CHAPTER 5 — THE VILLAGE AT THE FOOT OF THE HILL
Bu Sari's house felt much more spacious than it looked from the outside.
The building itself was simple. Wooden walls, a floor partly made of planks, a few old windows, and a yellow lamp hanging in the middle of the house. But inside, it felt warm.
The aroma of cooking still lingered in the air.
Raka stood near the door, holding his bag.
Naya stood beside him.
Juno was already sitting casually in a wooden chair.
Meanwhile, Bu Sari walked toward the kitchen.
"You must be hungry."
Raka was about to say they were still full, but his stomach growled first.
Grrrkkk.
The room immediately fell silent.
Naya covered her mouth to keep from laughing.
Juno laughed the loudest.
Bu Sari simply smiled.
"Your stomach's answer was enough."
Raka held his stomach.
"Looks like it's more honest than I am."
A few minutes later, Bu Sari brought four bowls of simple food.
Nothing fancy.
Just warm rice, vegetables, eggs, and sambal.
But after the long journey since morning, the food tasted like the best meal Raka had ever eaten.
"Slow down," Bu Sari said.
Raka nodded while continuing to eat.
Naya also seemed to be enjoying her food.
Juno had already finished half his bowl.
The atmosphere, which had initially been awkward, slowly became relaxed.
Bu Sari sat across from them.
"You're from the city?"
Raka nodded.
"Yes, Bu."
"What brings you all the way to Kalipura?"
Raka glanced at Naya.
Then he answered,
"We're going to Bukit Arunika."
Bu Sari's spoon stopped in midair.
Again.
The same reaction.
Raka noticed.
So did Naya.
Bu Sari slowly lowered her spoon.
"Why are you going there?"
"Because we're on a journey."
"A journey?"
"Yes."
"For what?"
Raka smiled.
"To chase a dream."
Bu Sari stared at him for quite a while.
Then she gave a faint smile.
"A dream."
That one word sounded like something she hadn't heard in a long time.
Naya asked,
"Have you ever been to Arunika, Bu?"
Bu Sari didn't answer right away.
She stood and walked toward an old cabinet in the corner of the room.
From inside, she took out a small box.
The box was brown.
A thick layer of dust covered it.
She carried it to the table.
Then she opened it.
Inside were several old photographs.
Photographs of the village.
Photographs of the mountains.
Photographs of a group of young people.
And one photograph that immediately caught Raka's attention.
A photograph of Bukit Arunika.
But the hill in the photograph didn't look like the one he'd seen online.
In the picture, the hill looked much wilder.
There was no clear hiking trail.
No signposts.
No tourist attractions.
Only the hill, the forest, and the vast sky.
"When was this photo taken, Bu?"
"More than twenty years ago."
Raka studied the photograph.
"Has Arunika really changed that much?"
"It has changed."
"How much?"
Bu Sari sighed.
"The road there is easier now. But some parts are still the same."
"Like what?"
"The forest behind the hill."
The room fell silent again.
Juno stared at Bu Sari.
"Bu..."
Bu Sari raised a hand.
"It's okay."
She picked up another photograph.
It showed a young man.
He stood in front of a wooden house.
He was smiling.
Raka didn't recognize him.
"Who is he?"
Bu Sari looked at the photograph.
"My son."
Naya watched Bu Sari's expression.
"Has he ever been to Arunika?"
"Often."
"And now?"
Bu Sari fell silent.
"He left."
Raka waited.
"And he never came back?"
Bu Sari nodded slowly.
"No."
Raka immediately lowered his head.
He felt that his question had gone too far.
"I'm sorry, Bu."
Bu Sari smiled.
"You don't need to apologize."
She put the photograph away.
"That was a long time ago."
But even though she said it calmly, Raka could see that the wound hadn't truly healed.
Naya asked carefully,
"Why did he go there?"
"He had a dream."
Bu Sari gazed out the window.
"Just like you two."
Raka didn't know how to respond.
Bu Sari then stood.
"You can sleep in the back room."
Raka was surprised.
"Seriously, Bu?"
"Better than sleeping outside."
"We can pay you."
Bu Sari shook her head.
"You've eaten. You have a place to sleep. Don't worry about money."
Raka smiled.
"Thank you, Bu."
Naya nodded too.
"Thank you."
The night grew late.
Juno finally said goodbye and headed home.
Before leaving, he patted Raka on the shoulder.
"If you're going to the hill tomorrow, wait for me."
Raka turned.
"You're coming?"
Juno nodded.
"At least as far as the first trail."
"Why?"
Juno smiled.
"Because I know this area."
Then he left.
Raka and Naya went into the back room.
The room was simple.
There were two thin mattresses.
A small table.
A window.
And a dim light.
Raka put down his bag.
He sat on the floor.
"Tired?"
Naya dropped onto the mattress.
"Exhausted."
"Keep going tomorrow?"
Naya stared at the ceiling.
"You want to stop?"
"Nope."
"Then we keep going."
Raka smiled.
He picked up his notebook.
Naya watched him.
"Still writing?"
"If I don't write it down, I'll forget later."
"What are you going to write?"
Raka opened to a new page.
He wrote:
Day One — Kalipura.
Then:
Today we met Pak Surya. He told us not to get so caught up chasing our destination.
He paused.
Then he added:
We also met Bu Sari. She knows something about Bukit Arunika.
Raka stared at the last sentence.
Something was bothering him.
He turned to Naya.
"Why do you think everyone gets weird when we mention Arunika?"
Naya was silent.
"Pak Surya didn't."
"He told us not to be afraid of getting lost."
"Exactly."
Raka closed the notebook.
"And then there's Bu Sari."
Naya nodded.
"She's definitely hiding something."
"What do you think it is?"
"I don't know."
"Ask her tomorrow?"
"Don't."
Raka frowned.
"Why not?"
"Because if it's something personal, we have no right to force her to talk."
Raka fell silent.
Naya continued,
"We came here to find experiences, not dig into other people's wounds."
Raka smiled.
"You're right."
Naya picked up the camera.
She looked through the photographs she'd taken that day.
A photograph of the bus stop.
A photograph of the road.
A photograph of Pak Surya.
A photograph of the sky through the bus window.
A photograph of Raka laughing.
Naya stopped at one photograph.
"This one's good."
Raka moved closer.
The photograph showed a road cutting between two hills.
The evening sky sat right at the end of the road.
Raka smiled.
"It is."
Naya nodded.
"I like roads like that."
"Why?"
"Because we don't know what's waiting at the end."
Raka looked at the photograph.
"Maybe that's why we left."
Naya looked at him.
"Maybe."
A few seconds later, the bedroom light went out.
They tried to sleep.
But Raka was still awake.
He heard the wind outside.
Leaves rustled.
Every so often, he heard a nocturnal animal.
He turned toward the window.
Outside, it was dark.
But something kept him from stopping his thoughts about Bukit Arunika.
He slowly got up.
He opened the bedroom door.
The middle of the house was dark.
Raka walked toward the porch.
Bu Sari was still sitting there.
Alone.
She was looking toward the hill, barely visible in the distance.
Raka stood a few steps behind her.
"You haven't gone to sleep, Bu?"
Bu Sari turned.
"Not yet."
Raka sat in the chair beside her.
They were silent for a while.
Then Bu Sari asked,
"Do you really want to go to Arunika?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Raka thought about it.
"Because I want to know how far I can walk."
Bu Sari smiled.
"That's a good answer."
Raka looked at the hill.
"Was your son like that too?"
Bu Sari fell silent.
Raka immediately regretted asking.
But Bu Sari answered anyway.
"Yes."
"He had a dream?"
"He wanted to become a photographer."
Raka was startled.
Naya.
The camera.
A photographer.
He immediately understood why Bu Sari might have gone so quiet when she saw them.
"Did he often go to Arunika?"
"Whenever he wanted to take photographs."
"Alone?"
"Sometimes with friends."
Raka swallowed.
"And then..."
Bu Sari looked at the hill.
"One day, he went with three of his friends."
"And?"
"They all came home."
Raka fell silent.
"But your son didn't?"
Bu Sari shook her head.
Raka lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't."
Bu Sari touched a small bracelet around her wrist.
"He didn't disappear because of Arunika."
Raka turned to her.
"What do you mean?"
"He chose a different path."
Bu Sari smiled sadly.
"That's what I believe."
Raka didn't understand.
But before he could ask anything else, Bu Sari said,
"You may leave tomorrow."
Raka nodded.
"But don't go too far."
"Why not?"
"Because you don't know the place yet."
Bu Sari stood.
Then, before going inside, she stopped.
"And one more thing."
Raka looked at her.
"If you find something that forces you to choose between your dream and your safety..."
Bu Sari looked into Raka's eyes.
"Never choose your dream at the cost of your lives."
Raka was silent.
Bu Sari went inside.
Raka remained seated on the porch.
He stared at Bukit Arunika, faint in the distance.
He had once imagined the place as a destination.
A point on a map.
A view.
A photograph.
Now the place felt like something much bigger.
There was a story there.
A past.
Someone who had once left to chase a dream.
And perhaps an answer to why the place meant so much to the people in the village.
Raka returned to the room.
Naya was still asleep.
He picked up his notebook.
On the last page, he wrote one sentence:
"Tomorrow we'll walk toward Arunika. But now I know we're not the only ones who have ever chased a dream there."
Raka closed the notebook.
At last, he lay down.
The night deepened.
Outside, the wind continued moving through the trees.
And far beyond the houses of Kalipura, Bukit Arunika stood in the darkness.
Waiting.
Not only for Raka and Naya.
But also for the secret that little village had kept for years.
The next morning, their journey would take them closer to the hill.
And without realizing it, the journey that had begun with nothing more than an old map was slowly becoming a search for an unfinished story.