Secret Alit

Grandma's Story 2: The Mystery of Old Well

In ancient times, my great-grandmother once hired a woman to take care of household needs. That woman has a little girl. Yurah. When I first came to my grandmother's house, she was 5 years old. Only one year younger than my grandmother.

Yurah's fate is not as lucky as other children his age. By the time she was 9, her mother had died of illness. Meanwhile, his father had died first, not long after he was born. Since his mother was not around, Yurah became an orphan. So, my grandmother and my great-grandfather decided to allow him to stay at home.

After being left by Yurah's mother, my great-grandmother then sought her successor. Finally, he met and hired a middle-aged woman. They call him 'Simbok'.

Simbok loves children very much. Seeing that there were two children at home, namely grandma and Yurah, he immediately happily accepted a job offer from his great-grandmother.

Grandma and Yurah have different passions. If grandma likes to play outside with her friends, Yurah prefers to spend time at home with her favorite rag doll.

At the back of the left side of the grandmother's childhood home, there was an old well with gray stone walls encircling it. The wall surrounding the old well was as tall as an adult waist.

This 30-meter deep well holds many mysteries. Even before the grandmother moved to the house, there were many mystical stories about the well. In the past, the well was also used as a place to bathe the corpse.

Yurah was very happy to play around near the well. Everyday, Simbok also often spend time near the well because of its location close to the kitchen. Next to the well, there is a 30 cm tall tub with a width of 60x30 cm to hold water, as well as wooden bale-bale that can be used to sit and sleep. Bale-bale is long enough, can sit four adults. The air around the well is cool, so it is comfortable to be a place to rest during the day when the sun is hot. Yurah and Simbok often fell asleep in the bale-bale near the well.

Every Sunday morning, Simbok always go home and just back to the grandmother's house on Monday morning. That afternoon, the house was empty. Simbok had gone home, grandma was in the yard with her friends, while my grandfather and great-grandmother were going to the city to buy things. Yurah was playing alone in a bale-bale near the well with his beloved doll. Long time he played, until it did not feel, he fell asleep there.

After changing clothes, she returned to the well area to look for her doll despite still being in a state of fear. The doll was found on a bale-bale. Yurah then remembered that he had fallen asleep in the bale-bale, not in the tub. He immediately took his doll and ran to the yard to approach the grandmother.

At that time, little grandma and her friends were playing under the asem tree. Seeing that there were other children, Yurah felt calm and sat down at the door. In the face still puffy, he noticed other children who were playing cranks. They scratched the wood on the ground and made pictures of the plots for the players to jump over.

Some of them are also playing congklak. As a punishment, the losing player has to jiggle. Seeing the boy who was dancing, Yurah began to laugh and forget his fear. Then he joined the boys and played congklak until the afternoon.

***

The next day, Yurah recounted his mystical experience to his grandmother and Simbok. Simbok responded to his story with a smile.

"In every house there must be a waiter" said Simbok.

Grandma who listened to their conversation so remembered the story of the old well from a neighbor who had long lived in this area. Residents around the well called it a 'corpse' because it is often a place to bathe the corpse. The old inhabitants of this house are also said to often put a sesajendi like the well.

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