Cold water dripped from the hanging rocks above my head, hopelessly trying to fill up the quiet atmosphere. The silence was so great that I could even hear my blood flowing through my veins. It was deafening.
The light beaming from my helmet permeated through the shadow, giving me a clear look on the path I was taking. Was it too late to turn back? Probably. I had gotten so close; I couldn't afford to go back. Not now. Not ever.
I had spent the last twenty years of my life searching, digging, and excavating. Nobody had ever come closer to finding it than I.
The rock walls that surrounded me began to open up, taking my sense of claustrophobia with it. Translucent, shining crystals appeared, reflecting colorful sparkles when my light hit them.
Excitement welled up in my stomach. I was nearly there. I could feel it: a dream-like air danced across my skin. All of the crystals surrounded me in a majestic combination of all shades and colors. It was like a twilight parade made solely for my arrival.
I shone my helmet forward and found it: a silver pool flecked with shards of diamond and sapphire. I stepped toward it, tears dripping down my face in an ever flowing flood. All of the ridicule, the loss, and the disappointment was worth it. I had succeeded against all odds.
Dipping my head down, I began to take a drink of the radiant water. It tasted like an explosion of light, a firework inside my mouth. I knew it would have an effect on me, but I never had any doubt on taking it. I had already made up my mind. But I only wanted more.
I continuously consumed more of it until all that was left was little more than a puddle too small for even a child to play in. It was sad, in some way that such a beauty was so easily taken by my own desire. But in turn, my life never ended. The world and everybody around me decayed as the days went on, but I remained the same. The water granted me a youthful life where I would cease to grow old.
The longer I lived, however, the more everybody I cared about passed into the next life, leaving me a lonely man with no purpose and no drive. And after all of it was said and done, I had decided that if my life did not end within the following decade, I would take it myself.
And in the grand scheme of it all, I never stopped asking myself: was it worth it?