pancason
40. old well story

"Oh, so you guys, huh? A lost college kid has been missing for days here?"

"So you also know about the news?" ask Diah curious.

"Yes, obviously, Mba. Because of all the things that are happening here, it will definitely reach our ears soon. The nearest village. You can only be found because of the help of one of our village elders. Oh, yeah, introduce my name, Wiryo."

"Oh, Mr. Wiryo. We're from Jakarta, my name is Leni, this is Rea, Diah, Ita, Apri, Hana, Hani her twin, then Dana, Blendoz."

Wiryo just stared at them one by one while nodding a nod.

"What do you mean, Mr. village elder? That right? We've never even heard of it before. We think the rescue team that found us yesterday" Ita said.

Hearing about the village elder mentioned earlier, indeed made them become interested in knowing the full story.

"Well, that's right. So the day after you were declared missing, one of your friends came to our village and told you that a member of yours was missing in the forest. Though all the places have been traced, but you can not also be found. Finally our village elder intervened, and helped to open the magical portal that had covered the road to where you were."

"Magic mortal?"

"Yes, in this forest there is a magical portal that often makes people like you lost.

There have been many cases of missing persons in this place. Y'all lucky. Because you were saved. There are many others who have not been found until now.

"Well, that's creepy. Why is it like that, sir? That means if we're all trapped in a magical portal, what's the reason?"

The middle-aged man took a deep breath. He looked up, trying to remember something that was not easy to forget. "This incident has been a long time. I remember when I was eight years old. Because I just had a birthday. Our village does have a tradition that has existed since our ancestors."

Everyone sat down, silent, listening to what the man was saying. He then told me about the incident that had happened in his village when he was a child. 

Flashbacks

Tabuk Hulu Village, is one of the villages in the remote area of Kalimantan. A village that is not too broad, but has a beautiful natural scenery. The topography of this place is still dominated by pine forests, and amber. There is also a river flow that became one of the sources of water in the village. Even some residents still often make the river as a place to bathe, and wash clothes. Fortunately with the development of life that has been developed, they no longer make the river as a means of defecation. Because every house already has toilet facilities or private WC. Or if there are residents who do not have their own bathrooms, then they will use the facilities of the fish pond owned by residents who on it are used to defecate. In some corners of the village there are many fish ponds, and indeed one of the sources of their livelihood is fish farming, in addition to farming.

Most houses in this village are still fairly semi-permanent, which is made of wood and bamboo. Rarely found buildings made of intact walls as commonly found in urban areas. But it is not that no house has used wall walls, because there are some families who have permanent homes with floors that have been in ceramics. That's also because their children migrate to the big city, not even rarely to the other country.

The road is not yet on asphalt. Street lights are neatly lined up in every corner of the village, and usually use a light bulb that is bright yellow. Dim, but at least this is better than no illumination at all. Like a few decades ago. Even before there were street lamps, villagers used torches as a light source every night.

At 19:00 the village streets are quiet enough, although there are still citizen activities that make this village feel alive. It's just that most of the population, preferring to stay at home when night falls. They are tired, because of the activities that have been done for a full day. In the fields, rice fields, taking care of livestock as well as fish ponds. Most residents prefer to sell crops and livestock to earn money.

The fertile soil makes this village has a stock of vegetables and abundant fruits. The aroma of firewood used to cook in the furnace, began to smell distinctive. Lasmi had just returned from a lecture that was held every three times in one week. She's an 8-year-old girl. His parents had a vegetable field that made him have to be independent even things that require him to go where - mana alone. Fortunately, Lasmi is a brave child who always goes and goes home alone. At first, he and his friends left and went home alone. But unfortunately Lasmi's house was a little far from the house of another friend of his, and now he was walking alone.

The sounds of crickets and night animals could be heard accompanying his steps. Lasmi was still walking leisurely and cheerfully, while echoing the sholawatan he had just learned in Mushola earlier. His hands extended to ornamental plants that became a fence from the houses of residents around him. There are some flowers that grow on the side of the road and look beautiful at night, especially Vijaya kusuma flowers will indeed grow at night.

Lasmi's footsteps were heard echoing along the road, only he was on the southern path of the village. It made a middle-aged mother who was just about to climb into her bed, peek out of the bedroom window. He closed the window and continued to sleep. Now Lasmi is back alone, the trip to his house is staying soon. But suddenly his steps came to a halt as he saw an unusual apparition at the end of the road in front of him. More precisely in front of an empty house belonging to someone who has long gone.

Lasmi instantly stopped, she glared as she continued to tightly grasp the Iqra book that was in her hands. Now he was thinking about retreating and returning to the mosque earlier, when the figure in front of him started to move forward, but only his body advanced forward 45 degrees, his legs as if glued to the spot. But seeing it made Lasmi panic. He screamed as he yelled calling out a pocong at the figure he saw in front.

Pocong is a kind of ghost in the form of bolting. In Malaysia, this kind of ghost is also known as a wrap ghost. Pocong is also known as the ghost shroud. Pocongs are ghosts that are said to be the spirits of the dead trapped in their shrouds.

According to the myth, the soul of a deceased person will stay on earth for 40 days after death. If the ties of the shroud are not released after 40 days, the body is said to jump out of the grave to warn people that their souls need to be released. Once the bond is released, the soul will completely leave Earth. The figure known by the name of the pocong does have a characteristic that is already known in society in general.

The shape of the pocong has a charred face with fiery red eyes. Another version states, the pocong has a "flat" face and has hollow eye holes or cotton covered with a pale white face. Those who believe in the existence of this ghost think, pocong is a form of "protest" of the dead who forgot to open the bonds of his cafeteria before his grave was closed. Although in the movies pocong is often depicted moving jumping up and down, the myth about pocong instead states that the pocong moves hovering. This is understandable, because in the movies the pocong actor can not move his legs so that his walk must jump up and down. This situation also raises a statement that is commonly used to distinguish the original pocong and fake pocong in the community:

The belief in the existence of pocong ghosts only developed in Indonesia, especially in Java and Sumatra. Although the depiction follows Muslim tradition, other religious people were able to recognize the existence of this ghost.

In various regions in Indonesia itself there are several versions of pocong formed from beliefs in the social life of the community. One of them is the plastic bag[1] which is said to have once shocked the people of Jakarta. The story of this plastic pocong emerged from the story of a pregnant woman who murdered her boyfriend. While being autopsied at the hospital, the woman's body continued to bleed, so the hospital decided to wrap it in plastic. Residents believe that the appearance of this pocong because the spirit of the woman wanted to open plastic ties on her body.

Another story in the area of Sidoarjo, East Java. There is a version of the depiction of a pocong with a delman ride. Sidoarjo residents refer to it as "andong pocong". The story that is touted by the ghost story pocong andong had shocked residents of the Sidoarjo area in 2007 - 2008. This ghost has haunted Sidoarjo residents almost every night with the distinctive sound of clinking delman and the sound of knocking on the door at night. According to local residents, the origin of this pocong ghost is due to the death of two newlyweds who were not approved and had an accident while riding a delman. There are also those who believe that this ghost is an embodiment of occult science. Then what and who did Lasmi meet?

Lasmi screamed hysterically, she fell down and sat on the ground just like that. Still faithfully grasping the book Iqra in the hope of warding the creature away and away from before him.

The creature moves very fast, with zig zags and indeterminate directions. So that Lasmi can not predict which direction the creature is next. He was shocked when the pocong figure was already standing right before him. The shroud-clad body looked extremely tall from this close distance. Lasmi gawked with a trembling body. From such a close distance, the innocent little boy could see the horrible face he had only seen on TV all along. The black face that was in front of him, making both of Lasmi's eyeballs glare, he was shocked mixed with fear. Moreover, the skin on his face is not only jet black, because it turns out wrinkles like burn scars that have not been completely dry. Both eyeballs figure in front of him, hollow. There are no eyeballs in it. It just gives an empty and dark sensation. Because of the darkness, Lasmi could not even see the contents of the creature's head that should be seen from the outside.

The creature kept his face close. It gives off a stinging stench. Lasmi even coughed because it held the stench from her face. Slowly the figure whose face was now only a few centimeters away, began to grin. Making a terrible expression for Lasmi, until her cries began to break just like that. Lasmi's voice was muffled by the circumstances. The surrounding environment is indeed quiet, making the girl can not do anything. Surprisingly again his voice seemed choked. He tried to scream with all his might, but no sound came out of his mouth.

Until finally Lasmi who was not strong resisted the fear of falling unconscious unconscious on the ground which fortunately was not wet or muddled. Satisfied to see his victim helpless, the figure straightened his body. Willing to find the next target that he wants terror as well. At least he should choose an older target, not a child like Lasmi. Because only a child appears, he starts the action by playing with the child.

Tukin, a 25-year-old young man, was aghast when he saw a pocong near his yard. He who had just returned home from the sagging event in the next village, also gasped in shock. He screamed, shouting the name of the figure. "Pockmark!"

The figure that was the center of attention of Tukin, then turned his head, and again showed a scary expression like he had done to Lasmi. This time, the target was much stronger than the girl who was already lying on the ground near the fence of Tukin's courtyard.

Tukin screamed again, and shouted the same thing. One word was full of meaning, and made some houses around him start to be noisy. The lights, which were initially turned off, started to turn on. Although the flame is dim, but able to make the conditions in each room a little bright. Some windows open, the homeowner looks out, and wants to be sure what really happened before deciding to leave the house. Those who are still semi-conscious because they have just fallen asleep, then rubbed their eyes want to ensure that vision starts to return completely.

Mr. Karso followed the direction of Tukin's hand, then suddenly he closed the living room window, and beristigfar continuously. The light he put out, and made the house dark again like a moment ago.

Tukin who panicked because he felt abandoned, then returned screaming with a different word. "Please! There's pocong! Help me!" Tukin continued to scream while looking around.

This caused another uproar, and the neighbors who were around finally emerged from their respective homes. They were shocked and panicked. Funny thing as a subtle creature, the pocong that appears this time actually looks like it wants to exist in front of the villagers. When caught by many people, he still stood in his place like he wanted to be witnessed longer by them.

The citizens began to stir, they were busy discussing and asking questions, about the creature. Until finally they started taking coarse salt from the kitchen. Some people say if the kitchen material that one is indeed believed to be able to repel the delicate creatures that are around us.

Rough salt is one of the ingredients that ghosts do not like. Some people say that subtle creatures will not be able to catch up if people sprinkle rough salt.

Coarse salt is different from kitchen salt because it is large-threaded and resembles a crystal. This salt is sold in traditional markets.

In addition to sprinkled, coarse salt can also be burned to repel ghosts. Burning salt explosion, reportedly will make the ghost's eyes become sore. Not yet gone from before them, now the citizens try other ways.

But suddenly the figure floated into the air, and darted quickly to make residents aghast and gaping. They were still noisy and discussed how afraid they felt to see the sighting of the pocong that had just happened the first time the village. Until finally Tukin saw Lasmi who was still lying just like that, did not get the attention of other residents.

"Hey, it's a kid! Help me!" said Tukin then ran towards Lasmi and raised the tiny body.

People flocked to come, and see whose children had been bullied by the creature earlier. Because they feel their child is at home and sleeping.

"Let's! This is Nardi's son!" peeking one of the residents.

"Tuti's Garden? Oh, what a pity this boy!"

"Quick! Take this kid home!"

Tukin carried the weak body of Lasmi and ran small to get to the house of Nardi.

Some residents took Lasmi home, some others remained there, and discussed the figure that troubled them earlier.

"Cock his face is not foreign, huh? Did you guys see that?" asked Wirya, to her colleagues who were still in a group near the figure standing. That place did leave a charred trail at the bottom.

"Yes. Like who, huh?"

"Wait on! Not that it looks the same ... Same ...." Rasno glanced at a house located at the end. The empty house has been unoccupied for 20 years and only leaves debris burned. In front of the yard of the house was also installed bamboo bars that make it difficult for people to enter the yard of the house.

They turned their heads, and immediately their eyes glared. As if agreeing with the word Rasno earlier.

"Yes too, yeah! Why does his face look like Karta? Sukarta?!"

Sukarta. Men known as shamans, as well as criminals who often make the village fret, paraded by residents for his crimes. He was in the pasung, for 2 weeks, then tied to a high wooden stake so that his body would not step on the ground, and burned alive so that he could not live again. He has a pretty good science. Rawaronts. Karta re-awakens and terrorizes the citizens for revenge.

"So that's the story. Our village was terrorized by a pocong of a shaman named Sukarta. After a few months, someone came. We can call him kyai or ustaz. This Kyai comes from a place far enough away, who arrived to come to our village because of the call of the heart if I think."

"I mean the father of the call of the heart, what, huh?" ask Diah confused.

"I mean, he seems to know, if there is terror in our village. Kyai's name is Noor. We used to call him Kyai Noor. He looks like an ordinary person. Not wearing the typical Kyai clothes we see today. Even if for example the person who does not know who he is, would not expect to lose he is Kyai."

Wiryo took a deep breath. He took a kretek cigarette out of the pocket of his shabby shirt. Then ignite the cigarette until a thick smoke appears that billows.

"Kyai Noor lived in our village and finally the terror of the Karta pocong ended. Kyai Noor captured Karta and took her to this forest. Maybe you've seen the old well in the middle of the forest, and that's where Karta is buried."

"So the well ... The place in his burial Karta, the pocong that terrorized the village? But, sir, why put it in a well?" ask Dana curiously.

"So according to the story of Kyai Noor, the well is a place that is able to imprison even subtle creatures of demonic class. So Karta will never come out again. It's just ... There's something strange," Wiryo said.

"What's so weird, sir?"

"Our village ... There's another terror of the pocong."

"Well! Oh, I can, sir! He said that if he goes into the well, he can't get out! Even the devil class?" ask Hana surprised. His other friends were equally surprised.

"Said Kyai Noor first, if until the devil in the prison at the well can come out, then all the subtle creatures that are there will also go."

"Thus ... There's a demon in that old well?"

"Well, if I don't remember wrongly, his name is Amon."