Bhumi

Farah Zhafirah Azzahra

11210260000136

Final-term: Make a short story

BHUMI

I remembered a legendary story which told by Sawarga about this place. The ground that I stepped on has a tragic story behind it. Sawarga told me that a long time ago there lived a girl named Parama with her lovely cat named Bawana. They lived happily and always shared food together. Parama was the only thing that Bawana has, and vice versa. It was on this beach that they often spent time together until that unexpected day came. The day that is remembered by everyone and even became common knowledge for residents here that on that day, a devastating earthquake had occurred. Parama and Bawana became victims of nature's rampage. Unfortunately, Parama did not survive like Bawana. People began to notice when they saw a cat that never left one grave of the earthquake victims, the cat only left when she was looking for food and then came back and divided the food with the grave.Until the cat died beside the grave. Sawarga told me that she really liked the legend even though she sobbed the first time she heard the story because she imagined it was  me and her in the position of Parama and Bawana. Sawarga said that she loved me the way Parama loved Bawana. "You are my best friend" she adds which I would never forget.

"Bhumiiii, I'm home"

I immediately turned around and greeted her, "meow .. meow .."

Sawarga caught me and took me in her arms, "You've been waiting long, haven't you?"

I could only replied with "meow.. meow.." and Sawarga laughed as if she understood what I was saying.

Just like the usual evening, I would be at this beach waiting for Sawarga to return from school then we would go home together. And it will always be like this.

Ten o'clock at night was the time for me and Sawarga to slept. Mother made sure that Sawarga and I were in the room before she entered the room too. But unlike usual, Sawarga opened her cell phone and made a call with a man whose voice I could faintly hear.

"So, are you coming tomorrow?" said a male voice on the other side.

"Can I catch up after school?" Sawarga lowered her voice, I know for sure she doesn't want mother to hear her.

"Too bad, no. You're going to miss out on the fun"

Sawarga was silent for a while then said "Okay, see you later," and ended the call.

I didn't know who this guy was, I didn't even know what they're going to do till make Sawarga have to skipped school, what's certain was that I didn't like him. So the next day I secretly followed Sawarga when she went to school. Luckily, she was actually going to school, not to the place she promised with the guy on the phone last night.

During my way back from school, I saw a lot of juvenile delinquents who were skipping class and having free sex in narrow alleys, some were men and women, women and women, or men and men. There are those who only smoke and then throw their cigarette butts carelessly. Didn't they know that nature can be angry because of an act like this? Suddenly the wind blew and slapped the leftover food trash onto the face of the person who threw away the cigarette butt, sauce and rice stuck to his face. Eat that!

I felt relieved that Sawarga didn't fall into something like this so I returned home where mother greeted me and gave me a snack.

While eating I said, "I will protect your child at all costs," but the only sound that came out of my mouth was, "meow.. meow..".

Mother rubbed my head and smiled as if she understood what I was saying.

In the evening I was with Sawarga at home, mother was going shopping. There was a knock on the door that I thought mom had come home, but instead stood a strange man with messy clothes.

"What are you doing here?," Sawarga asked panickly.

"Picking you up. Come on, you're already too late"

I concluded that the man was the man who had been on the phone with Sawarga last night.

"I can't. I haven't permission with my mother yet"

"Then heve it now"

Sawarga looked doubtful, but the man approached and rubbed Sawarga's nape, "Tell me you have an urgent group assignment right now."

And with that Sawarga left without even looking at me.

I immediately ran after Sawarga. It doesn't matter if she and the man get on the motorbike, I would still chased it anywhere.

We arrived at a big house that is already crowded in it. I continued to follow while hiding until they stopped at the outdoor swimming pool. The music was so loud and the lamp was dazzling. I saw this again, a juvenile delinquent that had no boundaries. I saw a group of boy who drank alcohol and then threw their used bottles carelessly out of the house area as if they didn't care that the shards would hit anyone. I saw a couple of girls and boys in the corner of the room making love aggressively without caring about surroundings. In the swimming pool I saw a woman kissing another woman.

Oh, Sawarga, why did you came to a place like this?

I went running out of the house to where the man had thrown his alcohol bottle, it turns out hitting a large tree wood and shattering around it.

"Hey, tree, are you sick?," I asked, leaning on the edge of the wood which had no glass shards.

"Yes.. But what can I do? Let nature repay them".

Not long after the rain accompanied with a strong wind came, destroying all the decorations in the house. Everyone ran in a hurry to get into the house without saving a single thing.

"Shit, though I've seen the weather forecast."

Yes, nature's warning cannot always be expected.

After the rain had stopped I walked home alone, past the beach where I usually pick up Sawarga from school. Oh, not again, I saw another group of teenagers having free sex on the beach. I can't stop thinking about humans, are they not afraid of nature getting angry and dragging them with big waves? Are not all the reprimands and incidents in the past that nature has given enough to be used as lessons?

When I got home, I heard mother receive a phone call from Sawarga saying that she couldn't go home because she was caught in the rain and would stay over at her friend's house where she was working on group assignments.

I was sorry mother, I wished I could tell you the truth.

Another day was another liar. I was no longer routinely picked up Sawarga at the beach because she often comes home late. I was no longer slept on time while being hugged by Sawarga because she would called Aditya -the man who was with her yesterday- first.

Like today, I didn't pick up Sawarga at the beach because I knew she would come home late. I decided to come to Sawarga's school and follow her as she goes out with Aditya. We arrived at a wide street that was already crowded with people. There are some cool motorbikes that are on display but there are two main motorbikes that are in the middle of the road. A woman who dressed sexy was in the middle of the two motorbikes waving the flag. All the spectators cheered counting from "three.. two.. one !!", and then the two motorbikes sped off like shadows. The race continues into the night and it was no longer surprising that in some corners I saw two people were kissing, whether they're with different or same sexes.

At the end, the race stopped when an accident occurred and the police arrived with some parents. I saw Sawarga and Aditya managed to escape while I was still here, watching many children who were forcibly dragged away by the police and their parents. Of course no one pays attention to me, because I'm a cat. The wind tonight is strong, so strong that even with my thick fur I still feel cold. I know nature was angry again, but have humans ever thought?

When I got home I found Sawarga crying in a muffled voice. I also approached her.

"Oh, Bhumi, where have you been? I had a bad day.. Hiks.. Hiks.. Actually I don't want it anymore, but they are my friends.. Hiks.. Hiks.. I'm lonely at home, Bhumi. . Since mom and dad got divorced, mom never pays attention to me and always busy working to filled our needs.. Hiks.. Hiks.. But I've become like this. I miss all of us, Bhumi..".

Sawarga said it while crying, I felt sad too, I've been with her for ten years and know very well hows her life was. Now Sawarga was seventeen years old and when she was ten her parents get divorced. So since then I was the only friend that Sawarga had, and vice versa. I didn't want to blame her, as a cat I knew I couldn't fulfill all the feels that Sawarga needs. I just prayed that Sawarga would come back and get more attention from her family.

In the morning I woke up and felt something strange. I see the sky looks unusual. I'm feeling a bit unwell. I walked to see Sawarga and mother before sheleft for school, but my sickness couldn't be stopped. I behaved strangely as if restless and rolling on the floor.

"Bhumi, what's wrong with you?," asked Sawarga while picking me up.

I didn't know, I felt very uneasy, even the first time I stepped on the floor I felt a strange vibration. I knew Sawarga and mother wouldn't feel it, but I did. So when Sawarga left for school, I also walked out to find out the cause of my strangeness.

I felt the blowed wind doesn't like usual, as if giving a warning. Even I could feel the vibrations on the ground and trees that are not like usua too. I look forward birds flying restlessly away from this area. I saw land animals such as ants, worms, cockroaches, rats, and others also walking in the same direction with the birds.

So I asked Mocco, the cow tied to a bar, "What's going on? Why are all the animals behaving so strangely?"

Mocco looked at me wistfully, "Can't you feel it? Feel the anger of nature? You're lucky you can run now, it's hard for me to run".

I stared in disbelief. Yes, I could feel this vibration was the vibration of wrath from nature. Animals did have the instinct to sense natural disasters before humans. I didn't know if this was an advantage for animals so we can save ourselves first and didn't have to felt the consequences of human actions or this as a warning to humans as well.

I realized out of my reverie and quickly clawed at Mocco's bonds then ran back into the house. Even I didn't know how, but I would try to tell mother. When I got home, I found mother receiving a phone call from the school about Sawarga being involved in a wild race last night which resulted an accident. After that, mother hung up the phone and sobbed. I tried to get closer to tell her about what's going to happen that we should get out of here quickly but mom wasn't listening at all. She didn't even glanced at me who was already rolling around and meowing loudly. I saw that the television broadcast which still played on without even mother noticing, began to display strange signs like blinking. I looked at the ceiling and I could feel the lamp were shaking a little too, very little.

So I ran to the beach to wait Sawarga to come home from school. I could feel the wind howling hardly. The sea waves sounded unusually rumbling. More and more animals are moving out of this area with the same direction.

Oh God, isn't there a single human whso is aware of these signs?

I really wanted to go with the other animals but I didn't want to leave mother and Sawarga just like that, I had to warn them.

I saw Sawarga running towards me, her eyes were red because crying, she hugged me tightly and said, "That's enough, Bhumi.. Let's go home.. I don't want it anymore.. I'm sorry I neglected you so often.. I don't want it anymore.. I want to go home..".

Thank goodness she got home on time.

But this wasn't the right time -although I was also very happy that Sawarga finally realized that.

We came home and mother greeted us with anger. "What's the point of this, Sawarga? What's the point of warning from this school?" Her face looked red either because anger or disappointment.

Sawarga looks surprised but has prepared herself if this happens, "I was wrong, mother. I'm sorry," she said through tears.

Things are getting hard for me to tell what will happen. I'm getting impossible to get their attention.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you lying to me?"

"I was fell, I know I was wrong. But you also have to correct yourself, when was the last time you paid attention to me?"

"I still pay attention to you, you just don't realize it. Is everything I do not enough for you?"

"Meong.. Meong..", my voice tried to interrupt between their anger, but none payoff.

"You're still a teenager, you don't know how hard my life is.. Try to understand"

"Then make me understand. Accompany me, don't take it all on your own."

"You just need to accept what I give. Everything I do is for you. I only have you, Sawarga"

The vibration was increasingly felt but they were also unable to feel it because they were being controlled by anger.

So I acted by dropping a glass cups that produce a startling sound.

Succeed. They looked at me.

They were silent until realized the vibrations that began to feel big.

The lamps started to wobble, the clock and glass gave a vibrating sound.

"It's an earthquake, Sawarga. Get out now!," screamed mother.

Sawarga immediately caught me and ran out of the house.

But it was too late.

This earthquake didn't wait for humans to noticed, or was that the goal?

I didn't understand how to give a calculation of how big the earthquake, but what I could give is the sky seems to be shaking too. Several houses began to collapse, trees also fell. Sawarga ran with carrying me in her arm and grabbed her mother. If I could talk and have more time to tell, I would show the direction where all the animals had gone.

Everyone was running around in panic, ignoring whatever their possessions were. If they had pay attention before, they would realized that nature has often given many signs of its anger to human activities, but they are too ignorant. And now, as if earthquakes were not enough, nature was also showing its anger through the sea which often becomes a witness to human cruelty. The high seawater threw itself right where everyone was running in fear. Not too big but make more difficult for us to save ourselves.

Before the sea gave the second wave, Sawarga fell and tripped over the ruins of a construction and her leg was crushed by another construction. Mother tried to let go but it was so difficult with the shaking that was getting bigger and the humans that kept running around them. Everything happened so fast, Sawarga grabbed me and said, "I'm sorry, Bhumi, there's no more time. I'll throw you, get ready," then she really threw me as hard as she could. I landed on a tree trunk far from Sawarga and mother. My eyes shed tears. Before I had time to think about turning back, the second wave swept the land again. I ran away with tears that could not stop.

Everything was so fast.

The next day I returned to the place and saw that many evacuation teams and nurses had arrived. It didn't need long time for me to find the bodies of Sawarga and mother. I followed wherever they were taken until I finally arrived at the graves of the victims.

A few days after the place was trying to recover, a new rule was put in place to not allowed children to be out later than ten at night. Parents were also urged to pay more attention to the society of their children. This incident will be remembered as a warning to local residents that all humans have exceeded the limit in bad things to make nature angry.

I returned to the beach where Sawarga and I were always together. Again I remembered a legendary story which was told by Sawarga about this place. Until I realized that Sawarga-Parama and Bhumi-Bawana have the same meaning.

Then we are only a representation of stories in the past.

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Sawarga, I hope you are blessed on your paradise.