SET DUSK

Part 8's

The boisterous sound of forest animals makes Ida wake up from her sleep, but her neutrality is still not able to catch any objects around her. The atmosphere inside the cottage was still very dark.

"Girls, wake up... We will perform the congregational dawn prayer." Suddenly Ida's hearing was shocked by the sound of Zain's baritone.

Ida inching fumbled the direction of the gap that was used as the door of the cottage.

"Da, is that you?" maryam's voice broke the silence in the hut.

"Yes.. The others awake? Why is there no other sound?" Ida asked Maryam, because she felt that only she and Maryam were in the cabin.

"It seems so Da, we're late waking up. Come on." Ida felt Maryam's hand pull her hand.

"Haha shame on me Yam, here I was always the last to wake up. Even though at home, I've been up before the chicken crowed," said Ida.

"Ah her name is also tired Da. ..."

Outside the cottage, Ida's netra began to be able to recognize objects in front of him, although it was still not very clear. The situation outside was somewhat brighter than inside the hut.

"Hey, you guys are tired, right? Others have gone down into the water to clean themselves up. You guys are still good." turn on Mr. Zain.

"Well, sir, forgive us." Maryam also returned Zain's greeting with her laughter.

"Yes, there is still Amir who will accompany you down. Be careful, the road is still too dark."

Ida, Maryam and Amir walked to the river. Amir is leading.

"You hold this rope, I'm afraid you don't notice where I'm going."

Amir handed a fairly thick rope to Maryam. He had tied the rope to his waist, just in case the girls behind him did not take the wrong path.

The streets were still too dark, they only relied on the torch of dry coconut coir tied to a bamboo stick. The light is not too bright, just enough to illuminate the visibility of only one meter. Wet and slippery soil makes them more careful walking towards the river.

"Is it still far, sir?" ask Maryam politely.

"Ah call Amir only. Not so far away, just a hundred meters away. The road is a bit slippery. Hold on tight yes," replied Amir rather gloatingly with a polite call Maryam.

"Oh, thank goodness. It's a little difficult to balance the body in conditions of dark and slippery roads like this."

"Yes ... That's why we walk slowly."

"Da, you're still behind, aren't you, Da?" Maryam confirms Ida's presence behind her.

"Still Yam."

"Alhamdulillah, you must not daydream ... Read the chair verse"

"Yes." Yeah."

In the middle of the journey, they met with a group who had first descended into the river.

"Hey, just got off." Rashid greeted Ida's small entourage.

"Yes ... These two girls are enjoying one sleep until bad luck," quipped Amir.

"Ah you are. ..." Maryam pats Amir on the shoulder.

"Yeah, you hurry up and clean yourself, and then the dawn runs out. The light of dawn is beginning to dawn." Rashid pointed behind him.

Ida looked in the direction Rashid pointed. A torrent of orange began to appear in the sky as seen among the trees. It is contrasted with the color of the sky, which is still mostly dark. They heard the sound of the river water. Half hurried, the group began down the road leading to the river.

Finished washing your face and ablution, Ida was like hearing the moans of a child. The cry was heard overlapping with the sound of flowing river water hitting the rock.

"Yam, did you hear that sound?" Ida drew Maryam's hand ready to leave the river.

"She, I told you. You don't daydream. At most it was the sound of wind and water this river."

"Not Yam, the sound of a child crying." Ida was still trying to sharpen her ears while looking for the origin of the sound.

"Ah Ida's! You don't think shit. Goosebumps me." Maryam rubbed her white arms.

"I'm not daydreaming Yam, it's a child's cry." Ida insisted on convincing Maryam that she had not heard wrong.

"Misses, if we do not hurry, we may pray at dawn and pray dhuha" said Amir who had walked near the edge of the forest.

"Amir, I heard the sound of a child crying, try to come here first." Ida seeks Amir's support.

As Amir approached, the voice that Ida heard was heard by Amir. The sound of a child asking for help, his voice was hit by the sound of river water.

"Yes, it's like there's a child's voice." Amir justifies

"And what did I say." Ida looked at Maryam.

"But if we are in the forest, it usually likes to be heard such sounds. My dad says it's nothing to ignore." Mary defended herself.

"We make sure first, how do we know someone really needs help." Amir spoke up.

"Which way is it?" Amir is talking to himself.

"Is there anyone there?" Amir, who followed Ida, approached the large stone that Ida pointed.

Using the torch in his hand, Amir tried to illuminate the still rather dark place. It's a bit of a worry, considering they are on the edge of the river in the middle of the forest, it's not impossible that they will find creatures other than humans. Given the many stories he heard from people who often went in and out of the forest, the forest is where all creatures live.

"Tolooong.." the voice finally began to sound clear as Amir and Ida approached the boulder.

"Ah right, there is a child," cried Amir when pushing his embroidery behind the stone.

"Try, hold the first half, I'll try to pick up the kid." Amir handed over the torch he held to Ida. Ida took the torch from Amir's hand, helping Amir to illuminate the place in the big rock.

"Astaghfirullah...." Amir exclaimed in shock when he arrived behind the stone. A little girl who was about six years old, was lying under the rock. The body was full of wounds, the legs had rather large tear wounds and gave off a smell.

"Why?" ida asked worriedly, immediately following Amir towards the stone's cusp.

"Before a minute, you just wait there. His condition is a bit worrying. If you can wear a cloth to cover your nose if you can't stand the smell" Amir said from behind a stone.

Before long, he had already carried the little boy in his carry towards Ida waiting.

Mary ran after them. From earlier he only noticed from the direction of the path they were going through to return to the cottage. He did not dare to imagine that what Ida and Amir heard was not the voice of a human child.

Arriving at the river's lips, Amir lowered the little boy in his carriage. At once the smell of Ida and Maryam seemed forced to smell a very pungent odor. It smells like carrion. Maryam suddenly scowled.

"Sister, whose name is she?" Ida tried to ignore the unpleasant feeling from her stomach because of the smell coming from the wound on the little girl's leg when she saw the boy open his eyes.

"I'm Emi, Tech[1]" said the boy.

The girl's hair had started to dread due to being sticky by the dried blood. His face was covered in mud.

"We pray at dawn here first, I pray first. Because there's no way we're taking this kid to the cabin in this condition. We just clean it up here first, then we take it to the cottage," proposed Amir.

"Yes, that's right" Maryam confirmed Amir's proposal.

Amir and Maryam, towards the big stone on the river's lips, the upper part of which is flat and wide, they can use for the place to perform prayer.

When Amir and Maryam performed the dawn prayer, Ida tried to cleanse Emi's body. There were still some grenade fragments stuck in the wound that started to rot at the little girl's feet. Ida couldn't pull it, because she was worried about hurting the girl. While he also saw there were some maggots that started to nest in the wound of the girl.

"Sick, Tek, "whine Emi.

"Hold a minute, beautiful girl" comfort Ida.

Deftly Ida washed Emi's hair that had been seen dreadlocks with lime that he took from his tree that grew on the banks of the River.

When Amir and Maryam finished their morning prayers, they were surprised to see the change in the face of the little girl. His round cheeks looked clean, although his big clear eyes still looked soft and sunken, and his tiny lips were still pale bluish indicating the little girl was cold.

"Well, you're so pretty" praised Maryam with sparkling eyes at the girl.

"I left it with you guys first yes, I want to pray, it's getting light." Ida leaves Amir and Maryam with Emi.

Coinciding with the completion of Ida performing dawn prayers, from the direction of the path looks Rashid and some other young people come with anxious faces.

"Hey, why are you guys so long? What happened," Rasyid investigated when they got to where they cleaned Emi's body.

"Well, there's a worry, Ida," Maryam teased when she saw Rashid coming across.

"We found a wounded child" Ida replied without heeding Maryam's temptation.

"Ah, means the sound of a crying child that I heard was a human child. I was goosebumps when I heard the sound of a child crying."

"Why not see it first. If we were just like you, ignoring the voice of this child, maybe this child would have stretched his life alone under that rock" Ida's voice rose.

"Yes, I'm still a little scared. We are newcomers to this place. Where dare I," said Rashid in self-defense.

"It ... Already, you're like a bickering newlywed," quipped Maryam.

"It is important that this child has been helped, but the wound must be treated immediately, because there are already maggots," continued Maryam.

"Hey Ida, the cigarette I gave you yesterday is still left?"

"Yes, there are. ... It's." Ida took out the rest of the cigarettes Rashid gave her yesterday.

Deftly, Rashid took a rather wide leaf from the side of the path, forming it like a container, filling it with water and dipping the tobacco in his hand into the water.

"What's that for?" Ida was curious about what Rashid was doing.

"Make the maggots that are in the child's wounds." Rashid explained.

"Oh.." answered Ida briefly.

He watched Rasyid pour the tobacco water into Emi's wound. Within minutes, the small creature that was moving agilely at the girl's wound was motionless.

"Well, let's give you medicine and get wrapped up later. Let's hurry back, this child also seems to be hungry and cold," asked Rashid.

Without waiting for long, the group began to move again towards the cottage with Emi in Amir's sling.

[1] Tek/Etek \= aunty/auntie