A Wookie Mistake

Josephine Bennett

My R2D2 text tone chirps at me while I sip my morning coffee from a cheap paper cup, courtesy
of Holiday Inn continental breakfast. Lifting my phone off the table I press down on the
notification and open my messages.
*Unknown Number*
Hey, it's Hannah :)

I think for a second, realizing I don't know any Hannah’s, or at least haven't since back in grade
school.

Hannah who?

I shoot back, hoping to get some clarification.

Don't be silly, Hannah from the bar last night! You know, the bartender who you kept flirting
with and gave your number to when you closed out?

As someone who is now three years sober, I don’t go to bars unless I’m meeting someone, and
last night I was in bed watching some old show on the local cable network until almost three
AM.

I wasn't out at any bar last night, I think you have the wrong number, sorry.

After a few minutes without a response, I thought that was the end of it. I finished what was left
of my breakfast, a sad blueberry muffin, and made my way back to my room to get started on my
task for today. I've been on the road for about three weeks now, traveling across the country
doing random acts of kindness for those who need it. The whole excursion is paid for by my
sponsors who are huge supporters of my vision. I’m currently staying in a lively little town,
arrived yesterday, and today will be the day I go out and help someone.

I start by searching for locals who have gone through something tragic, usually there's something
in the paper or online and if there’s not, I'm usually able to find someone while driving through
the city center of wherever I'm at. After a few hours of searching, I came across and reached out
to a family who just lost their daughter to a car accident last night, someone ran her off the road
causing her to wrap her car around a tree. There were two sets of tire skids on the road at the
point where her car went off, and the other car didn't stick around.

Happy R2D2 noises came from my phone again.

Sorry for the random text then, he must have given me a fake. Probably has a girlfriend or
something.

I shot a text back.

No worries, he probably wasn't worth it anyways.

I slipped into my grey button-down coat and made my way out to my car. Sitting down into the
leather bucket seats I pulled out my phone and dialed up the parents of the deceased girl. "Hi is
this Mrs. or Mr. Solo?" I asked when someone answered the phone. "Yes, this is Mr. Solo, may I
ask who's calling?" "Yes sir, this is Lucas Walker, I had reached out not too long ago about me
coming out and helping pay for the funeral costs and anything else I can do to assist you and
your wife through this process." "Oh yes, sorry. With everything going on, my head has been all
over the place. Can you meet us at the Cantina on third? We’re meeting up with some of her
friends so it would be nice for them to meet you as you’ll be helping us out." "Sounds good to
me, I'll see you all soon." My 2019 Chevy Silverado growled to life as I turned the key in the
ignition, I pulled up the map directions to the bar on my phone and before I could set it into the
holder another text popped up on my screen.

Honestly, you're probably right. A couple questions for you, are you one of the good ones and if
so, would you possibly want to keep talking? You seem nice, not everyone would keep on a
conversation with a random number.

Yeah, I'd be down. I'm always down to cheer up and help people, plus you seem like a lovely
person so far.

I placed my phone in the holder and clicked start on the GPS, not even fifteen minutes later I
pulled up to the Cantina. An old red brick building buzzing with life, the sound of upbeat jazz
making its way out of the building and into the ears of the people walking down the street. I
stepped out of my car and made my way towards the door, a bell jingling as I walked inside. I
found the Solos sitting at a booth near the back, a few people sitting with them, talking about last
night’s happenings. I walked over and introduced myself to the group and sat down. "I can't
believe this happened" one girl, she had said her name was Laney, sitting opposite of me, brown
hair pulled back into space buns sighed "at least the car went with her, she loved that thing, and it
feels right that it is hers forever." "What type of car was it?" I asked, the new I’d seen didn't
provide any photos or descriptions of the car, so maybe I could do something with that to help
the family out. "It was a Ford Falcon, her pride and joy."

My phone buzzed in my pocket, I pulled it out and read the new message.

So, what do you do for fun? I'm sorry, I haven't asked you your name yet.

I like helping people, meaning I love my job since it involves traveling around the country and
doing things for people that need it. Also my name is Lucas.
"She wasn't supposed to work last night" a guy said, pulling my attention back up from my
phone, his name was Ben, if I remembered correctly. "The last text I got from her was her telling
me about this guy who kept buying drink after drink and chatting her up." "She doesn't usually
flirt with customers while she's working" Laney responded to Ben, then she turned to me to
explain "as a bartender she gets a lot of drunk weirdos hitting on her".

My phone buzzed in my hand.

I like the name Lucas, can I call you Luke? I've always wanted to know someone with that name,
huge Star Wars fan especially with being named after a character.

I caught myself smiling at my phone.

I suppose you can call me Luke, also gotta love a girl who knows her Star Wars. Tell me
something fun about yourself.

"Nothing will be the same without Hannah" my head snapped up and in the direction of where
the voice came from, Mrs. Solo was dabbing her eyes with a towel, Mr. Solo patting his wife's
back soothingly to calm her down some.

I looked back to my phone as I got another message, starting to feel a little uneasy.

I have a secret talent that I developed and is probably the coolest thing about me; I can actually
speak Wookie. It’s silly I know, but my friends and family love it.

Hey Hannah, your last name doesn’t happen to be Solo, does it?

YES! Oh my god, how did you know?

Just a lucky guess since you mentioned being named after a character earlier. May I ask what
kind of car you drive?

A Ford Falcon why?

You mentioned you’re a bartender, do you work at a bar called The Cantina?

It seems you've figured out quite a bit about me haven't you.

Where are you right now?

Use the Force and sense where I'm at :)

I felt a cool breeze brush along my neck.

There’s no way that was you, is there?

Look at you using the Force.