ALPENIA (The Cruel Small Town)

First Spell

Having just calmed down after passing the exam period, Naya's heart was again made restless. Not sure if now, he will express the feeling that had been sitting in his chest. He had dared to lower his ego to reveal everything. Because in his mind, usually the man first expressed love, not the other way around.

Naya deliberately invites Renaldi to come to her workplace cafe. And the young man agreed.

Still wearing his work uniform, Renaldi sat opposite the girl whose face looked tense.

"Tumbens. Will you buy me a meal?" joked Renaldi with a laugh.

Naya was still thinking about the worst possible, she was afraid that expectations would break her heart again and again.

"Lo's sick?" Renaldi's face turned anxious, when he realized Naya's face was deathly pale.

Naya let out a long breath, "gue wants to talk to you."

The girl's speech came to a halt for a while, making the young man before her anxious.

"What?"

"City ... I ..." he looked seriously at the young man.

Meanwhile, Renaldi only raised an eyebrow at the unusual behavior of his best friend.

"Gue likes you!" Finally, those words came out of Naya's mouth, after a long time.

"OKAY. I also. I knew it a long time ago. If we don't like each other, where might we be legitimate," Renaldi replied, misunderstanding the words that Naya had just said.

"I mean. I like lo, more than that," explained Naya made Renaldi a little surprised.

The guy was confused what to say. The problem is, he only considers Naya as his best friend.

For a few seconds they both remained silent. Naya soon realizes that her feelings are unrequited. I really want it to feel like she's crying. But all this time, Renaldi always saw him as a strong figure. So, let himself remain that way in the eyes of the young man who had just broken his heart and hope.

Finally, the girl put on a bitter smile, and got up from her seat, "uh, yes. There are customers. Go back to work there!"

Renaldi restrained the girl's wrist, saying, "gue love lo, Nay. Our friendship is epic.  Our relationship if as a pair of lovers, will not be as special as that. So let's keep it that way."

Naya did not dare to look into the young man's eyes, finally just answering with a simple word, "yes." Then, his feet chose to leave Renaldi.

Naya passed through the pantry quickly, her tears had accumulated a lot in the fertilizer. And when he arrived in the bathroom, the grain fell by itself. Apparently, the first love that was avenged pain was that bad.

***

"Quaerarierina, Hilpha."

It was a search spell written on Jatiya's magic book. With lips still not used to tasting strange words, Ulfa read it stammering.

Now, it was the first time he practiced a spell. By preparing a thing related to his sister, he chose Hilfa's favorite clothes as a liaison. He also lit candles as a complement to the mantra.

"Jatiya. What if we find the person we're looking for?" he told himself the truth. Because there was no one else in his room. But Jatiya was still inside his body.

"When the candle burns out, you will get an omen," Jatiya replied whispering in her mind.

After a while of waiting, and upset by the candle that had not yet melted, Ulfa felt anxious, "indeed to wait a long time gini, huh?"

Ulfa frowned, maybe the spell failed because just now he was less focused with strange words and difficult to say. He could not turn his eyes away from the book.

Finally, he decided to memorize the short spell and practice until fluent reciting it. After a few minutes, and dozens of pronunciations, he was ready to try again.

Ulfa closed her eyes, with a heart that still hoped for anxiety, she again uttered, "Quaerarirarina, Hilfa."

Suddenly, the candle before him melted in an instant, and formed a mark on his wooden floor. He was happy because maybe the spell worked, although he did not know what the sign of the melted candle meant.

"Jatiya. I made it?"

"Yes. You succeed. But, the sign produced by the candle is in the form of the letter X. That's a bad sign, there's a good chance that the person wanted has died."

Jatiya's explanation made Ulfa flinch, the happiness of successfully mastering the first spell, turning into sadness that was ready to devour him.

"wait. No way, you said most likely right, the sign is not necessarily. There's a chance Hilfa's still alive, right?" He started to panic and felt like crying.

"Maybe, but very small. And if he lives, then there is a possibility of even worse. It could be, he had been overpowered by evil magic!" Bright Jatiya did not make Ulfa's mood better.

***

Dinner was lavish on the dining table. Silvia immediately called her son who lately more often locked himself in the room.

Annisa is willing to leave her bed, when her mother tells her that her father will not have dinner at home with them.

With a sweet seat, they both eat the food quietly, because there is no one who makes a difference. Incidentally, Aji has a job in a neighboring town. Understandably, the company is there.

"Your test is done today, right?" Silvia started the conversation.

"Yes Ma," Annisa replied while nodding.

Suddenly, the door to their apartment opened. Footsteps sounded echoing that turned out to be caused from Aji's shoes that had just entered.

Suddenly, the appetite of the two women was gone. In fact, Annisa deliberately slammed the spoon so loud that it sounded loudly about the plate. He intended to leave this unpleasant atmosphere.

However, his mother winked at him, signalling him not to behave like that.

"Honey. Look, what did papa bring you?" Vigorously, Aji raised some paperbags that were in his hands, showing them to Annisa.

"Honey. Is your work done?" silvia asked her husband.

While Annisa was still unmoved, resisting the vexation by clenching the hand she had hidden under the table.

"Come, baby. When are you going to act like this?" said Aji who saw his daughter's face was holding anger. He immediately lowered the groceries from his hands onto the table.

Annisa stood up, she immediately touched the paperbag, and peeked at what was inside. Afterwards, he casually said, "I don't like any of this. Especially if you buy papa money."

"What do you mean?" aji's tone turned cold.

"Come on. papa knows for yourself, I mean what." The end of the word from Annisa, and immediately rushed back to her room. He thought, it is better to dwell on his military social media, rather than serving the harsh reality of his father.

Aji growled, he clenched his hands and gnashed his jaw in annoyance. His daughter has really gone too far. And, the one who deserves the most blame here is Silvia, his wife who has influenced their daughter to hate him. He thinks.