*Crank* *Crank* *Crank*
"Dudududu...bebadibado...ooh~!" Charger sang his heart out.
The friendly Charger works hard to make the raft sturdy for the two. The dusklight made it hard for his tin head to clearly bolt every inch of alloy together, but he tried his best to keep it sturdy. He was such a good mechanic that he could do it by himself.
"Nice song, sparkhead. Where'd you got that lyric?" Cyrus pokes out of his house.
"Just some song I've heard on the radio. You might like it, but I forgot the title." Charger finishes with the front seat.
The raft is set to be a two-floor design supported by six poles and a small stair leading upwards. For such size, the raft had already looked better than an average ship. It brings a leap of excitement and hope for Eve to see the floating metals on the work.
"Cyrus, come over here! We need to check if this thing really can handle us."
"What? Do you really doubt our friend here? Eve, with those kinds of tins on the ocean, we could even walk likeâ"
"Get over here." She warns him again. This time, Cyrus follows silently.
They hopped onto the raft together, checking the strength of said transportation, only to find that it sunk gradually by their mass. Slowly, the water seeps through the creak and fills the raft until it can no longer float. Eve was unamused with this progress, especially with a soaked foot.
"Charger." She mumbled to him.
"Alright, I get it! I'll go fix it in a moment." Charger prepares to weld again, only to be stopped by Eve's foot.
"No. We don't need to fix it. We need a better metal than this. Tins are not very efficient with water, especially saltwater."
"If we wanted to row out there safely without falling down to a shark's meal, we'll need an aluminum type of metal to bypass the ocean. It's rust-resistant, lightweight, and very efficient against waves."
"What do you mean?" Cyrus joins in the conversation.
"*Sigh* We'll have to go strolling for a new metal in this city." She prepares her bag and the cart.
"Aww, Buttleboo! You really don't have to say that to my tin friends!" Charger grabs a fan to his arms.
"Don't listen to her, Mr. Fanblade...you are a noble and rust-resistant man ever."
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! You mean we're stealingâfrom p-people's house??"
"Yes."
"Eve! We are notâ"
"I don't care! Go get your shoes ready if you want to join the voyage. We already have it settled before..." She left with the cart, heading to the cave.
"Oh, lord. What did I just put into myself?" Cyrus taps his foot on the sand nervously as Eve leaves by the cave.
"Don't worry. You'll get used to itâyour kinds did."
"Excuse me?"
"What? European people do steal a lot from continents, right? Your eyes would've been more keen with ores..."
The three dive into the cave and slowly back to the Great Stone City with the cart, searching for aluminium across the town. They scavenge every piece of the buildings around while the people are out of their homes, ravaging anything they can find around the walls and ceilings while dispersing to make it haste.
*Metal scratching*
"It's no use! There's no aluminium in Great Stone or Wellspring! Let alone East Wood..." Cyrus mumbled with a nervous thought.
"I can't believe we're doing this. We shouldn't steal from this town..."
"Aww, I could only find some around your library..." Charger returns with a layer, a chunk, and a shard of aluminium. But it is still not enough to make the boat perfect.
"Ugh, I'm afraid I only one place to go, then."
"Oh, we're going to Frayfoil?"
They headed out to the town again with the cart down to the south of Gold Creek, known as Frayfoil. A low land district directed close to the Netherlands, where most of the town's infrastructure lies. But it doesn't mean that an entire metropolitan was there.
The warm air passing by the lowlands and cars was uncomfortable, especially while wearing a sweater. But she was used to the temperature and the sunlight, at least since the weather was warm enough not to sweat. It reminds her of her hometown where it wouldn't be cold until night.
Eve had to wear a scarf around her face to keep herself from the smoke and witness, Cyrus would only cover his eyes with a beanie hat, and Charger wore a bucket over his head while scrapping metal from trash bins since it was the only place he could find them freely.
"Oh, Frayfoil. Never thought I'd be here again after years..." Eve quietly mumbled while dragging the cart into an alley.
"If it weren't for Great Stone library, I would've been a city girl, instead."
"Well, if only I could live here, maybe I would've been a city girl, too." Cyrus steps out of the alley.
"Why haven't you?"
"I lived with my mom." He nodded down with a frown.
The cart rolls around the town as if it were normal for such an object to appear around the south. The street is filled with cars and people, but nobody bats an eye on the three. This allows them to search around easily for aluminium around the corner of the town.
"Alright, you two. Where can we get this aluminium you're asking for? My new hat's is aching me in a weird spot of my skin..."
*Bait worms dropped from the bucket*
"Charger, did you take that from a fisher right there?"
*Faint*"Where's my bucket? Hey! Now I can't even fish peacefully here??"
"Oh, that guy's a fisher? I thought he was opening a garage sale or whatever they called it."
The three started from the hardware store, where everything was all for sale. Their cart is already pulling into the entrance with a slight suspicion from the customers, but what would they doubt upon a place like this to bring such a container? Quickly, they've already thrown their eyes away from the three.
"Now where's that construction material section?" Eve searches.
"Ooh..." Charger stared at the electronic section. A lot of big machines on the shelves. His eyes had never seen such beauty before.
"Eve, can we have that?"
"No. We don't need that. We only need a stronger raft."
"But what if we need any of this stuff on the shore? It could beâ"
"We only need a stronger raft. Do you got it?" Eve shuts him quickly.
"Ugh, alright..."
The two stroll around the kitchen section, lost in its wallpaper, and they can't remember where they went before. But Charger, with his nature of metal-scrapping forage skill, had never been challenged by anything. So, as Eve and Cyrus were talking, the cunning thief had left them to wander alone.
"What the? Where's Charger?"
"Looks like he's taking the cart by himself, I'm afraid. And there goes the hunt." Cyrus mumbled.
"Augh! I just hope he didn't make a stew out there."
"Aw, come on, Eve! What's the worst thing that could happen? He's been in this town for long, right? Surely he couldn't just get caught that instantly..."
"I just hope he doesn't make it happen for me to find unlikable people around here."
"Who could've been unlikable here? That Carven guy? Surely we don't like him, right?" Cyrus examines a blender for a 5% discount.
"I don't care about that Carven guy at all, Cyrus. I just care about this adventure and we better leave this store immediately with that aluminium before someone unlikable would find us here."
"Like who, Eve? I'm pretty sure nobody could caught the two of us, either..."
"Eve?" A lady called her from behind.
"Huh? Did someone just callâoh..."
"Eve! Oh, dear!" A man followed from behind the woman.
Eve's face became red and shocked as if she was seeing a ghost. But these two were as alive as her. They were reaching for her from the other section with a smile, but Eve didn't reply with the same reaction. Her face is frozen with fear as she quickly hides Charger from the two. Their smiles become apparent to her eyes, especially when they also appear like her.
"Uhm?" Cyrus taunts her with a thumb.
"No. Not them." Eve pokes him in the rib.
"Eve, what are you doing here, sweetie?" The man stood from the other shelf.
"Uhm, Dad. That's not me."
"Huh? Oh, my bad! Excuse meâexcuse meâexcuse me..." The man slips by towards Eve's direction.
"Oh my, look at you, dear! You're beautiful!" The woman hugged her tightly, but Eve didn't push her. Instead, she showed only a red blush of embarrassment.
"Y-yeah, I just came from the library and decided to go to Frayfoil to get some stuff to buy..."
"In a hardware store?" The father stares left and right confusedly.
"W-well, why wouldn't I? There's a lot of, uhmâtoaster here." She grabs one from the shelf.
"It's a thing a librarian need to use in the library..."
"Hm. I never thought our little daughter could bravely travel on her own to get something so precious for her job. Augh, I'm such a bad mother leaving you out there alone, did I?"
"Mom, you're not and I'm nineteen. It's not like something bad would happen to me during job! Nobody came to the library today, so I think of strolling around while I could..."
"Not if it wasn't for that Carven boy!" Cyrus yelled from the other side.
"Cyrus!" She glares angrily at him from behind.
"*Gasp* So you've already heard the news, then? How was it? Did you met him? Did he saw you?"
"Not really. He's big with his head, just like his money. I don't think he would even let anyone around..." Cyrus interjects.
"N-no. I met him, actually. Surprisingly, he seems fine with me coming around his place..." Eve replies softly.
The parents let out the biggest gasp they had ever done, and the hall echoed silently forward to theirs. The excitement on their face is priceless as they paraded over Eve for that event. Only for those who were looking at this couple had no idea about the child they couldn't see directly.
"I can't believe it! Out of all peopleâour daughter is the lucky one!"
"Hooray for the Ainsley family!"
*Cricket noises*
"Mom, dad. Can we not talk about this in public? I mean, I'm also in a hurry to library, so I have to leaveâ"
"Aw, Eve! Please, just spare some minutes with us, okay? We only want to talk with you for a moment! It's been months since we've seen you, dear!" The mother begs her. That tone immediately sets her quiet.
Having no choices, Eve and her parents search for an empty spot to talk at the cafe inside the store, which has a perfect coffee and treat for them to feast on while the little thief seeks his treasure. Cyrus joins them from the other table, with his own treat at the best.
"You've changed a lot, Eve! I can't believe even you wear a better shoe!"
"I do? Well, that's a compliment, I guess..." She sat drinking her latte.
"Yuck. I should've stuck with dark coffee..."
"Oh, but you look much better than me when I was your age! I can't even have a sweater without being mocked for it." The mother jokes.
"Are you going to the Great Stone party tomorrow? The Carven boy said he's holding a new event up there!"
"And I can't wait to meet my daughter's new friend on the stage! If not, I wouldn't bring this old shirt for nothing!"
"No, dad. I'd prefer being around the library during that time. Too many people can be too disturbing. And please..." Eve covers her eyes with a blush, looking around her surroundings.
"There's a lot of people here..."
"Aww, looks like our daughter is still nervous about meeting a new friend. Let's not get her to overthink, John."
The parents were much happier with Eve, seeing her alive and well before their eyes. Yet Eve can only stare at the blank canvas as she awaits for the creature to finish his groceries alone. It had been yet another fifteen minutes since he left him alone, and he had already wandered alone.
"A few month since we've spent time with you." The father added.
"I still remember that day when I carried my little Eve for the first time. How little she was that I could still remember my arms when she looked at me with those blue pearly eyes."
"Mom, Cyrus is here..."
"If I think about it, Eve. Your eyes felt unusually blue to me when we first met. Almost like how those people said about Carven when he came here." Cyrus interjects in the conversation.
"They couldn't even stop talking about it."
"Oh, that makes me wonder if maybe the two of you get along because of that? Could it be...?" The father pauses.
"Oh, John! Don't be ridiculous! Eve is our daughter. No doubt we have anything else to say about that..."
"Yeah, but we're glad you're still around the town, sweetie. It's hard to imagine this place without you since." The father holds his daughter's hands tightly with love. His wife joins as they pray for her.
"I don't know, mom and dad. This place is not the same as home in Indonesia. I mean, we literally changed our surname from Aisya to Ainsley, isn't it?"
"Well, there's not really much difference for us here since my grandparents were born here. I think it was better that we relive their days back where they started off." The mother excites.
"We're not even a good Indonesian-speaker. I can't even speak Indonesian..."
"No. It's just you, John." The mother uttered in a different language.
"Bahasa Indonesia itu bagian dari keluargaku. Eve saja bisa ngomong jelas satu kalimat. Ya kan, nak?"
"Tentu saja, ibu. Tapi apa enaknya kota kaya gini? Cuma bukitan..." Eve mumbled following her mother's language.
"*Sigh* Ada banyak yang harus kamu ketahui dari kota lebih dari sekedar buku, Eve."
The two keep talking until eventually, they are interrupted by the father, who immediately changes the topic as he has been out of the image for so long. He and Cyrus failed to understand their languages, but they did not show a disgraceful face for such excuses.
"Eve, we're glad you're still here with us." The father mumbled.
"Frayfoil didn't felt the same without you. It used to be crowdy and full of mess, but seeing our daughter's face everyday is always the best."
"But then our daughter wanted to be a librarian, and we never deny that request, did we?"
"How can we? We're such a happy parent! That's why we've supported you with everything. That house in East Wood is surely comfortable for you, right?"
Eve stares at Charger from a distance before looking back with certainty, "Yeah."
"We love you, Eve. And we just hope you understand that." The mother mumbled.
"Because a parent could never feel more pain than losing their only child. We could never been more broken than being here without our precious lily Eve!" They cuddled, but Eve was not the only one who was happy.
"Isn't that right, Cyrus?"
"Pfft! You should've asked my mom, Ms. Stella!"
"Haha!"
It was a long talk, and after that talk, it had already turned dusk for the town. The parents prepare to leave the store after buying their needs inside the hardware store. Eve and Cyrus wave goodbye from the entrance, watching the car leave the parking lot at an orange light.
"Huh. What do you know? We've had a good time here."
"Yeah. We." Eve checked back on the store, only to find Charger passing through with a cart full of electronics and aluminium.
*Blare* *Blare* *Blare*
"Excuse me! Excuse me! Excuse me!" He yelled. Alarm blares as they haven't paid for the materials yet.
"So, are we just gonna ignore that orâwhoa!" Eve dragged him away from the building, following a small chase.
The chase doesn't last long, much to how the three returned safely to the coast with aluminium on their hands. Charger immediately headed for the unfinished raft, where he began to dismantle parts of tins with aluminium through welding. Happiness lies between the Tin Man and the cleric, but not the librarian.
*Welding metals* "Don't worry, you two! This aluminium was indeed more efficient than any tin I'd ever use! It'll be done in another fifteen minutes."
"Glad to hear that, Charger!" Cyrus yelled from a distance.
"Are you okay, Eve?" Cyrus checked on her. She sat peacefully on the
"I'm fine. Very fine..."
"You want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Oh. Then I'll be here watching the dusk with you together. Is it okay?"
"Yeah. I guess so..."
The two sat along the sunset, as time passed together, and the coast was slowly getting darker and colder for the time being. That meeting with the parents was perfect, and they hadn't yet discovered her little act. And while Charger worked tirelessly on the raft, Eve and Cyrus watched the sunset together as the welding sound of his tool became a harmony.
"Cyrus," Eve mumbled. Her face is as straight as a new metal rod.
"Hm?"
"You're really coming with me, right? Like, you could've gone for something else?"
"Like who?" Cyrus pauses.
"W-well, maybe I do have a friend around here, butâI couldn't just let you alone out there. Maybe you'll have fun than I'll do."
"Maybe you would've been relieved not being around that Carven guy. Don't you?"
"I guess so."
"But what are you gonna say about tomorrow? Won't you be afraid they wouldn't find out?"
"They will."
"What does that mean?"
"They will." Eve stared at the sun once again with a serious stare. Her fist clenched with certainty.
"But this must be done." She thought in her head.