POLARIS (SHORT STORY ABOUT EAST INDONESIA)

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wikagwulandari
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Post by wikagwulandari »

A man, around 36 years old, sat beside me and smiled. “What are you waiting, young lady?”
“Nothing much. It’s my first time being here.”
He took out a cigarette and lighted it up. The smoke ran around the air, made me hard to breathe. He didn’t realize it and kept smoking. After a while, he turned it off and started looking at me. “That is the saddest reason I’ve ever heard since my daughter left me,” he said calmly. “Do you know why this harbor has no ships nor fisher?” he asked.
I shook my head uninterested.
He laughed. “Because this place is designed for those who are waiting for someone. Nobody comes here to get ready to go. These chairs are their friends. No matter how long they wait, this chair will always be there with them.”
Two days ago I arrived at Tidore, a small town in North Mollucas. Coming here was never on my plan, but still, I managed to proof what my friends saying is true. That this town has a bitter-sweet story about hopes and loss. For me, that kind of story belongs to everyone. Because we are a human being. It’s normal to hope upon something and get disappointed by it at the same time. When I was a child, my grandma always told me that I owe nothing in this life. So, loosing is not a big deal too for me.
“I love the view. The islands down there, look so green before sun starting to set down. The sea, the wind, and the birds. They make the perfect combination of nature,” I said what’s on my mind.
He nodded to agree. “For the tourist, those things seem to be the only reason why they can sit here for a long time. Taking pictures. Write something. And then go home, get ready to share what they got with their friends or beloved ones. I’m not really sure about the last part.” He took his second cigarette but didn't light it up immediately. “But for us, especially me, sitting here for a long time means something. Every time clock makes tick-tock sound, I tell my self repeatedly that the one I’ve been waiting will come home really soon.
“I bet you can see the stars above us. That what my hope looks like. It doesn't always shine bright, but I know it exists.”
I blinked twice before checked the stars. “Who are you waiting?”
“Lia, my daughter. She said she loved me, and then she left me.” I saw no tears on his eyes, but through his voice, I could notice a broken heart. “I rose her alone, my wife, Maria, died when Lia was 10 years old. Since then, I tried my best to make her a good person and fighter. The world we lived in was not nice at all. Then one day she came to me and said that she wanted more.”
“What did she want?”
“The world. She wanted to explore more. Well, in short say, she wanted to leave me, go across the land, finds anything that she could not find in this small town. I said no multiple times, but she was stubborn. Before I made her cry, I said yes. She hugged me and hurriedly packed all her needs and left me. She’s not coming back yet.”
So many things ran on my mind, but my mouth was shot. He talked calmly about his bitter-sweet story to me, and it felt like he was trained to do that. Like it didn't affect him at all. He smoked the second cigarette, blew the smoke to the sea. Sky got darker, no lamps in the harbor. Still, I could see his gaze eyes.
“Will she come back?” I asked unconsciously.
“Nobody knows, young lady. Just like when you go fishing, no certainty you could hold on to. You could prepare a big net, a dozen baits, but when waves come, everything’s just a waste. Or maybe you plan to go home early, just to see your beloved one, but when fishes come and make you stay a little bit longer at the sea, there’s nothing you can do. You keep telling your self that this won't take long, that you can manage to go home early. But on the other side, you know that your beloved one’s tired of waiting.”
I nodded to agree. “Do you believe she will come back?” I asked again.
He turned the cigarette off and shook his head slowly. “I’m not a believer, Honey. If I am, this stupid waiting is long gone. People say she will never come back because she already found better lives across the land. Thank God, I’m not a believer.”
We didn't say anything for five minutes. Just staring at the stars, felt the wind, notice something at the sea. And then suddenly he took something out of his bag. A little lamp.
“Do you know Polaris?” he asked.
“I ever read it somewhere, but not really sure what it is.”
“It’s a star every fisher uses to come home. The northern axis of the earth points toward it, and this harbor is on the north side of the town. That is another reason why people wait here.”
“And this lamp is for?”
He plugged the light to an electric spot on the right side from where we sat. Even though it was a little lamp, but it did light up space between us.
“To tell Lia that I’m here. I bought this lamp when Lia went to junior high school. She loved to study in the middle of the night. So, to help her, I bought this for her. Nobody sells this kind of light now. If fisher uses Polaris to come home, I hope Lia can use this little lamp to come home.”
Someone ever said to me that everyone who’s leaving and coming back will never be the same person. And it’s hard to recognize them anymore. But I guess this theory doesn’t work for that man. Even though Lia comes back with a totally different look, he will never turn her out. I bet, he will forget all his broken hearts, and try to start it again with his daughter.
After quite a little while, he stood up and walked toward the sea. It was my first time met him, but I was pretty damn sure that he will not kill himself that night.
“Lia, you don't have to come home now. You can come home tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or anytime you want! No need to rush, Baby! Cause I will wait, just like the Polaris!” He screamed to the waves, the starts, the wind, and whatever were there.
He didn’t know that, and he will never know that the girl who sat beside him, the girl who also named Lia, could end up his waiting.
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VandaQ
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Post by VandaQ »

Hi, thanks for posting this. I like the idea and the writing style, but there are a couple of mistakes that detract from the beauty of the story. I would recommend in the future running the text through a spell checking software or asking someone to beta-read or edit the piece for you. On top of that, I would recommend separating paragraphs with a double enter, as it looks neater - like this, it looks very much like a wall of text.

Keep writing and if you need some editing help, you can DM me! :)
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