If time keeps turning, it means changes will always occur. The Earth, Time, Buildings, Humans—they will change as time goes by. My eyes have been scanning, looking for a signpost.
"Crazy motorcycle taxi!" I thought, glancing to the side.
We have been passing over this gently sloping asphalt road together for a while now.
This motorcycle taxi is my own younger sister, Marsya. She's been working as a ride-hailing driver for about three months. I deliberately booked her service.
Besides being able to negotiate the fare later, I can also scold her if she takes the wrong road. Marsya, like me, can also see supernatural things. Well, what can you do? Our ancestor was a psychic long ago.
He was like a traditional head in this area. Our ancestors often held many rituals. The community would naturally join in too. Our whole family is Muslim.
But the Javanese esoteric science (Kejawen) still adheres to our family. This knowledge is hereditary. And on average, our descendants have inner sight, sensitive to supernatural things.
Now, Marsya and I are carrying three stacked food carriers.
Mother told me to deliver this to her friend's house. Besides being a mortician and washing the bodies, she also serves requests from villagers or friends from other villages if they ask for food to be made.
It's like Mother's simple catering business. She doesn't always have orders every day. But when she does, the profit Mother earns is quite substantial.
This is Thursday night, leading into Friday. We have been operating on this footpath for about two and a half hours. We were invited here once by Mother. It feels like the journey didn't take this long.
I remember when we left with the late Father, it only took about an hour and a half. But this is really taking a long time.
"Sis, is this the right way?" I joked to my sister because it was getting dark, and we had only been passing through this footpath—no turns or archways—for ages.
There are no houses or stalls. It feels like we are the only ones alive here.
"Duh, Sis! I feel like, yes, it's the right way!" she answered me.
My eyes returned to observing the trees. The sky above was covered by large trees. The twilight was not very clear; a faint light slowly entered through the forest. The lighting is dim here. It's dangerous if we are still here when night falls.
"Phone?" Marsya said, then stopped at the roadside.
She took her phone out of her pocket. Tapping on the screen with her finger.
The time there showed five in the afternoon. Meaning the Maghrib prayer time was approaching, the full moon would come.
And the darkness would get darker, blinding our eyes. It's not the darkness we fear, but the things in that darkness.
"Duh!" Marsya protested, looking around.
"What's wrong?" I asked her; it seemed like she was about to utter bad news.
"No signal!" she answered me.
Well, that's clearly normal! How can there be a signal in the forest? The phone signal would be gone, plus we are at a high elevation.
The village area we are heading to is located higher up than our village.
The incline became steeper. The wilderness was also getting denser.
The sounds of forest animals were echoing, of course. It was quiet; no one was there except the two of us.
"What now? Continue or go home?" Marsya asked me.
I could only let out a rough sigh. In my heart, of course, I was cursing.
I stared intently at the twilight with both my eyes, amidst our unclear confusion.
A man wearing a white peci (cap), a white koko shirt (traditional shirt), and a sarong, passed us while riding his motorbike. I immediately pointed at him after he passed us.
"Sya, that—follow him! Maybe that's the way!" I told Marsya.
"Okay, okay!" she answered, then started her motorbike engine again.
We both walked slowly, following the speed of the man with the peci's motorbike.
Strangely, the road we were following became narrower. However, the road was still good.
Usually, when we enter remote villages, we often encounter rocky, unpaved roads. But not this one. This road was smooth, not potholed at all.
The sky was getting darker, and there was only light from our motorbike's lamp. Large trees were on our left and right. And I could only bow down, not daring to look left and right on the road.
My ears began to recognize every sound that echoed among those trees. The sound of Mbak Kunti (a common ghost name) was the loudest there. Noisy, it felt like a concert here.
It was very dense and dark; sometimes my eyes unintentionally caught a pair of red eyes spying.
Without realizing it, we had been following the man with the peci for quite a distance and a long time.
I opened my phone, and I was shocked when I looked at it. It was exactly eight o'clock at night.
"Steep road, Sis!" Marsya shouted at me.
My lowered head lifted when I heard her shout. Right, it was a steep incline.
"Has the road changed?" I thought, looking ahead.
When our motorbike climbed higher up the incline, and then went down again to meet a flat road, our motorbike died right there, along with its lamp.
"Dancuk!" I swore to myself. How could this motorbike die in this situation? Both Marsya and I were equally shocked.
It was completely dark; there was nothing here. Only the sound of small animals like crickets, owls, and so on.
Panicked, I immediately turned on my phone's flash, pointing it forward. Fearing that a car might pass and not notice our presence. Honestly, we were afraid of being hit!
"Why did it break down?" Marsya yelled, exasperated. She got off the motorbike, and so did I.
I knelt down, looking at the troubled motorbike. Providing light there to try and find the problem.
"A truly rude motorbike!" I thought, cursing again.
"Sis, this is not right anymore, Sis! Call Nyai, Sis!" Marsya ordered me.
She was right. Why hadn't I thought of that earlier?
There, I started closing both my eyes, trying to call Nyai. The queen figure who guards our family. But she only attaches to me. I don't really know or understand where she came from.
"Nyai!" I thought; I called her up to three times. It's not usually like this. Usually, she would come right away at the first call.
Okay, this is beyond logic. It is a risk indeed delivering food in the evening through the forest. Plus, my sister and I are humans sensitive to the supernatural. They must be targeting us.
"She is not coming!!!" I yelled, furious this time.
Then Marsya pointed behind my back. With wide eyes and a face frozen in fear. Curious, I turned around.
"What is that?!" I thought; my hairs stood up instantly. I felt shivers there.