Bebegigs
Chapter 21's

The night sky looks bright, bright and cloudless. A rare phenomenon occurs in the rain village.

The surface of the river water under the waterfall glittered like a giant silver flower under the full moonlight.

The couples sat clinging to rocks along the banks of the river while dipping their feet, unstable water currents pounding their ankles.

The boys gathered in groups, chatting and laughing while sitting on a plastic mat.

The music is pounding from a portable sound, sometimes heard sometimes not between the pounding waterfall that collides with the wind.

Very crowded!

Very..unexpected.

Finally Jingga knows in this place there is a waterfall tour.

I could live here, he thought.

At the foot of a low stone hill, some children had made a small bonfire.

God, and Magenta walked over to the place, followed by Orange behind them. They recognized some of the children, their schoolmates from a neighboring village on the other side of the foot of the mountain.

"Whoi, Deblog!" The god called out to the man whose face was toyed with by the rapidly flickering shadows of fire.

Cantata.

The big tall boy and short-haired spiked, turning to hear his name called. His eyes narrowed at the Gods and Magentas. "Hei—si pink twins! How are you doing? You guys still sissy?"

"Lu's still a moron?" God patted Kantata's back hard.

Kantata groaned, "Try to repeat if you want to swim malem-malem!"

The god raised his hand, preparing to pat Kantata on the back again, but Kantata dodged.

The other children greeted Jingga and Magenta. Two of them are named Anes and Reksa.

The god and the orange then sat on the mat, enjoying the heat of the scorching fire.

Everyone began to chat at once, huddling in the red light of the campfire.

"Wey--Gen, there's still a place for you," God called, just remembered his brother.

Magenta, who was forgotten, stood misbehaved with both hands tucked in his pocket, then hesitantly put himself sitting opposite to the Orange.

"Guys, knowin—ini Jingga, from Jakarta!" The god announced while embracing the orange shoulder. "He wants to transfer to our school!'

Magenta nodded back and bowed. Feeling uncomfortable with the attitude of the God who seemed to show off that the Orange is his. His pair of eyes glittered reflecting the flames.

Orange glanced at him with a helpless look on his face.

"You haven't seen the market?" Kantata asked the god. "Many cool games know."

"Udah really, but we do not have any money," said God.

"Gua bring!" kantata said as he stood up. "We're going there, yuk!"

The god began to stand up, then remembered Orange and his brother. "Hmm.: next time!" he said as he returned to his orange side and hugged the girl's shoulder in a possessive manner, then smiled at Kantata.

"Why is everyone so unhappy about having a girl?" Kantata groaned and sat back down.

Everyone chuckled uneasily except Magenta.

The guy smiled expressionlessly. His gaze was fixed on the flame that seemed to bewitch him not to turn away.

"He's good, huh?" kelakar Dewa, while tightening his embrace on Orange.

The orange responded with a frown, then turned towards Magenta, who was at the end of the mat all by himself.

The guy was twirling the blue plastic lighter with his fingers, rolling it in the palm of the hand, something he always did when he was agitated or feeling bad.

The orange prepared to say something to him, but the God held his chin, raised his face, and whispered something.

A dark shadow figure perched on top of a rock hill at the top of the waterfall, her small red eyes shining watching the Orange, lurking in the darkness like a demon radar, carefully observing the girl. A lump of saliva slid down his chin.

Shortly thereafter the creature floated down, flying low towards the teenagers circling the bonfire, circling above their heads.

The orange looked up as the dark shadow drifted closer and exclaimed in shock. "What, huh?!" his screeches.

Everyone spontaneously looked up.

"It's just a bat" Magenta said calmly.

"Don't be afraid" said the God, pulling the orange closer. "They're not dangerous."

Hisses of laughter shot out from the grinning creature's mouth in the darkness, swooping sharply towards the burning embers that were leaping below while flapping their black wings furiously, flapping their black wings, his heart was beating faster than his wings.

A strong wind defied his expanding wings, catapulting him high enough in the darkness to the point of being invisible.

His whiskers spread across the night sky as the creature soared high and flew away. His dry and raucous laughter rattled, piercing through the dark void above the rock hill at the top of the waterfall.

.

.

.

The next day…

Magenta froze on the riverbank, looking across as he tried to pull his torch which began to twitch when his bait managed to snare a fish.

It was only a moment later that he realized that the small dot that was jumping along the field of grass that was flooded with water was a bird.

he stood on a low flat rock observing the other side of the river, trying to focus his attention on the dark winged bird across the river. It was a bat, he concluded, his eyes following as the bird floated along the riverbank, zigzagging around the grass field until darkness swallowed it.

With his hands still busy removing the hook eyes from the mouth of the fish, Magenta let his gaze down the line of the steep rock hill from below to its flat top, forming a plain. Then looking back at the water, he could barely see the black and low edge of the small island, like the end of a submarine emerging from the water.

It must be where all the bats came from, he thought, while searching for the flying creature in the misty purple sky.

He only sees one. He can't see too far.

The low clouds covered the mountain peak, disguising the orange glow of the afternoon sun, making the entire place around him shaded long and strangely.

Clumps of fog floated along the banks of the river. Cold, heavy, and humid air.

he had found the deserted river's headwaters, just below his family's rice fields, across the mysterious wooded island. That's why he likes it so much.

He calmly leaned against the flat and cold rock cliffs while looking at the calm water currents as he pleased, while the fishing equipment has been finished tidying up and all the fish caught today have also been secured into the ladybug.

Whether for how long he had been standing there watching the low clouds and the drifting fog as he prepared to go home, Magenta was uncertain.

All he knew was that he went fishing after lunch. May you not turn into a strange kind of loner creature, he warned himself, bent down to pick up his luggage, then stepped out of the river and began to climb up into the rice fields.

This holiday should be fun, he thought. If only I could fix myself and stop being a boring person. If only I could stop feeling so clumsy, keep feeling so unsuitable somewhere, and…

His daydream was interrupted by the sound of a braid over his head.