Images & Feelings
Introduction: In either 2018 or 2019, I became aware of a website called astarwarscomic.com The site is a collection of original anthology Star Wars stories presented as six page comic books. The site inspired me to write a couple of short stories, one of them was titled “Images & Feelings”
I originally wrote the story in 2019 but lost the original file. I re-wrote it from memory in late May, 2022. Below is draft 2 of the re-write. Could this work as a 6 page comic book? You tell me.
PROLOGUE
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LUKE
Leia... do you remember your mother? Your real mother?
LEIA
Just a little bit. She died when I was very young.
LUKE
What do you remember?
LEIA
Just...images, really. Feelings.
LUKE
Tell me.
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STAR WARS
Images & Feelings
A short story in the style of A Star Wars Comic
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EXT. ALDERAAN - THE ROYAL PALACE
6 MONTHS AFTER THE RISE OF THE EMPIRE
[There is a montage of images related to the text as a NARRATOR sets the table.]
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NARRATOR
The galaxy has fallen.
Tyranny spreads like a wildfire, consuming everything in its path.
Despite the loss of freedom,
Despite the growing corruption,
Despite the fear,
There is only one subject of supreme interest among the Royal Court of Alderaan...
The infant Princess Leia won’t stop crying.
She cries throughout the day.
She cries at all hours of the night.
She cries when she is held.
She cries when she is put down.
She is not hungry.
She is not wet.
The doctors are baffled.
There is no physical aliment to explain her crying.
The nerves of her parents...
...and her attendants...
...and the guards...
...and anyone within earshot...
are wearing thin.
But one lowly droid may hold the answer.
The key to the problem everyone is so concerned with.
​
INT. PRINCESS LEIA’S NURSERY - NIGHT
[Viceroy BAIL ORGANA and his wife, QUEEN BREHA, stand just outside of the nursery, looking in at the infant PRINCESS LEIA as she cries in her crib.]
BREHA
Are you sure?
BAIL
We leave her alone for one hour and see if she sleeps on her own.
NARRATOR
The door to the nursery is closed. Leia is left alone. And she cries.
And she cries.
And she cries.
Until...
PADMÉ AMIDALA
(hologram)
Hello Luke. Hello Leia.
[R2-D2 has snuck into LEIA’s room and is projecting the hologram of PADMÉ.]
NARRATOR
The crying stops within moments. The infant princess takes no notice of R2-D2. But she is captivated by the hologram of her biological mother, Padmé Amidala.
PADMÉ AMIDALA
(hologram; continued)
As I record this message the two of you...
(she touches her stomach)
...well the two of you are keeping me company right now. Your father is off with Obi-Wan on another of their adventures...
NARRATOR
Secret recordings made by a young mother for her unborn children. Recordings stored in the memory banks of R2-D2. And while droids do not have instincts, R2 seemed to know that Leia was crying for was the sound of her mother’s voice.
[The door to the room opens and BAIL ORGANA stands in the entrance.]
NARRATOR
The sound of silence from the nursery is alarming to Bail Organa and R2’s secret is soon discovered.
Bail Organa is no fool. He knows that the secret recordings stored within R2-D2 pose a danger. If Leia’s true parentage were revealed, it would be a threat; not only to Leia, but to everyone on Alderaan.
The decision is made.
BAIL
Delete all recordings made by or referring to Padmé Amidala.
NARRATOR
R2-D2 beeps, requesting confirmation.
Bail pauses and looks at his sleeping daughter... and had a father’s change of heart. Someday, Leia will need to see these messages. Someday, she will need to learn the truth.
The decision is rescinded.
BAIL
No. New request. Archive all messages made by or referring to Padmé Amidala. Use maximum encryption. Self destruct, if necessary.
NARRATOR
R2-D2 beeps, requesting a password.
BAIL
No password. Decrypt only when...
NARRATOR
Bail pauses and thinks to himself: “under what circumstances would it be safe for Leia to see these messages?”
Deep down, he knows there is only one answer.
BAIL
Decrypt when she finds her brother.
EXT. ALDERAAN - THE ROYAL PALACE - NIGHT
[The reader sees the landscape of Alderaan with the royal palace in the foreground. The moons of Alderaan can be seen in the sky - and the silhouette of an Imperial Star Destroyer hanging over the planet.]
NARRATOR
It is the first peaceful night's sleep on Alderaan in months.
And it may be the last one they ever have.
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