Rainbow Cloud

Chapter 1

I don't know if you can hear me. Hearing my voice while telling the story that happened to me recently. But to my own satisfaction, I really hope that you can figure out that miracle. Because I want you to know how I got to the end of my story. The end of the story was my choice. A choice that changes the lives of many people.

Maybe your life too, if you'll let. Therefore, I want to be able to tell you at least once. Whether you hear it or not. Either you will remember my story or you will not.

But let me begin with the conviction that you will hear me and that my voice reaches you. The belief that my story will stick in your memory.

The morning started like any other day. The air was cold enough after last night's rain that I could hear it clashing with the zinc roof where I lived with my grandmother, the host who was now like my own grandmother.

I woke up with the last drop of rain and the rising sun in the eastern horizon. It was a beautiful morning to start the day for me. Even the little birds sing happily to welcome the day. Everything felt perfect and I got out of my bed excitedly.

If I think back, it wasn't a miracle either.

It was a miracle that I was still able to open my eyes at the same time as the sky that opened the entrance to the sunshine. The miracle that I woke up just as the sky's tears stopped and greeted the new day with a smile.

Whaddya think? Maybe it was magical, right? Not like other days. I'm just too stupid to understand the creator's secret.

And because I didn't understand how magical that day was, I did my usual morning activities. Take a shower, have breakfast with grandma, get ready to teach the students who love me so much. Far from a word of miracle.

Or is it a miracle too? Maybe those little things are also part of the magic. Part of a greater miracle that is completely beyond reason. Miracles in divine terms. Maybe small things like that are actually miracles, but only a few people can capture the extraordinary wonders of it.

Forgetit. I myself still could not appreciate those little miracles even after I experienced the great wonders I would go on to tell you.

After I had breakfast and washed two pairs of tableware, I said goodbye to the grandmother who was relaxing enjoying a warm sweet tea syrup on the wooden porch of her house that looked weathered in several corners. The house was older than the age of the grandmother who had already stepped on the head 8. But both the grandmother and the house were still very sturdy standing and observing the ever-rolling flow of time.

Perhaps they could see those wonders with the wisdom they gained from time. Is time not the best teacher of life? Time, sooner or later, will make us find answers that we could not have seen before. I have experienced it a lot even though I have not learned much.

As usual my grandmother smiled and prayed my day went well that morning. I also rushed to school as usual, impatient to meet my 15 students who were always eager to receive new lessons.

But suddenly I froze on the fence. The most beautiful and unforgettable sight stole my breath for a few seconds. To make my soul connected to the extraordinary beauty of the universe.

Can you guess it?

Before me lay the clear morning sky and the largest rainbow I had ever seen. The rainbow was so big that it took me a few breaths until I realized that it was not just a beam of light that seemed colorful from a certain angle. It was a huge cloud clump with rainbow colors that looked so real.

If you ask me if that might happen. And if you ask can the clouds show the color of the rainbow. Honestly, I don't know. But I decided to believe in my own eyes. I just know, I was awake at the time and it wasn't an illusion. Once again, it really happened.

“What's up, Gis?” my grandmother's voice brought me back to the reality of the world.

“I-it, grandma. Are the clouds so beautiful? Just this time I saw such a colorful cloud,” my finger pointed at the clear sky in front of me and subconsciously I smiled widely grateful for the gift of the universe. “Is it a rainbow that looks so big and brighter than usual?” I'm trying to find a more reasonable answer.

I hope the testimony of two people can convince you that it's not an illusion.

“A-what?!” grandma seemed to forget her age which was more than 80 years and nimbly woke up from her chair.

“It's grandma. Does grandma not see?” my finger pointed again. I began to doubt my vision after seeing Grandma's attitude.

“You saw... rainbow clouds?” grandma looked at me deeply as if I wasn't the one who had been with her for the past year and it started to scare me. My subconscious or my sixth sense, whatever it is, starts yelling that something is wrong.

“Nek?”

I could see Grandma's eyes shaking before she looked up at the sky I was pointing at. Grandma then took a deep breath and smiled lovingly at me. But I saw there was bitter in his smile.

“I never thought you'd see it,” grandma shut up for a while and took a breath before continuing, “In this island, sometimes rainbow clouds appear even though not everyone has a chance to see them. The phenomenon only appeared for a moment and no one could guess when it appeared. Arguably it was a miracle, the grandmother's” emphasized every word in her explanation and before long the rainbow cloud had indeed lost its color.

Grandma just nodded slowly and waved me away. I still feel bad seeing Grandma's strange attitude but I can't be late. As a teacher, I always arrive earlier than my students. That day was no different.

During the trip to school I couldn't get rid of the worry in my heart. I wondered if the rainbow clouds were a sign of doom because I kept feeling something bad was going to happen. I try to get rid of those negative thoughts. I convinced myself that the thought came from seeing Grandmother's mysterious attitude. But the thought continued to exist like a rainbow cloud that did not disappear from my mind.

I don't blame grandma. But I clearly remember that I was full of joy when I first saw that amazing sight. But now all that remains is the feeling of anxiety.

The journey from my grandmother to school did not take much time. In less than 10 minutes I had seen the gates and the school building of old and weathered wood.

Why am I teaching at a school that can be said to be almost collapsed?

Long story short, after graduating, without saying anyone, I enrolled into the teaching program inland. I sincerely want to devote myself while trying to gain a different experience with urban life. And that's what ultimately led me to a small island in the waters of Borneo.

You know, I really enjoyed the simple life on the island.

I really like the coastal air that is still clean with no pollution fumes. Breathe the smell of blue sea on the beach every afternoon. Feel the softness of the sand when watching the sun rise or sink. Enjoy the delicious fresh seafood caught by the fishermen. I really like it.

And again, I almost knew all the islanders and they treated me like part of their family. I want to go back to the island, and how happy it would be if I could share that happiness with you.

Returning to my story, that day, other than a strange morning, I taught as usual and time seemed to pass so quickly. Even though I can't forget the rainbow clouds I saw, I try not to think about them. I'm just grateful to be able to enjoy something that rarely happens. You could say I feel special. I feel selected and proud of it.

I finished teaching at 1pm and went home half an hour later.

I walked down the same path as I did when I went to school. It just so happened that Grandma's house was far from the house of other residents so that the road was often quiet and I was often alone in following it. Other teachers sometimes took the road together but that day was one of the days I went home alone.

“Gisel!” suddenly I heard someone calling my name. I turned my body towards the sound and I didn't know what to say. Two figures of men my age were walking, exactly one of them was running towards me.

“K-sister Andre?” I said softly, still unable to believe who was standing before me. She was my first love in High School. He was also the man I was waiting for to return to my life. “How can sister..”.

“I came back to Indonesia and I immediately looked for you. It was hard to call you so I decided to surprise you,” she cut my question and you have no idea how much I miss her smile. His face was as white as I remembered and his thin lips smiled perfectly complementing the perfection of his face.

“Hai,” I heard the voice of the other man and remembered that there were two male figures walking towards me and I knew both of them.

“R-reza,” I can still imagine Brother Andre visiting me but I don't understand why that man is also in front of me. The man was the same height as Andre's brother, 178 cm. His skin is darker than Andre's because he often exercises in the hot sun.

“For a long time no see,” he greeted me as if I and he were old friends.

You know, he's the one I call the arch-enemy. My only enemy.

I felt that I was a good person and not a vengeful one. I can say I am a person full of love. My friends will say the same about me if you ask. But he was the only person I made an enemy of and the only person I didn't want in my life.

If Brother Andre is my first love, he is my first enemy.

For 3 years I was in high school with him and can be said every day we always fight. Then continue with 4 years at the same university. I don't know why I can't hold back my emotions every time I see it. I never start. Okay, sometimes there are times when I start a fight. But he's really outrageous.

He used to insult me and I can still forgive him. But I can't let him vilify my friends especially Brother Andre. To me Andre's brother is an angel and he's a demonic incarnation.

He has no right to fabricate and to cause ugly rumors about my angel. And even if my friends do have flaws, it's none of his business. He is the most distant person from the perfect word I know.

So if you said love and hate a few years ago have a slight difference, I wouldn't want to hear it. If you said a few months ago that a man likes to annoy a woman he likes, I wouldn't believe that's what he does. And if a few weeks ago you wanted me to give her a chance to be a part of my life, I might not want to see you again.

But since that day everything has changed.