Alma created a song in her mind. When she sang it, it did not sound like a song at all, but more like a gibberish words being forced into a feeble rhythm. But, at the gaze of love, everyone would sing. So, she mumbled the words and the melody under her breath carefully. Both the words and the melody collided perfectly, for her, but not for Laluba who started to get annoyed.
"What are you trying to deliver with that kind of passive aggressive humming? It hurts my brain. It damaged the peace of my soul. You should stop."
Sometimes, somehow, Laluba could easily read her heart. But, most of the time, she did not. And Laluba would act in a selfish manner as if her own peace is the most important thing in this world. This is her ugly side that Alma hated the most.
"If you feel bothered, you do not have to listen. Why would you listen to me anyway?"
"Are you five years old? We have shares the same space. How can I not listen to you? Your presence alone brought a very uncomfortable vibe around me. If you really love Raja, why don't you go check on him. Ask him about Talita. Once you set it all clear, you can pull yourself together and back to your normal mode. You are going coocoo in your head, and you did not even know it."
That is the real problem, Alma though to herself. She nearly could not speak whenever Raja was around. All she could do was smiling and exchanging one or two unneccessary words, mostly a ridiculous 'hey' or a very ambiguous short 'hehe' that could make everyone, including Raja, think she is a weirdo. How could she talk properly? How to even start the conversation. She might kissed Raja like a hungry wolf eating her favorite meals, but, it could only happen in her dream. Her reality had been a reverse from her wild fantasy!
"What are you talking about?"
Alma acted as if Laluba did not just spot her insecurity.
"You are the biggest looser. You feared the reality so much, you started to pretend nothing happened. You know why you did that?"
"Mrs. Know it all could tell anything, so…take your time to tell e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g about me. I am all ears."
"Fear of failure."
It was a slapped on her face. Alma could felt the heat on her cheek. It must had been reddened. In a split of a second, before her trickster's mind could create any excuse and delivered it in a salty tone, Laluba spoke words she never thought she had been wishing for.
"I'll speak to him."
Her bestfriend was right. She is a coward, and a fearful girl whom always wanted to make other people work on her favor.
***
There was nothing in the sky, not even the stars, when Laluba went by herself to the secret place in the middle of the forest. She sneaked from her house when all her family member was sleeping. She took with her an ancient letters written on the parchment paper. It was a love spell, needed to be cast under the new moon. Her heart was shaking a little bit, and she could not make up her mind on whether or not she needs to cast her spell.
But, a witch is a witch, she said to herself while inhaling the purest form of a fresh air she could get that day, away from everyone.
"I have to do what i have to do."
By saying the words to herself, Laluba felt as if her doubt was casted away up into the hills, and disappeared as a thin air absorbed by the silenced tree.
She needed to get herself into the secret space, cast her spell and went back home safely. The universe would grant her favor, this, she believed, would happen to her regardless of how evil she thought her action would be.
a witch is a witch, she could do either good and bad
she is one with nature, and the nature had chosen her
to bring good out of chaos, and chaos out of pride
She remembered the verse her mother recited to her when she reached the age of twelve as if it was happened a milisecond before she leaped from her bed to the back door, and leaving without making any weird noises. The sounds of an owl, singing the night's rhythm, brought back all the memory.
She could see herself as a little naive girl, celebrated her birthday by wearing a red waving cloth and white blouse. Her mother, wearing the same type of outfit, told her that reaching the age of twelve is very important in her lineage. She did not care of how important was that number. Besides, it was only a number!
"I knew who I am when I was twelve. And, so did your grandmother. You will too."
She looked at her younger sisters, all six of them ; laluna, lalisa, lalita, halima, hamira, hanira, and realized how they were so alike, not only in their three syllables name but their dark curly hairs, and their strangeness of knowing what other people's real intentions are. But, did they really know who they are? If her mother said that she knew herself when she was twelve, it meant that she did not know herself before. And, what about her?
Later that night, he mother called her into the parents room, and told her the secret she could not bear for weeks.
"I am a witch, and now, you are."
It was a simple words, coming out from her mother's pure heart, and she could feel the truth swinging in the words. But, she could not bear the reality. Her blood boiled with shock snd rage. Witches are wicked creatures who brought nothing but evil curses and maladies. Ancient Kalima people accepted them for their wisdom, but it was way back then, before the people changed their mind because they became suspicious on how the witches get powers. Kalima people banished almost all of them, except the psychic that could foretell the future, and those who still give prophecy. The others were disappeared.
"Or, living in a secret and never practice their craft in public, let alone for other people. The history taught us, Laluba, that not all knowledge can be accepted by society. So we put ourselves and our safety first."
Laluba did not know whether she put herself in a safe situation or she was just walked straight up to the dangerous zone. But she believed, all is fair in war and love.