THE SECRET IS … NO SECRET

IWANE Ariana feeling lovely at Huis Ten Bosch Nagasaki, Japan. Sasebo, Nagasaki.

Time flies so fast, it feels like just yesterday I saw her FB status Check-in in Japan, and now they've checked in again in Japan. Ariana goes back to Japan, to her husband's hometown yearly. Might be she has been on a round trip to Jakarta Japan countless times. Even though the destination is still a dream on my bucket list, maybe more than ten years ago. Ah, might be too rusty, this Dream hasn't come true.

Born with the name Sulastri and raised in the city with the name Ariana. From Ariana, I learned how LOA works. Everything she has achieved now begins with clarity about what she wants, CLARITY, which is followed by Action, and the courage to make it happen.

"I was born from a poor family. Very poor. My house is in the mountains, far from nowhere." She started her story. "So poor that I'm used to being humiliated." She grimaced, perhaps remembering the bitterness of her past.

"My only dream when I was a kid, I WANT TO BE RICH. ANYWAYS I HAVE TO BE RICH," she continued. So round. Straightforward without further ado.

She didn't say he wanted to live happily and prosperously, to be successful in her career and family, to be blessed with sufficient fortune, to have pious children, becoming beneficial to others because the best human being is the one who has the most benefits for other humans and so on.

She just said I WANT TO BE RICH. Full Point.

Graduated high school, she got the opportunity to become a TKW*) and work as a factory worker in Japan.

After finishing her contract, she returned home with her savings and the ability to speak Japanese. Married a man who came from her hometown and opened a business with capital from her savings while working in Japan.

"O... so this isn't the first husband?" ask me

"Not sis. My husband, who had run away from the house, didn't come back. He is a lazy person. He left after I threw the fan…" Ariana smirked. "And the door of the house shattered to pieces from the force I slammed it..."

The woman laughed contentedly as if proud of her antics. From her first husband, she has a daughter who now lives with her grandmother.

Not far from where we were sitting on chairs in the living room, her current husband, Mr. Iwane was engrossed in playing on the floor with his son quietly letting Ariana and I chat alone. Now and then he lay down and their child Yuki climbed on his back, with toys strewn everywhere.

He is an expatriate from Japan who serves as General Manager in a Japanese Company nearby. If I hadn't seen it myself, I might not have believed that he was a highly respected person in his office and in charge of thousands of people in the company he leads. So humble.

"Wow, you're lucky to get Japanese popcorn." I tease.

Ariana grimaced. "It might be lucky. But it was my intention, Sis, to find a Japanese husband." She continued later.

According to Ariana, her husband doesn't speak Indonesian, but maybe his feelings know that we're talking about him, but he doesn't budge a bit from his fun playing with his son.

Truly, a passionate father.

"Oh… so it wasn't a coincidence, was it? Where did you meet? In the workplace? In Japan?"

"No," she said. "Here." The answer refers to her husband's residence and office which are adjacent to this Industrial and Residential area. "The first time I came here there was no one I knew here. I am alone." Ariana continued her story.

"Far away from the village I came here, I just found out about this place and without any acquaintances here."

She repeated his words as if to show his seriousness and sincerity in fighting for his life.

"I applied for a job at a karaoke studio, where a lot of Japanese people seek entertainment."

I'm Ooo again

"Not until three months do I know Yuki's father"

And a year later she married Mr. Iwane and lives in a beautiful house, which, by chance or not, is the dream house that is on the dream board tucked away in my room. Maybe I should check again later, whether the picture is still there or have replaced it with aphorisms, if it is still there, is it still in the form of a house, or has it faded into an abstract image so that the ending still looks abstract.

Or, could I have the wrong attraction? What I'm interested in are people who have succeeded in realizing their dreams, who are on my Dreaming Board

***

Ariana indeed is a hard-working woman, maybe even a workaholic. As the wife of a GM of a well-known company, she may be able to live a leisurely life spending time playing games, social gathering with socialite groups, or relaxing in her luxurious house, but she prefers to work to spend her days.

I remember very well when she had just given birth to her second son, I came to see her that afternoon. I saw her pushing the stroller into the back of her car.

"Where are you going...?" I greeted her as I got out of my car, went over to her, and helped lift the stroller into the trunk of her car.

"As usual. The Wealthy Show." She mentioned the evening lectures from our regular event.

Hahhh… I forgot that it's Wednesday. The clock on my hand pointed at 4 pm, meaning it was time to leave if you didn't want to be stuck in traffic. Just ten minutes late exiting the toll gate can result in traffic jams everywhere.

The event starts at 7 pm and ends at 10 pm. The trip from home to Jakarta takes approximately 2 hours and going home can be faster. Only two hours because the traffic has started to decrease. Arriving home at midnight it's normal for us, who are in this 21st-century business, But…

"This… come?" I asked, pointing to the stroller in the trunk.

Ariana nodded

"Yuki?" I convinced myself. That it wasn't just the stroller that came along, but the baby too.

"Yes." She continued lightly.

WHATTTT???

If the mother, who has just given birth a month, leaves, I may still understand. But this baby Yuki, who incidentally was only a month old was also invited to the evening event. I do not believe it. I don't believe it at first, but then I got used to it.

No one can prevent what has become the will of this woman.

"Wati... is she coming?" I was full of worries. Wati is a babysitter for her second child.

Ariana nodded.

Puff… I breathed a sigh of relief. At least someone helped look after the baby outside when the mother was at the event.

Ariana smirked.

***

She looks Japanese. Wearing a short skirt above the knee, stockings with the color of her white skin, slightly slanted eyes, with dyed blonde hair, she looks more modern than even the newest kid on the block. Nobody thought she was a mountain girl. Graduated from high school and already have three children. Above all, she enjoys the work or activities, without being burdened or forced.

"Oh My…, what did you look for?" I can only shake my head half-jokingly remembering her ideals.

"Not yet sis. I want to have a five-star hotel chain" she said firmly with a smile on her face. Crash. It feels like my brain tissue is damaged, I can't even think about it.

***

One day afternoon we gathered at Ariana's new house. Me, Farida, Dewi, and some of her friends. It's been almost six months since the renovation of this house has not been sold, after talking here and there, we finally held a celebration and recitation at the house in the hope that someone would rent it out soon. She also sent a prayer for her father who has passed away.

Each of us was ready with a small book containing the reading of Sura Yaasin's to be recited. I only saw Ariana sitting without the book. Maybe because the host doesn't feel the need to read it, starting with Istighfar three times, reading the Al Fatihah... then we start reading it...

YAA SIIIN

Wal Qur'anul Hakim...

Yaa Siin. For the sake of the Qur'an which is full of wisdom. And until the 83 verses ended, I watched Ariana read it fluently by heart...

Yasin even Ariana memorized it outside of the head.

I don't know where she is lacking

I'm out of words.

***

*)TKW, Indonesian Manpower is a term for Indonesian citizens who work abroad in an employment relationship for a certain period by receiving wages