ALPENIA (The Cruel Small Town)

A Different Birthday

The girl's body was still sculpting, only her mind was moving, trying to find a way to get through this strange occurrence.

Ulfa looked around, the sinister shadow still gnawing at her. And, suddenly the indistinct voice that had been struggling in his head earlier, was now beginning to adapt in his ears. It turns out that there are words of someone who calls his name.

"Ulfa, you are our descendant. From now on, you've officially become a part of us."

Reaching the words with a raucous voice made Ulfa even more afraid. Several times he convinced himself that everything he experienced was just a dream.

Who said that? There's no way it's a prank for birthday people, right? Who would do it in the middle of the night?

Without Ulfa knowing, a shadow has penetrated into his body through the back to absorb into the blood vessels. And, when that happened, the pond girl immediately fell onto the tile and ended up losing consciousness.

It didn't take long, about a minute later, Ulfa got back up. However, something is unusual. The girl's eyes had not opened and she was still unconscious. It was as if something was controlling him from within, thus making his body float, bringing him back to bed.

***

Ulfa was aghast when she opened her eyes, convincing herself that the events of last night were just a dream. The proof is that he is in bed now. Because the last thing he remembered was when his entire vision went dark shortly after the creepy voice whispered to him.

Sunday morning can not be used to relax and laze, because tomorrow will be held the tengha semester exam. After taking a bath, Ulfa intends to read the material that will be tested tomorrow.

He stared at the shelf in the corner of his room that contained textbooks. And suddenly, one of the books fell out on its own. The Natural Sciences. Incidentally, he was going to read the book. Finally, he did not need to search or search.

Ulfa began to read, trying to digest all the writing contained in the sheets of paper that he moved from page to page. Strangely enough, with a single moment of reading, he understood. Even about the material that he once did not understand at all when described by the teacher at school. It is both surprising and a relief at the same time.

There was one forgotten thing that he immediately remembered when he heard the sound coming from his stomach, that he had not had breakfast. Therefore, for a moment Ulfa stopped the activity of reading it, then sauntered into the kitchen, looking for food. Hopefully his father or mother has made breakfast before leaving for their store. He was lazy to come in contact with the frying pan, stove, and his friends.

And apparently, no breakfast is ready to eat. With a heavy heart, Ulfa had to cook. He looked at the fridge, trying to get an egg. Suddenly, the refrigerator door opened a little by itself.

What's up with today? It was a book, now a fridge. Although a little surprising, but these things are not very popular. It's okay, nature may be making it easier, special edition for girls who are having a birthday. He still thinks what does those things is the wind. Considering the refrigerator is old, maybe the door is lackluster.

Ulfa smiled, "let's happen again, like make me that food, '" he murmured.

And, there was a 'little', the sound of the stove control button lighting up by itself. Ulfa's eyes were opened suddenly, regretting the words he had spoken just now.

He stared at the fire in the furnace intently. His eyes are not deceiving. It's true, someone lit the stove. But who? There's no way the wind is anymore, right?

Intent on cooking, Ulfa blurted out by directly running into her room, after turning off the fire that had lit on the stove earlier, this time actually using her hands.

With a sense of alert, his eyeballs went around the entire corner of the room. His heart was pounding, his breath was hunting, with the mind raging at the thought of nothing.

"Yesterday night is not a dream!"

***

And how relieved, when the door was opened, Ulfa saw that there was Annisa, Naya, and Iswanti, carrying a round chocolate-flavored birthday cake, while singing a birthday song.

Ulfa invited them in and sat down. Then, celebrate the little party by making hope and blowing out candles. Finally his birthday gets a happy impression after the creepy disturbances.

Happiness only got there, because after that Ulfa showed a moody face. He remembered his sister. Usually when there are house people who have a birthday, he and Hilfa will fight each other who will get the most part of the cake, the most, although at the end of the day he had to give up because his father and mother always said he had grown up. It was realized, that the thing that made him upset at that time, now was a beautiful moment.

His eyes filled with water stuck in the fertilizer, will soon surely slide down his cheeks. And suddenly, a piece of tissue floated right in front of Ulfa's face without any hands holding or directing.

The situation returned strange, the four girls deftly stood up in fear then close their bodies to each other, amazed by what their eyes saw.

Ulfa, moreover, the fourth time he experienced a similar incident.

"Fa, it's not funny to know!" annisa said trembling.

"I should have said that, could this be all prank from you guys?" suhut Ulfa unceasingly stared at the still-floating tissue.

The three men shook their heads, rejecting Ulfa's accusation.

The wipes fell when Ulfa's grief was gone, replaced by fear.

After taking a breath and calming down, Naya asked, "Iswanti, you don't have a sixth sense, you saw something just now?"

Iswanti shrugged her shoulders, because she actually saw nothing. His eyesight was the same as his friends, he only saw the peerless piece of tissue drifting.

"Gue had experienced something strange from last night. The glass fell on its own, the book too, the refrigerator opened itself, the stove itself, and just now the tissue flew. Is it possible that this is the guardian of the house?" lang Ulfa concluded that the coincidences that happened to him were not actually caused by nature, but the actions of other creatures and interrelated.

"But I didn't see anything. Or could it be, my vision is not very sensitive?" iswanti replied unsure.

Amidst the confusion and fear, the door of Ulfa's house opened from the outside. It was Syifa, her mother who came in a hurry. Hugged his son tightly.

"Mama forgot the date. Do not remember if today you are birthday, fortunately just fit earlier in the store there are customers who ask for dates, mama check HP, and remember, today is your birth date. Happy birthday, baby," said Syifa a little exaggerated for people who just forget the birthday date, because while crying.

Ulfa was astonished to make, the previous years Syifa also said birthday to him when returning from the store. Unlike now, her mother deliberately left the store in the middle of her rush hour.

Ulfa laughed blandly, "what's wrong? Today's mama's really weird, mama left the store just to say happy birthday?"

Syifa tried to calm down, not without reason for her acting like this, "your birthday this time will be different, you must have felt it too!" obviously Syifa was still indigestible to the same four people.