Sun Catcher

Miles from my home beneath Earth's surface, in the pitch black, cavernous humidity of the Ice Caves, I found the next ledge by slamming my helmet into it.

"Sun Suits." I remarked with a labored sigh as I crashed onto my back. The thick, heavy Sun Suit relaxed in a gasp of content on the icy ledge, releasing the putrid smell of salt and a mix of burped dinner. "Not just good for keeping you from turning to ash in seconds; also great for preventing further mental deterioration..." My laughter leapt up the walls like an Underbunny up a hill.

I slipped out another one of "Journey to the Surface of the Earth's" products and ran my hand over it in concentration.

According to the Popsicle, the Sun would be rising in a few hours. Peak Sun-Catching time, 6 AM.

Wanting to get to the surface before anyone else showed up, I reached for my backpack and found the soaked leather to my side. As I got up and slung the extra weight around my shoulders, a voice devoured the silence.

"Sun Catcher..."

The thick insulation of the Sun Suit prevented any chill, heat or wetness from coming through. Regardless, the echoing whisper sent a blizzard down my spine. Bile on my tongue.

"Plenty of sun for us all! Unless you're greedy...but greediness is bad..." I cleared my throat. "Uh...let's just mind our own business, what do you say?"

No one responded.

"Not even a laugh, really?" I pulled out my only weapon. Gripping the steel handle of the ice pick, I swallowed down the remains of last night's dinner. "Look, man, I don't want any trouble. My Sun-Catcher only gets..." I strained to remember the commercial. "Zero, zero, zero, zero...zero? Zero? Zero...?...Point one percent of it. Cheapest on the market!"

"Sun Catcher..." The voice dripped, hungry and heavy. I imagined a leathery mouth sweating with drool, breath like rotten flesh, lying in wait to devour an unsuspecting explorer.

Just some greedy rich guy. I reassured myself.

Then why would he need to sneak in? I argued.

Something cracked to my left. I turned towards the voice and hacked, hitting air.

"Crap," I gasped. Disoriented and holding the pick to my chest like a child holding a teddy bear, I decided to deescalate the situation. "Okay uh... how about I give you a percentage? Fifteen-thousand sound good?"

Silence.

A distant memory of the old Sun legend fractured my resolve. Monsters in hibernation but for one day of the year. The only day the Sun came out. Summer.

The stalactites up above dripped, teasing my nerves as they plummeted down, crashing against my helmet.

Monsters don't exist. I think.

I considered tossing my bagged lunch as a peace offering and making a run for it. Human or monster, surely it would be appreciated.

Human or monster... I wondered. No such thing as monsters. Unless you count corporate greed...

"Sun Catcher!" The voice growled. Past hunger, now starving. I jumped, alarmed, as running footsteps aggravated the ground, rushing towards me like an earthquake. I spun around as something hard as rock slammed into me.

Monsters don't exist.

Heart beat in my throat, I swung the pick in a desperate attempt at survival. A scream that sounded like a dying breath rattled through the cave as my pick crashed into something that cracked like stubborn ice.