CATCH ME

This afternoon boredom enveloped me. The weather's heat made my body hot as if I needed a refrigerator. My class ended quickly. I immediately walked to the bus stop in front of the campus while repeatedly fanning my head using the thin book I held. The bus didn't take long, and I got on it right away.

I sat in seat number three from the back, near the window. Enough to get cooler, although not too pronounced.

Inside the bus, I heard whispers talking about a fantasy book. I turned to the source of the voice behind me. I saw a group of high school students sitting hysterically while reading the story from the book. I can hear their conversation slowly but very clearly. I stare sadly at the exciting sight of high school children looking for their identities.

If only my high school were as beautiful as theirs.

I turned my gaze back to the front, taking in the view of the urban traffic from the bus window. This trip made me unable to sleep for a while like usual. Understandably the weather is so hot as the endless talk of neighbours.

Entering the country road, I got off at the bus stop in front of the village highway. To get to the village, I need transportation back. As usual, Mr Nanang offered me a delivery service. And without having to haggle over the price, I immediately boarded the motorcycle taxi.

I have arrived in front of my board's house only fifteen minutes from the highway. The plank house looks dark because there are still many tall trees surrounding my house.

***

I am the eldest of three children. My last sister was a little girl, and she just turned five a week ago. My other sister just entered middle school.

I'm not a rich kid who can spend a lot of time taking selfies with anyone like most girls nowadays. My life is dramatic. Fortunately, nature is still willing to be friendly with me to survive until now. Even so, I appreciate it.

"Are you home, Ra?"

Heard the longed-for soft voice. I saw compassionately a 40-year-old woman who was busy serving my youngest sister. At the age of a toddler, I can't deny that my little sister takes up a lot of my mother's time.

"Yes, mom. Adit has come home from school?" I asked as I put down my college bag.

"Adit accompanied father to the market. The results of our vegetable garden are quite good this Sunday."

The short answer made me smile a little. In my mind, I was always determined to change my family's life for the better. Perhaps by providing a place to live and hiring a maid to take care of the endless household chores.

My determination is still a dream to this day. I don't know when God will make it happen. But I believe everything we want will come if we are ready to accept it. My job is to get by.

"Go back first, mom."

Not wanting to be lost in dreams for a long time, I immediately carried out my daily tasks to look for fish by the sea as a side dish for this lunch. Immediately I changed into casual clothes, put on a straw hat and took my fishing line to the seashore.

My house is located at the foot of a mountain, where behind my house there is a path leading to the ocean, through the forest, towards the thickets on the edge of the sea. I see that my canoe is waiting to be used to pick up sustenance today.

By the Sea…

Dozens of minutes have passed, but I did not get a single fish. I switched to a bigger bait hoping to get a bigger fish too. However, I didn't expect the sky to drop rain for me suddenly. The raindrops invited strong winds to shake my canoe.

"W-why all of a sudden like this?" I asked, holding my family's small canoe.

The surroundings turned drastically dark, and the sun seemed to have vanished from my sight. The fog came and made my vision blurry. The fog seemed to carry a large black hole.

In this situation, I try to stay calm. I tightly gripped the handle of my fishing rod and canoe. Before long, I heard the sound of the sea in front of me like a big wave. My canoe also felt very heavy. I lost control.

"I fall! Fall!" I shouted before losing my balance, and finally, my canoe overturned.

Immediately I swam to shore while still holding my fishing rod. However, my body felt so heavy. I looked back and how surprised I was when I saw a figure floating on the water's surface, which my fishing hook was pulling.

"Corpse"

I feel like I know what's in front of my eyes. But I couldn't say it, as if caught the words in my throat.

Calm down, stay calm. Inhale deeply and then exhale slowly.

I tried to be calm in dealing with this strange situation. It's already wet as well as diving, I thought. Because I was worried that the waves would lose the fishing rod I had if I let go, I finally pulled the figure hooked on my fishing hook. I pulled as hard as I could and brought it to the shore. I turned around with an uncertain feeling of fear and anxiety.

"Good grief!"

The figure turned out to be a reddish-white youth. He was wearing all white clothes. His hair is blonde, assuring me he's not a local.

I can't escape right now. Empathy, as well as curiosity, enveloped me. I ventured to put my ear to his chest, making sure his heart was still beating or not.

Still alive.

I heard my heartbeat slowing down, forcing me to rush for help. I pressed his chest with both hands, and I pumped with all my might to expel the water that had entered his stomach.

One two Three!

I repeated many times until I heard a hiccup from the young man. The young man finally came to his senses and vomited all the water that entered.

"You are okay?" I asked slowly, taking a closer look.

The young man tried to get up, and I helped him sit up. He sat across from me while I bent my knees and kept watching him make sure he was okay.

"I think I fell," he answered while holding his head with his left hand, while his right hand became the support of his body that had just woken up.

Could you take a good look at him? At first glance, there was a feeling that tickled me. I never thought that I could meet a stray Caucasian like this. Or maybe more accurately, Caucasians splashed in the sea.

"It seems you need treatment. It's best if you come with me so that I can treat it immediately."

I tried to offer services to him, even though I knew the impact of all this would surely be that mom and dad would scold me. But as a human being, that empathy pushed me to help him.

The boy didn't answer, and he just nodded slowly. Maybe his body is still weak, and I try to understand it. I immediately helped him up and then supported him so he could walk.

The height…

After standing together, it turned out that his body was tall enough for me to help walk, maybe around 175 cm, while I didn't even reach 160 cm. I feel this situation is so unfair.

"Ouch!"

His scream interrupted my thoughts. It looks like I have to get rid of my insecurities for a while and focus more on helping him. I continued to help him walk until he reached the front of the house.