CH 1.4

“Maya! Maya! Where did that kid go?” Rini’s voice sounded. But Maya didn’t care. 

She climbed higher and higher, entering the lush leaves. From atop she could see Rini and Vina looking for her, but they didn’t see her. After tired of looking around, the mother and daughter duo entered the house.

“If she comes home later, just beat her up, Mom!” said Vina.

Maya looked at the house next door. The house didn’t have anyone occupying it. The water fountain that used to be on for the fish pond was also turned off. The house looked dark, perhaps the electricity had also been cut off.

Maya saw that the wall dividing her stepfather’s house and the house next door can be jumped over with this jackfruit tree. She started climbing the wall and saw on top of it, then looked around to see if there was anything that she could use as a step. She saw the ornamental rocks above the fish pond. She descended by holding those ornamental rocks. Finally, she jumped. She was now standing in the house next door’s yard.

Maya decided to look around this empty house situation. She didn’t want to return yet. Letting Rini and Vina lose her once in a while might be good, she thought in her heart.

She tried to open the front door—it was locked. She walked to the side. The door was also locked. She walked around with disappointment, perhaps she wouldn’t be able to enter because all entrances were shut tight. Her sight fell to the side window that was a louver window. She tried to take off the glass panel as this kind of window in her house was easy to remove. It turned out she could remove them. She happily extended her hand to open the side door. It works! she thought happily. She then entered the house.

“Hellooo…” There was no response. Of course, because this house was empty.

Maya went further inside. The air in the house smelled stale, like a mixture between dirty clothes and stink from trash. She saw a black bag that was surrounded with flies. This seemed to be the culprit. She took out the bag and put it outside without thinking. 

“Why did I do that, Ms. Oh-So-Clean?” she mumbled, then laughed to herself. Her cleaning habit came out here. At least having the stink outside the house was better than inside the house.

The electricity inside the house was cut off, so the inner part of the house was dark. Maya opened the curtain so the sunlight could come in. She smiled. If the house owner came here again, he would be confused because everything changed. Maybe that will happen far away in the future since the owner is currently in jail?

Maya entered the kitchen. The equipment inside the room was still complete. Even the kitchen cabinet still had spices and plenty of instant noodles. When Maya turned on the stove, the gas stove was still on.

Next, Maya went to the living room, family room, dining room, and bedroom. But the bedroom was locked.

Maya went up to the second floor. There were four bedrooms there. Two of them were locked. One of the opened rooms was a guest room because there were no personal items there. Only an empty closet and a bed that could fit two people.

Maya entered the other room. The room looked neat and had a feminine nuance. The owner of this room must be a woman, thought Maya. She sat on the single-sized bed. Feeling the softness of the bed, she plopped herself on the bed repeatedly. Maya smiled. Her anxiety disappeared. 

What a waste, the completely furnished room was left behind just like that by the owner. Maya was confused, she didn’t know that there was a woman living in this house. She recalled that she only saw a few maids who rarely went outside of the house, and now they have stopped working since the house’s owner was incarcerated. 

Maya then opened the closet. The closet was big and packed. The clothes inside looked good even though they were not the latest style. She took a light blue dress that had big white flowery pattern on it and she put it in front of her body while looking at the mirror. It seemed the owner was still young. She felt like she wanted to stay here.

A young lady was twirling with the dress.

“This dress is really nice. Where did you buy it, Mom?”

“This is a gift from the man who came yesterday. He wants to marry you.”

The young lady stopped dancing. The dress dropped to the floor. “But I will marry Mr. To, Mom. I will never marry someone else.”

Slap–! A slap fell on the young lady’s face, and she fell to the ground.

Maya was shocked and felt her body go limp. She hung the dress back in the closet. It had been a long time since she knew that she had this ability. She could capture images of someone else’s life through a touch of a hand or touching objects that held special meaning. But she had never gotten a glimpse of a stranger’s image before, let alone through an inanimate object. 

She once thought of bringing this strangeness up to someone else, but after being laughed at, she never did it anymore. She eventually got used to it. After all, sometimes this ability had its use, though every time she used it, she would feel tired as if she had worked hard. Perhaps it used a lot of her mental power. 

She had held Setiawan’s hand in the morning once, when he was leaving for work. She saw Setiawan’s figure fall from the train. She then warned Setiawan to not take the train that day, and to pick another alternative. Unexpectedly, Setiawan didn’t take the train. That evening, they heard the news about an accident with the train that Setiawan usually took. There were many people injured.

Another time when Rini was selling cakes in Vina’s middle school, she received a chocolate delivery without a sender’s address. When Maya held the box, she saw an image of a hand opening that sealed box. She stopped Rini from eating the chocolate. Rini gave it to a cat and that cat died* after licking it. It turned out the chocolate was from Rini’s business competitor who was angry because Rini took away their customers.

[*Translator note: Chocolate (with or without poison) is deadly for cats. Don’t feed cats with chocolate.]

A few months ago, a young man—who was Vina’s friend—came to the house and was introduced to her. When she was shaking hands with the young man, Maya saw an image of the guy injecting himself. Maya reported this to Setiawan and he forbade Vina to have contact with the young man. Vina sulked and was angry. But not a few days after, they heard that the young man was caught by the police for abusing drugs. So it was clear that the strangeness of Maya seeing images was a useful special ability. Maya accepted it as a gift from God. 

Maya moved towards the vanity table. There were a few makeup bottles that were covered with dust. Then her eyes fell on a very beautiful item. It was a small brooch, the size of a dragonfly. The brooch was in the shape of a fairy with butterfly-like wings, and was made of flannel and tulle. The fairy was looking sideways while closing her eyes. The face was drawn with care and looked soft. So beautiful. Maya couldn’t stop her hands from holding the brooch.

The same young lady. She was wearing this brooch on her chest while sitting on the vanity table. Tears were wetting her face and smearing her makeup.

“Don’t cry! Your makeup is ruined now!”

The young lady quickly wiped the tears on her cheek with a handkerchief. She was wearing a bridal gown.

It turned out the young lady is getting married.

The image was gone. Maya sighed. Who is that lady? Why are the images so clear? The old-style dress showed that this even happened over a decade ago.

Maya placed the broock back on the table. She opened the drawer of the vanity table. She took out a piece of identity card that looked washed out. The name on it was Anggun Karina. Why does this name sound so familiar to her?

In that drawer, there was another thing that attracted Maya. A notebook with a brown paper cover. In front of the book was the name Anggun Karina. Maya took the book out and opened it. On the first page was “Blue-Winged Fairy”. Maya concluded that the book was a compilation of poems or writing of this woman named Anggun Karina. Hand-written, with a black pen whose ink has turned yellow with time. Maya skimmed the book to see the content.

The universe is a recycling system… I believe that the spirit who dwells in the human body also undergoes the recycling process, through reincarnation.

My name is Maiya. On my first arrival in this world, I am a dog…

“Mayaaa!!!”

Maya was startled. Vina’s hollering could be heard clearly in this house. Or it could also be because… Yes, this room’s window was facing their house.

Maya quickly put the ID card back into the drawer, but decided to take the book with her. She went down from the second floor and closed all the curtains, then went out of the house without forgetting to close the door latch and placing the window back in the louver window. 

Her heart is no longer sad. Instead, she felt happy, like a child who just got a new toy.