SET DUSK

The Part 46

The journey they passed to the eastern region of Sumatra was quite stressful and fun for Ida. The winding and winding road with several sharp turns and uphill in an area called Kelok Sembilan enough to make Ida pounding when the car they ride like fatigue to move up.

Ida stared at the top of the road, invisible vehicle that will go down, so every time approaching the bend, the driver must honk as a marker for the vehicle that will go down to slow down the speed of his vehicle. Several times they passed by a vehicle that was about to descend, had to stop waiting for them to pass through a sharp uphill bend.

The forests on the left and right along the way give the impression of magical as well as calming, slightly easing the tension that Ida felt in the last few months. The fog that covered the top of the cliff they passed through, added to the cold impression of the place. The children are asleep, only Ida is still awake in the passenger seat at the back of the car.

"You're still up, Da?" Burhan who sat on the front bench, next to the driver looked at the back, where the passenger seat was.

"Still."

"You're not dizzy, are you?"

"No, look at a place this beautiful where I might get dizzy."

"Haha, just this time I brought a female passenger who said this place is beautiful, usually if not frightened, yes vomiting," swelled the driver beside Burhan.

"Yes, amak ni Madah too" said Burhan, amazed by his wife's unusual pleasure.

"That's just a difference of taste" said Ida flatly. His eyes looked out the car window. Enjoy the heavenly scenery as if running away.

Ida's eyes began to tighten, as the car slowed down and stopped by the roadside with a seat next to a steep cliff.

"Why stop sir?" Ida snapped from her sleepiness.

"We'll rest first. Where was the food you prepared, Da?" Burhan got out of the front passenger seat, opened the rear passenger door, looking for a bushel of food that Ida had prepared before leaving.

"Please, Mr. Salma, let me take it." Ida handed over the Salma in her arms to Burhan. Salma whined softly as she moved to her brother's arms, then fell asleep again after being calmed by Burha.

Ida got down from the car carrying a bushel in her hand. I was amazed to see the natural scenery before him. Under the abyss was a covering fog, the top of the hill was lined up across the gaping ravine, appearing as if floating above the mist. Perfect blend of natural colors with the background for beautiful blue slightly cloudy sky.

"If the weather is sunny, from here can be seen the strait of Malacca," said Burhan who was standing next to Ida.

"Oh, Yes?" Ida turned her eyes to Burhan. The figure of Burhan standing next to him who was holding Salma, as well as the natural scenery that was so soothing, as if to be a perfect blend in the eyes of Ida.

"The kids didn't wake up?" Ida glanced at the car.

"They're still sleeping well."

"Oh, then eat immediately." Ida put the container filled with rice and side dishes to a small bench beside Burhan, took Salma from Burhan's sling, again enjoying the view.

After resting and filling their stomachs, they resumed their journey. A full stomach, beautiful scenery, and gusts of oxygen-laden wind that swept across her face, making Ida unable to hold her eyes open. Finally Ida fell asleep with the children.

By midnight, they reached their destination. Halimah welcomed their arrival.

"Where is your granddaughter ... Must be tired, huh?" swipe at the kids. The children scattered into the arms of his grandmother, Mak Halimah. Despite the long journey, the children were still cheerful when they met their grandmother.

"Im, as soon as you help Burhan get things out of the car," Halimah ordered a young man who welcomed Ida.

"Yes, Mommy." The young man rushed out Ida's luggage and carried her into a house made of high-walled planks with a three hundred-meter-wide conical roof.

Entering the house, Ida's smell was greeted by the aroma of spice-laden cuisine. The front room of the house is filled with boilers and large pans containing various kinds of side dishes trading mak Halimah.

"Have you finished cooking, Mom?" ask Ida.

"Yes, at two o'clock the amak will go to the feed in Rengat with Burhan." Mak Halimah led them to the middle room.

In the middle room lined with three rooms, in front of the room stacked various kinds of cooking raw materials that are still stored in the sack. A wide variety of spices smelled from that space.

"It's not a mess, Da. The children have just finished cooking, not yet tidied up" said mak Halimah as she passed through the living room.

"It's okay Mak, his name is also a trading person," said Ida understood.

"Well, this is your room." Mak Halimah opened the door of the room located at the end of the middle room.

Ida entered the four-time room with the children. Inside the room has been provided a mattress that is held beside a large bed made of wrought iron. Some of their disposable bags are neatly lined up next to a large closet located in the cottage next to the bedroom window.

Ida had just dropped Salma from her carrier to the mattress when Burhan came in carrying the rest of their luggage. Laili and Fatimah entered together.

"Well, you rest. I have to help amak first load the merchandise into the car. Ni Madah seems to be sleeping, so you'll see Uni tomorrow morning."

"Yes, I'll rest on the road. You sleep. The children also still look tired" Burhan said as if reading Ida's worries.

"Yes, may your journey be smooth" said Ida.

Ida tried to rest her eyes when Burhan had left the room. He looked down at the bed, his children had fallen asleep again after they had woken up.

Without waiting for long, Ida also fell asleep with the children. Fatigue and sleepiness make him no longer worry about what will happen tomorrow.

The next day Ida was awakened by the sound of Fatimah and Laili running around in the room, Salma woke up and cried loudly. Sunlight enters through the gap of the wallboard of the house that is not too tight. Unlike in Payakumbuh, the air of Kuantan Bay feels quite hot for Ida who is used to living in cold areas.

Ida opened the window, intending to reduce the sense of stuffiness in the room. Ida's eyes suddenly squinted when she found the light change from a slightly dark room to a dazzling light.

"Amak, it's sultry here," whined Fatimah.

"That's because Ima hasn't bathed," kekeh Ida, "Let's get out, we find mak tuo," asked Ida to her two children.

Ida came out of the room, found the house was still busy by workers who went back and forth to pick up the raw materials in the middle room.

"Eh brother is awake? Said Mr. Madah, if brother is hungry just take it behind. Mr. Madah is going to the market," said a young girl, Ida estimates that she may still be around nineteen years old.

"Okay, sorry ... I'm bad luck waking up. Whose sister?"

"Nur, Sis," said the sweet black girl with a lithe nature with a smile.

"Amak, hungry," whined Fatimah who was still standing at the door.

"Come with aunt ... Can I bribe you, brother?" Nur asked Ida's permission to take Fatimah.

"Later to trouble you, Nur," Ida refused.

"No brother, my work is done" said the girl holding Fatimah who immediately wanted to follow him.

"Thank you, Nur." Ida followed Nur who walked into the back room.

The back room was quite large. The lower room of the main house was used as a kitchen, loading two large furnaces in the corner. The kitchen looks busy, some workers are busy taking care of the cuisine that is being attacked on the stove. The trash and basin contained cooking spices lined up not far from the furnace.

"Nur, I'm going to the water. Can you show me where?"

"Sister comes out first there, later on the right there is a room lined with reeds," pointed Nur, "the baby wants me to replace the carrier first, sister?" he asked when he saw Ida pressing Salma's sling on his right shoulder.

"Oh, don't you bother?"

"No, let's get carried away," said Nur.

Ida handed Salma to Nur, he rushed to the bathroom, taking Fatimah and Laili. The water room at the very back is lined with rocks neatly arranged on the ground, a barrel-shaped water container made of plastic arranged neatly lined up to the wall of the room. Water hoses, which came out of nowhere, filled the water container.

Just after Ida finished eating, Uni Madah entered the kitchen.

"Eh, you're up, Da."

"I'm sorry I woke up in the afternoon" Ida said in a condolent tone.

"It's okay, you just arrived, must be tired," said Madah while putting some items on the large table in the kitchen.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" ask Ida then to reduce her bad taste.

"Yes, after the kids get used to it. Now that you accompany your children, I see Fatimah less excited, not as usual."

"Yes, he asked to go home to Payakumbuh."

"Not all children can accept change quickly."

"Yes, it seems so."

The change was not easily accepted by Laili and Fatimah. The children took several months to finally accept their new place. As with children, there are many things that Ida must learn from her new life, living in a place that is much more crowded than her home first.