The Devil's Legs Upside
Offshore Bridge

There is nothing more terrifying than the darkness of the night in the middle of the ocean. The wind was so cold, piercing to the bones. The moonlight that was not bright enough made it seem as if there was nothing as far as our eyes could see, only the ocean and the boundless dark sky. It is as if we were alone on this earth, without any land to tread. Although there were pieces of iron arranged to form a Bridge Platform, supporting their feet. But still, nothing can stem the overwhelming fear, in the offshore rigged of petroleum drilling (Oil Platform) that night.

Several bridge workers were seen running in the corridor, puzzling an old worker who passed by. Though there was no Emergency alarm anything that went off, but the workers were –about three people - looked so scared. Far behind them, a female worker who looks limped running, left behind from the group of workers earlier. The old worker approached him.

“What Happened?” (What's Happening?)

The woman just silently nodded. His gaze continued to face down, ignoring the old man. The father then pulled his hand.

“Tell me what’s going on! Can’t you speak English?” (What's going on? You don't speak English, do you?

The woman then turned her head, with a face filled with bruises here and there. His eyes stared intently without saying a word. The old man was startled, he immediately let go of his grasp. Without realizing it, the woman's hand was also covered with bruises.

“Hey! Are you sick?” (Hey! You Sick?)

The woman nodded slowly. Then he stretched out his fingers, pointing at his own feet. The old man then looked at the woman's feet.

“HAAAAA!!!!”

Both of his legs twisted backwards. The soles of the feet that should be in front of it, turn back, following the fingers. The heel is on the front side, as well as the eye of the foot whose bones protrude. The soles of the feet are upside down ….

The woman sniggered creepily. His giggling boomed, echoing throughout the corridor, unpretentious to the voice of the old man's cry. Then, the two screaming sounds stopped, replaced by the sound of ‘krek’ broken bones. The corridor was silent again.

There is nothing more terrifying than the darkness of the night in the middle of the ocean. The cold sea breeze, froze the courage of the workers who were running. Naturally they were scared to death, when they heard the sound of a terrible shrill laughter from the direction of the corridor. Especially when they tried to find the source of the sound, they found nothing.

Those who actually intend to report to the head of the mine that there is a sick female worker finally undo his intentions. The female worker disappeared suddenly, somewhere. The next morning, they realize that not only is the female worker missing, an old worker is also unknown.

Although they live on a bridge whose walls are made of strong steel, and are protected by a variety of sophisticated marine safety equipment. But, this time, they would never be able to fortify themselves.

..........................................

‘You should always appreciate the sea, because you will never know what it holds down there’

Those words crossed my mind as our ship left the port of Dwarka City. The words spoken by my late grandfather were so memorable, because he always told me about his stories when he was a navy soldier. He always told me how fierce the high seas were. But this morning, it seems like the sea is being kind to me. I smiled and was moved in my heart, Oh, if grandfather were to see me now, he would be very proud.

My name is Dimas, I'm a Mining Engineer. I was so lucky to be working for the International Oil Drilling Company, at the age of 27. Together with other Engineers from various countries, we are assigned to work in Offshore drilling sites, in the middle of the Arabian Sea, the territory of the Republic of India. For whatever reason, such a large company did a considerable recruitment of Engineers at one time like this.

This luxury Ferry I was riding so gently, I didn't even feel the typical jolts I used to feel when I got on the boat. Maybe the overseas Ferry boats are much nicer than the ones in Indonesia, I was really lucky. Along the way I kept staring at the blue ocean, while occasionally staring at the sky. Thousands of miles I was separated from my family, from my friends, from all my life. A sense of sadness and longing suddenly stuck out, touching this heart. But I remember, here I was going to start a new life, starting a career that I always dreamed of when I was in college. And for all that, I have to fight all these longings, for the next year. Just a year, I muttered with a big smile.

The instant my daydream broke, a Chinese man suddenly patted me on the shoulder. I looked at him with a bit of surprise. But just as I was about to reply to his words, he was already hurriedly sitting on the empty seat next to me. He kept his mouth shut and occasionally his neck moved like it was about to break something. This Chinese man seems seasick.

“Hey .. are you okay?” (Hey ... are you okay?) I said a little worried.

This man just waved his palm at me, hinting that he was fine. I nodded and went back to my daydream.

Yeah, I got too carried away. I didn't even try to socialize with the other Engineers on my first day. Even I immediately took the sidelines seat, so that I could look at the sea. I don't know what I'm thinking, maybe I'm Homesick.

There were about 20 engineers brought here, including me. Even so, I could hear their boisterous conversation as if their numbers were more than that. From as far as I can see, there are a lot of European-faced Engineers. Only one Asian I met, this drunk Chinese guy next to me. And of course, there are no Indonesians other than me. What surprised me more was that there were no Indians at all. In fact, *s*ite drilling is located in the state of India. Perhaps this is what is referred to as the colonization of resources by foreigners, and India is experiencing that.

A few hours passed, our ship still continued to split the endless high seas. I don't know how far my site is. I was still late in my daydreams, my mind was wandering around, thinking about things. Of course this was my first experience working abroad, and this was the first time I would sleep on the sea for a full year. Not to mention I still can not imagine what work we will do there, considering this site has not even been established for a year. Drilling at the site may have just been done, This will be very difficult.

The morning sunlight immediately shone strong. The light reflects off the sea water, so the blue color looks beautiful. It seems like the sun is getting stronger in the sky, the day is getting longer. I slightly squinted my eyes, bent my neck down and lowered my gaze. My eyes ached a little because of the heat of the sun, even the safety goggles that they specifically bought for me, were unable to stem the glare. But moments later I re-enforced my view, for my purpose was already in sight, an Offshore Bridge.

Offshore Bridge or Oil Platform - as you can imagine - is a building, built over the sea specifically to help the oil drilling process. In Indonesia there are many Offshore Bridge, some of which I have visited. But I'm pretty sure, there's nothing as grand as this bridge. The more our Ferry approached, the larger the building was visible.

We finally docked on one of the Platforms (the building floating on the water). There some workers were seen welcoming our ship. They look busy preparing dock equipment such as ropes, iron chains, and stairs. The whole engineer looks so enthusiastic. They were all standing at the exit of the ship in a gasp, except for me and this drunk Chinese man. For some reason my heart suddenly thumped and a sense of unease suddenly approached me, as I saw the iron skeletons supporting the Platform deck piercing through the deep ocean. Am I ready? I asked in my heart.

Finally our ship docked, all the passengers took turns to get off. I started to move and pack my things. The Chinese man also followed me, although his movements were a little slow.

“Are you okay?” (Are you okay?) I said a little whisper.

He just thumbs up and walks ahead of me. I was a little worried so I caught up with him. Every now and then this Chinese man stopped and became nauseous, and every time I asked him about his condition. Although I don't know him –akupun just saw him today - but as a fellow Asian, I have to maintain tolerance. Moreover, tolerance is a characteristic of Indonesians. We both got off the boat.

The five people who helped our Ferry docked were some of the first Indians I met. They greeted us both with friendly smiles.

“Excuse me .. my friend is having a motion sickness, I wonder if there is an Infirmary?” (Excuse me... My friend has seasickness, is there a clinic here?) I said to one of them with a soup.

The five Indians just looked at each other. Ah, it seems they don't speak English. Seeing me show concern, the Chinese man then patted me on the shoulder and, for the rest of the time, gave me a thumbs up. This time I could see sweat on his face. I was getting worried, but from his body language he seemed to want me not to worry about him.

From the small pier, there is a long iron Ram (sloping staircase without stairs) that leads to the entrance of this Platform. At the entrance, there was an old European man shouting at us.

“Hey Kid! Come on!” (Hey Little Boy! Hurry on!) he shouted while waving his hands. The old man seemed to be telling us to hurry.

We both set foot on Ram. The sea wind blew so hard. I looked towards the vast sea, where the wind was blowing. My new life begins ….

…………………………………………………………………………………