What if the morning comes sooner?

Amongst the darkness of the sky, the moon appears with its luster. It received a lot of reflected sunlight this time. Tonight is full moon time.

In the vast meadow, there was no lighting at all. Vision could only be supported by the white light of the moon. The darkness of the place denied anyone entry.

In the darkness of the night and alone, Bandung Bondowoso stood in the middle of the meadow. There were no guards with him, they were all ordered to guard the outer area of the place.

Bandung Bondowoso stood tall despite the night wind blowing against him. A proud smile was printed on his face.

"The time has come," he muttered, then sat down beside the meadow.

In the lotus flower-like sitting position, he closed her eyes tightly, contemplating deeply. A moment later, a wisp of smoke appeared. It transformed into a man.

The man's figure bowed while bringing his hands together in front of him. He looked down and asked, "Please give your orders, Your Majesty."

At the same time, a large group filled the meadow. They had human-like figures with larger bodies.

Bandung Bondowoso opened his eyes, then got up from his seat. He stood up, looking contentedly at the genies. They all bowed respectfully to him. These genies would help him fulfill Roro Jonggrang's request.

"I called you here as a way for you to repay me! I wanted to marry a princess and she asked for a thousand temples and two wells as conditions. A thousand temples and two wells must be completed in one night. This is how you repay me, build a thousand temples and two wells for me!"

His booming voice rang through the place, sending a fervor through the genies. They cheered, raising their hands to help their king.

He stood tall, displaying his toughness among the troops. Bandung Bondowoso was the only human there but in control.

"Your Majesty," the genie king spoke, "We accept your orders. We will build everything until before sunrise."

"I'm sure everything will be finished before then," Bandung Bondowoso replied haughtily.

The genie king bowed respectfully once more, then headed for his people. He called out, ordering the, to fetch stones from the mountain.

Huge boulders rolled down from the top of the mountain. They were black and as big as houses. As it rolled down by them, there was a rumble accompanied by the ground shaking.

The boulders stopped on the field in neat rows. In no time, they chiseled them with magic, and half of the meadow began to be filled with house-sized temples.

***

"What does it mean not to make night look like the day?"

"I don't quite understand, Princess."

The two women spoke in front of Citra who had thrown her head on the table. The girl had passed out after drinking water laced with alcohol. Who would have thought that she would fall for their drama and say something important?

"Night cannot be made like the day. There has to be sun to mark it as the morning," Roro Jonggrang said with a furrowed brow.

She glanced at Citra who was snoring softly. She was already not surprised by the fortune teller's ambiguous words. However, it was still difficult to interpret on her own.

"Princess, it's getting late," informed Aunt Sumi.

Roro Jonggrang looked at the open window. The brilliant full moon was beginning to be covered by clouds. Its light was cut off and did not touch the earth. She stood up and moved closer. Her hands were on the window sills.

"Night without the sun, day with the sun.... "

Aunt Sumi followed her. She stood behind the princess and called out, "Princess."

"What?"

"I just remembered about this," Aunt Sumi whispered, "The guards are talking about the palace gates being closed from sunset to sunrise."

"Does that have anything to do with Citra's words?" Roro Jonggrang asked and sighed. Her sad eyes stared at her fingers playing on the window frame. There was no denying that she was still hoping for a way to avoid all this.

Aunt Sumi leaned closer to her ear. She looked right and left, a little bit afraid that someone might overhear this conversation. Aunt Sumi said, "The time the gates were closed was the same as one night of construction. Your Highness, no human can build a thousand temples and two wells that easily."

"Are you saying he used the help of the genies to build it?"

Roro Jonggrang turned around. Her eyes widened in surprise. She felt her heart pounding. "I know this," she muttered, "Genies only work at night. They leave before sunrise."

"Princess, those thousand temples and wells wouldn't have been completed if the morning had come sooner," chided Aunt Sumi.

"I know that, but how to make the morning come sooner?"

Both were silent, lost in confusion. It was impossible to pull the sun up prematurely. They were mortals, lacking in power.

Roro Jonggrang sighed. This was a false hope, but her heart told her to hold tight to this false hope. She turned around and looked at the sky. It was dark.