The Musafir

His name is Jayamantingan

A young man entered a diner on the side of the street. It looks so dirty. His skin was sunburned. His clothes are full of patches. On his back, a bundle that somehow contained what, tied strongly. Her hair looked like a bird's nest. The one who saw it would not dare to imagine the smell of the young man's body, directly going away.

He immediately became the center of attention in the tavern thanks to his looks.

The shopkeeper looked at the young man after goal, before he said, "Who are you and what do you want to come here?"

The young man smiled a big smile. "Of course I want to eat here, Uncle. Maybe we'll stay overnight."

The store owner looked at him from top to bottom. Then he hissed. The water on his face was like seeing a walking corpse.

"Many dreams, you street beggar! You better get out of here as soon as you can, find another store that's willing to accept you!" The owner of the shop without any warning immediately threw a dirty cloth at him, right about the face of the unfortunate young man.

"How rude of you, Uncle ...." The one who was pelted laughed softly, a very bitter laugh. "Hear my name, and you will be afraid until your children!" His eyes stared intently at the shopkeeper far ahead. "My name is Jayamantingan!"

The momentary silent atmosphere.

"Whatever your name is, it's good to get out of here!" The owner of the shop brandished his knife, about to be thrown into Jayamantingan's face as well.

So forced Jaya to get away from there while mumbling. Why isn't he angry? One answer is probably: he is used to it. Too used to being used to it. He is immune.

Indeed, his name means nothing. People will not be afraid to hear his name. The name Jayamantingan is rarely known by people, even almost unknown to anyone. No one wants to meet Jayamantingan. Not with his beggar-like appearance. Even beggars would not be friends with him.

After getting out of the tavern, Jaya walked in an uncertain direction. The most important thing is to walk, that is what he has been doing all this time. The townspeople who saw Jaya pulled away. Don't wanna get close. They were afraid that Jaya was carrying disease in her body. Seeing that, Jaya could only raise her chin and bulge her chest, feel arrogant, or actually just want to feel better. Be him stepping right in the middle of the road so as not to get close to people.

Just relented. Jaya forced her legs to keep walking, even though it felt very heavy now. His body was weak, as if it could collapse at any moment. I don't know how many days he walked non-stop to get to this city, and what he got was really not worth the fight.

Jaya saw a small building that resembled the shape of a tavern. He took a deep breath before stepping into the tavern, trying a second chance. Open the shop curtains slowly. A lot of people eat there. The smell of grilled meat made Jaya's stomach churn violently.

A moment later, the entire store stared at Jaya with dislike. Even the benches and tables seemed to look at him dislike. The faces of the customers look disgusted with the presence of Jaya. Very do not want Jaya to enter, one of them did not even hesitate to shout at the owner of the store.

"Hoi, you said that beggars should not enter the store! Get rid of this beggar who is about to enter. I don't want my appetite to be ruined because of this dick!" His eyes were like an angry bull. Insinuating Jaya all-out.

A middle-aged man came out from inside the tavern kitchen, sighing longly at the sight of Jaya in the doorway. "True, I do not accept beggars. You at the door, quickly lift your feet from my shop!"

"I'm not a beggar" Jaya replies, "I brought a piece of money."

"There may be a beggar who buys decent clothes can't afford to pay for food at my shop! Well, you go before the machete I pull for you!"

"It's rough, Uncle. If I wasn't being kind, I'd kill you all. But let me go out for now. Someday, JAYAMANTINGAN will repay you!" Jaya shouted loudly before taking a thousand steps from the tavern. Real evidence of cowardice. His pride was severely suppressed, but he could not fight in front of the tavern owner's cleaver.

His heart that was just sliced, was now smashed. Jaya thought. Do they not see that his appearance is the appearance of a true man who has set foot over a million times in his wandering? Can they also not judge a person just by his clothes and possessions?

Whether he got his energy from nowhere, the young man continued to run. Not looking for another restaurant. It's free. No one will accept it. Jaya went out of the city, as her current place was located on the outskirts of the city and coincided with the exit, she was able to get out quickly.

The city seemed to be hostile to him, or pity him, so Jaya was left out without obstruction from the gatekeepers.

***

His body sat and rested on a big tree on a high hill. Bending her head, Jaya felt tears welling up on her cheeks, forming a river that empties into her chin.

"Why ... why am I always banished from the world?"

Jay remembered his past. When he first came out of the village and decided his way of life as a wanderer after not being able to bear the shame and disappointment. In his village which is very far from here, Jaya always gets a failure. Humiliation. Mocked. Unconsidered.

When he tried to work on the rice fields owned by his parents, the rice failed to harvest. While trying to work as a horse coachman, his horse was exposed to various diseases before finally dying. When he became a manual worker, he dropped a heavy item until an unfinished house was destroyed, again he had to compensate. The villagers refer to Jaya as the cursed child. The earth's outcast.

Even in hindsight, Jaya had no talent she could be proud of. He could only read and write, could it be called talent?

Therefore, after not being able to resist embarrassment and disappointment, Jaya came out of the village. No one held him back at all, they were even relieved after seeing Jaya leave, just like what the city had done to Jaya.

Several times Jaya stopped in a city, both small and large cities. He was looking for a job, but he did not get one. All he gets is a pain of feeling because self-esteem is always oppressed wherever he is.

Jaya's stomach is always hungry. Even if he finds food, Jaya will not eat everything but store most of it in her bundle. Until he almost never felt full during his time as a traveler. For Jaya, satiety is a privilege, he rarely gets.

The wind was blowing slowly. The tall pine trees swayed slightly, dropping some of its blooming seeds. Long hair Jaya gets a little entertainment from the wind.

As Jaya dragged on in her grief, her ears caught a call. Somehow he was able to explain the look of that voice. Smooth and soft. Syahdu. Sincere and holy, as if the owner of the voice had never sinned anything in his life. Jaya's nose is filled with a faint floral scent, making her comfortable.

"You need a friend?"

Jay looked back. A young woman stood there. Looking from top to bottom in amazement, the beauty of the woman was far beyond the village flower women in her place of origin. Her skin is clean and smooth. Her hair was black, clean and smooth. His brown eyes stared at Jaya warmly. And his smile too. He wears white-white clothes that further strengthen his elegance. Jaya only looked at the goods for a while before reverting to the land in front of her. In this kind of desperate situation, was there anything he cared about other than despair itself?

Even if that woman is the most beautiful woman Jaya has ever met. Hundreds of times more than the prettiest woman, but Jaya remains desperate. Mind empty. Even the young lady was considered to be bothering him.

"Yes. You really need a friend." The girl smiled even wider as she answered her own question. "May I sit next to you?"

Jaya did not answer, but the girl had moved to sit beside her. The smell of the flowers is getting clearer. It is thick, like the smell of jasmine, but softer than it. Jaya was immediately lulled.

"My name is Kenanga. What's your name, Kangmas?"

The young girl tried to be more polite..

"Jayamantingan, Nyai." Brief and flat, Jaya wants the girl to know her presence is very undesirable.

But the girl named Kenanga even laughed a little. "Don't call me 'Hyai', Kangmas, '" he whispered.

"Your name has a deep meaning. Jayamantingan .. jaya because of the dings. Didn't we?"

It was not the name his parents gave him. Jayamantingan is a name he chose himself at first. Worn after deciding to become a wanderer with the intention of changing personality. He had no idea of the hidden meaning of his new name.

"If Kangmas knew that, why would Kangmas still be here and regret his past actions?"

"His heart has no right to know my business." Jaya said colder without looking at the woman.

"Wouldn't the dings, Kangmas could gain strength and might? The heirloom slammed its hammer thousands of times before it finally became a powerful and proud weapon, didn't it?"

Jay did not respond. But even so, his teeth let out a gritting sound the sign of Kenanga's speech had completely alluded to him. He remained silent in place.

"Kangmas want to be famous travelers, don't they?"

Jaya looked at the girl next to her with a sharp look. How could Kenanga know of a wish she had never said or whispered to anyone? How did Kenanga know that she had walked through her worst times? And how could there be a girl in the middle of a very lonely high hill like this? Jaya's gaze was filled with question marks and fear at this moment. Lest this girl is a white crocodile demon smelling jasmine who is looking for prey!

"Who are you really?!" Jaya's voice shook the air. Strenuous.

"I told you, Kangmas" he hissed, with a big smile. "I'm Kenanga."

____

note:

The main character needs time to decide to become a swordsman. The choice of the Good Reader is twofold, the first is to be patient and enjoy the flow of the story; the second is to jump to volume 2. I suggest you be patient.

Happy reading and adventure among the green valleys of the Musafir!

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