6
Erland chuckled softly, he also showed a faint smile that Shanaya admitted was quite cute for a country boy like him.
"By the way what are you doing here? No, is this not your family's garden?" Erland asked looking around and also the land beside which indeed belonged to the Shanaya family.
"Hm. Yes. I was just strolling in Grandpa's cornfield, but ended up here, then –." Shanaya looked at the scarecrow that was still in its position.
"I'm curious about him," Shanaya pointed at the inanimate object near them. Erland also noticed what Shanaya meant. There was no longer a smile on his lips, his face even looked more serious than before.
"You'd better not come here."
"So why? No, isn't it, the house is empty? I don't think there are any occupants because the fields are not maintained like this," Shanaya explained, pointing around them.
"Yes, indeed you are right. But it would be nice if you didn't just enter other people's territory. It's dangerous. Because they're used to be people looking for grass in this place, they got bitten by a snake. You shouldn't go any closer to this house."
Erland's explanation did not make sense to Shanaya, but she still tried to understand and understand Erland's advice. Shanaya just nodded with a sour face. As far as he could see, there wasn't much grass around, in fact, his neighbor's house and fields were much more barren than other places.
"Looks like you like living here," said Erland trying to change the subject. Shanaya turned to the house she had lived in since last night.
"Yeah, I did plan to stay here for a while. Besides, if I didn't stay here, Grandpa's house would be ruined like this house, right?" Shanaya asked, pointing to an empty house near them.
"Well, that's true. You made the right decision. I'm sure not only your grandfather but also your father, Mr. Bagas, would be happy if his daughter lived here." Shanaya was surprised when Erland's father's name was called.
"You know my father?"
"Of course, I know him. All the villagers here know each other, don't you realize? If there are not many houses here, only the residents' plantation land makes our village look spacious. After all, your father and my father have been friends since childhood."
"Is that true?"
"Yeah. When you're not busy, I'll introduce you to my dad. We also have lots of photos of your dad when he was young."
"Well, fine." The two people finally got into small talk about village life, and educational background, until finally, Shanaya became interested in Erland's offer, to help him manage his cornfield so that it returned to fertility. "Then tomorrow I'll help tidy up your garden."
"Thank you, Erland."
________
A cup of black coffee looks still steaming hot. Shanaya went back up to her room with a tray of coffee and some snacks she had just made. Pancakes are usually made for breakfast, she made a snack to fill his spare time tonight. Arriving at the room, Shanaya immediately sat on the small sofa that she had deliberately taken from downstairs to place near the window. The girl wanted to enjoy the atmosphere outside in this position. He also put a small table near the window. Shanaya eats coffee and pancakes right away. She opened the laptop.
Deliberately turning off her cellphone after coming to this place, made him a little curious about the outside world. Shanaya opened her social media and observed some of the activities of her friends and Shaka, her lover. Signals that are difficult to get make him have to be patient waiting for updates in his application. Slowly dozens of messages one by one entered social media, and many people feel that they have missed Shanaya since she suddenly left yesterday. Even Shaka keeps sending messages that sound like he's worried about being Shanaya's lover. Although it often looks like a threat if Shanaya does not immediately appear before Shaka. Shanaya closed her laptop and refused to be too involved in the virtual world which had become her daily diet. He wanted to disappear and no one knew about his whereabouts. His gaze now turned to the outside of the window. Darkness dominates. He only saw the silence and movement of the tree branches outside. The house next to him is now clearly visible, especially the scarecrow that has occupied his attention since yesterday.
Shanaya gasped when she saw the position of the object return to its original place. Strange. Who moved it. Is it Erland? He mumbled the question in his head. But she was dismissed back by the fact that Erland and her left the place together, and Shanaya also saw Erland leave as soon as she got home. Ah, maybe another citizen. But his leisure time was interrupted again when a group of young men entered his yard. From the position of Shanaya's room, the situation in front of the house will be visible. Moreover, the noise sounded loud in the middle of the quiet atmosphere tonight. Shanaya walked over to the window that directly faced the front yard of the house. The room is dominated by the thick glass instead of walls. So he will freely look outside the house from the room. Some of the young men staggered along, carrying bottles, which he assumed were liquor. Shanaya immediately hides and moves away from the window. He then looked for the rifle he got before coming to this village. He got the 22 caliber revolver from a friend who does sell various types of firearms. Shanaya bought the thing to protect herself from Shaka. But it turned out that Shaka wasn't the only threat to him now. Shanaya then went downstairs, and immediately headed for the front door full of emotion. Not only angry, but he was also actually afraid that they would do something reckless. Because he was alone in the big house, and no neighbors were close to his house.
"Hey! What do you want?!" Shanaya screamed standing tall on the terrace. The people stopped laughing and now turned to the city girl they wanted to work with tonight.
"Hi. We're just stopping by for a while. Who knows, you're lonely living in this house alone," said one of them.
Shanaya began to recognize some of the people in front of her. Well, they were the youths he met on the bridge the other day.
"You'd better get out of here!" Shanaya's orders are firm. They even laughed at the girl and looked down on her. Some began to walk closer, the rifle he had hidden behind his body now pointed up.
"Go right now, or –." They stopped when they saw what Shanaya was holding. Slowly they retreated in an orderly fashion and looked frightened. His face was pale and the laughter they had been showing earlier faded. "All right. We go. Good night, Miss."