((I apologize in advance for the length of this post.
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“Girl! Get in here NOW!” the man shouted from the doorway. Jessa gave a loud sigh and thought as she turned to go into the dwelling,
I have a name. Why can’t that idiot learn to call me by name? She walked over to him and retorted, “My name is Jessa. Learn to call me by my NAME.” The man wasn’t pleased with her reply and quickly backhanded her. Jessa didn’t react to the blow and just glared at the man. “You need to learn your place.” The man growled out as he roughly grabbed Jessa by the arm and dragged her inside. “Your help is needed in the kitchen, and I had better not hear anything bad.” He told her, but Jessa refused to answer and her owner just shoved her into the kitchen, where she was immediately put to work.
“Work, work, work.” Jessa muttered to herself. “That’s all I ever do around here.” Anger welled up in her and she couldn’t help but shout out, “I’m sick of this!” The man was still outside the kitchen, and he burst in and glared at Jessa. “You hush up and get to work. If you don’t learn your place soon, maybe I’ll just hand you over to the Vong and let THEM deal with you.” Jessa didn’t seem fazed by his threat and she retorted, “Go ahead. I’m not afraid of those idiotic Vong.” Her owner seemed shocked at first, but his shock soon turned into anger and he leaped forward and grabbed Jessa by the back of her neck. Dragging her out of the kitchen, her owner said, “Maybe a few days locked in your room with no food will teach you some respect!” Jessa opened her mouth to reply, but her owner roughly shook her and her protest died on her lips. Once they arrived at her small room, her owner essentially threw her into the room and then locked the door from the outside. “Learn some respect, girl, or else things will not go so easily for you.” He told her from the hallway. Jessa had scurried into a corner as soon as she hit the floor and just listened as his footsteps receded. “He must be an idiot if he thinks I’m going to just stay here and take this abuse!” Jessa muttered to herself as she rummaged under her bed for the cloak she had managed to salvage.
Pushing open her small window, Jessa wiggled through the narrow opening and dropped to the roof as silently as she could. Moving toward the edge of the roof, she peered over to see if the coast was clear and then jumped to the ground. Hiding in the shadows, she swirled the cloak around herself and lifted the hood so that her features were hidden. Her heart was hammering in her chest, but whether it was fear or anticipation it was difficult for her to tell. She knew what the punishment would be if she were caught, and she took a deep breath and shook her head to clear her mind. Standing up straight, she quickly left the property and headed down the street, keeping to the shadows until her owner’s dwelling was out of sight.
I need somewhere to hide… Jessa thought as she glanced around. Seeing a bustling cantina nearby, she darted across to it and slipped into the interior. Taking a seat near the door, she kept her hood up as she scanned the patrons, startling slightly when she saw the Vong, and she was once again thankful for her cloak. Meanwhile, her owner had noticed how silent it had gotten and went to investigate. When he saw Jessa’s empty room, he gave a roar of outrage and immediately notified the authorities that she had once again run away.