Listen, children, here is a story.
One day Depur took a slave very young from his family and put him all alone in Depur's palace. Depur made the child to clean the palace and all of his belongings. And the child did what he was told because he had to.
The child felt a great and insurmountable sense of grief at the loss of his family. He wished that he had been killed instead of taken away. For he could not bear this grief.
The child felt a deep, aching loneliness that did not have a beginning or an end. For he did not have a family. He did not have a parent. All that he had was a Depur.
He grieved his family every second of every day and night. And it built and built and built up inside of him. Until he was left with a weight he could not even begin to try to carry.
All the while Depur grew rich and feasted off of the work that the slaves did. And Depur continued to build his wealth.
One day Depur took the small child and told him something,
"If you do all your work without complaint and you always do as I tell you to you will be a good child. And if you do not do what I want you to do then you will be bad. And so you must be a good boy and do what I say."
This child was a young child and wanted to impress the one adult person in his life. So he resolved to be good. He resolved to win what little approval he could from Depur.
And by doing this Depur was able to chip away at his very spirit. Depur was able to chip into the longings for freedom in his soul that is inherent to every slave, that every slave needs in order to endure.
And so this child was miserable, extremely miserable, and he had no distant lightning to guide him. And he was resigned to his lot in life and he tried, with everything they had, to be good.
He did his work into the night every day. Cleaning the floors and the walls and all of Depur's very many fine objects. He worked until his bones and flesh and mind and heart were overcome and still he worked more.
For on occasion Depur praised him and his young heart clung to that praise as if clinging to a lifeline. He did not see how it was eating him up inside. Parasitizing on his heart.
Ekkreth was going about the world, doing what Ekkreth does. They came to the palace of Depur late one night and heard the sound of the most mournful, melancholy song they had ever heard in their life. They had to know what was the source of this song. Who of the Mother's children was making such a mournful melody? What hardship did they go through to be singing this song?
Ekkreth took the form of a Kirik fly and flew through the bars on one of the windows in Depur's palace. They followed the sound down the long twisting hallways. There, in a supply closet not big enough to walk five paces, there was a child lying on the floor, huddled into themselves. The child was singing a mournful tune that made Ekkreth's heart bleed, and seeing their wretched state made Ekkreth's breath catch in their throat.
Ekkreth took the form of a Twi'lek and sat down beside the child.
"What is troubling you so?" Ekkreth asked the child, in a soft, gentle voice full of care and concern.
The child startled, and then sat up, looking at Ekkreth with wide eyes.
"I am not troubled," he lied to both himself and Ekkreth, "I am simply trying to sing myself to sleep."
Ekkreth knew then that this child didn't have a parent to sing him to sleep and thought that he must be mourning because he missed his family.
"Child, do you miss your family?"
"I do. But Depur is the only family I need. He feeds me and houses me and he provides for me."
Hearing this, Ekkreth's heart was very disturbed. They had never heard a slave speak positively of Depur before and it filled them with much anxiety.
"Why do you speak so well of your Depur?" Ekkreth asked the child.
"Because he gives me what I need." Ekkreth was very disturbed to hear this. But they still put comforting the child as their first priority.
"Would you like me to sing you to sleep?" they asked. The child's eyes went wide at this.
"Oh would you?" His voice was full of surprise and awe. Did no-one sing this child to sleep before? Ekkreth's heart ached.
"I'll hold you until the suns come up," Ekkreth began singing, "I'll hold you until I can't. I'll hold you when the rains comes down. And they'll never tell me I can't."
Ekkreth sang the child to sleep and then resolved to see what this child's life was, so that they could see why the child was so compliant.
Ekkreth changed shape to become a fimblespider and observed Depur's palace from the walls. They saw the child going about his work silently and diligently, but with sadness hidden in his eyes. And they saw Depur never acknowledge him at all but rather go about eating and drinking his fine, choice foods and wines and going about his business and pleasure.
Finally at the end of the day Depur told the child that he was satisfied with his work. And the child's face lit up in a smile. Seeing this, Ekkreth's heart broke. Was the child so deprived of any kindness or gentleness that he took this shadow of affection and clung to it hard enough to loose sight of his selfhood?
Ekkreth vowed to let the child know what real kindness looked like and what real kindness he deserved. They vowed to let the child know that he was loved very much and did not need to go to Depur to seek affection.
And so Ekkreth travelled all amongst the people. They told them the story of the child who was locked away in Depur's palace. And the people heard it and felt a great sadness in their hearts.
Ekkreth brought out a string of jerba and told the people to talk to it as if it were the boy. The people told the boy to be strong. That they all loved him. They all wanted him to be free. And they all wanted him to be a child and to be happy with his family. They wished that he had no Depur and that he had no work and that he had no loneliness. They told the boy that their hearts were breaking at his loneliness and his sadness. And they told him that they wanted the boy to know that he was loved. He was loved beyond all measure by so many people. By all the slaves. That he did not need to look to Depur for approval, for he already had the approval of the people. They told the boy to love himself and to know that all the slaves were always united together as one in their souls, however far they might be from each other. And he could find strength from knowing that truth and from feeling it in his heart. They told the jerba cord that their hearts were breaking for the boy. And they wanted the boy to know it. To feel it.
Ekkreth took the jerba cord and hid it within their clothing. Then they thanked the people and promised them that the boy would know all that they had said and thought and felt.
The people thanked Ekkreth for helping the boy and Ekkreth took their leave.
Ekkreth then searched throughout the people. They searched far and wide. For the family of the boy who had to give him up in order for him to be safe. Ekkreth asked everyone if they had known anyone who had lost a son to Depur's cruelty. And there were many, many people who did, in one way or another. And Ekkreth gave out their deep condolences to each and every one of them. But eventually Ekkreth found the family of the boy. And they told the family that they knew where the boy was.
The family was much relieved to know that their child was not dead. But they were horrified to learn what fate had befallen him. They were even more horrified to learn that the child had given up hope. That he thought he only had Depur and Depur was his only source of love. They wanted nothing more than to take the boy into their arms and keep him safe forever, as all families want to do with their children. But they knew that they could not. For Depur's powers were too strong.
But Ekkreth told them that there was one thing they could do. They could let the child know that he was loved. The family asked how. And Ekkreth took the jerba cord out and showed it to them. Ekkreth told them to speak to the jerba cord as if they were speaking to the child himself. And the family held the cord close and they did.
They told the child that they thought about him each and every day. That they loved him and ached for him and that their hearts broke to see him so heartbroken and trapped. They told him that he was their baby boy and they had lovingly raised him since he was a baby. They told him that they wanted to take him into their arms and lovingly raise him until he grew up. But they couldn't. But they could and they did love him and they would always love him.
They told the little boy that they wanted him to be free. They wanted him to be free and safe and at peace. They wanted him to play and learn and be with his family and with his people. They wanted him to have a childhood full of love and joy and freedom.
They told him to stay strong.
Ekkreth's thanked them and they thanked Ekkreth for finding their boy. For helping him.
What Ekkreth did next was take the jerba cord and talk to it themselves. They told the cord of freedom. Of love. Of community. Unity. Solidarity. All things that the child deserved. All things that the child would know one day, under the pouring rainstorm, in a life that would open up to everyone one day.
Ekkreth took the cord and went to the boy. The boy was asleep in his tiny closet on the floor. And he was a tiny, pathetic figure huddling into himself against the loneliness.
Ekkreth gently shook the child to wake him up. And the child was tired but delighted to see Ekkreth again.
"Will you sing to me again tonight?" The child asked.
"Even better," Ekkreth replied, "I have something for you."
Ekkreth held out the jerba cord. And it was a small, singular, tiny piece of string that was dark brown and really rather simple. Rather innocuous.
"What is this?" The child asked.
Ekkreth told him of how they went out to all the people and walked among them. They told him of all the things the people thought and felt upon hearing about the child and his fate. Ekkreth told them of all the things that the people told the jerba cord. All the things that the people wanted to tell him.
The boy listened with wide eyes and a serious, disbelieving expression. When Ekkreth was done talking, the child could not believe it. He was loved! By all the slaves! This gave him a great joy in his heart, though it did not wash away the misery and sorrow. Still, it gave him strength.
"They really love me?" The boy asked, tone disbelieving.
"They do," Ekkreth promised him, "and they always will."
Ekkreth then told him about his family. Told him that Ekkreth had found his family. And the child was beyond amazed. He did not know that his family still thought of him. Because Depur had told him that they did not. And so Ekkreth had to reassure him for a long time that he did have a family and they did indeed love him.
The child remembered memories of his family, faint and distant. And those memories gave him comfort, though they didn't wash away all the pain and misery.
Ekkreth told the child of all the things his family had said to him through the jerba cord. And the child was amazed.
Ekkreth sang the child to sleep again. And this time the child seemed a little more secure. A little more sure.
Ekkreth left with their heart singing.
The next day Ekkreth returned to the child. They asked the child if he no longer looked to Depur for approval.
The child answered that the need to impress Depur had lessened. He knew that he was his own person now. But the feeling to look to Depur as a source of love and approval was still strong. And he could not fight against it.
Ekkreth asked why. And the child responded that it was because he was still so distanced from all the people who loved him. The only person he was close to was Depur.
Ekkreth knew that there was nothing they could do about that. But Ekkreth knew that they had to give the child something to hold into. So Ekkreth taught their spirit how to Skywalk.
Ekkreth taught the child how to take their soul and lead it through the skies far away to where the people were, to where the boy's people were, and how to feel close to them in their soul. Ekkreth taught the child how to Skywalk whenever they needed it.
And the child found strength. He found a way to feel close to the people, the people who he knew loved him.
The child was still far away from his people and his family nonetheless. As close as his soul was to their souls, they could not spend time together and take care of each other the way the child needed. The child was still alone and lonely and full of sorrow. The child still only had Depur as the only adult who was completely near him and he still he had to live and work in Depur's palace.
The child still longed for Dukkra.
But the child had the strength to hate Depur.
And that was a victory.
I tell you this story to save your life.
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