The Monster In Me

Almost Anyways

“Hah .. crazy, crazy! That was almost, Dir! Almost!” firda exclaimed frenziedly while sitting on the wall of the Cakrabuana Playground with both of his legs still shaking hanging down. His breathing was also still panting until his speech was slightly disjointed. “I don't know what else to do until you actually fall! Adira, how could you make me hang!”

Adira who is now in the face down position, extending above the wall and then frowning. “You think I'd just fall? My death should be cooler than that!” deny the girl. Covering up the fact that he actually resigned and accepted everything if it was time to leave the world. Now that he has survived, Adira refuses to remember all that back.

“Hush! Don't call death, dong! You know for yourself that our lives are on the edge because of—loh? Since when did the stone throw stop?”

The two girls straightened their bodies and began to look around. The current atmosphere was so calm, just like the first time they climbed the walls of the Playground. Only the occasional wind blew that made the two of them slightly shudder. However, other than that, nothing else bothered Adira and Firda, let alone to the point of threatening the lives of the two of them.

“Maybe that person is bored? Throwing stones also requires energy. A smart enough human would not waste his energy like that. Especially when his own fate is not clear in this place,” Adira replied at length while stretching his hands forward and backward the body. He slightly grimaced when he found a reddish bruise that adorned that part of his body. His muscles also ached as if he had performed pull up movements hundreds of times.

All right, that's a little overkill. Adira himself never really exercise, so where does he know what it feels like to pull up many times?

“Are you sure the one who attacked us was human?” Firda looked at Adira fixedly. Both of his eyes grew as if they were about to pop out of his skull. He also held the side of the wall below him tightly. It seemed, the incident still made him very frightened, not wanting to let go of the handle.

Adira turned her face and looked ahead. Deliberately focusing his focus on the large tree that stood towering not far from where they were. “You said it couldn't be a zombie, because the undead weren't that smart. Because it's not a zombie, yes, it means human.” Adira closed her eyes tightly while regulating her breathing rate that had not returned to normal. Completely unaware of Firda who reflexively stretches his hand in front of Adira's body, in order to prevent his friend from falling.

When Adira opened her eyes, Firda's hand was holding back to the wall.

For a few moments, none of them opened their voices. Adira just looked forward, while Firda looked down. Look for something that will help them get down. Both inside the second gate of the Playground, and outside it. At this point, Firda already no longer cared whether he would get out of here or not. The most important thing was that he no longer wanted to be on top of the wall with a width of no more than half a meter, while his height was several times the height of the human body in general.

Just now Firda was about to talk about his desire to get down when suddenly Adira spoke. “It turned out to be a waste, yes, go up here. Forgive me for being too rash.” Adira's voice sounded weak, not as usual. As long as Firda knew Adira, she always saw her friend speaking with firmness and complete confidence. This time it was different, Adira seemed unsure over everything. He could not even speak while looking into Firda's eyes.

Firda shook her head while daring to shift her sitting position to get closer to Adira. He took off one of his hands and held his best friend's knee. “Don't say that. I wouldn't want to follow you if I didn't think it was a good idea either. I'm sorry because I complained too much. Though I myself have no better idea.”

Because he knows very well how Adira keeps her pride. Adira will never admit defeat just because of one mistake. And will only apologize if he really thinks he has messed things up like this.

Just get there. Adira will only do one, between apologizing and crying. He will not do both simultaneously or in succession.

Right now, all Firda could do was wait until Adira revealed everything on her mind, and listen in as the girl started talking. Although Firda was anxious to immediately get down from their current position, he thought he could still wait a little longer.

“While I don't want to admit it, I actually took you up here with great expectations.” Finally Adira started her story. “Since this mess happened, I haven't had a chance to contact my family yet, but deep down in my heart, I know that they will come to my rescue soon. Especially Brother. You know, right, if my brother forced me to come here?”

Firda nodded his head in doubt. “I know. So, are you angry with your brother now?”

“What? Nah! Not at all!” argue Adira firmly. “It's not wrong if I isolate myself too much and learn as hard as I can for the sake of little achievement. I can imagine how frustrated Kak Adnan saw me who did not have many friends because he was not good at getting along. Though in fact, I did deliberately live like that.”

“I also know about it,” Firda replied again. This time he slightly smiled looking at Adira who seemed to dislike her answer. “Do you remember how tough you were to me when we first met? I thought I was dealing with a female tiger.”

“Hey!”

“But that's what makes me really want to be your friend.” Firda continued his remarks without heeding the protests from Adira. “You have a terrifying aura, but I see it as your own defense so that no one can carelessly approach you. That means you know how valuable you are. And in my opinion, it is very awesome.”

“You are absolutely amazing.”

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