Short Story (Cerpen)

The Mystery of a Village in the Mountains (Part 2)

Category: Fiction Fantasy Short stories

Title: The Mystery of a Village in the Mountains (Part 2)

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When I woke up in the morning, I did not see Adit beside me. It seems that Adit had woken up from earlier, I quickly came out of the room and looked for Adit to take him away from this village immediately.

'Adit is helping Mom in the market, Son' said the father while sharpening his hoe.

Well. Gawat, how this is my question in the heart. Oh my God, I was confused what to do at that time, this heart and mind in the midst of unpleasant feelings.

I walked back and forth in front of the yard. I've been waiting for Adit all day, finally before dusk Adit back together with Mom. There was a sense of relief in this heart seeing Adit's state of being fine. Then I immediately pulled Adit into the room.

'Loe where the hell Dit, this morning we should have taken out of this place' I whispered to Adit.

'Gue was taught to sell rice with Mother at the market, tomorrow we go from here or the day after tomorrow? I am still living here Dave' Adit said as he looked at me.

'Loe is crazy, do we have to step out of this village? Surely the other kids are anxiously looking for both of us, we have to catch up with them as soon as possible.

'If so tomorrow we do not have to go up to the top, we just go down and make a report that we are safe and well' said Adit.

Hmm. It is also true what Adit said in my heart. It looks like Adit is very happy to be in this village, whether I should tell him about the incident I saw last night.

'Dave.. Later that night you want to come with me, I want to go for a walk with Mom' Tanya Adit who disperse my daydreams.

'Loe where are you going..Dit?' Manya surprised.

'You go to the village square, said Mother later tonight there will be persecution there. Jaipongan' replied Adit.

Adit laughed while demonstrating the jaipongan dance in front of me, while I was still thinking how to get out of this village as soon as possible.

'Jiaahhhh... Loe really bengong anyway? helloooo.. Want to follow Dave' Tanya Adit to me again.

'I..iyah.' I replied while nodding my head.

In the evening Mother and Father took us both to go to the square in the middle of the village. I saw there was very crowded, the dancers began to get ready to demonstrate the dance that has been in the future by the audience. I noticed the situation around me, I felt an oddity in the square. Where am I now ask again in my heart, I seem to be thrown into the era of a hundred years ago. The people in the village were dressed in very old fashioned clothes, humans who were still very innocent and completely untouched by the life of the modern outside world. I glanced at Adit, and Adit laughed and enjoyed the crowd that night.

Suddenly a jaipongan dancer threw her red shawl at me. The people around me cheered and applauded. The dancer invited me to dance together, and I was forced to fulfill her request. I stood in front of the dancer who was walking her body to the beat of the music. I stared intently at the dancer's face, the look in her eyes was glaring and hinted at a deep sadness. It is so very beautiful even though it is not polished with a touch of makeup. Looks like the dancer wants to tell me something. I got carried away in a very comfortable atmosphere nearby. Suddenly the dancer pulled out one of her skewers and gave it to me. I received the flower-shaped skewer and put it in my jeans pocket. I enjoyed being with him that night.

Before midnight I went home alone with Adit, it seemed like Mom and Dad had gone home first. On the way home I passed a group of head-bound boys, they looked at me and Adit from top to bottom with suspicion. I felt even worse when one of them pointed at me and spoke a language I did not understand. I bowed my head and pulled Adit's hand to walk faster. That night I could not close my eyes until morning.

The sun finally came out of the contest, after breakfast I set foot out of the house. I was standing in the front yard and still wondering where I was. I looked at the few women walking in front of me, they carried baskets filled with wet clothes and they smiled at me. Hmmm..it looks like they finished washing clothes on the river bank. Suddenly my vision was fixed on the figure of the woman I knew. She's the dancer who asked me to dance together last night.

'Hi.' Sapaku while waving this at him.

The woman then looked to the right and to the left, and she broke away from her entourage and approached me.

'Quickly you leave this village, lest you be late and sorry' he told me.

'Why, is there something wrong with me?' I asked with a little panic.

'Anyway you have to get out of here before dusk arrives? Do not mind those around you' explained the woman as she left me.

'Waituu.' I shouted.

The woman ignored me, as she walked quickly after her friends.

Something is wrong with this village. I have to hurry up and get out of here, I said in my heart as I ran to the room to wake Adit who was still asleep.

'We have to get out of here, Dit? Quickly get up' I shouted in panic while shaking Adit's body.

Adit woke up, and then I told him about what I've been going through here. Adit was surprised to not believe it. Adit and I quickly packed in the room.

'Hmmm, it looks like someone came to this house Dave' whispered Adit while looking at me.

Suddenly I heard the sound of the footsteps of a walking horse. I slowly walked out of the room to see who was in front of Mom and Dad's house. God, I saw some of the soldiers I saw that night. Are they going to catch me and Adit like the people whose hands are tied I thought.

I quickly went back to the room and asked Adit to rush out of the house through the back door. Without saying goodbye to the Mother and Father who were leaving, Adit and I walked quickly left the house was not necessarily the direction, my mind was only set to quickly get out of this village. Adit started in a state of fear, he just kept holding my hand tightly.

In the middle of a sudden trip some soldiers intercepted us both. Adit and I tried to escape and ran towards the bushes. The soldier chased after us with his horse, the sound of the horse screeching very close made us even more frightened. I do not wish to have the same fate as those who are their captives. I galloped through the thickets, I did not care about these hands and bodies that were scratched by the trunks of trees and thorny vegetation. I endured the pain while continuing to run along with Adit.

'Gue is no longer strong Dave' cried Adit with his breathless breath.

'We have to get away from them Dit, hold it for a moment' I shouted while holding Adit's hand, we kept running.

'Gue give up Dave, I swear I'm not strong anymore' Adit said as he shed his tears.

I hugged Adit tightly.

'We have to get out of here with Dit, I'm sure we will survive and get out of this forest' I whispered encouragingly.

Adit looked at me sharply, then he nodded his head.

Adit and I ran through the dark forest again. The two of us ran for hours without stopping until we heard no more of the squealing of the horses and the soldiers.

'It looks like we're out of Dave's village' Adit said with a listless smile.

'Dad.. Now we must try to find a way to get down' I replied with relief.

We both kept going and kept going, this body was already very tired, we were hungry and thirsty. In the middle of the journey there was a very heavy rain, it seemed like there would be another storm, thunderbolts booming. Adit and I took shelter under a huge tree. I leaned against the root of the tree, I saw Adit's body shivering in the cold.

'Gue. I can't stand Dave anymore, I'm tired and sleepy' whispered Adit stammering.

'Dit... Don't sleep on, loe don't sleep? Open loe's eyes? Loe has to stay awake, ' I shouted, shaking Adit's body.

Oh my God, I also felt this fatigue and drowsiness also afflicted me, I tried to be conscious and not fall asleep while hoping for help to come soon. I hugged Adit's body tightly to warm myself from this chill. I surrender to you, Lord, I surrender my words in this heart, thinking all day long until I am unconscious. A few hours later I heard the sound of footsteps of people walking in the silence of the forest.

These eyes are very hard to open. Those people lifted up my body and threw themselves on the palanquin. I'm grateful that someone saved me and Adit. I finally fell asleep unconscious on the way home.

They took me and Adit to a nearby hospital, my arm was infused and two nurses were cleaning up the wounds all over the body. My eyes were still closed, but my ears could still hear the conversations of those around me.

'Pity them, he said they had been missing in the forest for a week' said one of the nurses.

'Daddy... The forest is indeed famous haunted, why these two children can get lost into the forest there?' said one more.

'The love of this boy's friend, he is now in a coma from exhaustion and hunger. How would his parents feel if they saw their children now like this'.

God, Adit.Adit. I wanted to see Adit.., I tried my hardest to get up and walk to find Adit when the nurses left. I went into Adit's room, I saw some doctors trying to help Adit who was unconscious. I was crying. I was sobbing at the sight.

'Adit.. loe must be strong Dit, loe must be strong.we have managed to leave the village, we have survived Dit' shouted hysterically while crying.

Two of my seniors came and calmed down, who would not be willing until Adit left this world for good. Suddenly my eyes twitched, I fell again helpless.

Eventually Adit died of exhaustion, starvation and dehydration.

After recovering I visited Adit's grave, my tears trickled back when I saw his name on the tombstone. I deeply regret the passing of my friend, but perhaps God loves him more. I lost my best friend and I wish he was happy there.

Today I started going back to college, after going out of class I set foot to the nature lovers' headquarters behind campus to pick up my backpack that had been found on the mountain. Bang Lingga smiled at my arrival and then he patted my shoulder and tried to comfort me.

'Loe don't be traumatized by the events you experienced yesterday, we all love the incident too' said Bang Lingga.

'Father Bang', I replied while nodding my head.

'Nature can not be guessed Dave, sometimes he is very friendly and sometimes he is also very cruel to the climbers, we are all very lost Adit. For us Adit is a hero, just like Evie' explained Bang Lingga.

'Evie…?' many confused.

'Our senior father, he also fell on the same mountain twelve years ago' explained Bang Lingga again.

I looked sharply at Bang Lingga.

Bang lingga then opened a large brown envelope and gave me a picture of a girl smiling sweetly. I was surprised to see the face in the photo. Hmmm.. That's not a jaipong dancer in the village I said in my heart. My body suddenly became limp when I saw the picture. I could not think and speak anymore, it turned out that the dancer who had indirectly saved me was my own senior.

'Finally we get a Photo Evie, the plan is this photo will I display with a photo of Adit at the headquarters to commemorate their loyalty and love for nature' explained Bang Lingga.

I smiled and couldn't believe what I saw.

After taking the backpack, I went home with a lot of questions that could not be solved in this mind. I put my body in bed when I was in my room. Is it true that the dancer is Evie I asked in my heart, does the village really exist and not my imagination or delusion alone? Suddenly Mbok Inah knocked on the door and entered my room.

'Mas Dave, yesterday Mbok Inah found this in Jins' pocket got Mas?' said Mbok Inah while giving me a flower-shaped konde stitch.

'Thank you Mbok' I replied with a smile accepting the item.

'Wahh.. Mas Dave now has a girlfriend ya', teased Mbok Inah while leaving me alone in the room.

I looked at the skewer and finally answered it and I convinced him that the mysterious village really existed in the mountains there. It's just that we're different dimensions to them, though I'm very grateful to Mom and Dad for helping me and Adit spend the night at their house and Evie, my senior. (Close)