First time

May 6th

The moment I was woken up, it was a different place as It was last morning. The soft bed had turned into a hard floor, surrounded by mosquitos.

As always, the time I woke up was the time for Fajr prayer. After prayer, I chilled with my phone for a while.

Then, my parents and some relatives planned to go on a walk through the fields. Of course, I insisted on tagging along.

But the plan not commencing at all. This was because my dad decided to drink a glass of coffee. And in the meantime, interact with those of sat at the table.

This was going on for the next two hours. So, by the time we had left the house, it was already half-past eight.

So began our journey. Through the thick forest that resided just to the left of the house. After going through the forest, we finally reached the rice fields.

The sun was scorching while the path we trod upon was moist. It was to the point where dirt turned into mud.

The rice fields were varied. Some were ready to harvest, some had just been planted, then the rest of the fields were muddy because it was just harvested.

Here are pictures taken by my parents, the same ones that had taken the pictures of the mangrove area we had visited way back.

We kept on treading our way through the fields, meeting farmers that were friends of my relatives. We treaded our way to the river by following the irrigation there.

But at the last bits of road that were left to tread, an accident happened in front of my eyes. It was my dad; he had stepped on a muddy road that sunk on him. Making his feet covered with mud.

When we had finally gone past the last bit of land left, we arrived by the side of this river. The river was wide and was brown.

Here is a picture of the river that I had just described.

As soon as we set foot by the side of the river, my mom's uncle offered a deal to wash his feet in the river. But my dad refused to do it, in fear of losing his slippers.

In the end, we walked and walked, treading the side of the river. Making our way to the village's pathway.

In the end, we saw what seemed like a tour boat parked tied to a dock, by the side of the river. And behind us, we found a café.

The café looked like one of those hidden gems that social media influencers talk about. The place was hidden away by the trees that surrounds it.

For photos of the café, you can click here to find out about it.

We later found out that the boating experience was open for business. Since no one had brought money, we had to use my emergency money that I got for Eid, which was hidden in my phone case.

While we waited for the crew to finish preparing the boat ride, my parents took photos of the café and asked for its name. Meanwhile, some had also gone to the loo to wash their feet. Someone had also given us crystal guavas to share between all of us.

After a while, the crew informed us that the boat was ready to go. So, I headed back to the toilet for one last time before putting on a life jacket and getting on the boat. This was also my first time on a boat.

As we were about to leave, a few of the locals got on the boat at the last minute. So, we waited for them to put on their life jacket before we rode off.

So, it began. My first ever time riding a boat. Honestly, I had expected myself to take long before I got used to it. But it didn't. By the time I realized it, I was looking right and left of the river.

Before long, we had already reached the bridge. There, we met ducks who were taking a bath in the river and were being fed by the side of the river by locals. The ducks said hi.

On our way back, we were greeted by a nice breeze. Since I sat down at the very front of the boat, I felt it. In summary, it was a very nice experience for my first time.

After we were done with our boat ride, we walked back to my relative's house. It was mostly done by using the radar in our heads to navigate through. Then again, if we were lost, the other relatives could help us since they are locals.

When we arrived, it was already nearing the time of Friday prayer. With that in mind, we quickly took a bath and walked to the mosque, through the village's pathway.

After Friday prayer… …nothing special happened. And in the end, I fell asleep on the hard floor once again. When I came to, it was already close to sunset.

With nothing else to do, I continued writing this chapter. That is before I stopped midway to catch up on "Moon Knight".

Since I started watching from the second episode, it took until half-past ten before I continued writing again. After I finished, I saved the draft on webnovel and slept.