ALPENIA (The Cruel Small Town)

Naya's Awkward Dream

This place feels strange to him. In fact, the trees and flowers looked very different from anything he had seen in his lifetime. However, they look very beautiful. Very soothing to the eyes. In fact, when his hand touched the tree trunk, he felt a very soft senation like cotton, not hard like the tree trunk in general. He also likes the flow of the river with pink water that looks very adorable in front of him.

"Welcome!"

Naya turned to look at the very unfamiliar voice in her ears. His eyes immediately glazed over as he stared at the handsome figure before him. The man he had always wanted for his entire life now seemed very real.

Naya. He immediately hugged the body of a man who had only been able to see himself through a large photo frame hanging on the wall of his room.

"Are you real?" tanya Naya who was still late in her happy cries. "You're my father?" Naya once again looked up and looked at the figure intently.

The figure of the man smiled at Naya very warmly. "I'm your father, son!"

Naya's tears became unbearable. The pleasure and haru in his chest increasingly excited each other. "I'd really like to meet you. It's funny, 'cause I miss you even though we haven't met in person."

The man laughed a little. "Now you meet your father, son! Are you happy?"

"Over than happy! My happiness cannot be expressed in words," explained Naya who was getting more and more excited.

Meanwhile, the man named Sahrul continued to rub the back of his daughter as much as he could. In his arms, he felt Naya's affection for him so great.

Naya refuses to let go of her arms from her father. He waited for this precious moment for so long. He didn't want to lose it so easily.

"Why did you leave me?" asked Naya in her tears.

"I've always been by your side, son. I'm always watching you. And most importantly, I'm always in your heart" Sahrul replied still stroking his daughter's back gently.

"But, I want you to really be by my side. Accompanying me to face all my sorrows," Naya interrupted as she shook her head.

"You've grown into a very beautiful and tough girl. You've been through so many obstacles so hard without me by your side, son. I'm so proud of you!"

"I love you so much, Dad!" said Naya and tightened his embrace on the father.

However, Sahrul instead releases his crib from Naya's body. Immediately, he looked at his daughter's past-goals. "I love you more than anything."

Naya's crying broke. The beautiful words of that heavy voice, he had always expected for the rest of his life. Now, he feels very peaceful.

"Listen to me, my little princess! You are a brave girl. I always knew you would do something big in your life. And again is the time, baby!" Sahrul explained with sparkling eyes while holding his daughter's hands.

Naya frowned not understanding. "What do you mean, dad?"

"See your hand! This hand you will use to solve a lot of problems!" sahrul still put the puzzle in Naya's mind.

However, the girl's mind changed when she saw the oddity that occurred. There was a white radiance shining down on both of his palms slowly. It made him a little scared.

"What's going on, dad? Why are my hands like that?" asked Naya whose body was trembling now.

"That's you, boy! You have to accept it wholeheartedly" Sahrul said with a faded smile.

"But—"

"Please be good. I'll come to you next time" Sahrul said. Before the end, his figure slowly faded. It was as if the wind that blew made the constituent particles of his body come crashing away. Until it disappears from view.

Naya shook her head in disbelief. Just now he tasted happiness by meeting his father, now the figure disappeared again. "Dad! Where are you going?" I don't know who the pekik is. His voice might only be heard by a completely foreign realm in his sight and hearing.

Many times, Naya called her father. However, the man had actually left her again. Even until her voice ran out and her body felt exhausted from searching every corner, Naya never found her father.

And finally, Naya woke up from her sleep. He found his body bathed in sweat, even so wet the bed where he lay now.

Naya also began to pay attention to her palms, making sure no oddities occurred. For example, like there was light emitting from there? And thankfully, that didn't happen. The weirdness was only in his dream.

Naya was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. The flowers this time were really weird. And what's even stranger is, why did the dream feel like it was real?

***

"Udahlah! Your dreams mean nothing. In my opinion, it is just an implementation of a very big longing lo father lo," said Renaldi after hearing the full story about Naya's dream last night.

"Yes. I think so too. But I wonder why his dreams are so random!" kilah Naya's.

"Udah! No need to think about it anymore. We still have more important things to think about. We haven't found a way out of Sandi's problem, Nay!"

Naya nodded her head in understanding. He really had to forget his strange dream last night. Moreover, it was not just Sandi's matter that became his mind now. But Faisal, who still did not attend school today, also worried him.

"Rey! Rey! Rey!"

Naya and Renaldi compactly turned their heads towards the screams of the young man who was quite far from where they were standing. The young man saw a ridge approaching them.

"Hey!" salman said with a sigh, because his running activity just to follow Renaldi's steps.

"What?" asked Renaldi with an eyebrow. He was a little surprised by the spirit that was seen from Salman's face just to chase after him. That's not really ordinary.

"Let's hang out!" salman said in pleasantries.

Renaldi further knitted his eyebrows in confusion. Salman's attitude is really strange. They rarely even talk. And now, Salman is even asking her to hang out.

"Come on! But you know, after school like this, I have to work?" Renaldi agrees. After all, she and Salman had already become friends. They should interact more often to become more familiar. However, Renaldi really could not take the time for now. He has obligations that must be fulfilled.

Naya narrowed her eyes. He also felt the strangeness of Salman's current attitude. "Lo is so weird! Where's Iswanti? Usually if there is no him, you do not want to bully us both," he asked bluntly.

"He went home first. That's why I'm looking for a new friend" Salman said, a little silly.

Naya and Renaldi could only shake their heads. Do not want to press Salman who sometimes does behave like that.

"By the way about friends. Where's your loyal friend, Faisal?" asked Naya with a casual facial expression. He did not want to express his anxiety about Faisal in front of Renaldi or Salman.

Salman put his shoulder up. He also had no news from Faisal for days. "Gue guess, he's still calling or texting you, Nay. He's obsessed with you."

"Don't focus wrongly! You answer enough, you know where he is or not!" cetus Naya's.

"No! Maybe she's just gonna go to school again, Nay!" said Salman who cares little about not caring about Faisal's situation. Because, he knew his friend, if he was lazy school, then Faisal would not enter.

Naya felt her heart grow worried. Even to his closest friend, Faisal said nothing. Where is that young man really?

"Come, Rey! Let me know if you have time! I have something very important to talk about!"

"If it's important, why not talk about it now?" ask Renaldi.

"No! This will take a lot of time!" salman concluded and immediately ran back to leave Naya and Renaldi. Better, he talked about the Black City Mystery book in his spare time. And it has to go straight to Renaldi and his father.

Naya and Renaldi threw strange gazes at each other, then shook their heads together.

"It is fitting for Iswanti to always think if she wants to accept Salman's love. The guy's weird like that!" naya said while chuckling. It was his attempt to hide his inner upheaval that Faisal was thinking about.