The Boy and The Fountain of Youth
By Yudha Adi Pratama
On a big rock near a small karst lake, a boy with white shirt and grey trousers stood there like a hero who just conquered another enemy territories. He rested his two fists on a square shaped log like he was resting on his beloved longsword. His black hair waved as the wind blew from the upper hill.
“We found it guys, another karst lake!” said the boy.
“Looks like, it’s not just a lot amount of water trapped in a karst. It is a water spring!” said a tall boy with a black shirt from behind.
“You think so? Let’s check it out then!” said the boy with the white shirt.
“But... watch out guys. Even though there is less moss on this place, it still can be slippery you know!” said a white-skinned boy with a grey shirt.
“Who cares? Actually, I want to jump down into that blue water! But, *sigh* I don’t bring any spare underwear.”
“Seriously?” asked the white-skinned boy.
“Hahaha, nevermind, let’s get a better view of this lake. C’mon!” said the boy with the white shirt.
With enthusiasmn, the boy with the white shirt jumped and ran through some limestones and wet soil. Sometimes he needs to walk carefully through moss invested ground and some wet limestone pieces that could hurt his feet and make him fall. Then he climbed to the higher ground to see the clear blue water from above.
“Hey! Slowpoke! Over here!” shouted the boy while waving his hand.
“We’re coming!” replied the white-skinned boy.
“Geez, even though he knows that the lake is actually a manmade.”
“Maybe he is just excited to find a different karst lake than the last one. I am surprised that this one is actually a water spring.” said the tall boy.
The two walked to where the boy with the white shirt was but he have already jumped down onto a big karst stone where the water emerged from the crack above him. He tried to fill his fists with the water then drank it a little.
“Yuck...” said the boy.
When the boy tossed the remaining water on his hand, he saw a red orb as big as a golf ball glowing in the forest. The orb flew slowly to the trees then it disappeared in the dark. The boy knew that it was a sign for him that the hill was hiding something.
“I wonder what the orb tries to show me.” said the boy to himself.
“Febri! Did you drink the strange looking water again?” asked the white-skinned boy.
“Yea, a bit, but it is kinda bitter! Want to try it?” replied Febri as he tried to take some water again.
“No! Get it off! It is not even hygiene!” yelled the white-skinned boy.
“Here! Just a sip! You should taste the bittersweet of life!”
“Stop it Febri. Of course, it has a bitter taste, it emerges from a limestone, you silly!” said the tall boy.
The three of them then laughed. The three is actually a good friends since they met in the beginning of their middle school, but Febri still kept many things from his friends. From the red orb that he saw and the fact that he was gifted. Yes, Febri had the sixth sense with him and the reason why he explored the hill is because the feeling that he got.
After some chit chats and photos were taken as souvenirs, the three headed home.
“I think I want to do the birdwatching, you guys can go home without me.” said Febri.
“What? On the usual place?” asked the tall boy.
“Yeah, you know, I need a private time for myself as always.” said Febri.
“Okay, go ahead, we will be waiting on my house.”
“Make sure to come back before evening, okay?” said the white-skinned boy.
“Sure, see ya guys!”
Febri ran to the upper hill, where the trees are more crowded and the bird sang louder. To get to the birdwatching spot wasn’t an easy job, he needed to climb some roots and walked on a lot of slippery giant stones. In case he should explore another untouched part of the hill, the boy then tried to save his energy by walking and carefully search for the marked trees. He should be on the birdwatching spot now but he still wandering around for fifteen minutes even after he followed the marked trees. Without even noticing, he came to the dark part of the forest, where the sunrays scarcely could touch the ground and the moss was thicker. He knew that he have been tricked!
“Kiki, why you did this to me?” said the boy gently.
“To make you lost of course! *giggles*”
A white orb suddenly appeared from behind a tree that has an arrow sign. It flew close to Febri then turned into a shape of 10-years-old girl wearing a white one piece skirt. Her mid back length white hair waved after she shook her head a bit. Then her black irises focused on Febri appearance.
“I never marked a tree like that, it could hurt them.” said Febri.
“Then why are you following them?” asked the spirit.
“I just wondering, do you happen to know about a red orb around here?”
“No. But I suggest you not to follow them!” replied Kiki while walking on rocks.
“Why?” asked Febri as he followed Kiki. The two then walked deeper into the forest.
“Because making you lost is my duty. I don’t want your soul to be taken away by someone else!”
“So, are they bad?” asked Febri.
“I think they’re just confused for a hundred years after their master passed away.”
“I don’t understand. Then what are they trying to show me?”
“I don’t know. It is not my business.” replied the girl curtly.
“Please tell me, Kiki. I will give you something in exchange.” said Febri then he took out some Tuberose flowers from his backpack.
“Where did you get that? There isn’t such a flower on the meadow!”
“Of course! I picked these flowers near my house. Hahaha! Now, tell me about the red orb!” said the boy then he tempted Kiki with the flowers that he brought.
The girl took the Tuberose from the boy’s hand by force. She smiled for a while then suddenly disappeared, leaving only smoke on where she stood before. For a short term after that, somehow the boy could hear the trees whispered something with a strange language.
“Follow me!”
A strange wind suddenly blew inside the forest, it made some short branches pointing to a direction. Without any doubt, the boy ran to where the branches were pointing at. It took him down the hill, to the unexplored area. Unfortunately, after avoiding a lot of obstacles in order to catch the wind, he felt down a few meters to the ground.
*SRAAAAAAKK*
*CRASH!*
“Aw! Darn it... Looks like I sprained my ankle!” said Febri with a low voice. It seemed to be a not serious sprains so Febri tried to strech his legs and casted a cloth on the sprained area.
The wind have brought him to somekind of a nearly-collapsed cave. A giant tree behind it seemed to be the cause why the cave was almost collapsed. Its roots were stabbing the cave from above. The surrounding was not as dark as before but it had a heavy and dark aura.
“What the...? It is a breadfruit tree and it’s insanely huge.”
With his injured leg, Febri tried to enter the cave slowly. He saw from afar a faintly glowing red light. It is the red orb, but before he could after it, a girl voice resonated in his head.
“Once you step into the cave, I can’t guarantee you to come back alive! What lies inside the cave is your destiny, so it is you who can decide!”
“Thanks Kiki, be sure to tell my friends if I didn’t come back before dawn, ‘kay?” whispered the boy.
“What?! Am I your slave or something?! Look silly boy, I am a thousand years older than you! Don’t think you can ordered me like that without paying me with something!” yelled the voice. As you can imagine, having a weird voice inside your head is quite an unpleasent experience, then how about having the voice yelled inside your head?
“Alright, alright, I will plant some Tuberose seeds near the meadow after I come back. Happy?” calmed the boy.
“Do you promise?” asked the voice.
“Sure! I promise!” replied the boy.
Then suddenly a little girl walked on the cliff where the boy slipped before. She waved her little hand then ran back into the woods. Febri himself continued his journey into the cave as he followed the red orb. Slowly but surely, the cave lost its only light from outside. Only the darkness and the sound of footsteps were left in the cave. Sometimes, Febri could hear some weird whispering sound near him but eventually he could calmed himself after recited some prayers.
The whispering sound finally disappered, but now he couldn’t see a thing. The red orb has gone too far in front of him. The last thing the boy could remember was when the red orb tilted his way to the left. It meant that there was an intersection in front of him. Febri calmed himself again, trying to figure out which passage should he choose.
*tluck...tlock*
A water drops! The boy was sure that the last sound he heard was a sound of water drops. He followed straight to the sound and it leaded to a blue light that the boy could see it from afar. The boy was somehow happy, he knew that he was leading to the right way. So he rushed to the blue light until he felt down because he stumbled a giant root. The boy was angry and wanted to say a curse word, but he tried to calmed himself as always then woke up and started to walk again. Finally, Febri could reach the place where the glowing blue light came.
The boy couldn’t believe with what he saw right now. It was a place with a lot of gaint rock and there was some kind of pool in the middle of it. The rock itself covered with glowing moss and the others were seemed to contain a light crystal inside it. There were also some weird plants who could emit purple or blue light from its body. That’s why the place was emiting a blue light from afar.
The boy finally dropped on his feet, he was stunned by the beauty of such a magical place like this. Then the boy tried to see the pool. The pool itselft had a clear water, so he could barely see the bottom of the pool. Suddenly the urge came! The urge to drink that fresh-looking water that probably came out from an underground river.
“Ah, it is been a long time since the last guest who came to visit.” Greeted a tall creature who came out from nowhere.
Surprised, Febri tried to stand on his feet again but he was still trembling because of his fear and exhaustion. After collecting all his nerve, he could stand up and begun to speak.
“Greetings spirit, I come here in peace and I am here to fulfill your call.”
“I see, you are the one who destined to help us here. Please have a seat.”
“Thank you very much.” Said Febri then he reached to a nearby rock.
“You look so exhausted, how about a sip of tasty water from our fountain.”
“Yes, please. But, why you called me here?”
The spirit told everything it knew to Febri. Like how can this place was made and why they needed Febri’s assistance. The spirit give his second offer to Febri, but once again, Febri tried to distract it to another conversation. The spirit had its own strategy, it said that the pool is actually The Fountain of The Youth which could heal any wound and make someone live longer than any normal human. Still, it couldn’t make Febri lose his mind.
Atleast, it was now the turn for Febri to wait for the third offer from the host. The spirit intentionally made the place hotter than before. Febri was also forced to tell about how could he be friend with the wind spirit. Febri endure his thirst, giving all his efforts to passed the last test. He showed the politeness and manners like how the Javanese people did.
“Human kid, I love the way you talked and the manner you showed me.” said the creature.
“As a present, I will let you go home safely.”
“Thank you very much, I will tell the emperor about what we have discussed before. Then I will be leaving.” said Febri heavily.
“Wait! Since I have guarantee your safety, you should go through this way.”
The creature pointed his finger out from his white robe to the pool, leaving Febri to be confused. As he approached the pool, he was really shocked. The shallow pool he saw before changed into a bottomless water hole and now he should dive into there.
“Don’t worry, you will be safe. Ah, please give this to the emperor. It is a crystallized version of The Water of Youth. It will help you to prove yourself to the emperor. Now go! Hurry!”
The creature pushed Febri down into the pool and he drowned in the cold and dark blue water at no time. After some seconds drowned in the pool, Febri finally realized that he was drowned in The Water of Youth. The water was so light, so we could still breath even after the water entered our lungs. Febri let his body keep falling to the the bottom of the hole and wait for what would happen.
“A light?”
*tluck...tlock*
Febri opened his eyes, he suprised that he woke up in the bottom of a shallow lake. The water was heavy, it was different than before. The boy found himself nearly out of breath. In a flash, he reached the surface.
“Pwuaah!”
“Where am I?”
It was dark and cold, Febri hardly tried to remember the place. Then he realized that it was the karst lake that he just found this morning. He walked to the bank and he felt something was different. He didn’t feel the pain from his leg again and his body felt so light. Something changed inside him.
“Febri!! Where are you?” yelled someone from afar.
“I am here guys!”
“What the heck? Febri?! Yoga! Febri is at the karst lake!”
“What?!”
A light flashed to Febri. It was his friends who have searched for him in the hill. The three atleast could be gathered again.
“You said you want to do birdwatching?”
“Yes, I am. But, it suddenly feel so hot and I want to swim in here! Hahaha!”
“For God’s sake! Let’s go to my house right now! You will catch a cold if you are staying like this!” said the tall boy.
"Thank you guys." said Febri. For this time, they were truly headed home together.
"Thank you guys." said Febri. For this time, they were truly headed home together.
*****
Seven years have passed after the last time the boy visited the hill and now he could visited the hill again. The hill never changed from before like the boy himself was not changing into an older look even though his body became taller. His heart told him something. Maybe he would try to explore the hill and find new things again.
THE END!
