Four Friends Adventures

CHAPTER 3

HOME

TENTH DAY’S
ADVENTURE

This was Thursday, October 20th. The four friends had been on
adventures for a week without going home. Their bodies were
exhausted, like boats stuck on a deserted island. The heat of the sun
grew increasingly intense. Jakarta was stiflingly hot. The four friends were
growing more anxious. They had tried and made several attempts, but these
were futile.

“I have to go home. My child is waiting,” Gracia said suddenly.
“What? Do you want to live in this adventure world?” Ling Ling gasped.
“We have to make a choice,” Gracia answered.
“How about you all?”
“Don’t! We have to go back!” Ling Ling said to Gracia.
“No. I have to go home. My poor child is waiting for me at home.”
“You are so mean, Gracia!” Ling Ling cried.

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“No one is mean, Ling. Sorry, friends, my child is waiting,” Gracia said
getting up.

Ling Ling was sobbing. Made tried to calm Ling Ling. Gracia got up and
left. A moment later, Ahmad followed Gracia half running.

“Gracia!” he yelled.

Made and Ling Ling watched Gracia and Ahmad who had left them.
Ling Ling cried even harder.

In the distance, Ahmad and Gracia could be seen standing beneath
a tree. They were involved in a discussion like two people having a
disagreement. Not long after that Ahmad’s hand could be seen pulling
Gracia. Gracia was asked to return to the four friends.

Now, Ahmad and Gracia were standing in front of Made and Ling
Ling. Ling Ling was still looking down sobbing. Made looked on in silence.
Ahmad smiled slightly. Gracia smiled, her face was damp from crying.

“I want to go home,” whispered Gracia. “I want to be a child and be
friends with all of you. You are such good friends.”

Ling Ling and Ahmad smiled happily.

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“Really?” Ling Ling asked looking up.

“Of course!”

“There’s something we forgot to say, a prayer. We should pray before
we read the last sentence,” Ahmad reminded them.

The four friends’ faces lit up. Maybe that was right. A prayer was in the
rules. It was required to say a prayer.

“Come on, let’s go back. Let’s say a prayer,” Ahmad said. “This time,
allow me to lead the prayer.”

The four friends then looked for the right spot. Beneath a shady tree
there was a flat stone. They placed the palms of their hands on it piled up
on top of the stone.

“We will return. We must return,” Ahmad said.

“Gracia, what about your child?” Ling Ling asked.

“Just forget it. That’s the world of adventure. We have to return to
the real world, the world of our childhood which we must enjoy,” Gracia
answered.

The four friends laughed. Reminded that they were in an adventure
world. A book world. Then Ahmad began to pray.

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“God, we are four friends, children upon whom You have bestowed
amazing adventures, children who want to keep on learning. This time,
permit us to return to the real world. Almighty God, please grant our request.
Amen.”

After Ahmad prayed, they all recited the closing sentence. The stone
beneath their hands emitted a dazzling light. They covered their eyes with
both hands. Their bodies felt light, then they were sucked into a hole filled
with light.

Ling Ling, Gracia, Ahmad, and Made opened their eyes at the same
time. They were shocked when they realized they were sleeping in a white
room. The walls were white, the sheets were white, the pillows were white.
The room smelled of medicine. They were in a hospital ward.

“Thank goodness, you are all conscious,” said one of the parents of the
four friends. “Where am I?” Gracia asked.

“This is a hospital, child,” said her mother.

“A hospital?”

For one week you have all been unconscious,” explained Gracia’s
mother with tears in her eyes.

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“What happened to us?”
“We don’t know. You were all found having fallen down near the well.”
“Where is the book?” Gracia asked.
“Shhh, that’s enough. You must all rest. Soon the doctor will come and
examine you all.”
The four friends felt just fine. Nothing in their bodies hurt.
Ling Ling, Gracia, Ahmad, and Made looked at each other in their beds.
On the other side of the glass window was written ER backwards. Medical
equipment like IVs, heart monitors, and others were all around.
Shortly after that, a nurse came bringing a piece of paper. “This was
from a visitor. You are asked to read it,” she said to Ling Ling, Gracia, Ahmad,
and Made.
“Thank you,” they replied.
They opened the paper. It contained a poem by W.S. Rendra titled,
“Sajak Seorang Tua untuk Istrinya” (An Old Man’s Poem for his Wife).
“Nurse, who sent this paper?” Made asked.

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“That man in the window,” answered the nurse while indicating the
window where visitors looked in from outside.

The four friends looked at the window. It appeared to be the library
guard from school.

“That man came into this room earlier. Before you were conscious. He
brought a big book with him. He opened the book and read a prayer for all of
you.”

“A big brown book?” Ling Ling asked.
“That’s right.”
A moment later the four friends looked at the window again. The library
guard was gone.

- THE END -

FOUR FRIENDS’ ADVENTURES 105

AN OLD MAN’S POEM
FOR HIS WIFE

I write this poem
To comfort your heart
While you remember your rheumatism
Aand remember our glorious youth. And also our future
Which is almost over

And relieved we will pay it off.
We are not alone
And strangers with our fate.
Because this problem is the law of life. Our sufferings are nothing
special
Because everyone experiences them.

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Life is not to complain and protest. Life is to cultivate living,
Work to turn the soil,
Penetrate the secrets of the sky and sea,
And creating and engraving the world.
We bear our tasks,
Because tasks are tasks.
Not for heaven nor hell.
But for one’s sense of respect.

Because we are actually not dust
Even if we are already rickety, worn out, and gray.
We are individuals
And our worth is our self respect.
Look again to the back
To a past that no one has the power to erase.

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Look at how many of our years were colorful.
Ninety years caressed by our breath
Ninety years that we always arose
Passing long years of chaos.
And also remember
How we always used to smile
Facing the sky and earth, and also our fate.

We smiled but we were not acting.
Not because the smiles were a kind of mask.
But because smiles are an attitude.
Our attitude for God, human beings, each other,
Fate, and life.

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Look! Ninety years full of color!
Remember that we always refused to become commas.
We’ve become shaky and crooked
Because age appears stronger than we
But not because we have been defeated.

I write this poem to comfort your heart.
While you think about your rheumatism
Also remember that
We have been challenged by a hundred gods.

Source: Rendra, W.S. 1976. Sadjak-sadjak Sepatu Tua. Jakarta: Pustaka Jaya.

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SOURCES OF BOOKS

1. K.H., Ramadhan. 2011. Kuantar ke Gerbang. Yogyakarta: Penerbit
Bentang.

2. Pakubuwana V, Sri Susuhunan, dkk. (penerjemah Sunardian Wirodono).
2011. Serat Centhini. Yogyakarta: Yayasan Wiwara.

3. Pendit, Nyoman S. 2005. Mahabharata. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka
Utama.

4. Rusli, Marah. 2011. La Hami. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka.
5. Alkatiri, Zeffry Al. 2001. Dari Batavia Sampai Jakarta 1616-1999, Peristiwa

Sejarah dan Kebudayaan Betawi-Jakarta dalam Sajak. Magelang:
Indonesia Tera.
6. Khalieqy, Abidah El. 2008. Perempuan Berkalung Sorban. Yogyakarta: Arti
Bumi Intaran.
7. Busye, Motinggo. 1999. Dua Tengkorak Kepala. Yogyakarta: Bentang.
8. Rendra, W.S. 1976. Sadjak-sadjak Sepatu Tua. Jakarta: Pustaka Jaya.

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NOTES ON SOME INDONESIAN AUTHORS

Ramadhan Karta Hadimadja who is also often called Kang Atun was a
creative and productive writer. He wrote a lot of poems, short stories, novels,
biographies, and translated as well as edited works. A collection of his
poems published with the title “Priangan Si Djelita” (1956), was written when
Ramadan returned to Indonesia from traveling in Europe in 1954. At that
time, he saw that the region he came from, West Java, was being shaken
as a result of separatist movements. The socio-political chaos taking place
inspired him to write those poems. Besides being active as a writer, Kang
Atun also worked as a journalist at the Antara new agency and as the editor
of several leading magazines in Indonesia.

Nyoman S. Pendit wrote books and various articles about philosophy of
arts and culture, Hindu religion, and tourism. Several of his writings were
published by Gramedia including Mahabharata and Bhagavadgita. Besides
being known as a writer, Nyoman also worked as a journalist and was an
important figure in the Hindu religion in Indonesia. He was also a freedom
fighter and soldier who fought in the war for Indonesia’s independence from
about 1945-1954.

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Marah Rusli was a writer of the Balai Pustaka generation. His most famous
literary work is Siti Nurbaya. This work was so well known it was shown on
television by TVRI. Although Marah Rusli was known as a writer, he was
also a veterinarian. In the literary history of Indonesia, Marah Rusli was
known as the Father of the Modern Indonesian Novel.

Zeffry Alkatiri is a writer and also a lecturer in the Cultural Studies
Department of the University of Indonesia. His work titled Post Kolonial
dan Wisata Sejarah dalam Sajak won the Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa literary
award.

Abidah El Khalieqy is known as a poet and a novelist. Her works often tell
about women who have been marginalized. One of her works Perempuan
Berkalung Sorban was made into a film. Until now Abidah has written 15
books. She has won various awards for her works. In 2004, Abidah was
included in 10 Leading Young People of the Age of Breaking Limits by the
magazine As Syir’ah.

Pramoedya Ananta Toer is one of the greatest writers Indonesia has
ever had. He was the eldest son of the principal of the Budi Oetomo
Institute. Pram wrote more than 50 works which have been translated
into 41 languages. Pramoedya received the Ramon Magsaysay Award

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for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts in 1995. He
also won the Fukuoka XI Asian Cultural Prize in 2000; and the Norwegian
Authors’ Union Award in 2004 for his contributions to world literature.
Several of Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s works, include Arok-Dedes, Perburuan,
and Bumi Manusia.

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