“Watch out, his head!!”
“Shift it, shift it a little to the right.”
“Slowly.”
I heard countless voices in my ears, all kinds of commotion from people who seemed busy with something. Little by little, I regained consciousness and opened my eyes. I saw that I was being carried by a crowd of villagers on a makeshift stretcher.
“Take him to the community clinic! Watch out, move aside! We’ve got a survivor!” shouted someone carrying my stretcher.
My fingers began to move, and my eyes opened little by little. I saw the morning sunlight shining down on my body. I turned to the left and saw large houses lined up in luxurious rows, along with several trail bikes parked in front of them.
This was a familiar sight to me, because what I was looking at was the Cihalimun Village I knew.
My body was incredibly weak. I still couldn’t move, but I could see with my own eyes that this really was the village I knew. But why did the village where I lived become so terrifying when night fell?
I had so many thoughts running through my mind, but I couldn’t find a single clue about any of it. I thought yesterday had been a dream, just like the dream I’d had when I fell asleep in the truck moments after leaving prison.
“Kang, Kang!” I tried to call out to one of the people carrying me that morning.
The people carrying me looked startled when I called out to them. They stopped at once because they realized I was awake.
“Where are you taking me, Kang?” I asked them.
“We’re taking you to the community clinic.”
I shook my head instinctively.
“Just take me to Saidah’s house, from the Wilaga family, Kang,” I said weakly.
“Oh, the Wilaga family. No wonder I’ve never seen you before. But how did you end up in Mandala family territory?” the person carrying me asked.
I could only shake my head again, because I had no idea what had happened last night. All I knew was that I’d run until I reached a large house with the Mandala family crest inside.
“All right, we’ll take you to Mrs. Saidah’s house,” said the man leading the group.
“Thank you so much, Kang.” I tried to get up, but my body was still far too weak. I couldn’t move at all.
“Don’t get up, Kang. Just lie back down. Your body must still be weak, so let us carry you there,” said one of the men accompanying us.
At last, the people carrying me turned and walked out of Mandala family territory, heading toward the Wilaga family’s territory, which was directly in front of the village entrance.
Together, they carried my helpless, weakened body toward the house I’d left three years ago.
But from a distance, I noticed several pairs of eyes watching me. They watched from afar without coming any closer. I didn’t care about that, though. All I wanted right now was to go home, see my family, and ask what had happened to them.
There was so much I wanted to ask. Why hadn’t they helped me, leaving me to be imprisoned? Why had they left me alone in prison without any word from my family? And why was this place so strange when I arrived?
But those were only questions in my mind. What mattered most right now was that I missed my parents terribly. I couldn’t wait to see them.
Someone came running from a distance—a middle-aged woman with a familiar-looking face. When she reached the front of the stretcher, I realized she was my mother. She ran toward me as several people from the Mandala family carried me.
“Oh my God, is this Abdi? Kang, how did he end up being carried like this?” My mother sounded terribly worried.
“Calm down, Ma. We should lay him down first,” said one of the men accompanying me.
“Ah, yes, yes. Bring him over here.” Mother quickly opened the door and straightened the mattress so I could lie down comfortably.
They carried me into the bedroom, and then Mother thanked the people from Mandala for bringing me home.
“Thank you so much for helping bring my son home.”
“It’s nothing, Ma. We just felt sorry for him. He’d passed out at one of our villager’s houses. We were planning to take him to the community clinic, but he asked us to bring him home to you.”
Mother only nodded.
“In that case, we’ll be going now, Ma.”
“Muhun, Kang, mangga.”
I lay in the bedroom I’d left three years ago.
The room hadn’t changed in the slightest, even though I’d spent three years in prison and hadn’t slept here during all that time.
It was exactly as I remembered it from the last time I’d left. The mattress and furniture hadn’t shifted at all, and even my books were still neatly lined up on top of the cabinet.
“Abdi, does your body still hurt? I’ll call a masseur over,” Mother said, clearly worried about my condition.
“No need, Ma. I’ll be fine soon.” I tried to reassure her.
Mother then called for a masseur to make sure I was all right, but I stopped her. I told her I was fine and that I was only in shock over the strange events that had happened when I arrived here.
“How have you been, Ma?”
I tried to ask how she was doing, but she suddenly apologized to me, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Sob... sob... Abdi, I’ve missed you so much. But first, I need to apologize. Yesterday, on the day you came home, your father and I should have gone to pick you up. But I couldn’t, because no one here can leave the village anymore,” Mother said through her tears.
“Huh?”
I felt confused by all of this—the village that had become terrifying, the missing bridge, and Mother’s words that she couldn’t leave the village.
I wanted to ask her about it, but before I could, Mother spoke again.
“You shouldn’t have come back here, Abdi. This village has become cursed.”
“Now we can’t leave this village, so we’re all trapped. Your father has even been missing for three days and still hasn’t come back. Sob... sob...”
Mother sobbed uncontrollably. She kept apologizing and wished that I hadn’t come home.
The longer Mother cried, the more questions filled my mind. I didn’t know where to begin, because everything had happened so quickly.
Then Mother hugged me. She was still sobbing, so I tried to calm her while asking my questions.
“I’m so happy to see you again, Ma. Please calm down. As for Dad, I’ll look for him. But I need a logical explanation for all of this, because I don’t understand what’s happening in this village right now.”
I tried to calm Mother as she held me.
“I promise I’ll find Dad, but please tell me what happened here, because this isn’t the village I know.”