That morning, the roosters hadn't even really stopped crowing when Sendi came running out of the house, his hair sticking out in every direction.
“Sendi! Your sandal!”
Mom's voice called from inside the house.
Sendi stopped by the gate and looked down at his feet.
One sandal was on his right foot. His left foot had only a sock on it.
“Oh, man!”
He immediately turned around.
“What is it now, Ndi?” Mom asked, standing in the doorway.
“I only have one sandal!”
“That’s what happens when you wake up late for school.”
“I didn’t wake up late, Mom.”
“Then what?”
“The clock was too fast.”
Mom stared at Sendi for a few seconds, then shook her head, holding back a smile.
“Your excuses get weirder every day.”
Sendi hurried inside. Five minutes later, he came back out with both sandals on, his bag hanging crookedly from one shoulder, and his hair still a mess.
“Your lunch!”
Sendi stopped again.
“Oh, right! My lunch!”
“If I hadn’t called you, what were you going to eat at school?”
“Wind.”
“Great. You can drink rainwater too.”
Sendi chuckled as he grabbed his lunch box.
He kissed Mom’s hand quickly, then took off running.
“Don’t run!”
“Okay!”
After only a few steps, Sendi was running even faster.
His house wasn’t very far from school. At a leisurely pace, it took about fifteen minutes to get there. But Sendi had his own habit. Every morning on the way to school, he always looked for what he thought was the fastest route, even though it sometimes made him late instead.
That morning, he chose to cut through the narrow alley behind Mrs. Sari’s food stall.
“Sendi!”
Sendi stopped.
In front of the food stall, a boy was sitting with a plastic cup of iced tea in his hand.
“What is it, Jo?”
“You going to school?”
“Yeah.”
“Your bag’s backward.”
Sendi looked at his bag.
Sure enough, the front of it was facing his back.
“Whoa.”
Joko laughed so hard he nearly choked on his drink.
“I noticed a while ago, but I wanted to wait and see if you’d figure it out yourself.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it was funny.”
“You jerk!”
Sendi fixed the position of his bag.
Joko was one of Sendi’s friends, and his house wasn’t far from there. He was a little taller, but when it came to courage, Sendi never let himself lose to anyone.
“Hurry up, Jo. We’ll be late.”
“I’m not going to school today.”
Sendi stopped immediately.
“Huh? Why not?”
“My homeroom teacher has a meeting.”
“Must be nice.”
“Exactly.”
Sendi looked at Joko enviously.
“If I told my teacher he had a meeting too, do you think I could go home?”
“Sure.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Sendi smiled.
“And then?”
“And then the principal would yell at you.”
Sendi’s smile vanished.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Joko only laughed.
Sendi finally continued on his way. As he passed the end of the alley, he saw a ball rolling into the middle of the street.
The ball stopped right in front of his feet.
Sendi picked it up.
“Whose is this?”
A shout came from a distance.
“Hey! That’s my ball!”
A boy ran toward him. His name was Raka, a new student who had started attending Sendi’s school a few days earlier.
“Is this yours?” Sendi asked.
“Yeah.”
Sendi held out the ball.
But before Raka could take it, a motorcycle passed fairly close by. Sendi instinctively stepped backward. His foot landed on a small rock, and he nearly fell.
The ball slipped from his hands again.
“Hey!”
Raka chased after it.
The ball rolled toward the yard of an abandoned house at the end of the alley.
Sendi sighed.
“Look where it went.”
“This is your fault,” Raka said.
“How is it my fault?”
“You dropped it.”
“I almost got hit by a motorcycle!”
“And now the ball’s in there.”
Sendi stared at the abandoned house’s yard.
The door was closed. The grass in front was pretty tall. No one had lived in the house for a long time.
“Get it yourself,” Sendi said.
Raka looked at him.
“I thought you were brave.”
Sendi was instantly offended.
“Who says I’m not brave?”
“Then go get it.”
Sendi stepped into the yard.
Raka followed him.
“Why are you coming?”
“I’m afraid you’ll run off.”
“I’m not scared.”
“I didn’t say you were scared.”
They walked through the wet grass. Sendi saw the ball near the porch.
“There it is.”
He picked it up.
As he was about to head back, a sound came from inside the house.
Creak.
Sendi froze.
Raka stopped too.
“Did you hear that?” Raka whispered.
Sendi nodded.
“It sounded like someone.”
“No way.”
Creak.
The sound came again.
This time, it was clearer.
Sendi stared at the house’s door.
Raka tugged on Sendi’s arm.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“Wait.”
“Sendi.”
“I just want to look.”
“We’re going to be late for school!”
Sendi approached the door.
His hand was just about to touch the handle when the sound of something falling came from inside.
Crash!
Sendi immediately backed away.
“Run!”
The two of them ran out of the yard.
Once they reached the street, Sendi looked back.
The house’s door was still closed.
“I told you,” Raka said between gasps. “There’s someone in there.”
“It could’ve been a cat.”
“A cat couldn’t knock something over that loudly.”
Sendi fell silent.
He was actually curious. But when he looked at his watch, his curiosity gave way to urgency.
“School!”
They started running again.
By the time they reached the school gate, the bell had already rung.
Sendi stopped, clutching his knees.
“This is bad.”
Raka chuckled.
“Told you.”
“Don’t laugh.”
They entered the classroom slowly.
Their teacher, Mr. Arman, was already standing in front of the blackboard.
“Sendi.”
Sendi immediately lowered his head.
“Yes, sir.”
“Why are you late?”
Sendi fell silent.
Raka fell silent too.
Joko, who was already sitting at his desk, was holding back a laugh.
“Answer me, Sendi.”
Sendi scratched his head.
“There was a ball, sir.”
Mr. Arman frowned.
“A ball?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“The ball went into an abandoned house.”
Several kids immediately started laughing.
Mr. Arman sighed.
“And then you went into the abandoned house?”
Sendi nodded.
“Just into the yard, sir.”
“Why?”
“We had to get the ball.”
“And what happened in the end?”
“We were late.”
The classroom instantly grew noisy again.
Mr. Arman pointed to Sendi’s desk.
“Sit down. After class, you’ll help me organize the books in the library.”
Sendi nodded miserably.
“Yes, sir.”
Joko whispered as Sendi walked past.
“Congratulations.”
Sendi glared at him.
“Shut up.”
Class began. But Sendi’s thoughts were still stuck on the abandoned house.
The creaking sound.
The sound of something falling.
And the thing that made him most curious was this:
If the house really was empty, who was inside?
At recess, Sendi went over to Raka.
“Rak.”
“What?”
“Are you sure there was someone in there?”
Raka was opening his lunch.
“Sure.”
“What if we check again later?”
Raka immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I still value my life.”
Sendi snickered.
“Drama queen.”
“You go by yourself.”
Sendi hadn’t had a chance to answer when a girl named Nisa came over carrying a book.
“Are you guys talking about the abandoned house?”
Sendi and Raka looked at each other.
“How do you know?” Sendi asked.
Nisa sat down in front of them.
“The house at the end of the alley?”
“Yeah.”
Nisa nodded slowly.
“Don’t go there too often.”
Sendi grew even more curious.
“Why?”
Nisa glanced toward the classroom door before answering quietly.
“I heard someone used to live there.”
“And then?”
“Then they left.”
“So what? That’s normal.”
“The problem,” Nisa said, “is that they didn’t leave because they moved.”
Sendi fell silent.
Raka immediately looked at Nisa.
“Then why did they leave?”
Nisa didn’t answer.
She simply put her book in her bag, then stood up.
“You’ll find out for yourselves.”
Sendi watched Nisa walk away.
Joko appeared from behind them carrying fried snacks.
“Why are you spacing out?”
Sendi stared toward the door.
“I’ve got a feeling today’s going to be a long day.”
Joko laughed.
“Has your life ever been short?”
Sendi didn’t answer.
One question kept spinning around in his head.
Who was really inside that abandoned house?