THE END OF OUR STORY
Guardian Angel
Inside the tram that brought her back home to the apartment, Aurora almost drowned in her memories of the Clouds. Saras who was unceasingly speaking was able to hold Aurora to his senses.
“Kak Awan means 3 years older than me huh, Au. Hmmmm .. fit well, remove.” The big-eyed Saras raised her eyebrows while smiling happily, making her look like a child who just got an ice cream gift. Aurora tried to smile thinly.
“Saras, do not like Kak Awan dong ... please ..” Aurora muttered in her heart.
“Kak Awan sakep yes, Au .. surely first on campus he many who like ya?” Saras was still unaware of how Aurora's attitude heard his words.
“Iya, much,” Aurora replied slowly.
“Dduh Saras, are you interested in Kak Awan? No, Ras ... You're the only one here.” Aurora felt her heart crumpled to imagine Saras going to be with the Clouds and her marginalized self.
“Gak nyangka yes, Au .. far away here we can meet seniors, guys, cute anyway. Ph.D., he must be smart, right? Fun, if anyone does not understand it. There's nothing you can ask for help with. We'll have a guardian angel here Au ..” Saras spoke at length with an increasingly wide smile while shaking the hand of Aurora who was hugging the shopping bag on her lap.
“You ah, the guardian angel of all .. kayak aja.” Aurora alleviates the pain by pulling on the tip of her lips.
“Iiiiih. She's perfect kayak angel.” Saras was still smiling, his eyeballs were pointing upwards, seemingly imagining the Clouds with angel wings.
Aurora was getting scared. He was totally unprepared if Saras had approached the Clouds. If this had happened on his campus first, Aurora wouldn't have worried like this. But this happened in a place that was still very foreign to him, and his only friend was Saras.
Aurora realized, Saras is not a girl who can be seen with one eye. His tall body, pure white skin, big sparkling eyes, oval face framed with long black hair, coupled with his suble and friendly personality, anyone is very likely to be attracted to Saras.
“Yuk, down.” Saras' voice sounded soft in his ears.
“Tuh right, the sound is very good to be heard. Less what else?” Aurora is still continuing her thoughts about Saras who might become her rival.
“Hah? A rival? Wow enggak...” Aurora shook her head quickly trying to dispel thoughts that seemed to be starting to get unhealthy.
The tram they boarded had a perfect stop at the last destination station. From this place Aurora and Saras have to walk about five minutes to get to their apartment. Approaching the apartment door, Aurora slowed down her steps when she suddenly recalled.
”Duh, how about in front of the elevator to meet Kak Awan?”
He let Saras in first to ensure safe conditions. Aurora remains agitated. “Can I avoid Brother Awan? We live in one building. The school is also a building. Where to run?”
The elevator door opened, two men came out of it. Aurora recognizes one of them as Edgar who is from Poland. “Hi.” Edgar nodded his head towards Aurora and Saras who were answered with the same greeting by the two of them while smilingly entering the elevator.
“That's Edgar, right?” ask Saras.
“Iya, who is Polish,” Aurora replied.
“Whose only? I haven't yet memorized.”
“Sama, I don't know either. But only Edgar from Poland, right? Maybe his roommate.” Aurora tried to guess.
--
On Saturday morning, Aurora, Saras, Iqbal, Lukas, and Singgih were already at the train station. Today they will go to the embassy in The Hague to enlist. Within five minutes the train to The Hague will arrive and together with other prospective passengers they are ready to wait on the platform that says ‘Spoor 2’.
While waiting for the train to come they discussed about Indonesian words, or even Javanese and Sundanese, which is the absorption of Dutch. One of them is spoor, which in Java is known as sepur means train, while the real meaning is train track.
Finished with the business of self-registration at the embassy, the five Indonesians who were only ten days in the Netherlands agreed to continue the trip that day to travel in tourist attractions around The Hague. Armed with information obtained from the internet, today they designed the first visit to Madurodam which can be reached on foot about twenty minutes from the embassy office.
Madurodam is a miniature city park consisting of Dutch miniature buildings and famous landmarks in the country. The mini building is laid out in such a way as to resemble the original, including a miniature airport with Indonesian airline planes parked there. Windmills, canals and ships, railroads, palaces, museums, and many more Dutch specialties are easily found in Madurodam.
Satisfied to enjoy the Land of Windmills in mini form and take dozens of photos in Madurodam, the five of them continue their steps towards the beach Scheveningen which is only a ten-minute walk. If in Indonesia they may almost never walk more than five minutes, in the Netherlands inevitably have to do, with joy.
The vast expanse of blue sea in front of the eyes with light brown sea sand on the beach looks refreshing accompanied by a wind that blows quite strong. Their destination to the beach is to take pictures against the background of 'Skyview The Pier', a 45-meter-high white reed erected in the sea. Not intending to try to ride, just have proof that they were ever present there to be posted to their respective social media accounts.
Like tourists, the steps of Aurora, Saras, Iqbal, Lukas, and Singgih are more stopped to intermittently record many things they meet while walking. Buildings, parks, trees, roads, people walking or cycling, all look attractive to those who are both new this time set foot in the Netherlands.
With an age that is almost the same age, not one of them has a family. Iqbal was already engaged before leaving, Singgih already had a girlfriend in Bali there, while three other people did not have a partner. They could joke freely without any awkwardness between them. After all, they will be together for the next year, in the land of people.
--
In his studio room Awan was busy cleaning the chicken wings he had just bought from a Turkish-owned butcher shop. In accordance with the message of the generations of Indonesians who previously studied in this city, to ensure the halal chicken consumed, as well as bread, it is better to buy it in a meat store owned by Turks. Bread can not be arbitrarily purchased in supermarkets as in Indonesia because it must really pay attention to the content, whether there are ingredients that should not be eaten.
After draining his energy for several days preparing for his dissertation, Awan chose this Saturday as a day of rest. He had time to clean up the room from the books that are still scattered, out for a short walk to the butcher shop, and then intend to cook for lunch that can also be eaten until dinner.
After all, the clouds just lay back on the couch listening to the sound of the television. Yeah, he didn't watch it. The clouds turned on the TV just so as not to feel lonely in this room. His eyes closed, Aurora's face looming over there.
“Aurora is still as it used to be, sweet and adorable, but now it does look more mature.”
The clouds unconsciously smiled.
Clouds recalled, once if he saw Aurora go to the library, the clouds would follow there. He chose the most strategic seat, so as not to be too flashy can still steal the Aurora and enjoy her face.
The clouds love whatever Aurora's expression is. Seriously read a book or during an exam, laugh happily, frown when teased, also get angry at being upset. Clouds also remembered that if Aurora met him for assistance, she would deliberately stall for time in order to be with Aurora longer.
After graduating from college, Awan applied to become a lecturer at one of the private universities. Two years of teaching, Awan continued his studies here. A year after graduation he returned to this city to continue to a higher level. Since graduating from college, the Clouds have never met Aurora. They live in the same city. It was as if the city they lived in had become so vast, but the distance with Rotterdam was so close. Tokh finally met Aurora here.
Since separating from Aurora, Cloud has been trying her hardest to bury her memories of Aurora. He turned his attention to work, especially when he was just starting to teach. His efforts were quite successful. Although the occasional shadow Aurora present fills her heart, but does not make her become heartbroken or then drown in a gripping longing. He placed Aurora in the deepest corner of his heart, kept her there, and remembered her happily.
