“We will use a private helicopter at the community headquarters!” explained Nick as he zipped a backpack containing the equipment needed for exploring.
“That’s not necessary! It would just be a waste of time!”
“Is there anything faster than that?”
“You forgot one thing, Dad! I inherited a different blood, right? It wasn’t difficult for me to get there in such a short time.”
“Yeah, I forgot your privilege.”
“Prepare yourself, Dad!” Devada warns. They walked out of the building.
“Come here!” Nick nodded and let Devada hold his hand.
Closing her eyes briefly, Devada tightened her grip, then sped up when her eyes opened again. The gasping Nick screeched. The fast pace of the feet managed to make his insides stiffen. Nick wanted to say something, but a strong gust of wind froze all the phrases running around in his brain. Millions of objects in his eyes blurred. Occasionally, Devada took him jumping on water and high matter. This became an anti-mainstream traveling experience for Nick. The adventurous soul that had been asleep for a long time was awakened again.
For a while, feeling a fantastic sensation, the mouth of the forest looks faint from a distance. Before long, Devada stopped moving her feet. Nick’s chest rose and fell, as if he’d been running the relay. Nick’s long hair was like a male lion who had never been washed in a salon. Devada glanced briefly at her father’s condition.
“Are you okay? Your face looks dry and pale!”
“It doesn’t matter! This is awesome! I just felt my skin harden,” explained Nick. Though, he felt more than he mentioned. Nick’s eyeballs then combed the trees that stood around them. All these years, the forest still lingers in the memory.
“That village is not far from here!” Devada nodded.
They found the bridge over the river was not as good as before. Some of the steps have been broken. In fact, the arrangement of the wood looks gaping in the middle. The body of the bridge swayed as their feet began to rest on it. Nervous, Nick, convinced himself to get through it well. The billowing smoke began to squeeze sweat from the pores. In a moment they were almost there. However, suddenly, Nick stopped. This makes the old bridge even more torn. Some of the wooden steps fell into the river. Devada would have almost fallen had she not stepped forward.
“What’s wrong, Dad?” asked Devada. She couldn’t imagine what her body would look like if it fell into the boiling water below.
“Look at that!” Only two words came out of Nick’s mouth, forcing Devada to see something her father was blocking.
“It’s just a millipede!” Devada said, when the corner of her eye saw the squirming of the many legs of the animal.
“It’s a centipede, and take a good look at the size! If a small centipede bite can make our bodies swell, what about a centipede that big?” Devada was surprised to know the size of the animal is very large. However, she quickly controlled herself. Once again, the bridge swayed, so there was no guarantee that they would still stand tall up there.
“Shit!” cursed Nick as the centipede the size of a bolster slithered toward them.
“Keep calm, Dad! Build a suggestion that it won’t harm us!” said Devada. Nick nodded. Slowly, they shifted their feet to the right edge of the bridge. Succeed! However, immediately with that, the cracking sound grew louder. Not having much time, they ran against death. Nick made it to the ground.
“Deva!” Nick shouted anxiously. The last second that made the crack ended with the bridge body collapsing into the river.
Byur!
The old wooden bridge has disappeared from view. Leaving only the broken ledge ropes dangling. Nick’s cheeks bubbled. The air trapped in his mouth was blown away roughly. His hand reached out, taking Dev into his arms.
“I almost lost you, Honey!”
“I’m not going to die just like that before I reach this goal!”
“May you be always lucky!”
“Watch out, Dad!” Dev pushed Nick to the right side of the grass. She repelled the poison frog that was jumping at them. They gasped to see that the greenish frogs had come in large numbers. They immediately ran to take a piece of land that had not been touched by the dangerous frog. Running through the bushes, they almost stepped on a molting snake. The snake, which is the same color as the dry leaves, pulls out fangs and squirts can make their fights end with minor injuries from falling.
“Are you ready, Dev?” Dev nodded firmly.
The rows of wooden houses that stood firmly in the shade of the strange sky were clearly visible.
“Where are all the women?” asked Nick in surprise.
“I don’t know! Even when I came here in my dream, there was no one, except a woman you call similar to mother.”
“Where did you see her?” Dev extends her index finger at a tree house.
“We’re going there now!” said Nick. They walked past the abandoned animal carcasses. The rotten smell engulfs the sense of smell along the feet. They weren’t sure if the place was uninhabited. Arriving at the tree house, they saw no one.
“Where are they?” asked Nick. Their brains thought when suddenly a red stain appeared on the ground they were stepping on.
“Mother!” squealed Dev very softly. The rancid spot managed to anchor the pain in the corner of her heart. She acted as if the woman in her dream was really her mother.
“Let’s follow this stain, Dev!” Nick suggested, his gaze on Devada looking very sad. However, he understands very well how his child is feeling. Dave nodded slowly. They immediately found out, to what extent the stain was visible.
“Just get here, Dad!” Devada said, her steps stopped on the rocks at the river’s edge. Nick seemed to think for a moment, then he said, “Could it be … Dev, follow me!” Nick takes Dev to a place that is etched in his memory. A place that had been a silent witness to his love story with Masma as well as a silent witness to Dev’s birth.
Approaching the location, from ten meters away, they were surprised by a group of women with someone they were looking for. Nick’s eyes heated up, seeing something inappropriate. In that ancient house, a woman is tied to a bamboo pillar while other women surround her while reciting mantras in an incomprehensible language. After that, black smoke surrounded the poor woman’s body. A shriek then echoed into the sky. Devada looked into Nick’s sad eyes.
“Is that woman my mother?” The question finally slipped from Devada’s lips. Nick could only nod with dew falling in his eyes. The girl’s jawbone hardened. There were a million wounds she was trying to disguise in it. Slowly, Dev pedaled.
“Don’t be careless! Take a look! They’re not casting spells anymore. Listen up, Dev!” Devada glanced briefly at Nick. Nevertheless, she still obeyed her father’s advice. She fixed her sense of hearing earnestly. If Nick could only hear faintly, Dev’s eardrums were able to record clearly. A few moments of holding back, Devada’s facial expression changed.