2 Grandmother's House
Aunt Laura helps Rei pack his things, today his Uncle and Aunt will take Rei to live temporarily with his grandmother in Batu City, Malang. That cold little town is where Rei's mother Anastasia was born. Her grandmother, Mariam, owned an apple and orange plantation, which several families helped to manage. Rei is very close to his grandmother because of that Aunt Laura sent Rei there, she hopes that by meeting her grandmother Rei can be more cheerful and return to normal.
"Rei, is it okay if Auntie goes straight home today? Tomorrow Auntie still has worked at the office!" said Aunt Laura while on the Surabaya-Malang trip.
Rei nodded with a smile, it seemed like he was happy to meet Grandma who had taken care of him when he was little.
"You just send a message if you want to be picked up! Auntie will pick you up right away!" said her aunt who was still worried.
Rei nodded, lately Rei only uses head movements such as nodding or shaking his head to express what he wants. Uncle James feels Rei needs a new atmosphere to be able to forget the tragic incident that happened to his parents.
After 4 hours of traveling, they arrived at the orange plantation area belonging to Granny Mariam. From Uncle James's car, we can see an orange plantation with its fruit which is orange and very attractive to pick. Rei opened the car window and smiled, he had not been there for a long time because, after the age of 7, Rei accompanied his father to Germany and only returned to Jakarta when he was 11 years old. Instead of going back to her grandmother's house, Granny Mariam visited him more often in Jakarta.
Today, after 6 years have passed, Rei can return to the orange plantation where he used to play hide and seek. Uncle's car drove slowly down the narrow road, Grandma Mariam's house came into view, the shape was still the same with a few renovations on the terrace and the color of the walls. The house with Dutch architecture now looks ancient and a bit scary. Granny Mariam was a plant lover, Rei remembered that there used to be a lot of roses in the front yard and now they have turned into a very beautiful colorful rose hedge.
Uncle James's car stopped, and there was a maid at Grandma's house waiting for them. The maid named Johan, Mr. Johan helped Rei to unload things and put them directly into his room. The cold mountain air blew like it was greeting Rei and immediately made the boy close the zipper of his jacket because of the cold.
Rei entered the house, a friendly old grandmother smiled at him.
"Reinhard, come here Son!" Granny Mariam immediately hugged her grandson. She cried.
Rei hugged the woman back tightly, the boy immediately started crying, it's been a long time since his parents died. Rei has never been seen crying. Aunt Laura saw the emotion of meeting her mother and nephew. She felt that taking Rei back to her hometown was the right decision.
After being satisfied chatting with his grandmother, Rei entered the room, the room he used to share with his father and mother now looks deserted. Rei used to be able to run around in the room, but now the room seems cramped, maybe because Rei is bigger now. A rather large bed, wardrobe, bookshelf, and multipurpose table that can be used for makeup or studying. Everything seemed normal when Rei's eyes were normal too. The problem is with his abnormal vision, Rei can see lots of colorful jellies, starting on the bed, jumping on the ceiling, and hiding behind cupboards and under the bed.
"Geez, why are there so many of you!" he muttered annoyed.
Rei opened all the windows and borrowed a threshing stick from his grandmother's room. Rei wiggled his thresher in all directions looking like he was repelling mosquitoes. People don't know that Rei is trying to get rid of the bunch of colored Jelly gathering in his room
"Rei, do you want to eat?" Granny Mariam came into Rei's room.
Rei saw that there was a red jelly jumping and sticking to his grandmother's chest, red jelly was usually the most nosy, its movements were the fastest and naughty. Granny Mariam looked breathless, carrying a tray of light food that seemed too heavy for her.
"Grandma, sit down please!" said Rei. "Close your eyes Grandma! I want to show you a magic trick!" persuaded Rei concocted.
His grandmother did what her grandson asked and immediately closed her eyes, Rei immediately pulled the Red Jelly from Mariam's grandmother's chest, and with great difficulty, Rei threw it out the window. Rei approached his grandmother again and kissed her on the cheek.
"Mwuah, a magic trick for my beautiful Grandma!" he said.
"Ahaha, you're so cute Rei! Just like your mother!" said Granny Mariam while stroking her grandson's hair.
"What's wrong with you, Son? Your aunt and uncle are worried because you are so quiet, try to tell Grandma, what can Grandma do for you?" asked Granny Mariam looking worried.
"No Grandma, Grandma just needs to stay healthy so can keep me company longer!" Rei said with a cute face.
Granny Mariam smiled, She felt sad because she was now quite old. She was afraid of not being able to accompany Rei as long as she wanted.
"Son, age is a destiny that we can't control, we can't extend it as we want, it's just that memories will always live in our hearts," his grandmother explained.
"Yes Grandma, understand, I also know that my father and mother are now in heaven, watching us here," said the boy innocently.
Granny Mariam hugged her grandson, she really couldn't bear it because Rei had to suffer a fate like this. Suddenly Rei who was hugging his grandmother saw something strange across the window. There was a small glowing creature that seemed to gather facing the sunlight.
"Grandma, can I play outside?" asked Rei suddenly.
"Oh yes Son, play!" Grandma said allowing Rei who seemed enthusiastic to go outside.
Rei immediately ran, he was curious about the new creature that had just appeared. Rei reached the courtyard, in the rose fence area, he looked to the right and left but he couldn't find it anymore. Rei walked around the courtyard, hoping something was interesting he could see. But still, he didn't see anything.
"Rei, where are you?" called Aunt Laura.
Aunt Laura was ready to go back to Surabaya, she said goodbye to Rei and explained that she had to come back soon because tomorrow had to work.
"Rei please obey your Grandma, if there is a need with me you can call at any time!" said Aunt Laura anxiously.
Rei nodded, they hugged and Rei escorted his Uncle and Aunt to the front yard. Rei waved his hand, as did Granny Mariam, she knew very well that her youngest daughter Laura was quite busy.
"Son, do you want to sleep with Grandma tonight?" asked Grandma Mariam.
"Can I?" Rei replied.
"Of course, you can Rei, we haven't talked for a long time," said his grandmother.
The first day at Grandma's house seemed normal, nothing strange, Rei who missed his grandmother spent the day relaxed and warm.
(Day 2)
He heard the sound of a child running in the front yard of his grandmother's house. Rei who was originally inside was drawn out and wanted to play ball with them.
"Rei you want to go outside?" asked her grandmother who saw Rei come down from her room on the 2nd floor.
"Yes Grandma, I want to play ball!" he answers.
His grandmother smiled, she was happy that Rei had started to want to get along with other children.
"Can you come to play with me?" Rei shouted at the kids who were busy kicking and spinning the ball with their feet.
"Come on!" said one of the children.
Rei is good at playing football, William, his late father, enrolled Rei in one of the children's soccer clubs when he was still in school in Germany. Rei plays the ball skillfully, outwits one of the boys, spins, and kicks. Rei managed to score a goal towards the worn-out flip-flops which are likened to a goal by the boys. The problem was that the boys didn't seem happy with Rei's ability to play soccer. They left him alone. Rei was silent, indeed none of the children he knew.
Rei who feels alone is getting bored, he wants to take a walk to his grandmother's orange garden. Slightly forgetting the location, Rei just walked towards the back of Grandma's house which was very spacious and full of plants. When it was cool to look around, there was a glowing creature that flew quickly past in front of him. The creature that had intrigued him yesterday. Rei chased after it, he ran without remembering which way to go home. He had been running for almost 15 minutes and he just realized that he was lost.
