2006-07-20 - 7:52 p.m.
I'm back again, but I'm not exactly sure where to start.:| I have stories to tell, but I don't know which shall come out first.
........................
*deep sigh* Oh, well. Just be spontaneous, as always.*shrugs*
I still haven't finished my latest short fiction work.:( I've typed some and saved it in the old PC in Panglima Polim. But I haven't translated it in English yet, knowing it's still so much easier for me to write in my own language. I need to send it fast before the end of this month, because the deadline is...August 1.
Pretty close, huh?:| Yup, it's pretty damn close. But I still have to make it. I know how disappointing it feels to have missed a potential writing contest while I've been trying to work on something for it.
And besides, the prize is very tempting.:P A few bucks is worth saving for these days.
Dad's been having chicken pox for a week, believe it or not.:P He still looks miserable with his red spots. He even acts miserable, as if it's the worst thing that ever happens to him. I mean, come on --- it's just chicken pox. And he shouldn't be a little annoyed with Mom caring for him less, because Grandpa's still in hospital with much worse condition.
What if I get chicken pox too?:P*shrugs* Oh, well. I'll just have a week off to myself and looking ugly like a gigantic strawberry...lol...
I guess I haven't told you about the cat that's been roaming around Panglima Polim and practically living in Grandpa's house / the restaurant.:P She's a small tabby, but no longer a kitten. She's a gray, young cat with patches of white fur. A cute, stray cat I always love to feed and just play with.:) She's my boredom killer at work, although not many in my own family really likes her.:|
The cat's been around for weeks, and I feel rather sad to ever really let her go.:( She often plays with a bigger, black tomcat (that sticks around quite often too). It's the tomcat that's been causing more trouble. A few days ago, a couple of costumers were eating at the restaurant's front porch, and the tomcat was jumping at an empty chair and almost reaching their table.*blushes*
I guess you could tell the rest. Everybody was mad at me --- the cat-lover --- for letting the cats feel more and more at home in Grandpa's house. (You know how cats can get very territorial, right?)
So, the choice's been made.:( Kitty has to go.
I've been planning to take her home with me in Tanah Kusir. Mom suggested dumping her in the deserted, graveyard area, but I just don't have the heart.:( Mom finally gave up and let me do what was need to be done with that darn cat. Not what I want, though.
So, Mr.Slamet the watchman and I decided to try that a couple of nights ago. He'd prepared a suitable sack to put the young cat in while I was still working and the cat was still asleep. Unfortunately, after I'd closed the restaurant, she was awake and playing with the black tomcat. I'd slowly approached her as usual, calling to her, "Here, kitty..."
And then, the unexpected happened.
The cat fled past me! Both cats, actually.
"Hey!" I chased after her, followed by Mr.Slamet and my brother. But she was damn smarter and obviously much smaller, because then she slipped in through between the bars of our next-door neighbour's gates. It's an auto showroom and the gate is always locked up at night. The other watchmen in there were laughing at our dismay as we'd finally realised we couldn't catch that tabby.:P We gave up and I went home.*sighs*
The next day after that, I couldn't do that again because I'd had to watch over Grandpa in his hospital room with Menti. Last Sunday, Grandpa had been left alone for just a while in the early morning when he'd suddenly lost consciousness.:( The doctors had had to resusitate him, but thank God he survived. It was so scary.
But another scary thing happened too yesterday.:| If you read international news about my country, I'm sure you're well-aware of the natural disasters that keep happening here. After the flood in the island of Celebes, another earthquake and --- get this! --- tsunami waves hit the southern area of Java Island.:( The South Beach in Pelabuhan Ratu (where the magical mythology of the sea goddess Nyai Roro Kidul --- or Queen Kidul for short --- comes from), Pangandaran Beach, Bantul (again!) and some of the areas in West Java felt the earthquake too. Even in Bandung, West Java (one of my favourite places to visit here besides Jogjakarta).
While Menti and I were still in Grandpa's hospital room with my other Aunt Nina and her eldest, teenage daughter Gadis, and Grandpa's three old lady friends --- suddenly the floor shook violently. We were on the fourth floor and we'd almost panicked. How to evacuate the sleeping Grandpa?! Luckily, after we'd held hands and said our prayers, the earthquake gradually stopped. It was sometime around 5:42 pm, I suppose.
After that, Menti and I started calling everybody as we'd gotten out of the room. I saw some of the other patients bolting out of their rooms, carrying their own IV bags or pushing their IV poles and looking scared. No surprise.
Then I decided to check on Meidy in another section of the floor. Meidy's my sister's best friend since high school and now our older nephew (I know it's rather unusual to you:P) Miko's wife. Since her tumor was taken out of her brain back in college years, she's no longer completely well.:( She gets fever regularly, and she can't even carry her own one-year-old son Ardi. Her vision's slightly (and permanently) blurry.
In Meidy's hospital room, Meidy was still lying weakly in bed with her husband standing beside her bed. I sat down on a mattress with Miko's younger brother Seto. They'd felt the earthquake too. Then we watched the TV news and received more information. It was about 6.2 Richter scale and North Jakarta had been the closest from the earthquake's main source.*gulps*
I finally went home at eleven last night with Mom, while my brother and our cousin Rizki were taking their turns to watch over Grandpa. It was such an exhausting day, I fell asleep instantly by the time I got to my room. Zzz...*yawns hugely*
And I'm still so tired today, but I have work to do.:( And a headache too. I can barely think of anything else but writing this entry.
I hope I'm not really coming down with chicken pox too...:P
The Tired Author
