Arrows

The man started the day by jogging in the morning before the sun appeared. He spent last night sleeping soundly so this morning he felt very healthy. His steps felt light and his breath didn't run out quickly. His favorite running route is the road up the hill on the edge of town. Asphalt road surrounded by green trees. There are very few people there and the air is much fresher than the polluted air in the city. The sun began to show signs of appearing, he slowed down his running pace and stopped completely after finding a suitable place to rest. An almost rotten wooden bench that apparently could still support his body weight.

He wanted to enjoy the sunrise in peace with a bottle of water. It was calm, cool and quiet. Not until an arrow pierced the mineral bottle that had been at the edge of his lips. The man stared at the arrow stuck in the bench. He got up, narrowing his eyes in the direction the arrow had come from. There was indeed a person in the tree but it was too far away so he couldn't see what it looked like.

Instead of getting angry because he was almost pierced by an arrow, the man took the cloth tied to the tail of the arrow. He ignored the person on the tree to read the message on the cloth. The writing on the cloth was so bad that it was very difficult to say a sentence. He needed to rack his brain to guess the contents and it sounded something like this, [There is a 10% discount on cinnamon rolls at the cafe.]

Only that. Just like a prank sentence for teenagers. The man crushed the cloth shape into a fist in his hand. He pulled out a slender iron arrow that was stuck in the wood and threw it to the side of a shady tree. Hope no one finds the arrow.

"The way he conveys the mission is very tacky. What era is this when you use arrows? It's hard to hide them." he grumbled irritably.

Now the sun has appeared perfectly from behind the hill. The man put the cloth in his pocket and then continued running. Soon another arrow flew towards him. This time it stuck to the road in front of his feet so he had to brake suddenly. On the tail of the soil there was another cloth tied, but this time the cloth had been unraveled so that the reading was immediately readable. It's written like this, [You're the tacky one :p]

The man pulled out the arrow then turned around. He took his time to look for the direction the arrow was coming from. After that he made a stance and then he threw the arrow from his hand. The messenger was quite close so he was sure his aim was on target.

The person holding the bow froze as the arrow he shot turned towards him. The arrow was now stuck in the tree trunk, right next to his head. The person rubbed his earlobe. It took him a long time to realize that the tip of the arrow was making him bleed.

Then he looked back and found the person looking straight into his eyes. He immediately ran when the man pointed his first arrow. What a vengeful man, he thought.

A few hours later..

The man was neatly dressed from head to toe. He didn't drive a car today, just walked through a narrow alley. This alley can only be passed by motorbikes and the walls are decorated with many colorful pictures of mountains and houses. Seeing that made him think of a kindergarten, maybe the alley here was close to the preschool.

He turned right and immediately found several children scribbling on the walls. He fell silent, stunned and confused. These three childrens are not thugs who like to damage or deface public places. They were wearing school uniforms accompanied by a woman wearing an apron with flour remaining on her cheeks and the hem of her t-shirt. He was surprised because of the woman but the person he was paying attention to did not show the same reaction as him. The woman acted like she didn't know him.

The man kept walking when one of the children asked him to pass the chalk that was rolling to the tip of his shoe. The man's monochrome appearance stood out against the children's colorful drawings. All the children and women watched his movements carefully. But he didn't care, he continued walking as if there was no one nearby.

The man glanced at the woman from the corner of his eye, the woman was still watching him and slowly got up from squatting. He kept walking until he arrived in front of a bakery.

The man looked up to read the shop plaque. Bread, he remembered that the woman was the same person he met at the airport a few days ago. Why does it have to be that woman? He didn't want to be recognized by anyone in this country, hopefully the woman wouldn't remember him.

The woman followed him, could it be that the woman finally remembered him and would say thank you for his help the other day? The man hoped not.

"Please come in sir, we are open." the woman said kindly and then entered the bakery first. The reality was very different from what he thought, the woman just walked by as nonchalantly as she had been some time ago. This made him relieved and disappointed at the same time. He quickly dismissed it, not the time to think about that.

He pulled the door and went inside, his first impression was the fragrant smell of baked bread. The sweet aroma of cinnamon and savory garlic. The bread they displayed in the window looked very delicious but there were no customers. The chairs and tables were completely empty even though today there was a 10% discount.

Maybe this place is quiet because of poor management and marketing. He bothered to think about it as he approached the order table. The woman earlier was not the one who took the order. But it was an old man whose hair was starting to turn white.

There was something about this old man, he could feel it, the proof was that the old man fell silent when he heard him say, "Cinnamon roll."

"What's wrong papa?" the woman asked worriedly.

"Nothing," the old man replied quickly. And then he turned his face to his daughter, "Aleyah, can you wrap one cinnamon roll? For take away."

The woman's name was Aleyah, she looked at her father and the man repeatedly. He could feel something was wrong with them. It just doesn't feel right. 

"After that, please get some sugar from the warehouse, bring the smallest one. Don't carry heavy things." asked the old man again, deliberately so that his daughter would immediately disappear from their sight.

"Yes papa." she answered. Aleyah wasn't a disobedient daughter so she immediately did what her father asked. She prepared the bread in a box and sprinkled it with cream cheese. She occasionally glanced over and eavesdropped on what they were talking about. She just couldn't stop being curious about that man. It was rare for her father to be so alert to a customer. This made her suspicious.

"How do you know if there is a discount today, sir?" asked the old man.

"From someone," answered the man briefly.

"This was a pleasant visit. It's great that someone is paying attention to our bakery."

The man didn't answer, Aleyah immediately looked away when they met eyes. The old man found his daughter stealing glances so he quickly reprimanded her. Aleyah immediately handed the bread into her father's hands and went back to get sugar according to her father's request.

"80 thousand rupiah, sir," said the old man awkwardly. He slipped a piece of paper into the plastic order before handing it into the man's hand.

The man finally took his eyes off the woman's back and handed the old man a piece of pink money to pay. While waiting for the change, the old man asked him something sensitive.

"It seems like something is going to happen in this town. Will you be here for a long time?" asked the old man, the man was surprised but the signs did not appear on his face. He remained silent and emotionless.

"You have something to do with my business?" The cynical question made the old man lower his head slightly.

"I'm Smith, sir. I have nothing to do with you and believe me, I don't want to know anything about it. But this is my job so I can't avoid knowing that I know something bad will happen in the future. Apologize if my question feels too intrusive into your business."

The man nodded his head slightly, "I know who you are Smith. You're a former member of NYX. Even if you are considered to have left the organization, you cannot be said to be truly separated from them. I know you have two daughters and your wife..." he said slowly when the woman appeared from behind the curtains. He was carrying a plastic bag containing half a kilo of sugar.

"Sorry, did I interrupt your conversation?" Aleyah asked uncomfortably, because they immediately fell silent when she appeared.