Saga And The Universe Is Cheering - Vignette

Title: And The Universe Is Cheering
Author: Indra
Genre: Vignette
Characters: several OCs
Disclaimer: The characters belong to me. The universe they're living in and the Jedi belong to George Lucas.

Notes: Thanks to Shaindl for the beta and good sentence suggestions.
Please tell me what you think of this, although there are none of our favourite characters in it. Like it? Hate it? Let me know.



Life on the planet of Trethar was hard. It was a planet that took everything and gave nothing in return. D?liyan had known that all his life. He had known it as a child because his father and mother were away every day to feed him and his sister, he had known it as a youth because he had stopped going to school much too early and he had known it as an adult, because his parents had never lived to see their grandchildren being born.

The house he now lived in with his wife and three children was small and old. It was the same house he had grown up in as had his father before him and his grandfather before that. The stone by now was porous, the wood rotten and the clay that held it all together so degraded that when it rained the water came through in too many places to stop it."

D?liyan?s oldest daughter had just left school at the age of ten. By now she could read, write and calculate enough to trade goods and not be cheated. It would have to be enough. The youngest had just started her classes, learning what the government wanted her to learn and not what was true. Not that D?liyan would ever say as much out loud, not even in his own home. It was exactly the sort of thing that had cost his parents their lives at only forty years of age.

The way to his small field and the few stalls that kept his family alive was a familiar one and just as familiar was the bowed figure of Rasol in the dark, who left his house at the same time as D?liyan and who would meet him on the path every day.

?Morning, Rasol.?

The other nodded to him and they walked for a while without speaking. After a few minutes, without looking at D?liyan, Rasol said, ?You heard about those Jedi coming in??

D?liyan uttered a confirmative sound. Yes, he?d heard about them. Lisha had told them yesterday at supper after work, telling them with all the enthusiasm of a six-year-old that she had seen them in their brown robes, tall and imposing. D?liyan had warned her not to get too near, that they had no business with people from the Core-worlds. She had nodded gravely, her eyes wide, noting the seriousness of his order and they had proceeded to talk of other things.

?Here to witness some ceremony, Paro heard.?

D?liyan snorted at Rasol?s words. ?Paro hears too much.?

They continued on in silence, only nodding at each other briefly before their paths split up and they both disappeared in the darkness of the early morning.

*****************

It was the sixth day of the cycle which meant that he had to go into town and would not see his children before they went to bed. It was dark by the time he left the farm and headed for Brulta territory, his old horse pulling the cart behind them. D?liyan didn?t dare to sit on the cart, hoping to preserve the animal?s strength. It took them three hours to reach the town hall, where they lined up with the other farmers. Several heads nodded at D?liyan and he nodded grimly back.

It took another two hours until it was his turn.

?Name?? The man behind the dark wooden desk in front of the small one-room building didn?t look up as he addressed D?liyan.

?D?liyan Wrassel.?

The man searched briefly on the list lying before him. ?Two hundred pounds of corn, three hundred pounds of earth rujas, one hundred fifty eggs.?

?It?s on the cart.? Two men came forward, took the goods, weighed them and carried them into the shed next to the hall.

The man behind the desk made a cross on his paper. ?Next!?

It took D?liyan only an hour and a half to get home without the goods.

****************

Sh?rila was still awake when h

 

I just love the world-weariness in this. You know that D'liyan wants to stand up, wants to fight, but he doesn't know how anymore. And with a wife and children, he can't. I love the ambiguity of not knowing who the Jedi are or why the planet is not what it appears. Or who knows? Maybe it's a great planet and D'liyan is the one who's warped.

No worries on the beta - my pleasure. Forgot to tell you too how much I loved the title - it seems so cheerful and then...

Shaindl

 

Not at all what I expected, but very moving. Beautiful work.

 

Shaindl Thanks again so much for the kind words. It's a great encouragement.

MY-T-Chewbacca That was the whole idea. Glad you like it and thanks a lot for taking the time to read and review.

 

Not what I expected, given the title. But, like all of your work it was amazing. Lovely, as always.

 

That was so sad. I certainly didn't expect it with the title but it made perfect sense. Great job.

 

VaderLVR64 and dianethx Thanks for the praise. It means a lot that the two of you are reading and enjoying this. I'm always a bit unsure about those sort of viggies, because it could be that people love it or that they think you've gone mad. Glad to know that it was the first possibility this time.

 

Of course, you may have gone made but we still love your writing. There is always that possiblity!