I'll Make it Through the Winter

A Extra Key on the First Day

────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──

When I was 10 years old; the first order had destroyed my village and murdered everyone I ever knew... Everyone except me.

I remembered that day like it happened yesterday, except time had taken away some of the visceral pang of devastation that first racked my body when it happened.

It was another frigid day on my home planet of Hoth, my family had just come home from the southern village, where they had been offering their medicines and medical services.

They would go to each village for check ups and to offer any services needed and would often get called to help in the dead of night for emergencies. In exchange, those they treated would give us pelts, meats, firewood and other essentials as a thanks for their generosity.

My father had asked me to set the table for dinner while my mother cooked freshly caught burra fish over the fire on a roasting stick. I went to fetch the dishes and cutlery when suddenly the sound of a ship blasted through the windows.

The sound was deafening, so loud that I couldn't hear my own thoughts or feel my heartbeat, the dishes clattered to the floor as I screamed out of shock.

My parents ran into the kitchen, grabbing me and attempting to shout over the overpowering scream of the engine. Then just as quickly as the sound started... It stopped...

We all looked at each other, taking a breath and not daring to look through the curtains. But it doesn't matter if you take the risk to peek or not, when the First Order wants to snuff out any rebels, no one goes unscathed.

The sound of an armoured fist pounding on our door echoed through the foundation of our home and my parents knew there was no choice but to answer otherwise no one would make it out with their lives... They didn't know that was already determined for them...

Standing outside our door were 6 stormtroopers, I had never seen them in person before and they were terrifying. Nothing about their armoured suits gave away the fact humans were inside, they felt... otherly, powerful, incapable of humanity.

"Step outside now." They commanded my parents, before noticing that I was hiding behind them. "The child too." Another one said, using his blaster to point out the front door where he wanted me to stand.

"I'm sure this is a mistake, we are medics, peaceful and neutral in all current affairs." My father said, stepping in front of me and my mother, his arm outstretched.

The storm troopers stared amongst each other and the one who had forced us outside stepped forward,

"It's a criminal offence to question the reason for an inspection, you're aware aren't you?" He said, something in his voice making me feel ill. Before my father could say anything else the storm trooper shot his blaster into my father's chest.

Time ceased to exist.

I fell to my knees in the snow, my mouth open in a silent scream. My mother ran to my side and clung onto me, trying to shield my eyes from my father whose blood was turning the snow around him a vibrant red.

"Get away from the child now." A stormtrooper that was standing in the back barked at my mother. She stayed clinging onto me, not wanting to let me go after witnessing my father being shot down.

"I said, get away from the child. Now!" He yelled again, his blaster now pointed on a spot in between us. Looking into my eyes, my mother smiled and whispered in my ear;

"It's going to be okay. Always have hope and trust in the force." She stepped away and within the nanosecond of her moving, she was shot next.

The terror I felt in that moment, watching my mother and father struck down by storm troopers, I no longer had my mouth open in a silent plea but I screamed until my throat was raw and bloody.