"Huh... So it's true that his body was found there?"
"Yes, to be precise in the southern part of the river in the ravine area" Widya said looking at me intently. "Why is your expression like that? Don't tell me you…"
"I'm curious" I answered quickly.
Widya also patted her forehead, as usual she only gave an intimidating look, surely Widya had understood what I meant.
"Wait a minute! I put the bag first" she said.
While there's still 45 minutes left, it's enough to look there for a while. Not only me and Widya went to see the removal of the body, but some of my other friends had already gone there.
"Are you serious about going there?" asked Widya doubtfully.
"Seriously. Are you scared?" I asked, it was strange that usually she was the one who teased me that I was cowardly, but this time it was Widya who looked scared.
"No! Who said I was scared!" she said. But still, her hand gripped my arm tightly.
We arrived at the scene, many residents and children witnessed the removal of the bodies of the washed away victims. While on the side of the road there were rescue team cars, ambulances, and police cars lined up neatly. I'm getting fluttered.
The rescue team was assisted by residents to jump into the river. The steep and rocky terrain made lifting the body quite difficult.
"You can see his legs! Huhuhu... My husband..." a middle-aged woman screamed hysterically, she was the wife of the victim, she was supported by two people who might be her siblings.
"Nimas! What are you going to do?" Widya held my hand.
"I want to see." I answered immediately into the crowd of residents who were witnessing the removal of the body.
"Nimas!" shouted Widya following my steps.
After I managed to break through the crowd and was able to stand in a safe place, I finally could see down the river clearly.
It looks like Galo river has indeed been hit by a big flood. Lots of large rocks and cliffs that collapse. Right on the cliff where I was standing, there was a very large rock that fell from the opposite cliff.
The residents and the rescue team were crowding the rock, in the midst of their busy life, I focused on one thing that was wedged right between the rocks. Pale white object moving swinging due to water currents. The more I observed that thing, I was surprised to find... It was a human leg!
There is a feeling of horror, fear, pity and sadness. Human history, human destiny to die in different ways. One of them was the victim of this drift, it was too bad his body had to be crushed under a large rock. The rescue team, assisted by residents, managed to destroy the rock that was pressing on the body. I backed away after seeing feet waving above the surface of the river water.
"Nimas. What happened?" asked Widya looking at me carefully. I was speechless, this was the first time for me to see a pathetic corpse directly.
"Okay, let's tell the story later, let's go to the shop. Let's buy a drink, okay?" said Widya, immediately pulling me away from the crowd.
Widya bought a bottle of drink, she handed me the drink. Maybe she knows I'm in shock. It's my own fault, I was desperate to see the evacuation. We sat for a while in front of the shop, giving me a chance to calm down.
"Wid, let's go back to school"
"You're okay aren't you?"
I answered with a nod of the head. "Okay. We're back to school," said Widya.
Honestly, even if only at a glance. But the leg kept waving at my eyes. Even now, I still remember it clearly, especially when I typed this story. That meant I had to re-enter into this storyline.
Two hours passed, the recess bell rang. Today my body felt weak, after buying some candy and light snacks I decided to go back to class.
"Damn! Crazy! Puih. Regret I follow you!" said Giyo, one of my classmates entered the class while cursing.
"Why. You're also curious!" replied Erik.
"Yes, I don't know if it turns out that the shape of the corpse is like that! It's scary," said Giyo again.
I was sitting right across from them listening to Erik and Giyo telling stories. Giyo's face was clearly red and watery eyes.
"What's going on?! What are you guys talking about?" asked Widya curiously.
"You know that drift victim? It's really crazy," said Giyo.
"Why? Can you evacuate already?" I said.
"Already Nimas. Even just now we saw him in person. His body was destroyed! There were even some bodies missing. I saw that the head was flattened, the eyes protruded one by one and they were gone!"
Immediately my breath was short of hearing Giyo speak. "Only the legs and arms are intact, apart from that it was crushed because it was run over by a rock. Even earlier I saw his intestines being put in the body bag!" said Erik.
That's human intestine right? That tragic human corpse? Oh my gosh, I feel nauseous now. "Enough! Don't talk about it!" I insisted. I really feel uncomfortable.
*****
The excitement of drifting people is still a hot story even though 7 days have passed, and apparently it doesn't end there. Many complaints began to be felt by the sand miners and people who worked near the river where the body was found.
That night, I happened to accompany grandma to go massage someone. She is indeed a well-known masseuse in the village. Sometimes even people from outside the village come to have massages at Grandma's place. Around 7 pm we left, the massage patient's house is about 100 meters from grandma's house.
"Come on, come on in quickly." said Mr. Giri, the person who invited grandma for a massage. "Just put your slippers in, don't put them outside!" he said again.
"Why is that?" asked the grandmother did not understand. Mr. Giri let us in.
"Our village is being terrorized by the spirit of the drift victim. Even yesterday a ghost knocked on the door of a resident whose house was not far from the river. The ghost knocked and groaned asking for his eyes to be found!" said Mr. Giri with a serious face.