Back in 1993, when I was a child, I often played with my sister in front of our house. Nearby, there was an empty woods filled with fruit and flower trees. As far as I knew, as a kid, the woods had no owner, so we were free to pick anything and enjoy all its beauty.
One day, after school, my sister and I played in the woods as usual. It was 6 o'clock, adzan magrib and the day had already turned dark. My mother very worried and started searching for us. They called our names, shouting loudly, and even asked the neighbors for help. After an hour and a half of searching, they finally found us.
Me and my sister were surprised, why were their faces so angry? My mother pinched my ear and pulled me, demanding in an angry voice, “ini anakkkk!!! Why didn’t you answer us? We’ve been looking for you for an hour and a half!” awww…I froze and looked around. Oh my God…The sky was now completely dark. I tried to explain: "Before you came, everything was beautiful. It was still daylight we were making a tent and playing ‘cooking’ with herbs and plants. Why did it suddenly turn dark?" At that moment, I felt an intense cold. I burst into tears, I hug my sister, confused about what had just happened.
My mother and the neighbors brought us back home. I couldn’t speak, just sat, still frozen. My mother gave me warm tea, bathed me and my sister, and fed us, but I remained silent.
When my father returned from work, he was so angry…furious. He grabbed a belt and hit my legs, “kebiasaan kamu, plak plak!! Anak perempuan kok ga bisa denger kata orang tua!! Kalo adek kamu dimakan setan gimana? my mother cried and begged him to stop.
He was angry because the neighbors had told him I was lost in the woods, with my little sister. He had warned me many times not to go too deep far into the woods. But I never listened. He told me there were creatures in the woods that "loved children" but I didn’t believe him. To me, it was just a sunny day, woods with green, big tree, sometime there is yellow bugs, big butterflies, and many more in that free-beautiful place, and also all not far from home, again not far from our home. Maybe that day, I had wandered and play too far in. Still, I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t heard my mother and neighbors calling my name, they said they had been shouting loudly.
After that day, I never went back to in deep of those woods. Even I really want, something very catchy make my desire to come, nah I never come, I only played in front of our house.
Five or six years later, a tall fence was built around the area, and a year after that, they cut all the trees, and some townhouses were constructed there. Totally woods disappeared.
mm…what a childhood adventure story!
btw, this song isn’t related at all 😅, but I just wanted to hear it again.
#moodstr
