The sound from inside the empty house instantly silenced the three children.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
They simply stood in front of the gate, staring at the tightly closed door.
Sendi swallowed.
“So... you heard that too?”
Joko slowly nodded.
“Unfortunately, yeah.”
Raka was still staring at the house.
“I’m starting to hate this place.”
Sendi glanced at them both.
“But you’re curious, right?”
Joko answered immediately.
“Nope.”
Raka nodded too.
“Nope.”
Sendi gave a small smile.
“Liar.”
“What makes you so sure?” Joko asked.
“Because you’re still standing here.”
Joko and Raka looked at each other.
Neither of them could argue.
If they really weren’t curious, they would’ve left a long time ago.
Sendi edged a little closer to the gate.
“Just look from outside.”
“That’s usually the sentence that causes trouble,” Joko said.
“What kind of trouble?”
“The kind that starts with the word ‘just.’”
Sendi chuckled.
But before they could do anything, they heard a motorcycle stop behind them.
“Hey!”
The three of them turned around at once.
An old man climbed off an old black motorcycle. His hair was mostly gray, and his face looked stern.
“What are you doing here?”
Sendi straightened up.
“Uh... Mr. Udin.”
The man was Mr. Udin, one of the residents who had lived around the alley for a long time.
“You know that house isn’t a playground, right?”
“Yes, sir,” Raka answered quickly.
Mr. Udin looked toward the house.
“Did you go inside?”
“Not yet,” Sendi said.
“Don’t.”
Mr. Udin’s tone wiped the smile off Sendi’s face.
“Why not?”
Mr. Udin didn’t answer right away.
He simply stared at the house for quite a while.
“Go home.”
“But—”
“Sendi.”
Mr. Udin said his name.
Sendi was startled.
“You know my name?”
“Everyone around here knows you.”
Joko immediately laughed.
“Wow, you’re famous.”
“Shut up.”
Mr. Udin looked back at the house.
“There used to be lots of kids like you. Curious. Feeling brave.”
“Then what?” Sendi asked.
“Eventually, they learned that not everything needs to be investigated.”
Sendi grew even more curious.
“But if there’s something inside, wouldn’t it be better to know?”
Mr. Udin looked at Sendi.
“You’re a stubborn little kid.”
Sendi smiled proudly.
“A lot of people say that.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
Sendi fell silent.
Mr. Udin climbed back onto his motorcycle.
“One more thing.”
“What is it, sir?”
“If you hear a sound coming from that house at night, never come here.”
After saying that, Mr. Udin left.
The three children watched until the motorcycle disappeared at the end of the road.
Joko broke the silence.
“Okay.”
“What?”
“Now I officially don’t want to know.”
Raka nodded.
“Agreed.”
But Sendi only thought harder.
“Why is everyone telling us not to go?”
“Because maybe they know something,” Raka answered.
“Or?”
“Or?”
“They’re just scared.”
Joko sighed.
“And that’s the problem. You always have a reason to keep going.”
Sendi smiled.
“Because if everyone’s scared, who’s going to find out?”
“Adults.”
“But the adults are the ones telling us to leave.”
Joko pointed at Sendi.
“Exactly. That’s called a warning sign.”
They finally went home.
But for Sendi, what happened that day only made his curiosity grow stronger.
That night, Sendi lay in bed.
The lights were already off.
But his eyes were still open.
He stared at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened.
The empty house.
The strange sound.
Nisa’s story.
Mr. Udin’s warning.
Everything felt like pieces of an unfinished puzzle.
“Why is everyone keeping quiet?” he muttered.
Suddenly, a sound came from outside the house.
Knock.
Sendi’s eyes flew open.
Knock.
The sound came again.
He sat up in bed.
“What was that?”
He walked slowly toward the window.
Through a gap in the curtains, he looked at the road in front of the house.
It was deserted.
There was no one there.
Sendi was about to return to bed when he saw something.
A shadow passed by at the end of the road.
Sendi held his breath.
The shadow stopped for a moment.
Then it vanished.
He wanted to open the door.
But Mom’s voice came from the living room.
“Sendi?”
“Yes, Mom!”
“You’re not asleep yet?”
“Almost.”
“Don’t go playing outside at night.”
“Okay.”
Sendi sat back down on the mattress.
He tried to convince himself that it had only been someone passing by.
But his curiosity still tugged at him.
Tomorrow morning, he had to find out what it was.
The next morning, as usual, Sendi made the house noisy again.
“Sendi! Wake up!”
Mom’s voice rang out loudly.
“Five more minutes!”
“Your five minutes can turn into half an hour!”
Sendi opened his eyes.
He looked at the clock.
“Whoa!”
He jumped out of bed.
A few minutes later, he ran out of the house with his clothes still half-untidy.
“Your lunch!”
Sendi stopped.
“Again?”
Mom stood there holding a lunch box.
“Do you have a problem with lunch, or do you just like forgetting it?”
“Probably both.”
Mom laughed.
“Go on.”
Sendi kissed Mom’s hand, then ran off.
On the road, he ran into Joko.
“Why do you look like someone who just saw a ghost?”
Sendi stopped.
“Last night.”
“What?”
“I saw something.”
Joko immediately turned serious.
“What?”
“A shadow.”
Joko fell silent.
“Where?”
“In front of the house.”
“Your house?”
Sendi shook his head.
“The empty house.”
Joko’s expression instantly changed.
“Don’t tell me...”
Sendi nodded.
“Yeah.”
They hurried toward school.
When they reached the classroom, Raka was already waiting.
“You guys took forever.”
Sendi sat down right away.
“Raka.”
“What?”
“Something was at the empty house last night.”
Raka stopped opening his book.
“You saw it?”
Sendi nodded.
Before Raka could answer, Nisa suddenly came over.
“Don’t talk about that.”
The three of them looked at Nisa.
“Why not?”
Nisa looked uneasy.
“Because I just found something out.”
“What?” Sendi asked.
Nisa took a breath.
“Dimas... the kid who went into that house before.”
“What about him?”
“He’s back.”
The noisy classroom seemed to stop for Sendi.
“Back?”
Nisa nodded.
“And apparently... he wants to meet whoever’s curious about that house.”
Sendi slowly looked toward the window.
For the first time, he felt that his curiosity might already be pulling him in too deep.
Because now he wasn’t the only one looking for answers.
Someone might have come deliberately, carrying the answers with him.