GIRL IN RED
CHAPTERS 1. RECKLESS SUICIDE
Rain subsides.
Wet ground, silent forest side. Patty spoke a worried tone. Deep memories incarnate legends. The wind remembers someone. Late twilight passed, night devoured a piece of heart, hunting for the love of longing.
Red Girl ....
The injured child ....
The reddish hue of your dress first ....
La ... la .. la ....
.....
Lantunan.
The retinue of horses escort Princess nobility, broke through the dimly-lit atmosphere of the evening. Apparently, the Company was overnight on a long trip, returning home from an important event outside the area attended by their superior's daughter.
The horse's roar stopped under the orders of a leader of the group's guard.
"What's up, sir?"
Someone was controlling the wheel of the stretcher carriage, asking the leader of the front horseman's guard.
"Am I the only one to hear that song?" asked the leader of the horsemen, raising one hand, a command omen for the entire group to pause.
Tormented dead swallowed by solitude ....
Sickness of your body ....
To your beautiful bones ....
La ... la .. la ....
Vaguely. The mood of the evening was getting darker. The full moon began to rise from behind the cloud of overcast sky. Everyone in the group listened carefully to the song.
Ra ....
That's your name ....
The old you ....
Once ....
La ... la .. la ....
The clearer the voice of a woman chanting. The melodious groan of his voice, it seemed like a woman was crossing the path from the opposite direction of the entourage.
A young woman. Riding relax. Horses darting. The young woman was wearing a red kebaya.
"Ajeng Ayu." *
The leader of the frontmost guard of the group greeted the young woman passing by.
The young woman bowed for a moment, and her horse stopped.
"Ajeng Ayu is alone on the way, please be careful. This area is near the wilderness," the chief of the guards empathized to remind.
The young woman smiled and answered.
"I'm used to walking around here. Please gentlemen continue the journey, "Young woman in a soft voice, wowing anyone who looks at her even if she passes by at a glance.
Look into the eyes of all the guards behind the leader, fixed on the young female beauty with her horse continuing on its way.
"It's so pretty that girl."
"Who is he?"
Almost everyone said that, including the leader of the group.
The singing continued from the young woman.
A time when this country ....
Much younger with you ....
La ... la .. la ....
The beautiful young woman passed. All pairs of men's eyes lulled. His person had already passed, but the eyes of the men still followed his back moving.
"Ajeng Ayu ...!" call the leader of the group's guard.
The young woman stopped her horse.
Look at who called him.
"What's up, Mister?" asked the young woman and looked at her smile.
"If you don't mind, come with our group. We'll get you to your destination" the guard leader offered his services. All his subordinates smiled faintly.
"Sir, we're in the opposite direction" the young woman replied.
"I'll take you. A subordinate of mine will take my place to continue the journey of this group," said the head of the bodyguard.
"Good steps sir to me" the smiling young woman captivated anyone. Other than the leader of the bodyguards, one could only look at that smile. Hope to get each other's partner as beautiful as her.
The leader of the bodyguards without stalling, immediately approached the young woman with his horse.
"Setto, replace me to lead the troupe!" his orders were to a man under him named Setto. His subordinate did not dare reason to refuse. Only answer available even though he was confused about his boss.
The group passed on their journey. While the leader of the group's guard, now with young women riding. Their horses walked side by side.
"What's your name, Ajeng Ayu?" ask the guard leader.
"My name, Suri Ratih," the young woman replied with a smile again.
"Whose Kanda's name?" ask the woman in a soft voice. It fascinated the man.
The man blushed a little before replying.
"My name is Raka Galih" replied the bodyguard's leader.
The two continued their riding journey leisurely.
"You Galih, may I call you that?" the woman named Suri Ratih asked permission first. The man who claimed to be Raka Galih was happy to receive the call for her.
"You're the palace guard?" ask Suri.
"I'm a soldier of Adhiwangsa" replied Raka Galih. Suri nodded lightly.
"Aren't you afraid to cross here?" ask Suri.
"We were overnight, not normally," replied Raka Galih. The initial conversation was both just a form of pleasantries.
"Beware Kanda. This area, famous haunted!" rather firmly, Suri said it.
"Are you not afraid yourself?" ask Raka Galih. Seeing the young lady look relaxed.
"I'm used to being around here" Suri replied.
"Where's your house, Suri?" ask Raka Galih.
Suri pointed in one direction. His index finger with a red pointed nail pointed towards the pitch-black forest of nowhere.
"there? Do people live in the forest?" Raka Galih astonished himself.
"There was. I'm the proof myself" Suri replied.
"The song you sang earlier, sounds like a sad story," said Raka Galih.
"One of the ancients made the song for our people. He's always remembered."**
"Who? Your lover?" raka Galih asked if Suri had a lover or not.
"Not."
"He, someone who does not want to be our master," Suri replied, smiling and starting to sing again.
"Dinda Suri, is she married?" not wanting to make any further pleasantries, Raka Galih asked enthusiastically. Suri's beauty really holds Raka Galih's heart hostage.
Suri shook her head and bowed. Raka Galih was pleased with the answer.
"I'll take you to your family's house."
Raka Galih suddenly had a certain intent. She's single. Interested in the girl. And wanted to propose to her tonight.
The night is getting late.
Suri drove the horse and entered the forest path. Raka Galih followed him.
"Why does your family live in the woods? Could there be a hinterland dwelling there?" ask Raka Galih.
Suri answered a little.
"Kanda Raka, once you meet my family, then you cannot go back out of this forest" Suri said.
"You mean?" Raka Galih was astonished.
"Just reflect on your intentions. It's not too late if you want to get back out of here," said Suri mumpung not far into the forest.
"You're a good man, I can't hurt you" Suri continued. Horse stopped. The forest path was very dark.
The torch in Raka's hand was getting smaller. Suri stared at the torch.
.......
A week passed later.
The house of the Adhiwangsa nobility, is gathering many messengers. They talked about the important matters of inter-sect governance and the affairs of local citizens. At the end of the meeting, the topic turned to one of the men who did not return after being sent to deliver the noble daughter.
"Is it really our lost soldier, Raka Galih?" an Adhiwangsa leader asked the council members. While others look at the problems that are happening.
"Right, Your Majesty," some of the council members confirmed.
"We've been looking for him since a week ago" a council chairman spoke.
"It's 19 years old. Not long ago he was appointed as the leader of the palace guard unit," he added, complementing the identity of someone who is being discussed.
"Witnesses said that, before he went missing, he was delivering a young woman in red, who happened to be crossing the forest's edge path" another person added.
Then Paduka Adhiwangsa who led the meeting, immediately announced an important warning of this strange incident.
"Don't cross near the forest alone. Do not travel far until night. Be careful when meeting foreign women who look beautiful with the appearance of a red dress."
His Majesty dissolves in his thoughts on the previous stories that are often told by his ancestors. So he sure knows the story hundreds of years ago from his great-grandfather. That's long gone.
'Could the legend of the red girl appear again after hundreds of years of disappearing?'
Both of his eyes were closed, his lips pronouncing famous names in the past.
"Red Girl."
The story of Raka Galih is swallowed by the mysterious rumors of the Red Girl. For generations to the next. Young men of Raka's age, lost in the Red Girl Legend.
_____
Note:
*Ajeng Ayu: respectful calls are common to unidentified single girls.
**Someone in the past named Taja, who created the song verse Red Girl. They, the remaining Red Girls, appeared again to find their respective spouses and were made husbands. True love to depart from the mortal world.
...* * *...