Rey

i

"No!" she screamed.

Why were they turning their backs? Why was her arm in the grasp of this disgusting creature?

Why wouldn't they listen?

"No! Come back!"

"Quiet, girl."

He pulled her away.

She followed, sobbing.

Her hair was in three buns, her mother had done them that morning.

Locks of hair slipped out, tugged by the wind, and caught in her mouth.  She spat them out, still crying.

"I said be quiet!" the creature yelled.

She shut her mouth, tears still falling down her cheeks.

"Listen to me, girl.  Your parents are never coming back.  You will never see them again."

The four-year-old shook with tears.

"You will live here now.  You will scavenge for things in the wreckage, and I will give you food in exchange.  Do you understand?"

She nodded.

"Good.  And do you know your own name?"

"I'm Rey."  She sniffles.

"She's not as dim witted as I thought," he mumbled.  "I am Unkar Plutt."  He shoved her away from him.  "Go, scavenge!"

She ran across the dunes, still sobbing.  On the other side of a particularly large one, she curled up and cried.

Then her stomach rumbled.

Rey remembered what he had said.  Food for parts.

She saw some sort of wreckage.

She stumbled across the sand, almost falling onto the sharp metal.

There was a large hole in it and she crawled inside.

Rey saw shiny things, which stood out to her.  She wrenched a few off, as many as she could carry.

Then she carried them back to the base.

Unkar Plutt was standing behind a tall counter.

She peaked her head over and heaved her armload of things up hopefully.

He sorted through them. "Six portions."

She slid them off the counter.  They fell to the sand.

A short alien of some sort dove for them and Rey cried out in protest.

"Leave them be!" Unkar Plutt yelled, slamming a hand on the counter.

Rey knelt down and scooped the portions into her arms.  As she juggled them, she saw a boy watching her.

"Do you need help?"

She looked up at him. He was tall and he looked trustworthy enough.

"Yes, please."

He reached for them and she pulled them back. "I'll just carry them for you. And I can show you how to make them."

Rey looked up at him. Then she handed him five of the portions, keeping one to herself. She hugged it to her chest.  Just to be safe.

He laughed. "Fair enough."

He led her to his home, a tent on the outskirts of the settlement.

After making the food, by pouring the pouch into a small cup of boiling water, which caused it to rise before her eyes into a roll, he sat down and watched her.

Rey dug into her roll hungrily, pausing to look up at him.

"What is your name?"

"Rey," she said around a mouthful of food.

"Well, Rey. I am Jase."

She waved with her free hand.

"How did you end up here in Niima Outpost?"

"Mummy and Daddy left me here," she said, her voice catching. She stuffed another piece of roll in her mouth before she could cry.

Jase set his mouth, looking at her in pity.

"I'm tired," she said.

He snapped out of his staring. "Right. Here, let me make up a bed for you."

He scurried around collecting blankets for her.

There was a large basin, which he filled with the blankets.

Jase glanced over at the little girl, who, in the ten minutes this task had taken, had fallen asleep on his floor.

He smiled and lifted her gently, placing her into the basin.

She shifted in her sleep, smiling slightly.

Jase smiled as she stuck her thumb clumsily into her mouth.

The little girl's hair splayed out around her chubby face.

He extinguished his lantern and changed behind a sheet before climbing into bed himself.