko! Help! ” Vasko leaps forward, helping Zenia in holding Idola back. Bastien screams as the rays of bright, harsh light wash over the area, having been crawling towards shelter. 
 
 “ Bastien! Bastien, come on! ” Idola thrashes in their grasp, eyes fixated on her brother. “ Let me go! Let me go! I ’ m going to get my brother! ” Bastien ’ s screams slowly die away. 
 
 “ You can ’ t! He ’ s already gone! ” Zenia shouts as they continue to struggle with Idola. 
 
 “ Idola! He ’ s gone! ” Vasko shouts, tightening his grip. “ Do you want your parents to lose both of you?! ” Idola goes limp in their grasp and they drag her back down the hallway, deeper into the darkness. There are no tears, she simply trembles, staring at the ground with blank eyes. Zenia and Vasko head back up to as close as they can to the entrance. 
 
 Even though it pains her, Zenia stares out into the sunlight. It ’ s too bright but her eyes are trying to adjust. Out in the dirt, Bastien ’ s body lies. He ’ s still and Zenia is thankful for that. At least he isn ’ t still suffering. 
 
 “ What do we do? ” Vasko keeps his voice low. 
 
 “ We wait for the light to pass and we retrieve what ’ s left of the body. As always. ” Zenia keeps her reply short, still focused on the slowly disappearing shape that had been Bastien. 
 
 “ Idola, Zenia. Idola. ” 
 
 “ You carry her. She won ’ t want to walk. ” They fall quiet for a while. Zenia breaks her gaze away to look back into the darkness. Her head aches with the strain of looking out into the light. Vasko already has his back facing the bright entrance, looking down the tunnel towards Idola. 
 
 “ We almost didn ’ t make it. ” 
 
 “ I ’ m well aware of that. My timer was set perfectly. The light was early. ” 
 
 “ And now Bastien ’ s dead. ” 
 
 “ I am well aware of that fact. ” Zenia sets her jaw, glowering at Vasko. “ I will always be aware of that fact. ” He gives a slow nod in response before starting towards the rest of their group. 
 
 “ It ’ s bright, ” he states. Zenia lingers for a longer period of time, willing herself to look back out into the bright light at Bastien ’ s body. She can ’ t truly see it with how bright it is outside the cave, but either way, she ’ s certain that the light is reducing it. When they can retrieve it, only a few bones and trinkets will be remaining. 
 
 Zenia clenches her fists tightly, biting back tears. The light had been early. A few scientists had reported the phenomenon at some point but were generally laughed off. She had as well, how could a light appear when it wants to? But it had and had taken Bastien. Zenia continues looking for long enough that she fears she ’ s gone blind. 
 
 When she turns away, she can ’ t see anything even in the darkness for a long time. Then, slowly, shapes come into focus before they even back out to give her features. Everyone is silent, hunkering down for the light hours, as all did when the light appeared and they were trapped outside of the cities. Zenia joins Vasko, letting her body sink to the ground and she places her head between her knees. 
 
 It would be a very long and silent wait.
