The Monster In Me

As long as I can enjoy

“Why is it so dense here? Looks like the number of visitors increased rapidly,” said Firda with a frowning face. The girl looked so grim whenever her shoulder was nudged by someone else. He also tried to shrink his figure by hugging his own body when he felt he and Adira began to get caught in the crowd of visitors.

Adira herself also began to feel uncomfortable. It was curious that he immediately turned around and immediately left in search of a more deserted territory. However, curiosity made him continue to move forward. Following Firda's steps that led him through many people.

It seemed like they had already reached the destination Flower Garden, but the unfavorable conditions made Adira and Firda unable to see anything other than the plants that were closest to them. And the foreign plant does not look healthy with a crooked stem and withered and yellowish leaves.

“Fir, it looks like something is wrong. Is this the right park?” asked Adira with a frown. His head kept looking down at the strange plants and only looked up when he heard Firda take a deep breath.

And how surprised he was when he saw the scene that greeted his two eyes. Even he let his mouth gap just like that because his mind was too focused on what was in front of him. “How can? This Playground, right, only open a few days?” ask Adira to be confused.

Firda shook her head. “Entahlah. Maybe they are too focused on the rides, to forget to pay attention to the situation here.”

Broken is Adira's mood. He really no longer eager to explore a place that should be a beautiful setting for taking pictures. How not? At first he imagined he would see a stretch of colorful fresh flowers that not only cool the eyes, but everyone's heart. It turns out that all of that was wishful thinking.

Adira understands that the scorching heat of the sun can be very searing. Even his own skin often feels blistered if he forgets to apply sunscreen. However, never once did he think that one day he would see a Flower Garden that was so gloomy because many leaves on the plant yellowed and looked curly.

“Something went wrong. They should have paid more attention to this place,” grumbled Adira. “I don't know much, but most of these plants are indeed not plants that can receive a lot of sunlight directly without shade.”

“This is the same as the tourist attractions I once visited with my family.” Firda clicked his tongue as someone hit his shoulder. “The place was opened to the public in too much of a hurry, until the situation still seemed a little messy. Like this.”

Adira rubbed her temple which started to sweat. The heat and tightness made him feel even more unsettled. He was just about to invite Firda to leave, when something caught his sight. Both of his hands clenched tightly as he shouted. “Take again that trash!”

Firda jerks. And visitors around too. Moreover, the figure of the young man who had just shouted at Adira. The flap-haired youth looked to raise next to his eyebrows and looked at Adira in disbelief.

The other teenagers who seemed to be his friends seemed to be sharing a cynical smile. The smoke from the thing they were sucking on seemed to be billowing through the air, making Adira flick her hands in annoyance.

“Said take the trash you just threw away!” order Adira while pointing at the plastic wrap leftover snacks lying on the ground. “There are a lot of trash cans around here. Can't you see it?”

The young man chuckled as he stepped forward. Exhaling a thin smoke that made Adira cough with watery eyes. “If I don't want to, how? Besides that trash has already touched the ground, wouldn't it be so disgusting for me to touch it again?”

Laughter is heard from the group of teenagers with a look of urakan. They looked terrible until every visitor around seemed to rush to dodge. Leaving Adira as well as Firda who kept asking her to just leave.

Adira really does not understand why people like them want to visit tourist attractions that are usually a family choice destination. It had occurred to him that they were thugs trying to control this place, but he did not have time to think further because the smoke that now filled his respiratory tract made him unable to concentrate.

“Do not smoke!” the girl's orders again. “This area is so dry. One mistake can be a fire!”

“Keep why?” The creepy young man began to raise his voice. Adira was surprised, but tried not to show any expression. “Whatever I care about?”

Adira looked flabbergasted. No matter how strong Firda pulled her hand, she remained standing straight while glaring at the young man in front of her. He really feels upset. Good because the atmosphere around is not comfortable, also because of the presence of many visitors who behave arbitrarily themselves.

Until finally Firda pushed both his shoulders firmly. Effectively making Adira turn around and walk away despite being forced to. Firda continued to pray in his heart, hoping that the worst situation that now loomed his mind would never happen. In fact, he had prepared to contact Danita if he did not succeed in persuading Adira to leave.

Luckily, the foreign youth and his friends are not chasing after Adira and Firda. They only shouted a few words of ridicule and swearing that the two girls could still ignore. Adira snorted annoyed. He sped up his pace without caring for some visitors who were forced to give way so as not to get hit by him.

The re-sounding music of the ria park no longer made the girl feel happy.

“Sucks once! If I had brought my own vehicle, I would have gone home by now!” sue Adira after they reach a much quieter place. Grey rocks lined around a small artificial river seem to match the bluish color of the water. Slowly, Adira took a deep breath to ease her own anger. Although of course his mood could not improve just like that.

“Do not, dong! We, right, just got on the carousel!” firda protests with pursed lips. “Already, do not need to discuss any more about that earlier. Now, where are we going?”

Adira was silent while observing around. Another crowd seemed to form several meters away from where they were standing at the moment. It seems like many families are swarming around the rotating cup rides that look funny with the dominance of purple and pink.

Adira's reflexes shook her head. He has not been able to plunge back into the sea of humans like that again. And as he turned his head back towards the nearby river, without much thought he pointed his index finger at it.

“Relieve this only. The place is quite quiet,” he said even though he did not know very well what rides he pointed.

Firda seemed to dislike his choice. Seen from the way he asked Adira if he was really serious about his words.

“I'm serious,” replied Adira sure. Little guilt for behaving arbitrarily without thinking about his best friend's feelings. “Just a minute. After that we can go to any rides you want.”

Adira's words managed to make Firda's face again radiant. He grabs Adira's hand before leading them back.

After being close enough, Adira finally understood why the situation around was quite quiet compared to other places. Apparently the rides that they will now ride are ordinary boat rides. With a very slow river flow, without waves that add to the tension of their journey.

“It looks like this rafting vehicle mini version,” chirped Firda. Even so, he remained seated on the available wooden boat, with a bright smile on his face.

Adira nodded her head. “It's okay. Riding a simple ride is good. Who knows? Could be later we will not find any more tranquility like this.”

Had Adira known what was going to happen in the next few hours, she might have wanted to retract her words.

***