That afternoon in the village of Limbong was very calm, the weather was sunny and the cool breeze was blowing. Limbong Village is a small village surrounded by forest. The forest is also the source of life for the villagers in search of food. In the beautiful and peaceful village of Limbong, the children there like to play in the forest. An eight-year-old boy named Tio invited four of his friends to look for mushrooms in the middle of the forest.
"Yudi, let's invite the others to the forest, we will have a competition to collect mushrooms," Tio said inviting his friend.
"Yeah, it's really fun, I'll call them" Yudi answered excitedly.
Tio and company had gathered at the village gate. They had prepared small baskets and knives to pick up the delicious mushrooms. On their way to the forest, they got excited and talked to each other about what mushrooms they would find. In the middle of the forest, they start to get wild mushrooms and compete, who can collect the most mushrooms. After hours of wandering around and collecting various kinds of mushrooms, they realized that it was already afternoon.
"Wow, Iqbal's basket is full of mushrooms, you are great at being able to collect this much," said Tio.
"See, Yudi only got a few mushrooms," said Iqbal, laughing.
They looked happy and content to gather mushrooms in the forest, which they would later cook in their village.
"Soon the sky will be dark, we better go home so our parents won't worry," Yudi said inviting his friends home.
While preparing to go home, Tio saw a big fish jumping in the river which emitted sparkling clear and refreshing water. Tio felt an inner urge to go down into the river. Tio felt excited to catch that fish in the river.
"You guys go home first, I'll catch up with you soon!" Tio said to his friends.
Without further ado, Tio dashed into the river and stripped off all his clothes. Tio is sure he will come home with fish and mushrooms so his parents will be happy with him.
Tio's friends, who were originally going to go home without Tio, were doubtful, so they decided to wait for Tio for a while while warning him to come back quickly. They waited under a big tree by the river, but Tio never showed up. Time passed, and the sun was getting closer to the western horizon.
"Hurry up, Tio! It'll be night soon!" Yudi shouted while trying to find Tio with his eyes. They searched around the river and called Tio's name many times, but Tio did not answer, because the ripples in the river prevented Tio from hearing the calls from his friends. Finally, Tio's friends decided to leave and leave the river, because they thought that Tio had returned home. They walked slowly towards the village, leaving Tio who was still at the river.
After getting lots of fish, Tio was very happy. His mother would have been happy when she saw Tio bringing lots of fish and mushrooms. However, dusk had fallen, and night would soon fall. Tio hurriedly ran to return to the village. But, it's too late. Night had fallen and the sky was already dark. Nothing could be seen in the forest at night. The night was getting late, and Tio was starting to feel scared. The forest that was originally filled with joy and joy, has now turned into a gripping and dark place. Tio felt sorry for not going home with his friends, now he didn't know where to go.
He sat among the lush trees, crying and hoping someone would find him and bring him home. He missed his mother and father and friends who had returned to the village. In his sadness, suddenly, Tio saw a light twinkling in the darkness of the forest. He looked at the twinkling light and was mesmerized. Then he realized that it was a group of glittering fireflies. In his mind, Tio thought of the fireflies as a sign of hope and help coming. With a hopeful heart, Tio decided to follow the twinkling fireflies. He walked slowly, following the firefly's light as it carried him through the dark thickets between the trees. The farther he walked, the more fireflies joined in, causing a brighter light to radiate around him.
With the bright light from the fireflies, Tio's fear and anxiety faded even more. The glow of the fireflies carried Tio through the thickets and paths under the dense trees. Before long, Tio arrived at the outskirts of the familiar forest and he knew, only a few steps would lead to his village and home. Tio felt happy and grateful to have returned to the village. He immediately ran to his house. When he arrived at the door, his mother and father worriedly stood waiting for him. Mother and father were overjoyed to see Tio safely back. Tio immediately hugged his father and mother.
"We're both really worried about you, Tio!" Mother said hugging tightly.
Father rubbed Tio's head with a relieved smile. "We are so glad you are okay and back home,".
"Mother, Father, I'm sorry I made you worry," Tio said.
Tio took out a large sack in front of his parents, "Look, I brought fresh mushrooms and fish for you".
"Wow, looks like tomorrow morning we will eat delicious food" Father said.
Mother smiled, then said "You came safely I am very grateful, son! Now is the time for you to sleep and rest, tomorrow I will cook delicious fish and mushrooms for you."
"Okay Mother" Tio replied smiling.
When in the room, when Tio was about to close the window, several fireflies were seen in front of Tio's bedroom window. Tio smiled and thanked the fireflies who brought him back to his village. Tio never forgot the fireflies and his experience in the forest. Whenever he saw the fireflies twinkling in the night, he always smiled and remembered that experience.
The End.
This story was translated by Deepl and proofread by Grammarly. I wrote this story for Prompt Fiction #125 on The Ink Well community