My name is Odessa Paki, born on Naboo to a middle class family. Father; Rahnan Paki. Mother: Kia Paki. Brother; Cain Paki
Long ago, as a young girl. My family lived a simple life. Father would go to work, mother would tend to the home life. We'd go to annual festivals.
Life was good, we may not have been rich or powerful. But we were all we needed. It didn't matter to us, we were happy. My brother and I would go into the city for school, and sometimes for an hour or so window shop at the markets.We'd even go into clothing stores and pretend to be important senators. But we'd quickly be shoo'd out by the shop keepers. Yelling at us to go home. Being a kid was the greatest.
But soon being a kid would no longer be an option. Years passed, and word of the First Order gaining more control of the different systems began to alarm us more and more. My brother, about the age of 16 at this time, was determined to join the Resistance. But mother and father always redirected his wants to what he needed to be. To be there for the family, to stay in school. Myself, I had just experienced my 18th sun. I trained with my brother. And worked for a small shop that I used to run around in years before. I wanted to try and contribute to the family.
It wasn't until that fateful day that everything that we ever wanted and needed changed.
"Rahnan, did you see the letter Cain has received?" Kia, my mother, rushed to her husbands side as he sat in front of a warm fire. It was a cold winter, and somehow I had always sensed when the weather changed drastically something bad was about to happen.
"I've already seen it, didn't have to read it." He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. His hair had greyed so much from the blonde it used to be, most likely from the stress of the current state of the politics.
I had been standing in the hallway that lead to the open floor plan of our home. Listening. I had no intentions of revealing myself until I could hear my mother choke on a sob.
"They want him to become a soldier for the First Order! I don't care how good of a fighter he is! He's my baby!" She cried, as she sat next to my father. Leaning into his shoulder as the tears streamed. Coming out from my hiding spot, announcing my presence.
"What do you mean, mother?" I questioned concerned for my little brother who was out with his friends. My blue eyes flicked between my parents, as they stared up at me. Horror in my mother's eyes, and sorrow in my fathers.
"Odessa. . ." My father said calmly, I waited for what felt like an eternity for him to finish. I could feel my heart beating, I could hear my shaky breath.
"We have no choice, he leaves in three days to start his training." That's the last thing I heard. No longer could I hear my mothers sobs, nor my breathing. I couldn't feel my pulse. My vision blurred.
My family stood against the First Order. But we weren't rebels. We wanted peace for all, and a neutral ending to this war. But this was it. My baby brother, Cain, who all his life looked up to the legends of the Jedi. And looked up to the x-wing fighters who had destroyed the Death Star. Would become what he hated most, with no say in it.
I ran.
I ran out of the house. I knew I was crying, but I couldn't feel it. I knew I was running through harvest fields, but I could feel the produce hitting me. I knew my legs were begging me to stop, but I couldn't.
I was in pain, like my mother. I was miserable, like my father. Our family would be torn apart. Doesn't the First Order use clones? Not civilians? I don't understand what they want with my brother. And I kept running.
I kept running until I slipped off a ledge I didn't see. It was far, maybe a couple feet. And that's when I felt it, a lake. It was shallow, and only then did my senses come back to me. Only then did the true realization of what was going to happen, is happening.
Cain would die.
He'll refuse to go. He'll refuse the First Order, and be dragged there. He won't listen. He won't cooperate.
Only fight.
And to whatever gods may be out there, did I want to fight. Fight anyone who dare lay a hand on my brother. Who would want him to kill innocent people.
I laid in the shallow part of the lake. Looking up as the stars twinkled and the moon shined. How I wish right now, I could be one of those stars. They moved swiftly, moving in different directions.
Curious, I brought myself up. Feeling the water droplets fall back into the water.
Those aren't stars
Never in my life, have I gotten up so fast. And scrambled back over the ledge. Running as fast as my legs would allow me to move. Only now did I realize how far I was from our little farm.
The ships moved closer and closer towards the city rather than my home. Relief washed over me. And that's when it all happened. When being a kid was no longer an option. TIE fighters came from the other side of the horizon. Making that ugly yet so powerful noise from their stream.
Firing at the other ships. This was it. This was the Resistance! And maybe just maybe if they take down those imperial ships, I could find a pilot and ask them to take my family to their base. To join them.
The x-wings flipped around, taking their aim and shooting. Still running, pushing myself farther towards where they were and my home as it came into sight.
I started screaming. Screaming for anyone to hear me. For my parents, or Cain dare he be home now. I could see a light turn on, as my father rushed outside. My mother close behind him. Tears swelling to see them. He turned and yelled something at my mother. And that's when it all happened so fast.
I must've been maybe 150 yards away. Away from my life. Away from my family. Everything from this moment felt like slow motion. As an x-wing flew low, and pulled up quickly to fire at a TIE fighter. But, stray shots were fired. Stray shots that missed their target. Hitting my home, setting it a blaze. And with that the gas furnace inside it. The one my dad had running for our fire. The one that exploded from the blaster shots, finalizing my last moments of seeing my family. And no longer was I 150 yards from my home and family. But light years.
YOU ARE READING
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