Re - Growth of Life

Exile (2)

“Oi boy, wake up!” Someone woke me. I woke up with a still staggering look, looking around, still digesting what was happening.

BRUK! I was dropped from a sling. My consciousness has returned a hundred percent. Nathanie? Oh yea! My sister! I got up, looked around.

Cottage. Or rather it could be called a warehouse. The air is moist, with haystacks filling the corners of the room, and two old carts usually used to transport these straws.

There is no Nathan. It's just me, and the other three bald goons.

“Uncle. Uncle see not my sister?” I took one step forward, asking as decently as possible.

They exchanged lyrics, then laughed a little. “Your sister? We didn't see tuh. You really fainted?”

I nodded as decently as possible, although I did not know how to be polite.

One of the thugs went one step closer, “From the beginning we didn't see you had a sister. There is no point in you looking for your sister, soon you will be sold.”

“Sold?!” I was aghast one step back.

They looked at each other again, then laughed out loud after a few seconds.

“Hahaha, funny yes. You've bought from one of the residents whose stature is strong. Then, one day after, our client will buy you. So, now we just need to wait a few more minutes, then you will be brought by our client.”

I gulped, “How long have I fainted?”

One of them counting, “Two and a half days.”

“Two days?!”

The thug beside him laughed, “Hey, hey. We should have been surprised. You passed out two days without eating or drinking, we thought you were dead. So, we lower the price a little. Turns out you can still live apparently, look healthy anyway.” The thug raised a little bit of my chin, then lowered it again.

Two minutes into silence after the conversation, the sound of knocking on the door was heard from outside, one of the goons walked up to open the door slightly, nodding. Moments later, he opened the door wide.

Seen by two old lovers from behind the door, they began to step closer to me. We exchanged glances for a few seconds, then they took out a bag of money.

“It contains one thousand five hundred silver coins, just count it if you don't believe.”

The three thugs were grinning wide, “Iya, fitting one thousand and five hundred. Take good care of yourself yes.”

The pair of lovers helped me stand up, then walked– I followed from behind, leaving the warehouse where the haystack was stored.

“Dear yourself well yes.” The three thugs waved their hands from a distance. Yes, they can also be nice.

...----------------...

Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at a house, almost all the sides of the house were made of rattan webbing and roofed with haystacks and dry weeds which were then fastened tightly with a long rope, which was then fastened, it forms a pattern like a spider web.

Looks two people my age and the other one may be seven years old, sitting cross-legged in the courtyard of the house, waving– welcome our arrival (may include me?).

“Mother is home?” One of his two sons asked.

The middle-aged woman smiled as she nodded, “Iya Nak. He was the same age as Abel. Uh, you're ten years old, right?” The middle-aged woman looked at me, then smiled.

I smile back (awkwardly), “Iya, I'm ten years old.”

“Come on, please sit back in the court while you tell me about your life.” Mom and Dad were walking and sat with their two children in the courtyard.

I again gulped, do they still want to babysit me even though Mama was also one of the victims of the incident? I nodded, deciding to sit down.

“Include, my name is Adrian. I'm ten years old now. I also have a sister, her name is Natan, who is about nine years old. We were both orphans since we were six. Mama died because of the incident ‘itu’.”

“Incident it?” Abel asked while slightly tilting his head.

I nodded at once swallowing. My heart is not mixed, “Iya, incident ‘witch hunt’ that takes a lot of female victims.”

The little boy next to me raised an enthusiastic hand, but was stopped by the Father who told him to shut up, and listened to my whole story.

“Actually, the hunted by the Church are women who are not married or who do not have children, right? But... somehow Mama also hit and became one of the victims in the incident.”

“He said, Mama and Papa have power, but they are small. That power can only help his daily work. But they took it another way when they found out that Me and my sister had no power like my parents.”

And I didn't feel like I spent two hours telling a story. Their reaction was not as I expected. They just smile, occasionally nod and ask, then I answer.

“Mama you are very strong yes.” Mom smiled, what I saw was not just a smile. But there was something different about her smile. Maybe because he had experienced heavy things during his life.

Dad finished turning on the kerosene-fueled lamp, then put it on the hanger in front. Then, he lit up the petromax again for lighting inside the house.

“Come, it's late. We have dinner first, just finished it sleep yes.” Said the meek father.

The three of us nodded, immediately entering the house.

I pat the little boy on the shoulder on my right. Coincidentally he was not far from me, “Hey, what was your name?”

He turned his head, then smiled, “Tetam kak.”

I'm going slow, keep walking in the light trail of Dad's petromax lights at a consistent pace.

I, Abel, and Tetam were told to sit in Lesehan, waiting for dinner to be prepared by the parents.

In the spare time, we occasionally play shadows from the light of petromaks lights that are deliberately placed into the middle of the lesehan. We retreated, adjusted the size of the shadows we wanted, then made some animals and plants out of our hands.

Yes, sometimes Tetam uses a little of its power to make the palace buildings from the shadows.

A few minutes off, no fun games, Dad came to sit down.

“You want me to tell you an interesting story?” Dad's getting ready for the storytelling position.

The three of us looked at Father enthusiastically. Unknowingly, we just nodded.

“Good. Tetam, you make an illustration of the shadow that you make yes. It will be an interesting story.” Dad slightly moved the position of the petromax lamp, adjusting.

“Aready?”

We nodded in unison.

“This story starts from a place that is very remote from the capital. It was called Gauses, the farm. And the only food source of the capital.”