This is my childhood story, when I was 6 years old and lived in a small town in East Kalimantan. In every evening before the dusk, my friends gathered in front of my house, they were already took a bath and well groomed for playing around our neighborhood. They were also put baby powder by their mother, a common ritual in that age, which I could easily ran away. I didn’t like that because it reminds me of Suzanna, the famous ghost actress in television.
I was wearing my Ultraman orange shirts with runny nose when I went outside, made me became the last person joining my friends. But then, I found something different, there was no chaotic like usual, they kept quiet and just gathered beside my house.
“Ik, come here we have a new friend,” one of them, talked to me, it was more like shouting, made me walk in hurry because of my curiosity. After I came closer, there was something different, I found that there was a new girl with brown hair and fairy skin joining my friends.
“My name is Yuki” she said, handed her little hand, waiting for me shaking hands with her. I was taken aback when she got ready for shaking hands. For me, this was the very first time I introduced myself to a girl, so I didn’t know what to do.
“So, what is your name?” she was suddenly asking me while waiting my respond to shaking hands with her.
“I… I… Ikrar,” I said haltingly, reached her small hand.
She was smiling widely, a perfect match with her sweet and cute face. After that awkward moment, she joined us to play some games, even though she didn’t understand what we were doing. The nightfall was coming, the sun was slowly faded away, leaving a beautiful color in the sky. The darkness replaced the bright colorful day, accompanied by windy air, the moon shyly came up. Our time to play was over. We went home one by one, so did the new girl. I couldn’t stop staring at her, watching her walked away straight to her house.
I kept thinking about her on that night. I was about go to sleep but again, my head kept recalling her cute face. I really wanted to ask so many things about her, knew her better and played a lot with her until I realized that it was the first time I thought about a girl till I fell asleep.
The next day was coming. I went to school with bright smile and got a lot of energy. I didn’t know what things could make me woke up excitedly and put a very cheerful steps. I went home in hurry after the school was end on that day. I ran as fast as I can, hoped that I could met the girl in front of my house like yesterday, the more I thought about her, the faster I ran to home. But sadly, I found no one in front of my house, “well, it’s okay, maybe she will come in the evening like yesterday” I said. I continued my steps to home with panting breath.
“Bu I’m home! Ibuuuuuuu!!” I shouted in front of the door house. The door was locked and it means my mom wasn’t at home because usually the door would open widely in every single day.
“Ibuuuuu I’m hooome!!” again, I shouted, louder than before, hoped that my mom would open the door faster.
“I’m here ik, I’m in the next door, visiting our new neighbor, come here!” she said loudly. I was surprised, “why she’s there?” I mumbled. But then I came to our new neighbor. The closer my distance to the next house, the heavier steps I took. Until I arrived in front of the door, for a moment, I thought I should turn back and went home because it would be embarrassing if I should met her in her home. “I never visit a girl friend’s house before,” I mumbled.
Suddenly, the girl opened the door and said “Ikrar come in!” she grabbed my hand and pulled me into her house. I was shocked for a while, my brain couldn’t think properly. It was the first time I pulled by a girl, followed her entering her house. Even when we were already in her house and she was letting go my hand, I was freeze on the place she left me.
“Ik, come here!” ibu said to me. I came closer to my mom with weird facial expression, similar to a boy who hold back the stomachache because of diarrhea.
“What’s wrong with you Ik? Come here, this is Yuki’s mom” Ibu said to me and she faced a woman in front of her.
“I’m okay bu. Hehe.. Oh hello tante!” I grabbed her hand and kissed her hand, showing that I respected her.
“What are you doing here, Bu?” I asked.
“Ibu accompanying your little brother, he wants to play here”. She pointed my brother, who were playing with the girl, covered with yellow liquid in his mouth.
“You need to go there and take care of him, join them and play together” she said. It seemed like my mom push me to play with them because she was enjoying had a talk with that woman.
I came closer to my brother and the girl, to joined them playing in front of TV.
“This is your brother right? He is so cute, how old he is?” the girl suddenly asked me when she knew that I was joining her to play.
“One year old, I guess..”, I wasn’t sure about my brother’s age.
“Why don’t you look like your brother? You are his brother, right? Well, I want to have a young brother like you too.” She said.
“Ask your mom then if you want to have a brother. I did that too. I kept asking to my mom that I want to have a brother and she gave me one.” I said, randomly.
We played together after that short conversation. Well, it was two of us playing around, because my brother only could throwing something and put off something from his mouth and nose.
The day was ended with a lot of surprise and happiness because I saw the girl again, and even better, I played with her all day long.
The next day was Sunday, the day that I could slept longer on my bed. “Ikrar wake up! It is already afternoon,” Ibu shouted outside my room, I didn’t pay attention to her and I was just continuing my sleep. But seconds after that, I heard a different voice called my name.
“Ik, let’s play, come on!” I opened my eyes slowly, and the girl was just right in front of my face. I woke up in hurry, fully awakened.
“oo,,okay let’s go” I said. I still couldn’t believe that she woke me up in my room.
With saliva left in my cheeks, we played under a tree in front of my house, with sun light broke through the leaves in the beautiful afternoon. And then, it became our habit, we were playing under the same tree, in the same time every single day.
Until one day, I didn’t see her for days. I was asking myself where she is. In that afternoon, I waited her under the tree we used to play together, but the girl didn’t come. Days came into weeks, and weeks came into months, and I thought the girl wouldn’t come to this place again. I really wanted to know where was she going and ended up with asking my mom, perhaps she knew.
“Ibu, where is Yuki? Why she never come again to play with me?” I asked her.
“Yuki’s father is taking some vacations, maybe they go to Japan.” My mom replied calmly.
I was shocked by what my mom said about Yuki. I was right, the girl wouldn’t come again.
The next day, rain was coming in the evening, I couldn’t play outside like usually I did. But then, the rain stopped right before the sun set. Suddenly, I thought about going to the place that I met her for the first time, maybe I could meet her there. I started to take some steps with the rest of the rain. I stopped right on the place we met for the first time and I saw the girl standing alone, steps away from me, looking at the cloudy sky.
“You are coming back!” I shouted happily and excitedly when I saw her again.
“Yes I am,” she said, giving her cute smile. “Will you dance with me?”
I hadn’t answer but she was already pull me into the middle of the road, to dance with her of course. We were dancing under the rest of the rain, cloudy sky and also a beautiful color that left by the sun. We were dancing until the sun was totally disappear, replaced by the moon.
After that, she told me that she only has few days to stay there, she was going to follow her parents moving away from the town. She gave me a heart shape pencil eraser after her last word, before she took steps to go home. I realized that it was my last meeting with her, the last time I saw her walking to her home like I saw her in our first meeting.
A few years later, when I was in Senior High School, I heard that she lived in Bogor. Now I never keep in touch with her again, I even doubt that she still remember me. But I still can see her doing crazy things like she used to, even it is only as her role as an actress in the TV.
- My Brother & Yuki
