The Nightmare: As You Get Older

At nine o'clock in the morning, Adel was drying the two towels that she used when taking a shower. She hooked the two towels on the hooks available in the garden behind her house, especially the sun loungers. When finished, she reached for her phone in the pocket of the knee-length shorts she was wearing as she walked into the living room, wanting to relax for a while while watching a mukbang video on YouTube. She grabbed the TV remote and sat down on the couch. She put her phone beside her in case her Mom or Dad called. Today the aunts from dad’s family will come to the house because they want to stop by. They said they want to meet us all for a day out, and at this time, mom and dad are picking up the aunts at the station. Her mother, Andien, has prepared a variety of dishes, ranging from heavy to light.

Before the sun actually rose, Adel decided to spend the morning running around the neighborhood for a while. It's been a full month that Adel has not run in the morning, even though she should run once every Sunday morning to stretch her stiff muscles, because she just sits in front of the computer doing office work and plays with Janu, her five-year-old cat. Right now, Janu is currently sleeping well in her room.

Abel, her younger sister, came two minutes after the mukbang video started and sat down next to her. Abel brought instant popcorn and offered to eat with Adel. Adel remained focused on the video in front of her, but her hand went to the snack bag and she took one to three pieces of popcorn and ate them. Breaking the silence, the sound of the gate opening made Adel stop the video, which was showing someone eating deliciously and leaving the living room together with Abel.

Adel and Abel saw their parents' car coming in; their parents and aunts started to get out happily. Unfortunately, the joy was not felt by Adel. Adel's entire feelings were immediately dominated by anxiety when she saw her aunts because she was afraid of what might happen today. It started three years ago. The first time Adel felt pressured was when she met her aunts. Question: When will you get married? When are you getting married? Success always makes her sick. This topic has been continuously discussed for three years. The question of when she will get married has been heard hundreds of times by Adel's ears, and Adel's mouth is foaming at the thought of answering that question. Bored. It's like there aren't any other questions, even though there are still many good and decent questions to ask rather than questions that just irritate her like that. And Adel has no idea what will happen today; plus, she is already twenty-eight years old, so maybe the aunts will think Adel is old enough to have a child, and Rafi, Abel's boyfriend (they've been dating for five years), came to their house today.

Everything seems to be going well, at least so far. Rafi came two hours after the aunties came. Andien and Arya, her dad, and aunts greeted him cheerfully, but poor Rafi had been surrounded by aunts with questions about when he would marry Abel for thirty minutes. But Rafi is great because he can answer it casually. The aunts were very satisfied with Rafi's statement, and Abel was ready to scold her aunts because their questions were very annoying, but she was restrained by Andien. Not caring about Andien's ban, Abel tells Rafi that Rafi needs to eat because he hasn't eaten since he came to this house, and the aunts let Rafi go to the dining room to eat. When Abel realized she could get Rafi out of her aunts' clutches, she exhaled a sigh of relief. Abel must have felt bad for Rafi because he was bombarded with annoying questions, thought Adel.

After Abel and Rafi entered the dining room, followed by Andien, the aunts began to turn around and approach Adel, who was busy eating the fruit salad made by her mother on the opposite sofa at the time. Adel's heart began to beat fast; her nightmare was about to begin.

Aunt Citra was the one who started this question out of curiosity, "How about you, Del? Already has a boyfriend?" Adel, who had already guessed the question, was still surprised that she choked, and Andien, who had just returned from the dining room, immediately took Adel a glass filled with mineral water and gave it to her. After taking a sip, Adel replied casually, pretending to be relaxed, "Um, I don't have a boyfriend." Huh, we're back to this again, she thought.

Aunt Ratna said while sitting next to Adel, "Loh? How come? You're already twenty-eight years old, you know." Adel frowned in surprise, "So? I'm enjoying my solitude. No need to worry, hehe." Adel ended with a small chuckle. She tried to hide her annoyance, but at the same time, it was awkward because she didn't know what to say. Bored and very annoying.

Aunt Ayu added, “We don't need to worry? What do you mean, Del? At your age, you should be married and have two children!”

Citra added passionately, "That's right! You know, when we were twenty-one years old, we were married and had one child. How dare you, who are twenty-eight years old, not even be married? What will people say about your parents because you, their child, are not married yet? And keep in mind that your parents are getting older all the time!"

Hearing those words, Adel turned to Andien, who was standing not far from where she sat, wincing because of the words of her husband's older siblings that disturbed Adel. Adel then looked around for Arya, who did not appear to be in this room, possibly because he was still eating in the dining room despite having finished eating fifteen minutes earlier. Adel daydreamed. She remembered when she graduated from college a few years ago, she told her parents that she had no intention of getting married for quite a long time because she was still not ready and wanted to focus on herself first, and they did not mind it until now, but why are these aunts, who are not very, very, very close to her and do not know much about her, even taking care of it? Odd.

"Do you want to be an old maid?" The question from Ratna made Adel regain her senses from her reverie and frown even more, annoyed, "What do you mean?" Adel tried to be patient because she was afraid of mishearing the question that had sparked her emotions from the start.

"You prefer to be an old maid? Because you are not married, it would be better for you if Abel did not have a boyfriend, but in reality, Abel does have a boyfriend, and they are going to take it more seriously, but you, as Abel's older sister, do not even have a boyfriend. What if you were stepped on by Abel? Shame on you!" said Ratna, to which Ratih and Ayu agreed. Adel rolled her eyes and said, "Why do you say that? Besides, if Abel really wants to get married first, then go ahead and just do it. I don't care." Adel rose from her seat, finding it stiflingly hot to be surrounded and asked by uncomfortable questions. She walked past the aunts and Andien, pretending she did not care anymore, to her room.

When walking to her room, Adel still clearly heard the conversation of the annoying aunts. They told Andien to take her daughter, Adel, to be taken to the ustadz, so as not to ignore the parents' advice and get married quickly, but Adel did not hear the mother's answer because she was already in her room. Will Mother agree to the words of those annoying aunts? And will her mother stand up for her? Adel lay down on the bed, and she forgot to bring the bowl used for the fruit salad she ate back to the kitchen, but she did not want to go back out there again and decided to close her eyes while hugging Janu, who was still asleep on her bed.

It was six in the afternoon when Adel opened her eyes. Adel looked to the side; Janu was not there; he must have meowed, asking to come out, and someone took him out. The conversation that had made Adel emotional this afternoon had faded, replaced by curiosity about whether the aunts had returned home. Her curiosity was not as big as her desire to wash her face, so she immediately got up from her sleeping position and walked to the bathroom to clean herself. After finishing cleaning herself, Adel walked to the wardrobe, looking for the clothes she would wear to sleep tonight, and her choice fell on the soft pink pajamas that Abel had given her a week ago. During the shower earlier, Adel's mind was filled with the words of her aunts, which made Adel feel guilty toward her parents. So far, it's true that Adel has not had any thoughts of getting married, not even having a boyfriend. Not because no one approached, but because every time someone approached, it felt like nothing "clicked" in her heart, so Adel did not continue the relationship, and because of that, until now, she has had no thoughts of getting married. Adel has really enjoyed her solitude these past few years with Janu, an adorable cat who has accompanied her for seven years, and Adel loves him very much, as well as her family.

If Adel thinks about it, did Andien and Arya feel what the aunts felt too? Has she been too selfish all this time because she is too concerned with her own interests? Does Abel also think like that? Ah, tired. Thinking about this, why did not she ask Andien directly? Constantly thinking like this made her thirsty.

With great consideration, Adel ventured to walk out of the room. There was a feeling of fear when she left her room; she was afraid of the thought of being lectured by her aunts, who might not have come home, or of being scolded by Arya, or maybe Andien. The house feels quiet, which means the aunts have come home. Adel breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the kitchen to get a drink. Andien, her mother, turned when she heard Adel's feet making a small sound as she walked, and she smiled, "Are you awake?"Sleep well?"

 

"Um, pretty well," replied Adel with a small chuckle. "Auntie is already home, Mom?" Adel asked politely after taking the glass and walking to pour mineral water from the gallon.

Andien, who had been distracted earlier because she had to greet her daughter, who had just woken up, continued to put the ingredients for cooking into the fridge and replied, "They left at four this afternoon, Del."

Adel pursed her lips while nodding. Great, thought Adel. Adel took a few sips of water from the glass; she was very thirsty because she had not drunk water since one o'clock in the afternoon. "What about Abel and dad, Mom?" asked Adel again.

 

Andien, who had finished her task, closed the refrigerator door and walked to the sink to wash her hands. "Dad is taking a shower, and Abel is buying food out with Rafi. Anyway, I planned for us to have dinner with goat satay, and I also added your favorite menu item, duck egg martabak." Andien said with a smile to Adel. Andien's smile was very warm; Adel could feel it. That smile warmed Adel's heart, and she nodded.

Andien approached Adel and rubbed her back slowly. "I'm sorry, Del, earlier your dad’s sisters asked you things you don't like to discuss," Andien added, "Dad and Mom understand that you are not ready to get married, and we don't force you to get married. Also, your dad said you can marry when you are ready, there is no need to rush. Abel didn't mind either, she said if she was ready to get married, she would get married, it didn't matter if you were married or not. So, don't worry too much about what the aunts said earlier, okay?"

Adel's eyes filled with tears when she heard Andien's soothing words; she looked like she was going to cry in ten seconds. She couldn't believe she had parents who were as good and as understanding as Andien and Arya, and sister like Abel. Adel's tears finally fell, despite her efforts to keep them from falling, and she sobbed a little. Andien immediately hugged Adel and said, "It was your dad who defended you, you know, he said if they were asked that again, it would be better if they did not visit." Adele nodded in understanding.

"When they said goodbye, the aunts apologized for going too far in saying goodbye to you." Adel let go of Andien's hug to look into her eyes; she wanted to make sure what Andien said was serious; Andien nodded, "I'm serious, you can ask Abel or Rafi." Adel shrugged her shoulders, didn't care, and continued hugging Andien. The feeling of guilt and restlessness that Adel had felt since she woke up seemed to have been swallowed up by the earth and replaced by a warm feeling.