Ulong Dagger

Mysterious Village on the Coast

About two kilometers from the beach filled with coconut trees, they found a fishing village.

Large and small stilt houses are seen lined up facing the beach.

There are dozens of houses there divided into two rows, disguised by the dark of the night that has just come down, only in the glittering lights of stars and crescent moons.

About a hundred meters behind the houses are populated gardens planted with bananas and cassava.

There is a strange thing in this village, which is that there is no light there.

This is really suspicious, because the houses and gardens here look well-preserved. Not like a village that has long been abandoned by its inhabitants.

Seeing the awkwardness they then walked to the nearest house with a vigilant attitude, however this place was foreign to them, and it could have been a trap of the company.

Awang gestured at Ulong.

Ulong nodded then gestured for the others to scatter observing.

Without a sound they move in the dark combing the houses here.

Ulong walked near Laksmi Putra, and Anggu Razak, his purpose was to comb the houses that approached the sea.

There are many fishing nets and equipment they see around the houses here, some are draped on wooden bars, or simply placed on the ground. But there was no sign of life at all.

Some coconut trees that are widely found around the village are seen waving their leaves blown by the wind, causing a cracking sound, making the atmosphere more tense.

Ulong checked the first house nearest to them.

While Laksmi and the others were on standby in the courtyard watching the surroundings while wielding weapons. Laksmi with his bow and arrows, Putra and Anggu Razak with a cleaver in hand.

Standing on the stairs, Ulong knocked slowly on the door of the nearest house, and because there was no answer he tried to push the door.

The door of the house was locked, after being pushed and unwilling to open and Ulong gestured for the son and Anggu Razak to continue inspecting the next house, while he and Laksmi checked around the first house.

There was also no finding around the courtyard of the house that looked suspicious, there were only fishing nets and some fishing rods that were fixed on wooden bars nailed to the foot of the house stage. From the side, front, and back, they can see the entire window of the house is also tightly closed.

They saw Arman and Mat Kecik inspect another house behind this house, a dozen meters away from them.

Awang, Mardiani, and Salhah ran silently towards another house further away.

They checked the whole house quickly, some houses were locked and some were just closed.

In the unlocked houses Ulong went inside the house and checked every room.

But there was no one in every house they visited.

In this village there are eight houses lined up in front, while in the back row there are ten more houses, all in a dark and seemingly uninhabited state.

When they arrived at the sixth house they heard a sound like wood being hit many times. The voice was so real that it was heard in the silence of the night, coming from the very end of the house in the front row.

They immediately ran up to the origin of the sound carefully.

In the dark they approached and noticed the wall of the house at the very end facing east.

From there the sound of wood "glodak, glodak", comes.

It turned out that the sound came from a window beside the house that was open and blown by the wind so many times slammed into the wall.

Ulong scratched his head and grinned, Awang and the others who had also arrived there smiled wryly.

Ulong tried to push the door of the house that turned out to be unlocked, after entering into he headed to the room where the window was not closed properly, he said, then close the shutters and lock them so they don't get slammed like that.

The observation was complete, and it was certain that there was not a single human in the village.

They gathered in the courtyard of the last house.

Ulong sat on the steps of the stilt house with Laksmi standing next to him.

While others stood around.

"There's nothing here" said Arman.

"It is as if the village here was abandoned by its residents" Awang said.

"Seeing from the many fishing equipment here and the location of the village on the seafront can be sure this is a fishing village. Strangely why there is no boat or boat seen moored" said Laksmi.

Ulong nodded and said, "the houses and gardens are well-preserved, but no one lives here".

"Some houses are locked while some are not, as if left in a hurry by their owners" he said.

Ulong looked down for a moment, then looked at his friends.

"So how, do we spend the night here or leave this place and look for another place?", asked Ulong.

Ulong looked at Mat Kecik, who was stared at shrugging and then exhaled and put on a limp look, as well as Arman.

Ulong smiled amusedly looking at him.

"It's good we just rest here Long, but must remain careful and try not to make a sound" said Awang.

"We also have to take turns to stand guard" said Laksmi.

The others agreed. Then they choose a house that is large enough in the back row for a place to rest, it happens that the house is not locked by the door.

There are two rooms in the house.

The women slept in one of the rooms, while the men slept on the living room floor.

They turned on a flickering lamp made of bamboo stems filled with coconut oil and fitted a cloth as the axis.

"I haven't slept in my bed in a long time" Mardiani told Laksmi upon arrival in the room, lying on a mattress and stretching her arms and legs.

Laksmi smiled. He looked at these two girls. Long ago when they learned martial arts and archery to him, they were only twelve years old. For about a year he and Siti taught these two girls. And now they have grown into beautiful and strong girls.

Salhah cheerfully threw her body on the bed to feel the softness of the mattress.

"It's really comfortable to taste", sighed Salhah.

After putting out the lights they slept in the bed in the room.

The bed is just an ordinary bed made of wood, but given a mattress on it made of cotton that is filled to the fabric and sewn around it, and on it is placed as a bed sheet. It is simple but still a comfortable bed.

They slept three of them on the bed, and

it did not take long, they were immediately lulled in a dream.

The first turn to guard fell on Awang and Mat Kecik. They themselves volunteered to be on guard.

Awang and Mat Kecik stood guard on the terrace without speaking so as not to cause any sound.

Awang looked towards the sea and somehow his wish just returned to the conversation or more accurately Angku Razak's speech about Mardiani and Salhah.

It was a really scary thing for her, which was getting married.

Though come to think of it, these two girls are beautiful. Especially when walking three Mardiani and Salhah told me that Salhah and Mardiani were mating from the mother's side, so it's only legal if they both he made a wife, if they don't mind.

But it was really scary for Awang, his mind imagining how he would take care of those women in this state of war. A body that is not taken care of is said to take care of the children of people, two anyway, he thought.

Moreover, he was used to living freely venturing here and there with his friends.

Remembering about friends, "at this time my old friends only live Mat Kecik and Arman",

"playmates from childhood who are like brothers" thought Awang sad.

Awang looked towards Mat Kecik who stood resting on both hands to the terrace fence of the house on stage. His tall and well-built body stood facing the West behind him.

The height of the Awang is only setelinga Mat Kecik which is about six feet (one foot 30 cm) high, and the,

Awang took a breath, remembering Ruslan, Hamid, Uncle Leman and others. Fucking war came and took away friends and family. And the people he had known for so long went one after another.

In contrast to Ulong who found his group friends on the way to war. Awang's friends are almost entirely his friends, and he has many memories with them.

"Ah fucking mind", thought Awang.

"There are so many problems I have to deal with, why should I think of women" she said.

Awang looked around, there was nothing suspicious, just the sound of the leaves not only waving but rubbing against the sea breeze.

They're on guard for the next four hours, past midnight. Then they took turns to rest replaced Ulong and Putra.

And nothing happened until the morning, they are enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of the beach tonight.

This morning they quietly sat under a coconut tree lined with beach sand, lighting fires to grill the smoked fish they found in some houses. Fish type banding.

They use grills and firewood that are also taken from the houses there to bake the fish.

The sun had not yet risen at that time, only its yellow light could be seen sweeping through the eastern sky.

"It's really strange, so much food can be found in this village, as if the residents just go together just to have an excursion" said Mat Kecik while chewing fish with enthusiasm.

Awang smiled at his friend, he was grateful Mat Kecik had wanted to talk this morning after a day of mourning last night.

Whereas if for the appetite Awang not too worried, Mat Kecik does not know suffering when it comes to food, whenever the time he will always be happy to eat.

"Same, I wonder if I should be confused or grateful" Arman said.

"Whether you wonder Man, just eat first until full, later if you are full then it is up to you to be confused or grateful" said Mat Kecik while staring at the fish he held.

Mardiani and Salhah could not resist the tickling and giggling. The others just smiled.

"True also, why wonder, just eat first" said Laksmi laughing.

Mat Kecik looked at those who were there then as if he realized that they were looking at him. He didn't mean to be funny, that's how he is.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm so hungry. That's why I didn't realize there were a lot of people here, all I saw was Arman's face" he said.

After breakfast, they proceeded to discuss plans for the eastward journey.

Amidst the sudden conversation Awang stood while staring at the sea, happened to sit facing that direction, those who were there simultaneously stood and followed the direction of Awang's view.

In the distance at the boundary between the blue darkness of the water and the blue light of the sky they saw several points leading to the land, "it looks like a bang boat", Ulong told Awang.

Without Laksmi's command, Mardiani and Salhah immediately spread out taking positions to shoot.

Ulong and the others immediately prepared to stand up and unsheathed the weapons.

Ten minutes later, fifteen large and small boats landed on the beach.

The boats carry many passengers of all ages, there are even some toddlers there carried by his mother.

The adult men so down and then approached Ulong and friends while carrying various weapons. They were twenty-five people.