A bus arrived at the terminal and the bus door opens. The passengers from different places and ages get off the bus. Yusuf also gets off the bus and takes a look around him. "Serpentine, the modern city," he thought to himself while breathing the air. "I'm going to meet my mother at the hospital," he thought again as he booked a car via an app.
The car that he booked arrived, he opens the car door. The driver greeted him with a smile, and Yusuf returns it. "To the hospital?" asked the driver humbly as Yusuf enters the car. "Yes," he said while closing the car door then correcting his position to feel more comfortable.
Vroom…!
On the road, Yusuf is thinking about his mother and what he should do next. Both of them don't even speak a word, only focus on their own business. The driver becomes bored and asks his passenger, "Why do you want to go to the hospital?". Yusuf is a little bit surprised by the sudden question but then he managed to calm down.
"I want to visit my mother," explained Yusuf. "I see," nodded the driver. Suddenly the driver asks another question, "How long has she been in the hospital?" "She has been in the hospital… for a long time now… like… years…," says Yusuf with a heavy voice. The driver is shocked, "Oh! Aha! Uhhh… I'm so sorry…," "It's okay," he says calmly while looking at the city scenery through the car window.
The chat between the two got interrupted by a car that suddenly change its lane without signaling. They are surprised by the rudeness of the irresponsible car driver.
"Why didn't he turn on the blinker?!" anger the driver. "Are you okay?" worried the driver about his passenger. "Yes, I'm fine," Yusuf replied. "Thank goodness we didn't get into an accident. If we did, you may be not have arrived at your destination!" "Then how about your car? Do you have insurance?" "Hahaha, I'm lucky because the company that I work for covers up the repair payment!" "Lucky you! Hahaha!"
After a long ride, Yusuf finally arrived at the hospital. He pays the amount to the humble driver then thanked the driver. Yusuf gets off the car and walks toward the hospital. The car slowly drives away leaving the hospital area.
As soon as he enters it, he could feel and smell the atmosphere. He enters an elevator and presses the level that he wants to go to. I've never missed her this much since the last visit, he thought to himself. The elevator arrives, the door opens and Yusuf steps out from the elevator.
He goes to the counter and informs the staff about his identification and his purpose. After he got permission, he walks to the ward where his mother is located. Not long after that, he arrived, and he standing in front of the door. He takes a deep breath and opens it slowly and carefully.
There she is, Yusuf's mother, sleeping on the hospital bed. He put the bag that he brought beside the chair. He sits down, "How are you, mother? Is everything okay?". The question does not reply by his dear mother. Yusuf starts to cry, "Mother, I wish this didn't happen to you."
"Six years ago, father left us, then, you sleep for three years and doesn't wake up yet. Mother, I'm so tired of everything that happened to me lately. I hope I could hear your voice… I hope I could see your smile... I hope you wake up mother, it's been so lonely without you…"
Yusuf continues, "I'm so sorry mother…, I've burdened you so much…, please forgive me…" Yusuf wipes his tears with his shirt sleeve, he misses his mother so much. He holds his mother's hand while sobbing with a full of hope. "Mother…, please don't keep me waiting…, I'm so tired…"
***
It's evening, Yusuf is looking for a vending machine to buy something for the afternoon tea. Suddenly, a man accidentally bumps Yusuf's shoulder with his shoulder. "Hey!" Yusuf calls out to the guy, "Does this guy look ahead?" thought Yusuf. The guy turns around, revealing his pale face with a dark circle around his eyes.
Yusuf is shocked and now feels pity for the pale guy. "Are you okay?" asked Yusuf, wanting to know if he is a patient here. "…" "I'm in the hurry right now. I'm sorry that I accidentally bumped your shoulder. Please take care, okay?" The pale guy did not reply with a single word nor nod his head.
Yusuf walks away from the awkward situation, leaving the guy behind. The pale, emotionless man also walks away, like a high fever person.
***
A happy face displayed on Yusuf's face, in front of him are a bunch of vending machines with a variety of snacks and drinks. He inserts banknotes into the machine and presses the buttons. A packet of vanilla cream sandwich cookies, a can of chocolate drink, and a packet of peanut butter sandwich cookies. He picks all of it from the pick-up box and brings it to the nearest bench.
He sits down and opens the peanut butter cookies first. He eats it then drinks half of the cold chocolate drink. After that, he eats the vanilla cream cookies and finishes the chocolate drink. He still could taste the sweet cookies and the chocolate drink in his mouth even after he finishes it.
While sitting on the bench, he remembers a popular park in the city. Then, he decides to go there during the nighttime. It is because he also heard that the park lights up with neon lights during the night, making it so beautiful. A perfect place to hang out with friends and family.
Next, he will find a hotel to stay overnight. If he couldn't find any, he will sleep at the hospital. Sounds like a perfect plan, he thought to himself. He stands up and walks away from the bench.
***
At night, Yusuf walks in the park, watching the beautiful scenery. There are a lot of people in the park too. Some of them come with their family, and some come with their friends. They are walking, chatting, and taking pictures in the park happily.
Yusuf walks on the track by the glamorous lake. He walks on the bridge that was decorated with a neon light tube. He stops for a while in the middle of the bridge to take a breath. His mind and body have never been felt so relaxed like this before.
I should find something for dinner tonight, he thinks. He continues his journey from the bridge to the nearby gazebo. He found one and sits there to replenish his energy. Then, he heard two old women talking with each other.
"Hey, did you know about Yi Chen?" "Oh, that stingy old man? What's up with him?" "You know, he divorced his wife!" "Oh really? Well, that's not even surprising. That is the third wife he divorced." "I never know that! That's why he shouldn't be a stingy person, right?" "I know right? Not only he's stingy, but he also has a lot of debt." "He should quit being a stingy person." "Yeah, he should."
The old women laugh it off like it wasn't a problem. Yusuf felt uneasy so change his position to avoid hearing their conversation. Now he faces two young boys, also talking to each other. He wonders what are those two are talking about.
"Did you know about Inaya?" "Oh, the gold-digger? Why? Who's her new victim?" "I don't know who but from what I saw her new "boyfriend" is so ugly! Like a bottom of a pan!" "Hmph, let me tell you something, gold-diggers don't care how ugly you are, how old you are, or how stupid you are, as long as they could get the money out from your wallet." "Man, I hate gold-diggers, they are annoying." "It is, just like Inaya." "I'm pretty sure she'll leave him when he becomes a pauper or when she found a richer person!"
Just like the old women, both of them also laugh it off. Yusuf could see their point but Yusuf doesn't like the way they talk. How can somebody humiliate one person like they don't have any feelings? Don't they have other things to talk about such as the current issue?
Yusuf doesn't enjoy sitting at the gazebo with a bunch of idiots. He gets up and walks away in an annoyed state. He hopes that anyone doesn't take one person very lightly. He also hopes that nobody will become troublesome to society.
***
After walking for a few minutes, he starts to feel tired. Luckily, he found a seat made out of a stone. He feels so relieved as soon as he sits down. He breathes the fresh air provided by the glamorous lake.
Even though he feels relaxed, he still can't get over what he did last night. He looks at the sky illuminated by the stars. He feels something heavy in his chest, something that is hard to describe. He begins to flashback about last night before he came to the glorious city.
Last night, he turned on the camera and said, "I'm quit from making videos." Everything became silent for a while, "What the heck I'm doing?" he asked himself. He deleted the previous video and sat back for a while. He was confused about what to do with his subscribers and followers.
Should I lie to them, he thought about it very hard.
Or…
Maybe I could leave them be until I could get this over with and then I will explain to them what had happened to me when I was gone, he thought.
The decision was made, he will explain everything when everything was calmed down. After that, he packed some clothes, some toiletries, and important stuff. He put all of it in one corner of his bedroom. He then booked a bus ticket via a website and went to bed.
I think I should explain my condition to them, he exclaims. He starts to think, people cared a lot about a popular person, aren't they? Celebrities, politicians, and experts are all loved by society. The funny thing is, I'm not an expert yet I have a lot of people who support me.
I'm just a man that makes commentary videos to spread messages. Is this the power of becoming famous on the internet? You can be popular as long as you attract can someone's attention? Come to think of it, some famous people on the internet are idiots.
Do they do idiot things to attract people because some people love idiocy? If I did something stupid, does it make me more popular? Wait, I make videos to teach people, not for popularity. So then, why do they do some useless, shameful stuff on the internet?
Is it for the money so they could buy the heavy golden necklace? The problem is, they also need the money so they could buy some food, right? Just like me, I need it to fill myself up and to pay for other important stuff. Other people also need money too, they could give some to the charity, right?
Is it because they want to spread happiness and laughter? They could have loved seeing their world colored with cheerfulness. The thing is, didn't they feel tired just to cheer people up? They must have kept their sadness somewhere else, maybe at the bottom of their heart.
Now I feel pity for them, they sacrifice their time and energy for their motives. It reminds me of the street performer, they show their talent for a penny. Some even want to spread messages so the world can change. One thing is for sure, they all are humans who needed something, then he stops thinking.
"Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!" "Adam! Slow down! I can't keep up! Adam! Control the toy car carefully!"
Yusuf looks at the mother and her son controlling a blue toy car. He starts to remember his childhood, running around controlling a green toy car.
"Adam! Watch out for the toy car!" "Wait! Wait! Wait! Stop! Stop! Stop!"
The toy car bumped into Yusuf's right leg making him a little surprised. He takes the car and places it a bit away from him.
"Oh, I'm so sorry about it," says the woman while panting. "It's okay, it's not a big deal," says Yusuf. "Is my car, okay?" asked the boy. "It's perfectly fine, there's nothing to worry about," he says while handing over the toy car.
The boy checks his toy car and is relieved because there's no damage on it. The mother and her son thank him then say goodbye. Yusuf sit down back on the seat while looking at them. They remind me of myself and my mom, he thought to himself.
Drip, drip, drip…
He heard the dripping sound coming from the lake. He turns his head to the sound and his eyes open wide. He's breathing heavily, his sweats running down from his face. It can't be, it shouldn't be, he keeps repeating it to himself.
HISS…
The long, split tongue repeatedly goes in and out of the mouth. The long, flexible body slithers on the track, looking for new prey. Its body is not scaly but it looks like human skin. It has no neck but it has short hair on top of its head.
"RUN!!!" scream Yusuf.
The mother and the son look behind them and immediately scream in fear.
"MOMMY!!!" the boy hugs his beloved mother very tightly. His mother immediately pulls her dear son to run away. The creature opened its mouth and the fangs come out. It moves at high speed, trying to bite its prey.
Without wasting any time, Yusuf hugs its huge tail and pulls it real hard. The creature moves backward by force then hissing in anger.
"Run! Now! Don't turn back! Hurry up!"
The mother nods and runs away with her son, crying in fear. The creature turns its attention to Yusuf and whips its tail to the track. Yusuf coughed so hard from the impact making him let go of the tail. The ugly being slithers and attacks him but he manages to avoid it by jumping backward.
"When did I could jump that far?" Yusuf starts to question himself.