Mira Waiku
Pratama Putra Wijaya
�
Copyright 2018 by Pratama Putra Wijaya
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�The
side of war from our friends, The orang utan�
Prologue:
Rain
pouring down from the skies on that winter month just like usual,I
lied back to the tree with tought in my mind, it was the middle of
june..
A
usual month of banana growing fully and making so much of it fruit..
I love it.. I love it because i get a lot of food during the winter
and family heart fully stayed beside me , Again . Just like any june
it was really special because all of my family from the west , east
and south are coming to this fertile, growing , and full of live ,
land.. All of our kind.. Our family, Gather.. On this special
occasion.. They bring love..Live..and Story.. My heart say.. The
place is full of live once more and hopely for many month become. One
of my cousin.. named urula.. Taken by the place she is being birth
at.. She�s born on north east area in kalimantan called
urula..She�s been with me since i was climb my first tree and
swing at my first branch..
She�s
come to me and say :
� Mira..
Mira..� She greet me
� Long
time no see sister..� While still hug me she spoke
� Noo..Not
so long.. Or it is it is that long..?� I ask
� Yeahh..
I over exagerrated it abit btw.. Hehe..� �But look.. We
are all here again..�
� Yeayy..
I miss. Miss.. This kind of moment so so much...�
� Yess..
I miss it to..�
Urula
come a long long way since this day.. From catching frog in Danau
Kutai , Swimming in the river , or When i was crying because i can�t
peel my first banana.. Yeah.. Thats true.. I can�t even peel my
first banana back then,shame one me.. To be noticed.. Peeling first
banana is the same as first word for human.. It�s a big thing
in orangutan world and it�s a noble one to peeling a banana
with passion and love.. So there i was.. a baby . Crying because she
can�t peel her first banana..
We,
I and Urula shared alot of thing .. From terrifyng experience , sad
experience , and happy experience.. She is my best friend ever
since..
All
memories come back to life when this kind of event happend.. Our
heart and mind seems like exploded with happiness.. Knowing that we
are all lucky to be alive and blessed with a great family..
Sorrounded by many of beautifull god gift to us.. Just be wanted to
enjoy and be shared by it life form.. We are so blessed with
everything and indeed we are...
All
of the sudden.. In the middle of the rain when we are all sheltering
from the rain by banana leaf.. A sound come from those glimpsing
mountain of kalimantan.. The sound that i remember and come from my
childhood.. The symphony that my mother use to make when i was a
child.. A distinguished sound that is hard to forget..
I
say..
� Urula..Do
you hear that..?�
� Hear..What..?"
She ask..
� The
melodies..The rhythm..� I answer
� Hmm..Let
me..Let me hear..�
� The
melodies..The melodies..I used to hear this when i was a child..�
� Shhh..Let
me hear it... Yes Mira. I.. I hear it..� Urula say
� I
love this melodies.. I wonder where it came from..�
� Yeah..I
woder where it come from too mira.. I think it�s from the
mountain over there..� urula pointing at the mountain on the
east.
� Yeah..
I think soo too.. What about we pay the place some visit..�
�But
it still raining.. I�m afraid we got something bad happened to
us.. I�m afraid that we got sick mira..�
�But..If
we postponed our visit.. I think the sound will be gone..I�m
afraid we will losing that sound..�
"Okaay
than if you insisting.. But i will not go entering that mountain..I
will only accompany to the bottom of the mountain.. The rest is up to
you mira..I will only watch you from the bottom on the mountain.. Is
that clear..�
�Yess..Yess..
Okay lets visit that place some visit..�
�Okay
lets go mira.. I�ll will bring this banana leaf as my
umbrella..�
�Okay..
Lets go.. Bring me one..�
The
lovely melody
take me back to the place when i was growing up.. My mother use to
play the melodies when i was a child.. Like choopin on elise, it�s
sounded like.. The sound was so beutifull in my ear .. Take me to my
dream in my sleep..Make my day better than the way it was.. Make
forgetting my tear in my mistake.. The melodies that bond mothership
and daughtership relation. I�ll never forget that moment , and
i never will.
That�s
the
beauty of memories , love , and bond we will never forget,Make you
remember who we are and where we come from. Memories never fade away
after everything is gone and desappears.. I lost my mother, yes.. i
lost her.. That�s why every second with her is something
special.. Something that i will never forget.. Every second is a life
time in a dream seem like.. And every hour is a eternity. To bad i
lose them so quick.. my every second of happiness is taken away
because of human greed.
Part
1 ..Every Second Count..
My
name is Mira.. I grow up on the eastside of kalimantan.. I�m a
first child of 3, I�m an orang utan.. yes.. orang utan.. Maybe
you thought it funny that i�m called the same as living human
and being called human. Orang mean human or person in indonesia and
utan mean jungle or forrest in indonesia, so orang utan mean people
or human that lived inside the jungle. At least that what they called
me.. and i proud of what i am or who i am.. So nobody can destroy
that or take that, Untill god take it,For ever and For eternity.. I
lived in a happy family.. I lived happily with my mom and dad..
Together with my 2 brother, That i loved and protect with my life..
Day by day, Is filled with laugh and joy of playing. We swing from
one tree to another , Singing in the rain as the winter pass by. I
always wanted to travel back in time to re experienced my day. But it
seem like never happend and never will.We count everyday as a
blessing and a hope for each of us.. Make every single second count
and matter.. Before it all was taken away or even forgotten.
Every
single
details,when we together is unforgetable..Theres no sorrow also in
our memories..Our memories is created,lived,and loved by each
everyone of us.. It feels great and feels awesome, My dad always take
me to the waterfall.He take me there usually in the middle of summer
or in the end of the winter. We , Me and to of my brother, Evan and
Brian. Always go there together with our dad.. We swinging
countlessly from branch to branch, Picked flower that grow along side
of the road , bother some bird along the way, Actually is my brother
that bother the bird.. He is so childish that�s what he is..
When
we arrive at the waterfall god and nature it magic..
�Absolutely
Stunning..It looked so beautiful� I stunned at the way the
waterfall and the surrounding look.. God really taking well thought
when designing it.. My brother.. The craziest one in our family..
Swinging front and back from branch preparing to jump into the
waterfall.. My dad shout �Carefull..Be carefull there..Keep
your eyes open..� My brother answer �Are you ready
people..??� My brother..Ohh..My brother.. And then he jump to
the pool of the waterfall...
�Splashhhh...�
The sound of the body pluming to the water filled with laugh and
happiness surrounding us..With me too trying to follow my brother
act.. I swing back at front to build my momentum.. Don�t forget
that my dad also warn me about this jump..�Be carefull there.He
says..� And i jump to the pool.. It was an amazing experience
and an unforgetable one..We play with water non stop.. It started
because my brother is the one who started it..and also he was the
craziest one of our family.. My father join us too.. And my little
brother.. That was carefully go down of the rock because he is afraid
of falling because the rock is kind of slippery.. My father lift me
and my brother to the sky and let us plum into the water.. �Splasshh�
My brother say � It�s so refreshing dad.. I like it..�
I say � Again..Dad..Again..� My little brother still
trying to get down to the pond because hes to afraid to jump and
falling.. To end the misery my dad.. Is helping him by carry him in
his back..We ended up together at the pond.. Getting messy with each
other,Playing,Having fun,And etc.. What a beautifull day that was..
After
we was tired
and hungry.. We stopped the activity and sit in the side of the
pond..�Huftt..� I say �It�s a very tireding
day huh.. But i�m happy..� I continued..My older brother
still on the pond with my dad cause he feel like a superman and never
got tired..My dad feel the same too..Aslong as his son happy.. He
will never be tired of activity or wordfull of love. Every bird
spread their love by chirping trought the sunny day.. With the flower
being shown their beauty..Love of god seem never ending in this
country.. And i love it..Never lose it beauty..Love..Facade..Is what
it doing..Work of nature is very mysterious thing in the world.. They
seem have two type..The one that you hated..And the one that you
love..Just like faith theres a good one and the bad one..And now i
enjoyed the good one..And i hope..I never ever enjoy the bad one..
But
seems like i wrong.
Suddenly..
I hear a
loud noise in the backround of our waterfall, A loud noise that soon
alter my life..my love..and my perception. A loud sound blasting
through the sky a couple of time accompany with the sound of tree
fumbling onto the ground.. It shake the spirit of everyone in the
jungle.
�Booommmm,Doorr,Duarrr...Dugkss..�
It sound so
terrifying..The monkey and the bird express their feeling first by
shouting,making commotion, Then accompany with the lion and the
elephant..Making loud noise by roaring and trumpeting.. I said to my
dad..�Daddy..Daddy..What is it..It so scary..� My dad
quickly round us in the side of the pond including my brother..�Dont
worry..Dont worry My dear..stick with me..� He said �Hold
my hand..� He said..
�Where
is it
come from.?� My brother said.. My younger brother have
incredible sense of hearing and feeling said �It from
there..Our home..Behind the mountain..� �Ohh.. My
god..Our mom could be in danger...� He scream in scaryness �I
have to get her..� He continue..�Kid..stay with your
brother..� He order..�But..But dad...Let me come with
you..� My brother said in spirit.. � No..You stay here
with your sibling..and protect them..Wait untill it safe..If i dont
come back..You know what happen..Take care of your brother and
sister..� �No..dad..Noo..Dont go..� I said.. �But
dad..� My brother replied.. �No..I said no..� �Stay
here !!� He replied.. �Okayy..Dad..I stay here..But
promise you comeback..� �Okay..son..I will keep my
word..� Dad replied..�It better be not your last word
dad..� I replied..
And
then he left.
My
brother take us to the secret cave behind the waterfall.. We wait
there..While keep our worries over our head..With expection of
everything bad that will happen to us , my dad , and my mom..
�What..If dad didn�t come back..?� I ask with
worried �Shhh..Don�t said that.. Don�t said that
one more time.. Just be patience..and keep praying,You know dad is a
man of his word..��Lets just hold our hand..and hope for
the best..� He ask as to round up and hold our hand.. We hold
hand and then we pray.. Not much time after..We hear a sound..Very
distinctive but very memorable..The sound slice the air within the
water..It�s a man sound.. �Search every area..�
This man shout.. Theres searchlight strobing it light to the
waterfall.. I�m afraid that if the man find us we will be
dead.. Every single one of us was scared and loosen ourself. I�m
breathing harder and harder as the man come closer and closer to the
waterfall.. I wanted to scream but i cant.. My heart pounding like
not used to be.. Every seem to be slowing down..But i cant help it
but just to be quiet.. The man searching and keep searching..And
suddenly.. He come to our waterfall..
All
adrenaline rushing.. In that moment..
�Ohhh..god..Please..Please..Don�t
let them catch us..� I say in my heart..
His
footstep keep coming and coming.. I hold my breath and my scream as
much as i can.. Same with all of my brother.. Suddenly... The tip of
his weapon slicing through the dense of the waterfall.. We are all
startled in that situation..Me and my brother hold hand as tight as
possible..�What ever happen..Happend..�Say my
brother..The tip of the rifle dashing cesessly in to the cave.. I�m
sure we will be caught and killed that.. But suddenly.. A loud shout
came from the upper side of the waterfall.. �Polisi
hutan..!! Angkat tangan kalian..� Say the police..
Translated:�Rangers..Raise your hands up..�
Thank
god help is arrived... The jungle bandit and animal hunter is running
to all direction that they can think of.. Some even throw their gun
away to the ground afraid that they will get caught using lethal
weapon.. And the bandit on the waterfall..He�s slip and fall
into the pond,Because of the suprise that the rangers give to
them..at the end he get caught..
After
a while �Is it safe now..?� I said to my
brother..�No..Don�t go outside..Lets wait.For couple of
minute..�He replied,�Brother..I�m scared..�My
little brother said while he scaredly hug his leg..�I know..
But we will be fine..Trust me..�He replied.
Theres so much
commotion outside the waterfall.. It happening because of the
activity of the rangers..Cathing the bandit and thieves..
A
loud sound of man slamming another man to the ground..With lies and
aliby throwing eveywhere..With no man to blame but themselves..
Is this the world we living in ?..Seems like it is..
We
wait and we
waiting..We sit on the ground inside of the waterfall..Like moon and
it eclipse we sit patiently for the beauty outcome.. When suddenly..
Everything was quite..Theres no sound of anybody..It was quite,We can
hear the sound of the bird chirping again..�Is it over..?�
My brother stood up while peeking outside the waterfall..� I
dont know..� I replied.. He peeking and break throught the wall
of the water.. Several moments later.. �It safe.. Come out..�
He shout. We come out,Out of the waterfall.. Theres no sign of
activity.. Probably because they move to the main area..Everything
become silent.�Wheres dad..I got to meet him right now..�
I try to run to our village but my brother intercept by hold my
hand..�Where you go..?� He asked �I want to meet
dad and mom...� I answer panicly �No..not right now.. It
not safe..�
�At least pick another subtle road..Here let
me guide you..� After the argument he led us to the more secret
and subtle route..He call this �Milles 88�.Even though
the route much more long and take some time to get passed..We still
go through it because it much more safe for us.. Along the route, We
can hear the sound of The ruckus because the ranger, I think. Still
confronting the bandit and thieves..When we come to a much higher
place..We see a smoke soaring through the sky.. Right when our home
and village is placed.. �I�m afraid..that there�s
something happen to mom and dad..� I said with tremble in my
hand.. �Whatever happend will happend..Dont think negatively..�
My brother said.. We continue walking along the lines.. With our hope
and faith in our hand..With also the love of our parents..
With
rain pouring
down from the sky..We finally arrived on the hills where we can spot
everything..We..We can forget what is happening in front of us..Tears
start coming down from my eyes..Like at waterfall.. Draining my
spirit with sadness..Even my brother say..�Turn yourself
around..It�s not worth watching..�
�Hfffttt..Huuuuueeuuu..� Tears start running down from my
chin to my neck..We cry we weep in tears.. Couldn�t believe
what happend right in front of our eyes..
Unbeliveable.
Just
how it
could be..How it could that human with a sense of love responsible
for doing all of these..Doing all of this destruction..If the most
destructive weapon of all time is time..How come human greed beat
them..It just doesn�t make sense.
I
see our village is being burn and torn appart..The place where we run
, play , share laugh , share love , share compation..Is destroyed
right before our eyes.. Uncle robby house where i get my first doll
is torn apart by bullet holes and burned down.. �What just
happen.?!!?..� I started to cry more loud and loud while i sit
to the ground.. Rain coming accompany my tears of broken
heart,confusen rise through all of us.. My little brother stunned by
the reality in front of us.. He say �How could they all do
this..� He also sit to the ground watch all the fire goes burn
all the tree to the ground.. We all sat there stunned. Waiting for
the rain put out the fire..
After
the fire is
naturally extenguished by the rain..and the situation is under
control because the ranger is taken control of the forest that we are
living in. We dared ourself to go down the hill and go to our home..
My brother say �Is it safe already i think.. Lets go down the
hill..Here Mira you hold my hand and Jonathan you hold mira hand..�
I replied �Okay..brother..� We then goes down the hill
with the direction of our brother..We goes down the hill with extra
caution of everything.. Every step we take carefully. We the
legendary old tree,jump a ditch, and helping our youngest brother
from a ditch..Because his leg is so small he can�t jump a
ditch..and we have to help him everytime we cross over a ditch or a
inundation of water.. After 15 minutes of cautios walking we finally
get close to our home..We hide behind the tall grass sourounding the
area while lurking from tree to tree..We getting closer and closer to
our village..
The
smell of burning tree and leaf accompany us when we lurking closer
and closer to our village.. The sound of crying is getting louder and
louder when we walk closer.. I scared when i heard that sound, I say
to my brother..�Brother i�m scared..� While i hold
his hand harder..
Part
2 ..Nothing last forever..But be happy of everything..
When
we started to coming out from our hiding.. Unbeliveable scenery is
faced upon us..I see our race slaughtered..Burned alive.. I see my
own brother being burned while still holding hand with his mom.. I
see mr.Lukus the funniest father of our village is shot and left
alone in the street..Smoke soaring to the horrizon from the burned
tree , house , and banana tree..Accompany us with the horror that we
were facing.. Seen the scenery that faced upon us my energy seem like
just gone..My feet couldn�t hold the weight of my body..I drop
down to the ground.. My tears started to running down to my chin and
dropped to the ground..I cry louder and louder while I shout with
anger..� WHY!!..Why could this..WHY COULD THIS BE HAPPEN TO
US..!! Huuhhhhhh Huhhhhhh..� I cry loudly with my anger coming
out like the devil coming out inside me..I hit the ground several
time while i crying.. � WHY..!! GOD..!! WHY..!!� I scream
My
brother just standing there stunned, Couldn�t believe what the
spectacle that we seeing.. My younger brother just hugged my older
brother leg because he was scared..Shiver,Tears,Anger,Anxiety,Heart
broken,and Chaos accompany us in this experience..We couldn�t
talk or moved..We just stand there stunned..and cry..
Suddenly
my brother
said something �We should find dad and mom..� He pulled
my hand and say �Lets go..!� He pulled my hand and take
me run with him much much more futher inside the village..Scene of
destruction and horror. Is become sorely become more more scared me..
Theres death everywhere i see.. My brother sister and friend is left
me in this devil works place..That will haunt everyone who survived
it.. I cant help but close my eyes while also wiping tear in my
eye..We running and running while seeing our brother , sister , and
friend death in front of our eyes.. and we can�t even do
something about it.. this day surely doomed me to the day i day..I
hope something will made me forget about it..
The
sphere that we used to play when we were a child..is filled with
blood, bullet chasing , and bodies of bandit that killed in the cross
fire.. It�s crazy how much �human� can do so much
destruction..By being powered by greed and little knowledge about
life..They can do so much destruction.. It�s crazy..They do
destruction much much more than animal.. Even we are an animal and we
don�t do that kind of thing..So who�s the real animal
here..?
After
running and
running relentlessy, seeing our brother , sister , friend is
slaughtered in front of our eyes..We finally arrived to our home.. We
stopped in front of our home..Luckily our home is not burned to the
ground..Only being shot multiple time in the front and side.. We
carefully inspected our house..My brother said..�Wheres mom and
dad..? They are not here..� � We should check inside of
the house..� I replied.. and then my brother check inside of
the house..He cautiously check the house..afraid that theres a
unwanted suprise that waiting fro him and us..
After
awhile he checked on the house theres no unwanted suprised for us..He
just say..�Come on in..It safe..� I then take my brother
arm and go inside the house..
Inside
it almost
untouch by people outside..Except some of our stuff gone..I�m
curious why the inside of our home is completely untouched.. My
brother then go outside again followed by us in the back.. He�s
stand in the street in front of our house for a moment..Before
suddenly..Theres a loud sound heard from our far right side..the
sound of man asking for help..�Hellppp..Helpp...!!� said
the young man..My brother and us quickly go to where the sound source
is..
When
we arrive my
brother quickly ask �What..What happend..?� �Helppp..My
dad..He�s trapped by the falling tree..� �Where..?!!�
He replied.. �Come..Come..Follow me..� The young man
replied while running to the place where his dad got trapped.. All of
us followed the young man to the place his father is trapped..after
we arrived to the place..Misery coming out of that young man
father..he scream in agony..�Help..Helpp !! Please..!!�
My brother then help the old man from the tree that fall on top of
him..Me too help to lift the tree from the old man body..After we
lift the tree..We check the condition of the old man..Luckily nothing
serious happened to him..Only some bruises on his lower body..The old
man say..�Thank you young man..Thank you beautifull girl..Thank
you so much for your help..� The young man followed the old man
by saying �Thank you..Thank you so much..For helping my
father..� While hugged both of us..My brother replied..�Your
welcome..� After that i dared to ask..�I�m sorry to
interupt..But why some of our people is gone and theres no sign of
their appreances here..� The old man replied �It�s
because they escaped or their kidnaped by the bandit.. As far as i
know..The escapee is going to north , west , and east..So theres no
exact point where is they going or where they go..When the bandit
come throwing their molotov and fire their bullet panic quickly rise
upon us..The stronger man trying to defend and the wife and the
children is escaping to every direction..Chaos is happening..So i
actually doesn�t know what happend..Everything happening so
quick..� Hearing that statement theres slight of happiness
going through our mind about the safety of our parent..
�Our
parent is
safe..!!� My heart raced with my mind as i heard the statement
made by the old man..�We can never be sure..We have to get real
fact..� Said my brother..After that we our family and the old
man family hiding in the secluded tree area for a while waiting for
the area to become really secure for us to make movement.. After we
think the area is secure. We come out and gather the survivor..We
searching all area for available survivor..We search to the left and
right,east and south.. We found survivor, Theres survivor who was
hiding in the tree..Under the hill..Inside cave..Under their
house..Etc..But we didn�t found our parent..My brother search
again for the second time..But still don�t find them.. He come
back and said..�No..I didn�t find them..I didn�t
find them anywhere..� �Hmmm..Where are they..?� I
said.. After we are gathering the survivor, garner them in the field
near the village..Theres about 75 family that survived out of 150
families in here.. The rest is dead or escape to some place.. In the
crowd..The old man stood up from the stone and say �Brother...Sister
and Friend..Today..We lost so many of our families..So many of our
love one..But i promise..We can.and We will rebuild..�.
Part
3 ..Unbroken,Unreplaced..
Ending
:
The
day after that.
We
fill with mourn and sorrow,We burry our brother , sister and
families..Nobody asked this from us..But we get it anyway.. From that
accident the security in our area and village is tightened..The man
from other village is coming to help rebuild our village and stronger
the security..Search team is deployed too..To search the other who
been escape and the one who been evacuated.. After almost a month of
searching the team posible to return some people that escape or
evacuated.. But my brother still can�t bring our parent back..
My brother said � I can�t .. I just can�t find them
anywhere..� He hugged me and said..�I�m sorry
sister..� While he shed a little tears..The day ended with we
don�t know the condition of our parent..Where they are..and
their safety..
All
we know is.. We don�t ask this..Why you give it to us..
God?
Back
at the
mountain..I follow the most beautifull sound that i loved since i was
a baby.. I follow the path in the ground doesn�t care if theres
puddle or rock in it..I keep marching pass it.. Untill i get closed
to the sound.. I said �Momm..� While i go face to face
with the sound source.. turn out is a boy with he�s flute that
making.. He look me and say �Hi..� He stuck out his arm
to me..and pull me up to the rock that he was sitting in.. �Let�s
enjoy this song together..� He said to me.. I enjoy the song
with him..Forgeting my lost and pain..But still in my heart there�s
some question..
..Why
did you do this human..?
..We
never did this to you..?
Pratama is a student and lives in Indonesia.
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