Curious Heidy

Bayu continues to stare in surprise at his youngest daughter. The fifty-five-year-old man chooses to sit on a wooden chair not far from where Heidy is. He looks thoughtful. Bayu also seems to be worried about all the things that happened to his daughter. "You had another weird dream, Dy?" he asks softly. As much as possible he remains calm in front of his daughter.

"I heard it. You called out Padma's name. Yes, the woman I saw in my dream was named Padma," Heidy firmly assures his father that what she had experienced is an interconnected picture.

"It was just a dream, Dy!" Bayu denies his daughter's belief, which sounds strange and indeed very ridiculous.

"A recurring dream for years, Dad!" Heidy rises from her seat. The girl looks annoyed at the response from her father. "I felt like I was there. The aura in the castle was very strong. She pulled me into it and ... and I found it, Dad. That painting of a beautiful woman in red I showed you back then. It was alive and well ... ."

"Stop it, Dy!" Bayu says. "We've discussed this before, and I don't want you to continue to be influenced by your madness! I told you to stop watching weird movies and focus on your education!" Bayu insists on what Heidy said, even though the girl looks serious. Bayu's attitude has also made Heidy even more disappointed.

Seeing the sour look of his favorite youngest daughter, Bayu immediately controls himself and lowered the tension that is starting to heat up. The middle-aged man took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He stands up and approaches Heidy who is now turning her back on him. "Listen. Tomorrow I will go to Kalimantan. I don't want you to go anywhere without Aunt Astri's permission. So, for the past two days, I hope you can reduce all your excessive hallucinations a little," he orders. "Remember, we are in Indonesia. You don't know this country well, even though you were born here," Bayu says.

Heidi doesn't answer. She just shrugs her shoulders and stands up. She looks around the place with a look of astonishment. "So I'm lying on the balcony?" the girl seems to have realized something.

"Yes. I don't know what you ate or drank until you were unconscious like before," Bayu complains while taking a deep breath.

"You keep accusing me of all kinds of things and don't believe what I say. However, what I went through was real!" Heidy says with a disappointed expression. Without another word, the girl turns around and leaves her father alone on the balcony. She walks half-running to her room and slams the door just like that.

Heidy lays her body on the bed in a supine position. Her eyes stare up at the ceiling. She lays on her back for a long time before there is a soft knock on the door. Reluctantly, she stands up and walks towards the door. Heidy is sure that it would be her father who would apologize and give her wise advice. The girl slowly opens the door. Her father's handsome face now looks much friendlier with a calm smile.

"Heidy, forgive me," says Bayu. His tone sounds much softer. The girl's guess was one hundred percent right. "I'm just too worried about your situation. I understand, at your current age you are still quite unstable," says Bayu again.

"You can think anything of me, but I'm not lying, Dad. I'm not hallucinating either," Heidy says confidently. She stands her ground.

"Ahh," Bayu sighs softly as he massages the nape of his neck. "Okay. I will not prolong this matter. I will go. Take good care of yourself," Bayu kisses his daughter's forehead, then leaves. After about three steps, he turns back to Heidy. "Would you like to take me to the airport?" he tries to bargain.

Heidi shakes her head slowly. "I'm sleepy, Dad. I don't think I slept all night," she says softly.

"Okay, then. Take good care of yourself and don't bother Aunt Astri. You know, I love you very much," Bayu steps forward and kisses Heidy's forehead once again, and he walks down the stairs.

Heidy is stunned for a moment. She is about to enter the room when suddenly curiosity begins to disturb her. Deep down in her heart, there's an urge to explore the aunt's house. Heidy is on the second floor at this moment. Several rooms line her room. One of them is a room belonging to Patra, the adopted son of Rendra and Astri. Heidy heard the name only based on her father's story. She has never even met her adopted brother. Every time Bayu makes a video call with his brother and his sister-in-law, Patra is never seen on the screen.

On a whim, Heidy walks down the hallway on the second floor. The girl opens room after room that is empty. Her steps then stop at a door located at the very end. Heidy immediately opens the door which turns out to lead to another empty room. Inside, there are only stairs that seem to lead to the top floor.

Without hesitation, Heidy walks in and up the stairs. Right at the last step, Heidy could see how dirty and dusty the attic is. Lots of boxes and cardboard just pile up. The girl continues her search. She opens the cardboard boxes containing the used items one by one. Nothing catches her attention, until one last box, Heidy finds a saga red scarf. Unlike other items, the scarf still looks clean and like new.

Heidy presses her nose against the surface of the shawl and inhales the sweet smell emanating from it. Somehow or where, she feels she had smelled such a scent. Her eyes close as she tries to remember.

"That's Aunt Padma's scarf," says someone who is suddenly there. Suddenly this takes Heidy by surprise, so much so that she, who is in a squatting position, has to tiptoe and fall backward.

"Ouch," Heidy shrieks softly, clutching her hips.

"Ah, sorry. I've surprised you, yes," says the voice again.

Heidy looks up with an annoyed snort. There is a young man who seems to be several years younger than her.

"I'm Patra. I just came back from out of town. My mother and father often tell me about you, Cousin," the young man greets kindly.

"Oh, so your name is Patra," Heidy holds out a hand which Patra immediately greets.

"How are you, Heidy? It's nice to finally meet you. So far, I've only heard your name from mom and dad's stories" Patra smiles happily.

"It's nice to meet you too," Heidy replies with a smile as well, while her hands fiddled with the shawl she is still holding.

"So where did you find the scarf?" Patra asks after his eyes fall on the red cloth.

"In the box," Heidy points her index finger. "Do you know the figure of Padma?" the girl asks back.

"I was adopted by my father and mother when I was very young and can't remember anything. When I entered middle school, this house was completely renovated. Mom said that she wanted to leave everything from the past, but I didn't understand what she meant. One day, I found a photograph. There was a woman and a man who turned out to be uncle Bayu with his wife. I asked my mother. She said that it was Aunt Padma. However, when I asked further, my mother was not willing to tell and instead told me to be quiet. In the photo, Aunt Padma is wearing a scarf. Her face is similar to yours," says Patra. He stares intently at Heidy's face.

"Then?" Heidy becomes interested in hearing Patra's explanation.

"Then, I never asked again. Besides, my parents didn't like it when I said that name," Patra continues his explanation.

"Why is that?" Heidy asks again.

"I don't know. I once asked my mother about it, but she scolded me as if everything about Aunt Padma was forbidden to tell anyone," Patra answers.

"You never wanted to investigate it yourself?" asks Heidy enthusiastically.

"I .…"

"Patra? Where are you? You just arrived, how come you've already disappeared?" Astri's screams cut off Patra's sentence just like that.

"Upstairs, Mom!" Patra shouts a little louder.

"What are you doing? Come on down! Help me install the gas hose. I have to cook breakfast for Heidy," Astri yells again.

"I have to go downstairs. Mom has called me. We'll continue later, okay," says Patra before leaving Heidy alone in the attic.