LAST GREETINGS

Episode 52

TWO YEARS LATER

"My days are now deserted. My smile is gone, my happiness you take away with you. Why do I have to accept all this reality ?"

"Tania, I love you."

"Tania, I want you."

"Tania, will you marry me ?"

Mike's voice was still ringing in Tania's ears - a distinctive soft voice as she whispered the most loving words in Tania's ears. Sometimes his babbling and deathly seduction when wanting something from Tania - all those memories still clearly imprint on Tania's memory. Not until when but for now, Tania prefers to lock herself in her room.

Her mother takes her back to her village so her mother can accompany her and help heal the heart wounds left by Mike.

"Mom knows, Son. It's hard for you to get through all this reality. But life must continue. Don't waste your youth, son."

Her mother repeatedly said that when she brought food to Tania. Rubbing her back and occasionally gently patting her child's shoulder, the mother always tried to stoically encourage Tania.

Tania may lose the spirit of life that has been taken away by her lover, but the mother never gives up making herself a mother, friend and lover for Tania who is lonely.

"Mom made you a favorite food when you were a kid. You remember this, right ?"

Fresh spinach vegetables that have been boiled and combined with garlic provide a distinctive aroma of pleasure in Tania's room. There are four pieces of fried tempeh available on the table. The mother tried to persuade her child that Tania's favorite food as a child could be eaten by her daughter.

"Open your mouth, son. You should eat. I'm bribing you, yeah."

The first spoon made it into Tania's mouth. Every day since Tania's mood was like this, her mother had no trouble feeding her. Only, the first spoon always takes almost ten minutes to be chewed by Tania until it runs out. Patience and steadfastness, giving genuine affection and care to a mother is always shown by Tania's mother. Loyal day. Every moment.

The loss that Tania felt really made her lose the spirit of her life. Let alone doing something, moving alone in the room was not able to do.

In front of him looks like Mike is smiling beautifully . But that smile is a wound in the heart. Just a mute look from a picture frame. That smile died with the body lying stiff yesterday.

"You smile happily leaving me alone ? Yeah, you happy ? You're bad, Mike. You're evil. What you're doing is evil."

Tania often talks alone with Mike's photos. In his heart he cursed and hated Mike's departure. He's really not sincere.

Many times Tania's handphoe rang - Mike's mother called him to ask him how he was doing, but never once did she answer the phone.

"Tania hasn't come out of the room yet. It's been a week since she locked herself in her room" Tania's mother said, eventually answering every phone call from Mike's mother.

"My days are now deserted. My smile is gone, my happiness you take away with you. Why do I have to accept all this reality ?"

Tania wailed alone in the room. She hugged her wedding dress that she was supposed to wear last week. Everything now has memories.

"Mike, I still don't believe this, baby. You should have been my husband and I was your wife. We love each other, don't we ? Then why did you leave me alone like this ?"

Tania continued to wail alone. He really could not accept this harsh reality. He can only see all the old memories that are still stored. Despite the wounds in his heart that he got, one by one the memories he took, he squid, and hugged it tightly. Tears have always been her constant companion today.

"Darling, I stopped by for a while at the decoration. Don't forget the ring."

The last sentence suddenly flashed in Tania's ear as her eyes fell on a wedding ring box that had still not been taken out of her bag. Who would have thought, it was Mike's voicemail one last time.

And again Tania wept lamenting her fate when she grabbed the ring box.

"I've got the ring, baby. How is the decoration ? Everything's sorted out, isn't it ?"

Like an insane person, Tania spoke alone in her room. Behind the door, the mother sheds her tears eavesdropping on Tania's conversation with dead objects that hold all of Mike's memories.

"Come, baby. Put this ring on my ring finger. You are my husband. Come on, baby."

Crushed. Tania's heart was broken. Everything is memories. Mike is gone. In fact, the wedding dress he had not had time to wear. The wedding ring is not on his ring finger.

Had her mother not forbade her from doing so, Tania might have been Mike's wife. He was desperate to keep marrying Mike even though the man he loved so much was stiff in his lifeless body again.

Tania was fighting her mother. He insisted on bringing in a priest who would marry them to marry them in the hospital. The entire room was crying lamenting Tania's fate back then. He's hysterical, like a man who's gone mad.

How could that possibly happen ?

Tania went back to unpacking all the memories. He found a pre-wedding photo that had been attached to a frame. He stared intently at the photo, rubbed Mike's face, kissed and then stretched his body while hugging it very tightly.

Mike was wearing a white shirt with his chest deliberately left open. The knee-sized shorts and also wearing black glasses made the man so handsome. He stood spread out his arms and a girl hugged from behind him. Mike and Tania looked so happy in the photo.

Behind the door, the mother wiped her tears and slowly stepped away from the door of her daughter's room. He went into his room and lit a pair of candles on a prayer corner and prayed fervently for God's help.

Which mother would have the heart to see the condition of her child like this ?

The loss that his daughter felt at this moment was no ordinary loss. Her daughter was left without any message right at the time when they were busy preparing for their wedding.

If only he had not stopped his daughter at that time, now his daughter bears the status of a widow right after the completion of the wedding ceremony. Tania is determined to marry Mike who has left her.

Inside the room, Tania lay down and rubbed Mike's face. One by one the memories of Mike and himself slowly re-present in his memory. Tania closed her eyes. Her cheeks were no longer dry; her tears were unceasingly dripping down her cheeks.

... T A M A T ...