Valmet strode the barracks, expecting they’d be empty as her new squad was away on a mission that she had been too late graduating from training to be involved in. She sighed and walked in. The pile of stuff on her bed didn’t really look inviting as she tried to shove it further into the corner so she could lie down.

Remembering that there was a comic she wanted to finish, she dug it out of the pile and lay back with her head on the pillow and her hands –holding the comic book- rested on her chest. For some reason, that she was completely unaware of, she felt quite depressed and after a few minutes of reading, she threw the comic back onto the pile of various things, some of which Valmet didn’t really want to know about. She found herself sinking into a state of melancholy that she couldn’t avoid and for the first time since she signed up, she thought about her parents, well mainly the one she actually liked; her father.

She sighed, rolling onto her side, facing wall, and curled into a ball. Spotting a present from her ex-drill instructor, Mako, she pulled the C3POD from the pile and began looking through the list of songs for something she felt like listening to. Valmet came across some of The Max Rebo Band’s songs and placed the earphones in her ears. Her father was getting old… Maybe he’d die soon and Valmet found herself wondering if she’d have the courage to face her mother at his funeral.
“I can always use the work excuse not to go…” she thought out loud, kicking one of the books in the pile gently as she considered that thought. “But knowing my mother, she’d talk to the high-ups and make them give me the time off…” She sighed again and decided to finally get some sleep.

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To be Continued..