Collection of original tales and short stories written in modern literature which is easy to understand for readers. This book is the English version of "DONGENG DARI SI GAGAK".
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A tale of how two different creature fated to each other for a journey. • • There was a little girl with no name who lived in a gloomy and eerie village all by herself. Though she wasn't actually "alone", because sometimes at night it will be a bit crowded and festive. But the little girl would always be in deep sleep at night, didn't notice the lively crowds in the night. One night, it supposed to be a usual night where she usually sounds asleep. But this night was different. She had a dream. An odd dream. She saw a creature she never saw before. A gigantic snake-like creature, skins like crocodile, teeth as sharp as the holy knight's swords, eyes glimmering gold, with a horn like Lord of the Morning Star has. This creature looked deeply at the little girl, and with a deep gruff voice, it talks, " You should wake up." In her sleep, the little girl trembled. She was indeed wanted to wake up. "Why?" Asked the little girl. "Who are you? What are you?" It didn't answer her questions. It just said, "I will wait for you after dawn on the valley of The West Mountain."
The little girl woke up covered in sweats and her face paled as white as her bedsheet. She rushed out of her bed until she heard voices outside her windows. Cheers, laughs, whistles, mutters, and many more. The little girl stood still and tried to calm her drumming-beating heart. Those voices actually weren't delightful. "Is she still sleeping?" "Asleep as usual?" "I want to taste her." "Her little legs look savory." "I wonder how her screaming voice sounds like." "I want to dress her like a tart." "Yummy"
The little girl moved closer and wanted to take a peek through the curtain. To her surprised, the owner of those voices was unspeakable monsters with Carnaval costumes. She quickly closed the curtain and closed her eyes and with noiseless tiny steps, she moved to grabbed her bag and put foods and favorite books inside. The little girl waited quietly and she heard the "cheerful" voices turned into yawns and groans. When there were no more sounds outside, the little girl put her slingback on her shoulder and the tinge of dawn painted on the sky. The little girl ran her feet to the west towards the valley. She stops to catch her panting breath under a tree without a single leaf but lush with fruits. She drooled and wanted to pick one. "No." It was the same voice in her dream. The little girl looked around but she saw nothing. "Where are you? You called me here but you are nowhere to see." The little girl felt a bit upset. "Wait." Said the voice calmly. "Until when?" She pouted. "Until you see the truth."
The little girl had no idea what was the master of that voice meant. She sat under the tree, opened her bag, and fill her empty stomach with foods that she packed and a book on her lap. She didn't realize how much time passed until she fell asleep. The same joyful and brazen voices heard from afar and it woke her up. The little girl straightened her back and startled with the view of the village under the mountain that she used to live before. It wasn't a village. It was an old graveyard as far as the eye could see. The same monsters she saw last night ate corpses in delight. They danced around, stepped on tombstones. Then they turned quite as they stood around the little girl's rotten shelter. Gone all the cheerfulness, replaced by angry roars and screams. The little girl didn't understand the cause of that commotion. She could only stare at how those monsters burn her shelter to the ground. "They've been waiting to devour you since the day your parents abandoned you on their land. But I built a shelter for you to sleep at night and shield your eyes during the day." "Who are they? What are they?" asked the little girl. "They have many names. But they were born as one called The Sin."
There were shrilling voices filled the air as the little girl watch floated phantoms flew up to the sky along with crackling voices of the monsters called The Sin. The little girl turned her head when she felt the presence of something stupendous beside her. She gasped because it was the same creature she saw in her dream. This creature was different from the monsters she saw. It was so majestic and glorious yet gentle and gracious. Something about it made the little girl felt safe and sound.
"I am The Dragon." The little girl bowed her head in respect that caused the dragon to chuckled in rumble. "I am part of you." Then the dragon told the little girl a long history of secret hidden of the world; galaxies, the fallen of false gods and goddesses, masters and slaves, wars, evolutions, bizarre animals, wicked fairies, necromancy, and many more. The dragon also told the little girl his very existence and essential, that he lived somewhere far than the deepest core of the earth and as distant as the milky way. The dragon nudged his nose to the little girl's chest. "I live inside your heart; the widest place that I called my nest." The little girl closed her eyes and the memories of her creations flashed like shooting stars. She smiled as the voices of the monsters gradually faded away. All she could hear just the ancient invocations and another voice that she couldn't describe. It felt as thin as the wind, as heavy as the universe, and as profound as the black hole. An unfamiliar voice which oddly she missed it a lot that it brought her very first tear dropped on her flushed cheek. The little girl opened her eyes and looked back into the dragon's eyes. Her little palm touched the dragon's head as if they shared the same unspoken secrets and promises. Another tinge of dawn tears the night sky and echoes of screams and agonies faded as the ray of light fell on the West Mountain. "It's going to be a long journey, little girl." Said the dragon. "I know." the little girl answered with a nod. "Your feet would get damaged. Your hands would get crooked. Your hair would turn gray. You would get older in every step. You would cry for the unfair hurt in your heart, but you would laugh at every turn. You would get tired and wanted to stop but you would force your pace to keep going. You would need to sleep but you would always wake up to continue the journey." The dragon nudged his nose once again on the little girl's palm. "If you want this journey and want to meet the Possessor of The Voice, I will go with you and always be with you. Even though you don't want this journey, I will stay and always be with you." The little girl glanced up at the morning sky. "We shall begin this journey."
The little girl and the dragon took the first path on the West Mountain side by side. The dark forest hailed upon them with the ray of lights among their branches and leaves. The journey will not be so dark because the light will always find its way to illuminates their journey.
