It Is What It Is
--West Sumatra, Tapan, November 10, 2009.--
"The province of West Sumatra lies at the convergence of two major continental plates (the Eurasian plate and the Indo-Australian plate) and the Semangko fault line. Near the plate convergence, there is the Mentawai fault line. All of these areas are seismically active.
"According to experts, this is what caused the major earthquake on September 30, 2009, precisely at 17:16:10 Western Indonesian Time. The earthquake, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, occurred off the coast of Sumatra, about 50 km northwest of the city of Padang.
"As of now, 717 people have been confirmed dead due to this earthquake, scattered across 3 cities and 4 districts in West Sumatra. There are 214 severely injured victims, 1,688 with minor injuries, and an estimated 2,000 people who are still missing. It is likely that they are still trapped under the rubble of buildings, which are currently being cleared by combined search and rescue teams, the military, and the police.
"A total of 135,448 houses have been severely damaged, 65,380 moderately damaged, and 78,604 lightly damaged. There is still the possibility of aftershocks or the threat of a tsunami. It is hoped that the residents will remain vigilant—"
A boy switched off the old television set in front of him with a bored expression.
He sighed heavily at the sight of his favorite cartoon being replaced by the midday news. It's not that he didn't want to know about the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that had wreaked havoc his hometown.
But he just wanted to forget about the trauma that haunted his nightmares.
He still remembered that day as his first day of school.
After school, as usual, he and his friends were getting ready to play soccer in the schoolyard. But suddenly, a strong tremor was felt, making everyone feel dizzy.
Car windows shattered instantly, and several houses collapsed, burying everyone inside.
He and his friends ran frantically, trying to get away from the danger. For kids their age, home was the safest place, so he ran home.
The chaos on the streets was evident, with elderly people left behind while others carried their children in tears.
The collapsed buildings caused heavy debris and sharp glass shards to fly around. Some people were seen as victims, even though they managed to escape from the collapsed buildings.
Everything felt like it was moving so fast yet passing so slowly.
Until the boy arrived home to find it empty. Fortunately, his house had a strong enough foundation to withstand the collapse like other buildings.
However, cracks that stretched along the walls formed, resembling the work of a skilled sculptor.
He remembered that both of his parents were currently at work. He tried to reach them on the home phone, but the city's network cable had long been disconnected.
Even if he had a cellphone, it would take several hours to restore the signal due to some collapsed telephone buildings.
The boy, unsure of what to do, could only sit quietly at home, holding back his tears because his father had once said that men don't cry.
On that day, the earthquake claimed his father's life and left his mother in a coma at the hospital. And the name of that boy was Aditya Mahendra.
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Aditya rose from his grandmother's old, worn-out sofa.
He looked around the old house that had become his refuge for the past few days.
His mother, who was in a coma, had been transferred to a hospital in Jakarta. Aditya wanted to go with her, but unfortunately, there would be no one to take care of him in the big city.
As a result, Aditya had to stay with his grandmother, who was now very old.
"GRANNY, I'M GOING OUT TO PLAY!!" Aditya shouted to inform her of his departure.
Only a faint hum was heard from behind his grandmother's bedroom door.
Right now, his grandmother wasn't like the little memory Aditya had, where she always gently stroked his hair while humming a beautiful tune he had never heard before.
Aditya always fell asleep in her arms, which was why going back to Tapan during school holidays was one of his favorite things. But now his grandmother was very old and struggled to be as active as before.
Leaving his grandmother's old house, Aditya climbed down the stone steps, which were very slippery after the rain, and found a small asphalt road that could only fit one car.
Despite its size, this road was very busy during holidays, with various naughty kids speeding by on credit motorcycles.
Looking left and right, Aditya crossed the asphalt road and continued walking until he found another slope. This time there were no stairs to descend, so he had to be careful not to fall.
Despite living in the city, Aditya still remembered how to properly descend this slope.
After successfully descending the slope without slipping or tumbling and getting his clothes dirty, Aditya found the place he was looking for.
A river that used to be his favorite spot to swim with his friends in this village.
However, the river was not like what Aditya remembered.
A few months ago, the river underwent a narrowing and deepening project. The once wide and clear river was now filled with large rocks, making it smaller and murkier.
Aditya didn't find his friends, which made his face gloomy.
The sun was still scorching above his head, indicating that it was not yet time for children to play by the river. However, there were still some people on the riverbank, either washing clothes or relieving themselves.
At that time, many households still lacked proper toilets, so they used this river to relieve themselves.
Aditya could only sigh deeply before strolling along the riverbank. He felt very bored. Unlike the city, which was filled with places to hang out like internet cafes, the village only had this river as his entertainment.
He then sat on a rocky ledge, gazing at the flowing river.
Feeling the creeping boredom, Aditya glanced at the activities of people on the riverbank. His eyes then fell upon a little girl, perhaps no older than five, playing beside a large, oblong rock.
He might forget the face and name of the little girl when he grew up, but what happened next would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Suddenly, perhaps due to a small seismic vibration or maybe just a gust of wind, the oblong rock next to the little girl moved.
Aditya could only stare in disbelief as the rock toppled onto the girl's body. His breath caught, his thoughts momentarily halted, and his body began to feel cold.
But before he could gather his bearings, a whimper emanated from behind the oblong rock.
Like a puppet moved by strings, Aditya's body sprang into action, sprinting towards the rock.
Unconsciously, his hands attempted to lift the rock with all his might. But his small strength was no match for the rock, nearly the size of his own body, which remained unmoved.
The little girl's muffled cries from beneath the rock echoed loudly in Aditya's ears.
And it made his cognitive functions resumed.
Without taking a breath, Aditya shouted at the top of his lungs, "HELP! A CHILD IS TRAPPED UNDER THE ROCK!!! PLEASE!!!! HELP!!!!"
His loud cries echoed all the way to his grandmother's house.
Instantly, the entire village was startled by the sound.
The men near the riverbank immediately ran towards the source of the noise. In no time, people began to gather, but Aditya continued to exert all his strength to lift the unyielding rock.
In his mind, if he stopped exerting all his energy to lift the oblong rock, the little girl beneath it would be crushed.
Whatever hidden strength lay within his small body, Aditya could tap into it and use 100% of his strength until the adults came to help.
"Don't lift it, just slide it! The rock still has its support!" shouted a grown man, giving instructions.
Together, they slid the oblong rock and successfully freed the little girl, who was now crying profusely.
Fortunately, when the oblong rock fell, there was another nearby rock that supported it, preventing the girl from being completely crushed, though she couldn't move due to the tight space.
Aditya watched the entire rescue process breathlessly, his face pale.
Only after the little girl was safe could Aditya feel the exhaustion in his body. But driven by the adrenaline still coursing through him, Aditya approached one of the project workers who had arrived at the scene.
The man wore a cream-colored shirt with black pants and sneakers, indicating that he was not just a project worker but also the foreman.
Aditya approached the foreman with a heated expression.
The foreman turned to him, and from his smile, it seemed he recognized Aditya.
His determined effort to lift the oblong rock, which was the same size as his own body, to save the little girl was not something easily forgotten.
Before the foreman could greet him, Aditya had already confronted him, "Why didn't you put up warning signs so that nobody would enter the project area! Is it so difficult to place a sign or boundary line with ropes? If you had done that, this incident wouldn't have happened..."
The foreman flinched, but he didn't immediately respond, waiting for Aditya to finish venting his anger.
Perhaps to him, Aditya was just a child caught up in concern for his little sister's accident, so the foreman didn't feel threatened by Aditya's anger.
Until he felt his breath running out, his anger subsided slightly, and his adrenaline began to fade, only then did Aditya stop berating the foreman.
After he calmed down, he realized what he had just done.
As a child, raising his voice in front of adults was extremely impolite. If the foreman had slapped Aditya, no one would have paid attention to him.
They would simply see it as an adult teaching a child manners.
Fortunately, the foreman wasn't angry and still wore the same calm smile.
He then crouched down to be at eye level with Aditya. Aditya reflexively took a step back in fear, but before he could move his feet further, the foreman began to speak.
"It's not that we didn't put up warnings about the narrowing and deepening project in this river; we even went to every household in the area. Unfortunately, they ignored the warnings. The residents who heavily rely on this river still cannot easily detach themselves from it. There are still many households without toilets or even their own bathrooms. That's why we can't just close off the river. If we did, the residents would be angry, which would also slow down the progress of the project."
Aditya was taken aback because the reason given by the foreman made perfect sense. But before he could apologize, the foreman had already patted his head and said, "Forgive me for what happened to your little sister, brave son. But there's nothing I can do except to expedite this project so that residents can use the river safely again. Do you understand? It is what it is."
Aditya fell silent, the words "it is what it is" echoing in his head.
"It is what it is."
Perhaps because those words so accurately depicted the foreman's helplessness, or perhaps because they were so comforting to say.
But...
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--Present--
[Congratulations, you have died for the 30th time!]
The faces of the Majapahit soldiers surrounding the Bubat square reappeared in Aditya's sight. But this time, he didn't scream, holding back the pain of previous deaths, or pale-faced from haunting trauma.
He just stood there, with an empty expression and vacant eyes.
Silent, until the voice of Wisesa cursing 200 Sundanese warriors to die echoed once more.
Gripping his sword tightly, Aditya tilted his head to the side until the sound of his bones cracking was heard.
Then, he ran swiftly, as if impatient to meet the Majapahit warriors who had always been his killers. A smile formed on Aditya's face, even though he knew that after this, he would face death once again.
"It is what it is."