"Daddy's coming home today!!" she exclaimed, practically jumping up and down in place, unable to fully contain her excitement.
Cesera smiled, "Yes, love, I know! Now calm down before you hurt yourself!"
"But I can't! When is he supposed to arrive?....Now?"
"No, not yet." Cesera laughed, "in about..." she looked over at the chrono at the oven,"two or so hours from now. He said he had to make some stops on the way in."
Hearing that news calmed Rebecca down ever so slightly, "Oh. I guess that leaves me time to eat something." She said. Walking past her mother, she went over to the bread box for some toast when she happened to look out the window. "It's snowing! YES!" she turned completely around and dashed to the main hall closet. Opening it, she snatched out her scarf, earmuffs, boots and coat, and quickly put them on. Cesera followed her daughter to the front door.
"But Rebecca-- you haven't eaten yet! You can't go outside now."
"Not hungry anymore, Mom!" the girl exclaimed, going out the front door and into the snow. Cesera watched from the front windows. Shaking her head, she turned back and returned to the kitchen.
Rebecca walked through the snow towards the base of their driveway. Moving onto the snow covered grass, she started to form large mounds of snow together, attempting to make a sculpture. Taking a few steps back, she tilted her head, examining her work, making sure she was satisfied with her creation thus far. She then knelt into the snow and rolled enough of it into a ball to form the head.
After she finished her first sculpture, she began making another one of the same size. By now the snowfall was becoming heavier giving her more material to work with.
"That's a nice snowman." Said a strange voice behind her. Rebecca turned. Standing at the gate was a man in old, tattered looking tunic and pants under an even more tattered brown robe. The man's face was buried in the over sized hood yet she could still feel his gaze on her.
Rebecca gave a small smile. "Thank you, sir." She said.
The man nodded. "You're quite talented, Rebecca."
Rebecca stared at him for a minute. "You know my name? Have we met before?"
The man chuckled, shaking his head, "in person face to face...no. However I feel I've known you for years."
"I don't understand. Who are you?" Rebecca asked, "and...can you please take off your hood? I'd feel better if I could see your face."
The man reluctantly lowered his hood and looked back at her. He had brown eyes and short brown hair with tiny spots of grey showing in various places. From first look, he appeared to be in his late twenties to early thirties, however he had a worn down look to him.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Korban." He said.
"And how do you know me...if we've never met before?"
Korban rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a bit of a long story..."
Rebecca looked at him inquisitively. "I've got about two hours to spare."
"It started about nine years ago. There were caves along the Coronet City coastline. Well, I had been living out of one of them for some time. I guess you can say I've been a social outcast for a long time." Korban chose his words carefully, "There were many others like me who lived in some of the other caves and in the woods nearby, who had been...arrested by imperial troops. Their makeshift homes and personal belongings were being destroyed. Well, I've heard these troops were getting closer and closer to my cave...so in order to preserve my way of life, I wrote down everything I knew into a journal. I had planned on burying the book and then returning for it sometime later but fate had other plans...."
Rebecca raised her brow at him, brushing snow out of her face as Korban continued.
"...a little girl with red hair, around eight or nine years of age, happened to wander into my cave as I was looking for a good hiding place for my journal. I had just enough time to conceal myself when this little girl finds my book and starts flipping through it, almost immediately lost in its contents..."
"Little girl...red ha--" she paused, realization hit her, "That was me, wasn't it. The journal I found...was yours?"
Korban nodded, forming a smile. He put his hands on the gate and leaned forward. "I knew once you started reading through it that that book was meant for you...the...Force made it so."
Rebecca blinked, not understanding. "The...Force?"
"Yes. The Force surrounds us. It's in you and me, and everything. It surrounds us, penetrates us, makes things grow. Some individuals have more strength in the Force than others. You for example, are stronger in the Force than others."
Rebecca shook her head, "I don't feel any strength from this so called 'Force'. You're crazy." she said, turning to go back to her house when Korban reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"Only because you are untrained. I know you've been reading that journal. I can help you understand the ways of the Force...to use this power the way you've been destined to...."
Cesera put her roast in the oven and checked the chrono. When is that girl coming inside?! She headed to the front door and opened it, "Alright Rebecca, time to come inside an..." She noticed Rebecca all the way at the gate to the driveway with a male figure. She squinted, trying to make out the man's face through the snow. She took a few steps outside to get a better look. Then the man's face came into view. Why does that man look familiar? Where have I seen him before....
Suddenly it struck her, and she ran back inside to the kitchen. She tore through several drawers until she finally found what she was looking for: an old piece of paper. More specifically, a "WANTED" poster dating back nine years. Taking the paper with her, she returned to the front door, and studied man's face again, checking it with the image on the sheet. To her horror and dismay, she realized who she was staring at.
She gasped, barely making out "Oh dear Maker..."Cesera quickly looked around the house for a weapon. She stopped at her husband's office, standing in front of his blaster cabinet. Finding the key hidden in his desk drawer, she unlocked the glass doors and took out the first hand blaster she could get her hands on. She examined it quickly, having never used the weapon before in her life, then ran outside into the snow...
No comments:
Post a Comment