Bebegigs
Chapter 3

"Why are you making that scarecrow?" ask the curious orange. "Something like freak, I mean, why do you have a picture of a scar on his face?"

Dewangga and Magenta glanced at each other nervously. They don't answer.

Finally Magenta shrugged. "We don't know either" he muttered while blushing.

Are they lying? think Orange. Why do they not answer my question?

"Where are you going, anyway?" The god asked while tightening the ties on the scarecrow's neck.

"Just want to go for a walk" replied Jingga. "You guys wanna come? I'm going to the top of the mountain."

"Don't!" pekik Gods. His dark eyes were wide.

"Don't!" exclaim Genta almost simultaneously. "Don't go up there!"

"Why?" The orange looked at them with astonishment.

What the hell is wrong with them?

"Why can't I go there?" ask Orange with a demanding tone.

The horrified impression on the faces of the two men soon vanished. Magenta flicked his shiny black hair. The god is busy with the scarecrow's hood.

"The road to it is again closed because there is another improvement," the God finally said.

"Ha ha's. Funny," Magenta snorted while sneering.

"So what dong alesan really is?" The orange urges them.

"Ehm.. ehm, we've never been there" Magenta said nervously as he glanced at his brother. He waited for the gods to say something. But the gods are silent.

"It's kind of a tradition," Genta finally continued without daring to stare at Orange. "I mean. um, anyway we've never been there."

"It's too cold" the god added. That's real alesan. It's too cold up there for humans. You can freeze in thirty seconds."

The orange knows they're lying. He knew that was not the real reason. But he turned around to divert the conversation. They suddenly looked so tense and anxious.

"Where are you from, anyway?" ask Dewangga. He tucked both of his hands into his coat pocket. "From the village next door?"

"No. I'm from Jakarta" said Orange. "I used to live in Monas' apartment."

"Keep you moved here?" exclaims Gods. "From Jakarta to Cipagenggang? Why?"

"Good question" muttered Orange. "Look, I live just the same as my mom. Mama suddenly decided to move here. So.." The orange couldn't hide his sadness.

They chatted for a while longer. Dewa and Magenta lived for life in Cipagenggang.

"It's pretty good to live here. For a long time we became accustomed to the same quiet atmosphere here. We also get used to rarely meeting people" Magenta explained.

"This place is pretty cool if you like the rain" God chimed in. "That's just raining!"

They all laugh.

"okay, deh. See you, yes," said Jingga. Then he turned around to continue the journey.

"You're not going to the top, are you?" Gods exclaiming. It seems that the guy is back in fear.

"No," said Orange. He tightened his matel hood. "The wind is too tight. I just want to go up a little bit more."

The road he walked kept going up. The orange passes through a vast field full of pine trees whose stems are as straight as a pencil. The trees are sloping in all directions. None grew up straight.

Orang-orang spotted animal tracks in the field by the roadside. Maybe a raccoon or a squirrel. Hmm, it doesn't feel like it, thought Orange. The tracks are too big. Probably a deer trail. I don't know!

Orange turned his head to the front—and shrieked in surprise.

"Why do people here like to make scarecrows whose faces are like that?" ask who the orange is somehow aimed at.

He looked again in the other direction and saw a similar scarecrow in the front yard of a house across the street. Same arm. The head and the robe are the same. The scars are the same.

Maybe it's some kind of tradition here, thought Orange.

Then why did Dewangga and Magenta dodge when I asked about it?

Grey clouds cover the sun. The shadow of the scarecrow seemed to increase in length, until it finally enveloped the Orange.

Suddenly the girl shakes. He took a step back.

In a short time the sky has darkened.

The orange looks towards the top of the mountain. The peak is not visible because it is blocked by fog and pine trees.

Hmm, how about now? think Orange. Is it better to turn around and go home, or continue on?

The orange remembered the frightened look on the face of the God when he heard the plan to go to the top of the mountain. The orange also recalled how Magenta screeched, "Don't!"

The orange becomes more curious.

What are they afraid of? thought. What's up there?

The orange decided to find out the answer.

The old van in front of the next house was covered in a thick layer of dried leaves and flakes of acacia flowers. It seems that the van was never run for a long time.

Orange down the road that turns and away from the houses. The surface of the asphalt on the road gets wet and black. His boots were thumping and clucking splashing a thin layer of flowing water over the asphalt surface every time Orange stepped in.

For a moment the girl imagined herself walking on another planet, an unexplored alien planet.

The road is getting worse now. The asphalt road ended, changing into a hollow and muddy dirt road. Large black stones poked from the soil and mud, as well as along the side of the road between the tall grasses. Pine trees grow slanted to and fro.

At that height there was no home anymore. The orange sees only trees and shrubs shrouded in mist and black stones.

The streets are back. The wind is blowing hard.

The orange rubs its cheeks and nose to warm itself. It leans against the wind and continues its journey.

The orange stopped when a wooden cottage with a roofed bamboo roof appeared before him. He watched her while protecting her eyes with one hand.

A cottage? he wondered in his heart. Up here? Who would want to live in this remote place, so far away from everyone else?

The cottage was in the middle of a field surrounded by pine trees.

The orange does not see cars or carts carrying rice like in other houses. There are no footprints either.

Maybe saung Kanekes, thought Orange.

Kanekes are people of the Baduy tribe. They used to live in remote places to work on agricultural land outside Baduy as a wage farmer.

Slowly the orange approached the cottage. The windows are covered in dew.

The orange can not be sure whether there is a light on inside or not. Then he stepped forward a little more. His heart is beating fast. He leaned against the window sill and pressed his nose against the glass. But he still couldn't look inside.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" exciting Orange.

Silent.

The wind roared around the cottage.