OFF CLOCK
Very cold night. Outside it was raining very hard with a very strong wind howling. The rain and wind slapped the glass windows. The man in the room was restless. He trembled at the thought of something that might happen soon.
A few days ago he received information from his girlfriend who lives outside the city that he would come to her city. They have been in a long distance relationship, because his girlfriend has to work outside the city which is outside the island where he is now. A few days ago his girlfriend told him, she would come, but forbade him to pick her up at the airport.
The man is restless. His fingers tapped against the table, as if competing with the sound of rain and wind slapping the glass windows. He was waiting for his girlfriend to give the news via cellphone. He was restless, because there was no news from her.
The clock shows 12 o'clock at night. The rain started to subside a bit, as well as the wind which seemed to just stop. Suddenly the man was startled by a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder, and the room went dark, because all the electric lights around the building went out.
In his amazement he still thought about turning on the flashlight from the cellphone he was holding. Suddenly he wanted to point the flashlight from his cellphone at the glass window, and take a photo into the darkness of the night.
The night was so cold. The rain has stopped. The wind stopped. The man opened the internet through his cellphone, and there was a flash of news: plane xxx allegedly crashed in the strait yyy.
The man felt restless again, but didn't know what to do. He started to open the photo album on his cellphone. He was surprised by one photo he had just taken pointing at the glass window: there was his lover's face there, smiling at him, with light all around him.
Finally, he arrived at the inn. After hours of walking through the steep path at the foot of the mountain he came across an old building. On the front is written "Inns for Pilgrims".
He was astonished to be able to see the building in a remote, remote place at the foot of the mountain range. The location is very far from settlements. The path he walked on showed that no one had passed in a long time.
He looked closely at the old building. Looks like he's been here before, sort of de javu. I don't know in which dream he visited here.
Indeed, he had come this far because in the last few weeks he had dreamed of going on a long journey. In his dream he seemed to be ordered to do something somewhere. So since last week he has been traveling non-stop, passing through settlements that are sometimes unfriendly to him. Even in one village he was beaten and shouted as crazy by the village children. He didn't care about any of that. He just followed his heart and kept walking in search of the place he needed to find, as the figure in his dream had said the past few weeks.
The building, the building at the foot of the mountains far from human civilization. He looked at it closely. He felt sure, this is the place said in his dream. He stepped to the door and opened it.
He was amazed. He felt this was a miracle, for he found the room behind the door very clean and tidy, with ancient ornaments. In the corner he saw a dead clock, right at the Roman numeral 12.
Was it the same watch he saw the first time he met in the mental hospital? The clock also dies with the hands pointing to the Roman numeral 12.
He gasped. Same hour. The clock he hadn't seen since a week ago, since he escaped from the mental hospital. The clock that reminded him of the sweetest and saddest memories at the same time, which he never told anyone. His lover disappeared at exactly 12 o'clock at night, shortly after he kissed her so tenderly, in the middle of the night.
Now he was standing in front of the Clock. The clock that died was exactly at 12. His memories swirled between plane crashes. His lover's face. At 12 o'clock midnight.
Since the crash of the plane, he began to see a lot of strange things. Maybe because he was too depressed by the event. He often felt his lover came knocking on his door, every 12 o'clock at night.
People thought he was crazy and sent him to a mental hospital. There he saw for the first time the ancient clock that died at 12. But every midnight, probably at exactly 12 o'clock at night he heard the clock tick 12 times. And he would peek through his glass door at the clock.
He saw his lover standing near the clock. And he couldn't wait to get closer. He opened the door (impossible actually, since it was supposed to be locked). He seemed to be running towards his lover. He forgot that his lover went missing during the plane crash. He was sure his lover was still alive and fulfilled his promise to meet her. He couldn't wait to run, and embraced the figure of his lover and kissed her very passionately.
The man closed his eyes. His head ached, as if it had been hammered. He felt great pain. The 12 o'clock chimes, flashes of lightning seemed to flash inside his head.
JAM YANG MATI
Malam yang teramat dingin. Di luar ruangan hujan sangat deras dengan angin yang sangat kencang menderu-deru. Hujan dan angin menampar-nampar jendela kaca. Lelaki yang ada di dalam ruangan merasa gelisah. Dia gemetar membayangkan sesuatu yang mungkin akan segera terjadi.
Beberapa hari lalu dia menerima informasi dari kekasihnya yang tinggal di luar kota akan datang ke kotanya. Mereka selama ini berhubungan jarak jauh, karena kekasihnya harus bekerja di luar kota yang berada di luar pulau tempatnya berada sekarang. Beberapa hari lalu kekasihnya memberitahu dia akan datang, namun melarangnya menjemput di bandara.
Lelaki itu gelisah. Jari jemarinya diketukkan ke meja, seperti bersaing dengan suara hujan dan angin yang menampar-nampar jendela kaca. Dia menunggu kekasihnya memberi kabar lewat handphone. Dia gelisah, karena tak ada kabar berita apapun darinya.
Jam menunjukkan jam 12 malam. Hujan mulai agak mereda, demikian juga dengan angin yang seperti berhenti begitu saja. Tiba-tiba lelaki itu dikejutkan oleh secercah petir dan gemuruh geledek, dan ruangannya menjadi gelap, karena lampu listrik di sekitar gedung padam semuanya.
Dalam kekagatennya dia masih berpikir untuk menyalakan senter dari handphone yang dipegangnya. Tiba-tiba dia ingin mengarahkan senter dari handphonenya ke arah jendela kaca, dan mengambil foto ke arah kegelapan malam.
Malam demikian dingin. Hujan sudah berhenti. Anginpun berhenti. Lelaki itu membuka internet melalui handphonenya, dan ada kilasan berita: pesawat xxx diduga kecelakaan di selat yyy.
Lelaki itu merasa gelisah kembali, tapi tidak tahu apa yang harus dilakukan. Dia mulai membuka album foto di handphonenya. Dia heran dengan satu foto yang baru diambilnya mengarah ke jendela kaca: ada wajah kekasihnya di situ, tersenyum kepadanya, dengan cahaya di sekitar tubuhnya.
Akhirnya, dia sampai ke penginapapan itu. Setelah berjam-jam berjalan kaki melewati jalan terjal di kaki gunung dia menemukan gedung tua. Di depan tertulis "Penginapan Bagi Para Peziarah".
Dia tercengang bisa melihat gedung di tempat yang jauh terpencil di kaki pegunungan itu. Lokasi itu sangat jauh dari pemukiman. Jalan setapak yang dilewatinya tadi menunjukkan sudah lama tak ada orang yang melewati.
Dia memandang gedung tua itu dengan seksama. Sepertinya dia pernah ke sini, semacam de javu. Entah di mimpi yang mana dia berkunjung ke sini.
Memang, dia berjalan sejauh ini karena dalam beberapa minggu terakhir dia bermimpi untuk melakukan perjalanan jauh. Di dalam mimpinya dia seperti diperintahkan untuk melakukan suatu hal di suatu tempat. Maka sejak seminggu lalu dia melakjkan perjalanan yang tiada henti, melewati pemukiman-pemukiman yang terkdang tak ramah kepadanya. Bahkan di suatu perkampungan dia dipukuli dan diteriaki sebagai orang gila oleh anak-anak kampung itu. Dia tidak peduli hal itu semua. Dia hanya mengikuti kata hatinya dan terus berjalan mencari tempat yang harus ditemukannya, seperti dikatakan sosok dalam mimpinya beberapa minggu terakhir ini.
Gedung itu, gedung di kaki pegunungan yang jauh dari peradaban manusia. Dia melihatnya dengan seksama. Dia merasa yakin, inilah tempat yang dikatakan dalam mimpinya itu. Dia melangkah ke pintu dan membukanya.
Dia takjub. Dia merasa ini adalah suatu keajaiban, karena dia menemukan ruangan di balik pintu itu sangat bersih dan rapi, dengan ornamen-ornamen kuno. Di sudut dia melihat sebuah jam mati, tepat di angka 12 romawi.
Apakah itu jam yang sama yang dia lihat saat pertama kali dia temui di rumah sakit jiwa. Jam yang juga mati dengan jarum menunjuk pada angka 12 romawi.
Dia terhenyak. Jam yang sama. Jam yang tak dilihatnya lagi sejak seminggu lalu, sejak dia kabur dari rumah sakit jiwa itu.
Jam yang mengingatkannya kepada kenangan indah dan sekaligus paling menyedihkan, yang tak pernah dia ceritakan kepada siapapun.
Kekasihnya menghilang tepat jam 12 malam, sesaat setelah dia menciumnya demikian mesra, di tengah malam.
Kini dia berdiri di depan Jam itu. Jam yang mati tepat di angka 12. Ingatannya bersliweran di antara kecelakaan pesawat. Wajah kekasihnya. Jam 12 malam.
Sejak peristiwa jatuhnya pesawat itu, dia mulai banyak melihat hal hal aneh. Mungkin karena dia terlalu tertekan oleh peristiwa itu. Dia sering merasa kekasihnya datang mengetuk pintu rumahnya, setiap pukul 12 malam.
Orang-orang menganggapnya gila dan mengirimnya ke rumah sakit jiwa. Di sana dia melihat untuk pertama kali Jam kuno yang mati di angka 12. Namun setiap tengah malam, mungkin tepat jam 12 malam dia mendengar dentang jam sebanyak 12 kali. Dan dia akan mengintip dari kaca pintunya ke arah jam itu.
Dia melihat kekasihnya berdiri di dekat jam itu. Dan dia tidak sabar untuk mendekat. Dia membuka pintu (hal yang mustahil sebenarnya, karena seharusnya pintu itu terkunci). Dia seperti berlari ke arah kekasihnya. Dia lupa bahwa kekasihnya hilang saat kecelakaan pesawat itu. Dia yakin kekasihnya masih hidup dan memenuhi janjinya untuk betemu dengannya. Tak sabar dia berlari, dan memeluk sosok kekasihnya dan menciumnya dengan sangat mesra.
Lelaki itu memejamkan matanya. Kepalanya terasa sakit, seperti dipalu. Dia merasakan kepedihan yang luar biasa. Dentang jam 12 kali, cercahan petir seperti menyambar-nyambar di dalam kepalanya.