A Failed Plan

Upon discovering that the food in front of them was no longer edible, a feeling of fear engulfed all nine of them.

"This is a bad omen," their leader said. This was followed by curiosity, worry, and unease. They exchanged nervous glances.

"Let's cancel our plan for tonight."

"So, what now, boss?"

"We'll regroup at the hut," their leader responded. "Let's head back to the hut now." In Kalimantan, a hut is a temporary shelter, often made from wood or tarpaulin.

The sound of the sapeq music gradually faded as the elderly woman in black walked away.

Some of them suddenly turned pale. Their hearts were gripped by fear, an overwhelming sense of dread whose source was unknown. One of them hallucinated, seeing his friends standing with fresh blood flowing from their necks, headless.

"Let's get to the hut," the leader said urgently. Without further ado, he pulled out 150,000 rupiah and hurried his group to leave the shop immediately.

"How much do we owe?" he asked.

The shop owner emerged with a black calculator. As she approached them, they suddenly leaped up and ran in a panic. They all saw a headless male figure clinging to her back.

The leader threw the 150,000 rupiah on the floor. They all dashed to their motorcycles, each one focusing on saving themselves.

The young shop owner was bewildered by the strange behavior of her customers. She picked up the money from the wooden floor, unaware of the invisible creature clinging to her back.

The nine empty bowls of noodles were collected. She dumped the leftovers on the side of the shop next to the hillside, where food scraps often became meals for wild boars.

"Ma!" The 10-year-old son of the shop owner suddenly fainted. The boy was terrified upon seeing his mother carrying the body of a headless man. Seeing her son unconscious, the mother immediately abandoned her task and rushed to attend to her son.

Back at the hut, none of the nine men spoke. They were still in a state of severe shock. They couldn’t fathom who the shop owner really was or why there was a corpse hanging from her back. Was she a shaman or a practitioner of black magic? Whatever it was, they all saw it clearly.

"What do we do now, boss?"

The leader just shook his head. He was equally confused and had no explanation for what they had all witnessed. He knew that robbing the shop had not been a good idea. There was an eerie sign indicating that the shop was protected by someone or something unseen. This was evident from the sudden spoilage of the instant noodles and the presence of a supernatural entity seemingly guarding the woman. Forcing the issue would undoubtedly result in disastrous consequences, potentially trapping or harming them all.

Meanwhile, the sky in the heart of Kalimantan’s forest turned yellow, signaling the approaching dusk. Flocks of parrots began returning to their nests. Parrot nests are unique and unlike most bird nests, which are made from clumps of grass and dried leaves, carefully arranged on branches for shelter. Parrot nests are small holes at the ends of dead trees. They carve these holes with their beaks to create a space just big enough for their bodies, safe from predators like forest rats, bears, and even root tigers. This is why parrots choose the tops of old, brittle trees for their nests—places even humans can’t reach due to the trees' fragile condition.

Time continued to pass, and the sun sank lower. Marna glanced at her watch and lit a fire. After prayer, she planned to cook the deer meat given to her by Grandma Lahei. After the evening prayer, Marna connected cables to a power bank linked to a solar charger. Her only source of energy for her electronic devices was the solar charger. Despite choosing to live deep in the Kalimantan forest, Marna stayed active and connected to the internet through a village service she had installed a year ago from the city.

Her choice to stay in the village was a firm decision. After her husband's death and the loss of her extended family, Marna decided to remain in her parents' house. She was raised in a house 6 meters wide, nearly 28 meters long, and over 1.5 meters high.

Marna sautéed vegetables, spices, and meat together. She finely chopped several cloves of garlic and added them to the pan.

After the meat was cooked, she grilled shrimp paste and dried fish. In Dayak culture, both past and present, many prefer to grill dried fish rather than fry it.

Once her meal was ready, she set aside a portion on a small plate and placed it on the roof. According to Dayak belief, when grilling shrimp paste and dried fish at night, some of the food must be left outside the house, either on the roof or thrown below the house. This is to appease the forest spirits, as the smell of grilled shrimp paste or dried fish is believed to attract them.

After preparing her meal, Marna added kerosene to the oil lamp. The lamp, made from a can with a wick connected to the kerosene, provided light when the wick was lit.

Marna also lit mosquito coils and placed them around the house to reduce the number of mosquitoes in the large, spacious betang house.

After eating, Marna prepared her bed with a mosquito net and a thin kapok mattress. She made herself a cup of coffee and picked up a book to accompany her through the night.

She directed a small single-outlet cable into the mosquito net to power her notebook. Despite living in the forest, she remained active in her online job, focusing on several survey tasks.

While typing her survey reports, Marna suddenly heard a noise as if someone was climbing her house. The sound was unmistakable because each creak of the wooden floor was clearly audible.

Feeling something suspicious, Marna grabbed her charger flashlight, which had an electric stun feature at the end. She walked stealthily and immediately turned off all the lights in her house, especially the oil lamp. This was to prevent anyone outside from seeing her inside.