Author: Raden Kusumo
Genre: Fiction, Romance
Image Source by Unsplash
It was 3 p.m., the roses had sold out, it wasn't usually Gatot that was happy like this. Usually, until 5 pm the roses sold by Gatot have not been sold, but luck is with Gatot, the roses have been bought up by buyers.
Gatot rides his old motorbike and wants to relax for a while at a coffee shop located on the edge of the rice fields to enjoy a cup of coffee and a cigarette. He often stopped by the coffee shop after a day selling flowers at the traditional market.
Gatot enjoyed a cup of coffee made by Mbok Darmi, occasionally he smoked his cigarette and then sips black coffee at Mbok Darmi's coffee shop. The evening sky and the wind in Reban village added to Gatot's enjoyment of relaxing at the coffee shop.
"How much in total, Mbok?" Gatot asked Mbok Darmi, the shop owner. "All my debts from yesterday Mbok," he said once again
"All Rp32,000," answered Mbok Darmi while wiping the table. "How unusual is it today to pay all?" ask Mbok Darmi
"Alhamdulillah, today all my roses are sold," Gatot replied as he took out his old wallet.
After paying the coffee bill, Gatot started his old motorbike and went home.
Arriving at home, Gatot turned on the radio to just listen to entertainment songs. Incidentally, the radio played a song called 'Mawar Merah', it was a memory song when Gatot still had a girlfriend. While listening to the song, Gatot had tears in his eyes, because he remembered his former lover who had died.
At that time, Gatot and his late girlfriend, Ngatini, often played the song 'Mawar Merah' while selling flowers at the traditional market. It was Ngatini's favorite song when he still often accompanied Gatot selling. Even Gatot often entertained his lover by singing the memorable song while accompanied by a guitar that Ngatini gave him as a birthday present.
After he finished listening to the songs playing on the radio, Gatot fell asleep on his long sofa. It didn't feel like it was morning, the sun shone on planet earth, and Gatot woke up from his deep sleep.
As usual, every morning Gatot picks the flowers he planted in the garden behind his house. The flowers he picks will later be taken to traditional markets to be sold. While picking flowers, Gatot was very surprised and rubbed his eyes.
"Excuse me, sir, I want to ask," said a woman with long hair
Gatot just stayed silent and watched the woman, because the long-haired woman was very similar to his late girlfriend, Ngatini.
"Oh, yes, sorry, what do you want to ask, sis?" said Gatot who looked surprised to see the woman
"You know Mr. Sugiono's house?" asked the woman
"Yes, I know, his house is at a crossroads next to a food stall," Gatot answered
"Thank you very much, sir," the woman said with a smile and waved her hand to Gatot
It turns out that the woman's name is Ningsih, she lives in the city of Semarang. His goal was to come to Reban Village to meet her grandfather named Sugiono because Ningsih had not seen her grandfather for eight years.
At the traditional market, Gatot sits where he sells, waiting for buyers while enjoying a cup of black coffee and a cigarette, not forgetting to turn on an old radio while listening to music. Not long ago, Ningsih, who was about to buy some roses, came to Gatot's shop.
"Eh, this is the mister from this morning, isn't it?" Ningsih asked Gatot
"Yes, sis, that's right," replied Gatot, smiling at Ningsih
"I want to buy five roses, how much will they cost?" Ningsih asked while taking out a few bills from her bag
"For the beautiful lady, I give it for free," said Gatot while seducing Ningsih
Ningsih smiled as she thanked Gatot. At that time they became acquainted and told stories at Gatot's flower shop. While being busy talking, Gatot was surprised and disappointed when Ningsih said that she already had a husband.
After two hours of talking with Ningsih, Ningsih finally came home. Gatot has had his heart broken twice, the first time when Ngatini died, and the second when Gatot found out that Ningsih already had a husband.
In that sadness, Gatot wanted to end his life by hanging his neck on a mango tree located behind Gatot's house. But, before committing suicide, Gatot wanted to update his Facebook status to express all his feelings in the Facebook status column. But on his Facebook homepage, Gatot accidentally read a post from Albert Camus' quote which reads "Should I kill myself, or drink a cup of coffee". At that moment, Gatot contemplated and thought about it.
"That's right, instead of committing suicide, it's better to drink coffee," said Gatot.
Finally, Gatot decided to go to his regular coffee shop. When he wanted to go to a coffee shop, it turned out that Gatot didn't have the money to buy coffee. Fortunately, Mbok Darmi, the owner of the coffee shop, allowed Gatot to borrow and pay it another day. Otherwise, Gatot would have become a corpse hanging from a mango tree.
The End
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Thank you for reading, Introducing, My name is Raden Kusumo. I am 16 years old, in December, I will be 17 years old. I come from Gunung Kidul district, Jogjakarta province, Indonesia. I am still in my final year of high school. Besides going to school, my activities are looking for grass for my father's livestock feed. I like writing short stories and poetry. Sometimes I write song lyrics requested by some bands in my village. Greetings from me.