Mystery Mirror
Pecker Glundung
May 21, 1984
Kegs...
"Ono mayit. ono mayittt.."
Kegs..
"Sopo kui?" [who's life is that?]
"Take it, ra ono ndase!" [don't know, there's no head!]
The entire crowd watched the headless corpse lying in front of the Kamling post. Almost every day in this village lay unidentified bodies, in the post kamling, in the market, in front of the houses.
Some were intact, some had their faces broken so that they could not be recognized. Some are buried properly, not infrequently also buried just like that.
No one knows where the bodies came from. The news that circulated, it was the bodies of the bandits who were deliberately killed by the apparatus, with the reason of disturbing the community. Without trial, without pardon, those who were 'chosen' would be executed immediately.
***
May 22, 1984, at 20:30
A couple were talking about the discovery of a dead body yesterday.
"Sum, kowe ngerti mayit sing ra ono ndase wingi?" [Sum, did you know the headless corpse yesterday?]
"Sopo kui?" [Who is that?]
"Tibak e kui Kasiyan" [It turns out it was Kasiyan]
"Kasiyan juragan selep kui?" [Kasiyan owns the rice mill?]
"Crito Juki kimau. Jare nang lengen e ono image and tiger. Sing Yudi's picture, saiki Yudi ilang mboh nyandi" [Yes. He said on his arm there's a tiger tattoo. Yang mentatoo Yudi, now Yudi disappeared somewhere]
"Lha ngopo yo, is Kasiyan patented?" [Lha why yes, Kasiyan was killed]
"Lha. Mergo nggo tatoo most. Makane Yudi saiki stopped by" [Yes don't know, because wearing a tattoo is possible. So now Yudi is gone]
"Po's been kidnapped o Mas?" [Disappeared what was kidnapped huh Mas?]
"Lha kui puffed" [Yes, don't know]
***
"Sum, arep nyang endi wengi-wengi? Iki urung manjing dawn you know" [Sum, where are you going at night? It's not dawn yet]
"Arep nyang market, adol jago!" [You go to the market, sell the roosters!]
"Mbok yo ngenteni padhang to, Sum. Dikiro maling ngko peteng nyang market" [Mbok ya nungku lang first to, Sum. Thieves will be dark into the market]
"Lek jek peteng ngene ki rung ono rivals e. Regone stuffing banned" [If it's still dark this way there's no rival that sells. The price can be expensive]
"Kowe po ra wedi in den i demit e Kasiyan? Ndas e rung meet you, Sum!" [Are you not afraid of being haunted by Kasiyan's spirit? His head has not been found yet, Sum!]
"Alah, luweh medeni leh cah-cah njok manganese ning raono rice. Sek tak budhal adol pitik, nggo tuku rice!" [Oh, it's more terrible if the children ask for food but no rice. I'm going to sell chicken for a while, buy rice!]
"Sum, kowe ngko peteng dikiro maling, bedded apparatus you know!" [Sum, dark you will be mistaken for a thief, shot by the apparatus!]
"Yo kumukien!" [Yes, you will bury me]
Sumi ignored her husband's warning, and continued to walk out of the house.
"Sum... Sumi.. woo.dubleg!" [Som..Sumi.woo is deaf!]
***
The streets are still very quiet and dark. There are no street lights in the village. Only one or two bikes passed.
'Petok..' Sumi sees a rooster, followed by three chicks.
'Who's this early wandering around? It's good that if it is sold, after all there is no one here's inner Sumi. Without thinking long Sumi spryly took the hen and carried her.
The road to the market is still very quiet, cold air envelops the atmosphere ahead of dawn. Sumi tightened her jacket, speeding up her steps. The feeling was not good when passing through the Kamling post where the discovery of the corpse yesterday, the fur on his back stood. As if someone was following her, Sumi accelerated her pace even more, but the weight of the luggage grew heavier. Sumi's sweat splashed amidst the cold early morning air, her breathing gasping for breath.
In front of Sumi there was a dense fog enveloping, and there was a boisterous sound of the market atmosphere. 'Perhaps because it is shrouded in fog ahead of dawn, so the market is not visible from here' Sumi thought.
He rushed through a thick cloud of fog, towards where he thought was the market. The closer Sumi saw some people selling. His voice was boisterous, just like the market. Where many people offer their merchandise. What is different is the clothes of those people. The women wear kemben and spool. They did not carry grocery bags, but carried 'rinjing' (a type of basket made of bamboo and carried with a sideways cloth). The men only wore under-knee-high pants, without wearing tops. Sumi was stunned, hard to believe what she saw. Meanwhile the hen he was carrying suddenly slipped from his carrier, rolled to the ground, and turned into a human head! rolling around Sumi and grinning revealed his teeth full of blood!
Sumi screamed and turned away in fear! He was about to run out of the strange market. But when he was about to turn around, he was actually confronted by a white package as tall as a human, with pigtails on the head, which followed Sumi since then. Instantly surprised, his breathing stopped! Sumi fell unconscious!
***
"Sir, my momma to? I'm as you ki" [Pak, mom where the hell? I'm hungry for this]
"Mbuh mbokmu ki nglyayap nyandi. Pamit e nyang market kaet peteng nganti bedhug kok ra bali-bali!" [Don't know where your mother went. Said he wanted to go to the market from dawn until noon really did not go home]
