CONFINEMENT

CH 20 - COASTAL STATE OF PART III (SARIWATI )

The depth of the night was still left, a reddish tinge rippling in the eastern horizon. The morning breeze blew along with the drops of dew like sparkling diamonds illuminated by the dimming moon.

Seen the star with its sparkle signifies the change of day, the sound of the late-crawling sound of the chain of wind is paddled through the thick of the morning.

A young man dressed in a white shirt and a plaid green sarong with a black skullcap parked his windshield in front of a Surau, his hands slowly opening the wooden door in front of him.

He took the lighter out of his shirt pocket and turned on the torch stuck in every corner of Surau.

After the torches in Surau's courtyard lit up, the man stepped foot on the steps of the stage building. With his hand he revived the lighters he was holding.

A moment later he went into Surau's room and the lamp on the wall was turned on again. But how surprised the man found someone lying on his stomach in front of Mihrab.

The man was none other than Muhibbin who took care of Surau every day gave his adoptive father. How surprised he was in front of him there was someone who slept while still wearing a shabby face and in his hand still holding a prayer beads.

Muhibbin wondered who the man was.

" Hey, get up." Muhibbin's hand shook the slumped Surban around his neck towards someone in front of him.

"Hi, wake up. Who are you," repeated Muhibbin.

The person who fell asleep in front of Mihrab looked startled and quickly moved from his place of lying down. Seen his eyes are still half-conscious behind the veil he uses.

"Hi, who are you?" tanya Muhibbin was curious.

"Let's get up quickly, immediately take ablution behind," said Muhibbin back.

The man in front of him went out of Surau's room and headed to the big barrel behind Surau. It was seen that the man drew water and poured it into the right barrel not far from the well's lips.

At dawn, Muhibbin stepped forward to Surau towards the hall of Kulkul. He was seen climbing the stairs and was hit twice while chanting the azan break the silence of the morning which was still pitch black.

A veiled figure still with a face on his body is seen sitting in a corner of the room. It was not long before Muhibbin returned to Surau. With sharp eyes he looked at the stranger in the corner of the room who was none other than a woman while saying.

"Who Is Sanak ?" ask Muhibbin back

"I'm musyafir sir.," the woman replied as she lowered her veil-covered face.

"Well I pray first and you please pray by yourself" said Muhibbin passed to Mihrab in front of him. No matter how long after the Fajr Prayer, Muhibbin turned back to the woman behind him who was drowning in his tent, his finger still twisting the prayer beads he held.

Muhibbin went out and sat down cross-legged in front of his porch. Not long after the woman in Surau came out with a bundle of cloth she was holding. Mukena in her forehead had apparently been removed and she now only wears a shabby robe with a pink veil and her veil also looks shabby.

"Ni Sanak, wait a minute please sit down first" Muhibbin told the woman in front of him.

With a face that was still bowed the woman sat down before Muhibbin who was three meters in front of her.

"Who and from where, why are you in Surau?" muhibbin.

"Sorry sir, I was sassy last night here sir, I went last night and accidentally saw a building on this hill that is none other than Surau," replied the woman feeling guilty.

Muhibbin stared fixedly at the woman in front of him, his eyes slightly squinted full of investigation, but not how long he screamed in shock.

"Aaahhhh..., aren't you the woman that the kids threw at the market a month ago ?" ask Muhibbin.

The woman was surprised and raised her face to look at Muhibbin.

"The master who helped me from throwing children in the market, right ?"

"Sir with a girl who gave me fruit and bread ?" the woman made sure.

"Yes I remember, you're that woman in that market. Then why are you in Surau ?" ask Muhibbin.

The woman lowered her head back while answering,

Muhibbin's eyes were still fixed looking while the mangosteen heard the woman's answer, when he heard her voice like a girl of Sekar's age or a little older.

"I was last night and accidentally fell asleep after the evening prayer in Surau, sir" the woman replied.

"I'm sorry for my stupidity, sir," pity the woman.

"Where are you going and where are you going ?" ask Muhibbin.

The woman was silent for a moment before answering.

"I am from a land far across the island sir, I just follow my footsteps" the woman replied softly.

"That means you don't have a purpose ?" ask Muhibbin back.

The woman in front of him just nodded slowly with her face still down. At a glance Muhibbin saw the clear circles melted in the corner of the woman's eyes.

Compassion in the heart of Muhibbin, he remembered when he first set foot in the Land of the Beach aimlessly before finally living and settling with the Sekar family and there was a sense of wanting to help the woman in front of him.

"For while Ni Sanak can stay behind this Surau, I have an empty room there while you help me take care and clean this place" Muhibbin said.

"But remember, if Ni Sanak is not prevented from entering Surau," Muhibbin said again.

Hearing what Muhibbin said, the woman sobbed and said,

"Yes I understand thank you sir, I will always remember the kindness of you," said the woman.

"No need to hesitate Ni Sanak, I am also the same as you are equally helped by people" replied Muhibbin.

"Let's come with me," Muhibbin asked as he moved from the porch of Surau towards the back. The woman in front of him followed Muhibbin.

Behind Surau there is a room and beside it there is an open kitchen that is usually used by Muhibbin when he spent the night in that place.

"Nah here Ni Sanak can stay," said Muhibbin opened the room door. Inside there is a bamboo hall covered in pandan mats, a pillow and two bolsters. In the corner of the room there is a closet made of wood board. Muhibbin again moved from the room to the kitchen, the veiled woman followed him from behind.

"This is the kitchen, you can cook for your needs. On the bamboo shelf there is a supply of spices and in the barrel there is rice that you can grow," Muhibbin pointed out after reaching the kitchen.

"Nah Ni Sanak, now you can be here for a while before you have a place to live" said Muhibbin.

"Thank you, sir" the woman replied briefly.

"I live first, later before Dhuhur I return again while bringing your needs," Muhibbin ended.

The woman nodded her head slowly, Muhibbin walked back in following the woman towards the gate of Surau,

"I came home first, my father must have been waiting for me," said Muhibbin back while taking his parked train in Sengkut Surau and the woman just nodded her head answering Muhibbin.

Before paddling his chariot, Muhibbin turned his head and said, "Who are you ?"

"Sariwati sir," replied the woman.

"I'm Muhibbin" cried Muhibbin from a distance as he passed.

Sariwati stared at Muhibbin's departure down the hill by his wind train from surau until the man's back was invisible.

The sun had already raised his face and the sky began to look bright, the waves of Purnama beach were heard up to Surau.

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