Week 2
6. Island
Six children sat in the sand. The three older boys were burying their father, turning his body into an accurate sculpture of woman. The two younger girls and youngest boy waded into the shallows with their mother.
Tomorrow would bring change. Davin was leaving for the Academy. Soontir was required to meet with his superiors at an undisclosed location.
The boys ran off as their father discovered what they had done. He chases them down to give a scolding.
Had he known it would be the last day the family would be together, he wouldn't have said a single word.
7. Survival
The forests of Tenupe were cruel. He would survive. He would find a way off this wretched planet. He would find his way back home. He feels guilty for the grief he knows his family, especially his mother, feels. He is afraid her heart won't take another blow. The guilt he feels merges with the feelings of anger, loss and betrayal that slice through him, creating a hurricane of anxiety. The hurricane threatens to drown him, but he uses it to fuel his resolve. His anger makes it possible to survive.
Anger at the Killiks, the Jedi.
Anger at her.
8. Lost
The black night sky looked the same from all planets. Syal touched the window to Yavin. She'd heard of her brother's fight against the Death Star. She'd heard pieces of news from various sources about fighter pilot Wedge Antilles. She kept a flyer with his picture and bounty folded inside her mother's locket. It was the closet she could keep her brother. She missed him. She missed her parents. She even missed Booster. She had friends, but she wanted, needed family. She was alone. She had to keep him a secret. She couldn't let them use her to find him.
9. Other
Soontir waited at the handsome man at Wynssa Starflare's side to disappear in the crowd. He'd left her alone by a window. Soontir walked up to her and introduced himself, hoping his voice sounded more confident that he felt. She was more than he thought possible. She was smart, cultured, beautiful, interesting, friendly, warm…he could go on for days. He convinced her to leave the reception. She agreed, only after warning him that the tabloids may get wind of it and call him the other man.
So be it, Soontir thought. This time, he wanted to be the other man.
10. Flashback
The speeder drove up the house in an eerie fashion. Soontir stepped out slowly; his normal straight posture slumped over. Jagged followed, looking broken.
Syal knew. Another one of her children gone.
She could see that pose when Soontir came home to tell her that her Davin was dead. Syal knew that death had come to take another. She did not know which, Cherith or Chak.
The door opened. As before, Soontir entered the kitchen. He opened his mouth, closed it and opened again.
"Which?" Syal croaked, praying this would be the last time this scene would take place.
"Cherith."