The Sand Girl

S T O R M

Sand.

As far as the eye could see. Not a home in sight. Nothing but sand.

A wasteland.

The moon shone in the sky as the wind blew tiny particles of sand in all directions, like stardust in the breeze. Nothing and no one could survive in conditions like these; everything that once filled these parts was dead and gone. Only a man, or droid, of the strongest will could survive a night in the sand storms of Tatooine.

Sand moved endlessly like a never resting ocean, devouring anything in its path with one swift movement. This land was a grave yard to all who entered it. A path to certain doom.

But this night a small voice rang out in the never ending darkness. The voice of a girl, too small to amount to anything at all, drifted over the sand echoing onto the night. She was no more than another lost soul in the vast desert of the barren planet.

Rhina Takween, a small fragile human girl, no older than three, wandered in the sand covered hell, which was sure to be her grave. Her small voice faded away with every passing gust of wind. Her hair was thrown all around her in a brown mess as she trudged on. She didn't know how she had gotten here, only that she wanted her mother and father more than anything in the world. Sand filled her tear soaked eyes as she screamed and cried not wanting to be here any longer.

The deserts of Tatooine were no place for a child, let alone one as fragile as Rhina. The weather conditions were relentless and unforgiving. They stopped for nothing and no one. The universe would keep its course. This child was not part of any bigger plan, she simply was. She had no future, no past. She was meant to die here in this never ending storm, and never be found, disposed of while nature took its course.

Since the beginning of time she was meant to die in this desert, on this very night, at this very moment. This was always meant to be. With her death the universe would stay in harmonious balance and life would go one for every live creature, and no one would remember a small girl by the name Rhina Takween.

The girl fell to her knees, unable to go on. She was worn down to the core by her effort to stay alive till morning. She curled up in a ball in the sand that threatened to cover her shaking body. Her sobs stopped, the air was still.

This was always meant to be.

Then, something unbelievable happened.

A light shone on the horizon.

The cosmic balance was uneasy. The force was drawn to this small girl's shaking form. It was felt by even the weakest of creatures.

Jobe Jhalla was making his way back home from a long and perils journey. He rode on a make-shift speeder bike as he zoomed through the endless desert. As he rode on, a feeling soon hit him, like a bullet fired from a gun. He stopped his bike in order to regain himself from the sudden overwhelming ache in his chest.

The force was disturbed; this was not the way it was meant to happen. Time was being rewritten as Jobe climbed off his bike, hand clutching his chest.

Sand danced in the wind creating a whirlwind around the small girl that was causing so much trouble.

Nothing was right. This was not the way.

Jobe felt the force like no man had ever felt it before. It crushed him and forced him to his knees. The wind began to pick up; Jobe was certain he was dying. The girl stirred in her sleep causing more and more chaos all around her.

Every Jedi known to man felt this great disturbance as the universe shifted. Time was altered as Jobe clawed at the sand surrounding him. His goggles were the only things protecting his watering eyes from the storm.

The small girl cried out as the storm grew harsher; Jobe heard her and lifted his head toward the noise.

She sat up as if lifted by an invisible hand. Her eyes opened to reveal glowing orbs of pure light.

Jobe saw the light and thought it was his death calling to him. Filled with fear he straightened up his hair and hood being blown back by the harsh wind, his arms opening up to greet what he thought was death.

The force shifted and stirred as the girl turned to face the older man before her, filled with a sudden meaning and purpose. She was rewriting her own destiny as she was lifted off her feet into the thick air. Her hair danced around her in a whirlwind of golden brown locks.

Jobe watched as a small glowing form was lifted into the air not far from where he was positioned. Something compelled him at that very moment to rush to it. A sudden force pushed him towards the glowing ball of light. It grew larger as he approached, time and space itself fluctuating around the small girl.

Jobe stood directly under it and just like that the light ceased. Filled with confusion he watched as a small girl fell from the sky and into his arms, the child making herself more comfortable in his strong hold.

The wind was gone, the storm was over, and time was rewritten.

Jobe held her with such delicate hands as her eyelids fluttered in her sleep.

He knew not who this child was, nor how she came to be here, but he felt deep down in his soul that he was meant to care for her. Too keep her safe.

The force was at ease once more. The universe continued to turn, and time was finally at rest.

But nothing would ever be the same.