Not a Choice
03
...****...
...~ Like twilight that comes only for a moment but is able to shift time. Just like that there was me who was able to shift your world. However, I hope my presence is not like twilight. I want to continue to settle like the Sky that always faithfully accompanies the earth. ~...
...Sandyakala...
...****...
“You've eaten?” The question from across there made Runa smile. All the attention he got from the owner of the voice was able to trigger his spirit back when he slumped.
“Mas already ate?” askalanya.
“Hat habit, yes, you are. Every time asked for it was back.” The voice that sounded a little upset actually made Runa giggle amusedly. “Don't laugh at you. Hunting!”
“Iya- yes. Runa ate this. Mas also do not eat late.”
“Review if you forgot to eat. If I pass out I don't want to bopong you anymore.”
“Ck! Who wants to be carried with Mas?”
“Eh, already dare to cheat, yes, same older people.”
Runa laughed more and more at the annoyance of the person across there. Happy—one word that describes his life today. Once he was able to go through all the trials in life. Suddenly his memories returned to the past.
Seven years ago, he was knocked down the ladder of life after being abandoned by a loved one. In fact, he more often feels pain and pain due to a fall. The young Runa had even gone numb while swallowing the bitter pills of life.
True what people say, life is spinning like a wheel. Sometimes below, sometimes above. After 22 years of living in a world that felt so perfect for Runa, right after Ata's departure, Runa's life was turned upside down by the test.
Runa walked alone. There was no more laughter he could hear. There was no more Runi babble that he usually fought with. There was also no more nagging of his two parents who always wanted him to be perfect.
Behind the grief that holds her, Runa is grateful to meet someone who gives her shoulder to make a place to lean. Yeah, somebody's pissed off shoulder down there.
“Mas,” call him after waking up from a long daydream.
“Ya, Run.”
“Still a lot for everything.” Runa's voice sounded softly across there.
“Why suddenly so mellow? Something happened?”
“Why think so?”
“Runa!” erang was upset when Runa again asked him back. While Runa laughed out loud after turning off his phone connection.
...****...
“Khan! Don't run around, watch out for falls!” said a middle-aged woman who had just picked up from school.
Khan stopped after hearing a warning from his grandmother. Both of them had just got off the car that stopped right in front of the food stall.
“Khan wants to meet dad, Grandma. Not that Grandma said earlier at school, when she got home, Khan showed me this same dad?” said a six-year-old boy while showing the results of his picture that got a hundred.
The middle-aged woman clad in glasses smiled at the grandchild's words. He crouched down in front of Khan, stroking the hair of the child dressed in a red white school uniform.
“Iya, Darling. But not by running like that. What if you fall? Grandma, right, so sad.”
“Mafin, Khan, yes, Grandma. Khan promised not to be naughty and make Grandma sad again,” Khan said while looking down.
Bu Mira smiled and hugged Khan. “Iya, Darling. Well, now let's get into the house, dad doesn't seem to be at the resto.” yet
Meanwhile, Sandy is still sitting at the desk checking the monthly income report of the restaurant she managed for the past five years. With the traditional concept of modern blending.
Sandy opened a restaurant in the Dieng tourist area which is almost every day crowded with tourists. The restaurant he built was directly connected to the house where he lived. The parking area for visitors is spacious and does not wear the shoulder of the road, because Sandy previously bought land beside her house as a parking lot for visitors who come to stop by.
Amidst the seriousness of the report, the voice of the child shifted his concentration.
“Dad, Khan can enter?” khan asked behind a white teak door.
“Log in, Khan.”
“Dad, catch, Khan.” Khan ran towards Sandy who was sitting in her work chair.
Sandy quickly rises from her place and captures Khan as usual.
“It looks like today you are very happy, well! Is there anything new that makes Khan cheerful?” ask Sandy. Sandy who memorized Khan's attitude certainly understood that if the child was cheerful home from school there must be one thing that became the cause.
Whether it's Khan winning the class gets good grades, or it could be because Khan enjoys making new friends again. There's a Khan story that he took home and told back to Sandy.
The little boy in Sandy's arms reached out showing the picture that got the perfect score.
“This, Yeah ... Khan got another hundred marks from guru,” he explained with a clover featuring dimples on his right cheek.
“Wah, Khan smart. Great again. Who was dong? Unfortunately, dad.” Sandy rubbed and kissed Khan's head in her arms.
“Because Khan, already got a hundred, how about the weekend later I bring Khan to the time zone as a gift because Khan has been diligent in learning.”
“Mau, Dad. Khan wants,” said the boy cheerfully.
“Then Khan changed clothes first. After that eat and nap, yeah!”
“OK, Dad!” reply Khan by raising his thumb, then passing out.
Sandy smiled looking at Khan who had disappeared behind the door. There was a certain happiness for Sandy when the child chattered to her.
...****...
The atmosphere of the restaurant ‘Madang’ before lunch is quite crowded with visitors. Due to the weekend, the number of visitors doubled compared to the usual day.
A young woman wearing a black apron was busily struggling behind the kitchen preparing a visitor order. The sweat that flooded his forehead and temples occasionally wiped him with a white towel that he sipped on his right shoulder. Because for a cook, cleanliness is the main thing. So, He always keeps his sweat from falling into the food he makes.
“Mbak Runa, table order number four is ready?” ask one of the officers who served as a waiter.
“Iya, already. It's on the table.” Sahut without turning his head because it is serious concocting curry seasoning that will be poured into the cuisine.
“OK. If the order table number ten is also ready, Mbak?” ask the younger waiter.
“While processed!”
Well, that woman is Arunika. The woman who was busy struggling in front of the stove decided to move to Wonosobo seven years ago and now it is here that she resumes her life after leaving her hometown.
Exactly at five in the afternoon, Runa removed the apron that was attached to her body. He was getting ready to go home and clean up.
“Mbak Wati, all the necessary seasonings I have made and I put in the refrigerator, yes!” runa said to the middle-aged woman beside her, “I go home first. I will be back later.”
“Good, Mbak.”
Runa rushed home not far from the ‘Madang’ restaurant on foot.
“Assalamualaikum,” he said upon entering the house.
“Wa’alaikumsalam.” Sounds authentic from within. Runa immediately approached the owner of the voice.
“Have eaten, Darling?” asked Runa while peeping the short cheek that makes Runa anxious.
“Already, dong.”
Once again Runa peeked at the cheek before leaving it for the room.
“Ish ... it's always like that. Nothing else what?” after the departure of Runa. Runa who could still hear the grunts just laughed crisply.
...****...
...To be continued...
...Don't forget to leave a trace of 🥰...
