1 Susan

"Susan, what are you looking at?"

The middle-aged woman walked up to a little girl who was staring out the window in the middle of the night.

"Susan?" she asked.

"Sister, a woman is flying in front of the window!"

The middle-aged woman named Marmara looked at the window Susan was pointing at. She frowned. No one was standing in front of the window at the moment,

"Susan!"

"Go to your room and don't do anything strange!" she ordered. Susan nodded her head in understanding. She walked to her room which was at the end of the hall. Susan looked at Sister Marmara who was watching her from a distance.

"You will be adopted if you are not weird!"

"Don't be like that again!"

"People are scared to see you!" she explained. Susan then went into her room.

Marmara, a nurse in charge of the Asri orphanage on the outskirts of Jakarta. She walked back to her room. Every night, she monitored Susan. Often the little girl would sit alone in the hallway and look strange.

Her friends said she was always seeing the supernatural. Back then, Sister Marmara didn't believe it. But as the days went by, she understood that Susan was no ordinary child. She had an inner eye that could see ghosts.

"How is Susan, Marmara? Is she weird again?"

Sister Anden looked at Marmara and waited for the middle-aged woman's answer. Sister Marmara nodded her head.

"Yes, she's seeing ghosts again. How did Susan get like this?"

"Has she been in this orphanage since she was a child?" asked Marmara in surprise. Sister Anden nodded her head.

"Yes, the head of the orphanage found her on the doorstep. It was a pity, that's why Susan was not adopted until now," she explained. Sister Marmara let out a long sigh. "Okay," she murmured.

Sister Marmara had only been working at the Asri orphanage for two months. There was nothing unusual about the orphan. However, Susan told her every night that she had many playmates in the hallway.

Sister Marmara used to get very scared when Susan told her that. But as time went on, she got used to it.

***

Sunday morning, Sister Marmara looked at Susan who was alone in a corner of the kitchen. Unlike the previous days, Susan would usually be eager to grab a snack and eat it. But now, she was a quiet woman.

Sister Marmara approached her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Sister, there's a woman with long hair at the other end," she murmured. Susan pointed towards the kitchen and Sister Marmara immediately turned around. She gasped in shock at what Susan had said.

"Where?"

"I don't see her!" she muttered later. There were only two of them in the kitchen at the moment. The rest of the residents had gone out to play in the back garden.

"Behind sister!"

Sister Marmara felt something was wrong. She hurriedly pulled Susan out of the kitchen and joined her friends to play.

"Don't be weird, I don't like what you said earlier!" protested Sister Marmara. Sister Anden walked over to her friend. She looked at Marmara.

"What's wrong?"

"She saw another ghost in the kitchen, she said it had long hair!" explained Marmara a little frightened.

"She always sees ghosts with long hair, yesterday she also said she saw a ghost with only a head."

"Susan should be treated," explained Sister Anden. Marmara nodded her head in agreement.

"so too," she murmured.

Susan seemed fine when she was with her friends. It was different at night. She liked to be alone and it was Sister Marmara's job to make sure she didn't leave the premises.

Susan always laughed to herself and made all the residents of the home sometimes scared to see her. A woman wanted to adopt Susan but immediately canceled. Susan said she could see tuyul (the ghost of a bald little boy), jalangkung (Doll ghosts), and many more.

"Sister!"

"I need to pee!" Susan said. Sister Marmara immediately accompanied her to the bathroom.

"Something is flying behind you, do you want me to chase it away?" he offered. Sister Marmara tried to hold back the fear in her chest.

"No need," she replied immediately.

Susan is 7 years old. She had lived in the Asri orphanage since she was a baby. Her friends at the orphanage already had families of their own. Only Susan did not have any family. The parents didn't want to adopt her because she could see ghosts.

"When you're done, go to your room and sleep," said Sister Marmara. Susan nodded her head in understanding.

In the years since the incident, Sister Marmara felt Susan could no longer be treated. During her time at the orphanage, she had seen many types of ghosts. All of them were inside the orphanage.

***

During the day, a young woman came to visit the Asri orphanage. She had lost her only child and intended to adopt Susan. She took Susan into her house. But since Susan saw a mysterious female figure and told the owner of the house.

The woman took Susan back to the orphanage and canceled her intention to adopt. She was frightened by the strange things Susan said in her house.

Until now, no parents wanted to adopt her so Susan had to be the longest resident at the Asri orphanage.

The headmistress often took Susan on trips to Bandung, Surabaya, and around Indonesia. Everything Susan told me after her trip was a ghost. Susan tells of strange invisible creatures such as strange women who live in each house.

This morning, Susan was assigned to clean the yard. She stood there laughing. It looked like she was talking to someone.

Sister Marmara tried to approach her. There was no one standing next to Susan. No one was talking to her. Susan seemed to be playing with her broom and seemed to be playing. But she had no one to talk to.

"Sister!" Susan said when she saw Sister Marmara walking toward her.

"Why did you come here?"

"I was talking to a friend, she said she was a new resident at the orphanage," she explained. Sister Marmara looked around her and there was no one there.

"Susan, your friends say you lie a lot, right? Is it true that you often scare them?" she asked. Susan shook her head.

"Who said that, Sister?"

"I'm not like that?" Susan replied then. She looked down.

"Then, why do the friends in the room stay away from you?" she asked again. Susan let out a long breath. She looked at Sister Marmara with misty eyeballs. It looked like she was crying.

"Why doesn't anyone want to adopt me, Sister?"

"Am I a bad woman?"

"Why are they scared when they are with me?"

A single tear fell down her beautiful face. Sister Marmara took a deep breath. She was sorry to see Susan crying. She was the only one in the orphanage who hadn't found a family yet.

"I want a family, I even want a father and mother!" she said. Her crying was getting heavier and heavier. Sister Marmara rubbed her head.

"Okay, I'll find a family for you," she whispered. Susan smiled. She looked excited.

"Can I trust you?"

"Is it true that the nurse will find a family for me? I want to be like other children, I want to have a family that can take care of me! I want a mother!" she said with tears in her eyes. Sister Marmara felt compassion for the little girl. She looked at Susan.

"Be patient, all the parents who came are scared of you. They don't want you to see ghosts. They don't want you to be like that," Sister Marmara explained. Susan let out a long breath.

"It's very difficult, Sister. I can see them and even make friends with them. I have many friends here. I can't close my vision from them," Susan explained. She didn't expect that her gift would keep her from getting adoptive parents.

Was everyone afraid of ghosts?

"Well, I'll try to find your adoptive parents. You better act normal!" grumbled Sister Marmara. Susan nodded her head in understanding.

"Alright,"

"Promise not to scare the residents of the orphanage with your behavior. They will stay away from you, they are afraid to be with you. So be as calm as possible!" explained sister Marmara. Susan took a deep breath.

"Okay!"

"So, starting tomorrow, talk to the head nurse. You have to be a good girl. If you stay a good boy, you will get a family. Many people like you, but they're afraid of your skills," continued Sister Marmara.

"Tonight, you play with your friends. Don't make them scared again in the room."

Susan kept nodding her head in understanding.

"Okay, I have to rest first. See you tonight, I have to keep an eye on you," explained Sister Marmara and then left Susan.

Susan walked to her room. There were several new residents. Many of them did not want to play with Susan. They were very afraid that Susan would do something to her.

"Is there a ghost in this room?" she asked. Susan glanced left and right. Making sure that there was no ghost in her room.

Sekar and Ani waited for Susan's answer. They were very curious.

"Nothing," replied Susan, standing in front of the door. The two little girls let out a long breath.

"Okay, tonight I can sleep."

Continued...