The Devil's Legs Upside
Generator Compressor Platform
The moon above the sky has now revealed its light, the sign of the night is approaching. The fog that covered the view on the bridge had now begun to fade, but the fear in our hearts had not faded. I still can't digest what we just went through. All I could do right now was sit leaning against the bridge barrier while continuing to hold onto this trembling leg. I am still trying to gather my courage, I am ashamed to be seen by the workers who pass in front of me at this time.
They all gathered on the bridge as Lim shouted for help. He told me that someone drowned. I couldn't help him, because I wasn't sure if the person who jumped was or wasn't. So did Julia and Gagan who could only sit limp next to me.
Lim was seen talking so intently in front of some workers, because they seemed to not believe what he told them. But Lim continued to tell stories in fear. His white face looked increasingly pale with a shower of sweat. One of the workers tried to argue Lim for disbelief, and then several other workers dismissed the doubt. Lim continued to chatter, arguing over all of them. Really, at that time I felt useless for not being able to help him. When everyone could hardly believe Lim's words, suddenly a worker from the Generator-Compressor Platform approached us.
“It’s true! Mr. Xoliza are nowhere to be found!” (That's right! Mr. Xoliza can't be found anywhere!)
Mr. Xoliza was a large-bodied African male described by Lim. The man whose head and legs were turning and then jumped to the sea, in front of the four of us just now. The entire worker then fell silent, as did the four of us. Truly, I wish the words of the workers were true, that we saw wrong, but reality says otherwise.
Moments later, Mr.Teigl came along with some of his staff. He was seen wearing a casual polo shirt, but his face and face were not at all relaxed. As if already knowing what Lim and the workers were fretting about, Mr. Teigl immediately approached them.
“Who is missing now?” (Who's missing this time?)
“Mr.Xoliza .. from Generator-Compressor section, Sir” (Mr. Xoliza ... from the Generator-Compressor section, Sir)
“You sure?” (You sure?) Ask Mr.Teigl.
Lim and the other workers could only remain silent.
“It’s true, I saw him jump from this bridge!” (That's right, I saw him jump off this bridge!) I said with confidence, trying to get up from my backrest.
“No! We saw ... IT!” (No! WE SAW..IT!) added Julia, it seems that she also rose from her backrest as well.
“It?” (THAT?) Mr. Teigl bent his face as if in disbelief
“PRETNI!” Bentak Gagan's.
Gagan flashed those words while glaring at Mr.Teigl, his face looking so angry. Surprisingly Mr.Teigl actually shook in fear, as well as the staff who followed him.
“No ... you gota be kidding me” (No.... you must be kidding) Desis Lim panicked.
“NO, IT IS NOT! PRETNI ARE ONLY MYTH! YOUR STUPID HINDI MYTH!” (NO, IT'S NOT! PRETNI IS A MYTH! STUPID INDIAN MYTH!) Shouted Mr.Teigl.
After shouting hysterically, he hurriedly ran away from all of us. All the staff who followed him were confused, but they then ran along, following his boss. Then the workers who had debated Lim began to discuss themselves. They look scared while fighting each other. A few minutes later, they left the four of us, just as Mr. Teigl and the staff did.
On the bridge there are only four of us. We were just silent, not knowing what to do, fear still shackled our courage. There was a worker who jumped into the sea, but they made no attempt to help. What they do is they argue and run away, what is on their mind? Then, Pretni's words that Gagan spoke many times seemed to frighten them all. Whereas this afternoon, when we were all discussing the disappearance of Mr. Dennis, they were so scornful of Gagan's remarks. But tonight they were terrified, as if believing with earnestness that Pretni ..or whatever the creature was.
From the pages I browse from the Internet, Pretni is the ghost of ancient Indian folklore. Pictured *P*retni is a working-age witch and the Gods of India. It likes to resemble a human face and look for a tumbal. But the information I have does not show that this Pretni is a ghost from the sea, so how did she get here? According to the site, Pretni likes to resemble humans, my hair looks good when reading the writing. Then what we saw just now was really Pretni? Then where is the real Mr.Xoliza?
I remember what happened yesterday afternoon. Gagan shouted Pretni loudly, then Mr.Dennis whom I hit suddenly disappeared somewhere. If that afternoon was exactly what we are experiencing today, would Mr. Dennis be Pretni? He jumped the bridge exactly like Mr. Xoliza tonight, taking advantage of my distorted view as it swept through the shards of the bulb. If it is like that, then everything is clear! Then yesterday afternoon I hit Pretni too? HUH! Then there are two Pretni? My blood quickly rippled to the crown, making my whole body like it was electrocuted
After pecking and daydreaming for a while, the four of us then met each other. I, with a pushy gaze, with a million questions rumbling in my brain, glanced at Gagan.
“Now tell me .. what the hell is Pretni?!”(Now explain to me ... What is Pretni?!)
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(Author : Here, the English in Gagan's dialogue is deliberately made not appropriate grammar and rigid, to describe Gagan's character more clearly)
"Wait, Dima .. it's too soon to belie ..." (Wait, Dima .. too soon for perca ..)
"Then, how can you explain this?!" (Then, how do you explain all this?!) Julia snapped off Lim's speech. "Explain it! How can person's neck twisted like that! How can person's foot spinned that crazy!" (Explain! How can a person's neck spin like that! How can a foot turn upside down like that!)
"Calm down Julia, we are scare too, and confused ..." (Look Julia, we're scared too, and confused ..) I said to calm her down.
I sighed a little while saying that. Really, right now I'm kind of pounced on with fear, what was that thing?!
Amidst our confusion, Gagan pulled my sleeve. With a sad face he pulled my hand and pointed towards the gate of the Generator-Compressor Platform.
"I explain" (I explain) he said stammering. His English is so bad
"Yes! Explain to us!" (Yes! Explain it to us!) My words responded.
Gagan then glanced right and left, as if to make sure it was safe. Then his hand pointed back towards the gate of the Generator-Compressor Platform.
"Safe place ..." (The place is safe) he said
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Gagan took us all inside the Generator-Compressor Platform. For the first time in this bridge, I finally got in here. In the room Generator-Compressor Platform there are a lot of large Generator machines, and cables attached to the ceiling of the building. Different from the Well-head and Production Platform, here the monitor room is at the end of the hall, right next to the gate to the Living Platform bridge. So it's just this little hallway that the Platform Generator-Compressor room is actually, the rest is occupied by neatly lined power generation machines. Quite narrow for Julia's workplace and the team, considering Generator-Compressor Section does have the fewest workers in the Corner. And two of those people have disappeared somewhere, Mr. Dennis and Mr. Xoliza.
Gagan led us into a small path between the generator engines, a path formed from the gap between the deflated machines. Julia looked shocked when Gagan nimbly entered through the machines. Then we were more surprised when at the end of the small road there was a mat with a pillow that stretched near the wall.
"You sleep here?!" (You sleep here?!) Julia asked in surprise
"Yes" answered Gagan softly, he then sat on his mat.
We all then looked for a sitting position, leaning on some generator engines that were still on. Julia warned me and Lim to be careful, because the machine was running high-voltage electricity. Then he shook his head, as if he still did not think that Gagan had been sleeping here.
"Me safe here ..." (I'm safe here) Gagan said innocently.
"Safe your ***! It's dangerous here!" (Aman your bald! It's dangerous!) hiss Julia upset.
"Safe from Pretni ..." (Faith of Pretni ..)
We were all instantly rendered silent for a moment with those words. Lim then ventured to ask
"Are Pretni aphraid of Generators?" (Is Pretni afraid of Generators?) lim said stiffly. It seems he was trying to believe what Gagan said.
"Fire" (Fire)