CLW – Short Story Revision

Name : Sinde Nurmila Jingga

NIM : E1D019191

Class : 5TP3

Ru & The man

It was a rainy and long night for Ru. He was waiting for her mother in the living room with a

cake and candle on a table. It was his 12th birthday and his mother promised him that she would

come home earlier tonight. He was really excited that night, not because it was his birthday, but

because he could spend his time with his mother. He lived with her mother in a small apartment

in a big city called Sibuk. Her mother was always busy working all day and night for them. But

on his birthdays, her mother usually came home earlier, bringing all of his favorite food and

presents, spending her time all and only for him, telling him stories until he fell to sleep. Then,

on next day they would go to spend all the day doing fun things together. He had been waiting

for a year for this moment to come and he just couldn't wait to see the front door opened and

showed her beautiful mother behind it. But, it never happened. Her mother didn't show up until

midnight. Ru was confused and disappointed, her mother didn't answer his call nor read his

massages. When he was about to call her mother again, the door’s bell rang. He wondered who

would come at this hour. Hesitantly, he walked closer to the door and when he saw the person

behind it he felt uneasy. It was the man. The man who made her mother lost her smile whenever

she saw him. The man who had been coming over several times these 2 months. The man who

said "Ru, I am your father" when they first met.

Ru opened the door and asked him "Why are you here?". "I am here to take you to see your

mother" said the man. "I don't believe you, my mother will be here soon" said Ru. "Ru, Nila will

never come back here" said the man. "What did you do to my mother?" asked Ru. "Ru, I am

sorry, but she is dead", said the man. "NO!" " it's my birthday and my mother will come home

soon, you're a liar!", shouted Ru. Then, Ru cried loudly, so the man hugged him to make him

calm.

That was true, Ru's mother was dead 7 hours ago by a car accident. She was arguing something

with the man right before the accident. The man came right away to tell Ru about it, but he didn't

want to believe him. He locked the door and keep waiting for her mother to come as if he never

heard anything about her death. The man was waiting all the time outside, giving Ru sometimes

to accept the fact.

After crying for hours, Ru finally calmed. He fell to sleep after crying so hard. The next morning,

Ru woke up, he heard some sound from the kitchen. "Was it a dream?" he asked himself. Then,

he ran to the kitchen, expecting to see his mother there cooking for breakfast as usual. "Mom!?"

Called Ru. But, it wasn't her mother. It was the man, again. Ru realized that it wasn't his dream,

then his tear started to fell from his eyes. But he didn't make noises like last night. It was a quiet

cry. The man saw him, yet didn't say anything. Instead, he brought him a glass of water, hoped it

could help him calm. "Here, drink it" said the man. "Where is my mother?" Ru asked. "She is

still in the hospital" said the man. "Take me there, I want to see her" said Ru. "Alright, but even

though it's hard you have to make yourself calm first, here drink it" said the man while giving Ru

the water. Ru didn't protest and drunk the water. After that they went to the hospital.

After Ru's mother death, the man took him to live in a village called Ujung. It was small village,

far from nowhere, but peaceful. Most of people there worked as farmer. The neighborhood is
very friendly and kind. Ru and the man lived in a small, yet beautiful house near the street. They

lived with an old lady that Ru called as grandma. Grandma was kind and caring. Even though

she was old, she was still strong and healthy. Ru spent a lot of his time with grandma, hearing a

lot of her stories and jokes? (sometime it's funny, but mostly not understandable). It helped him a

lot to forget about his sadness. It was not easy for Ru to live there at first, but thanks to grandma

who took him walk around and told him about many things every day, Ru started to enjoy his

new life.

What about the man? He was there, he made many things from wood every day. He had always

watched what Ru did, but he rarely talked to him because Ru seemed not to like him that much.

Day by day passes. Slowly Ru could open his heart for the man. Ru found that he was actually a

kind man. He walked Ru every morning to his school and picked him up every afternoon. The

man also tried many things to make Ru accept him, like helping Ru doing his homework, taking

him to the farm, playing kits, and showing him many things in the village. Ru realized that the

man was trying his best to be a good father for him. So, he started to accept him. One day, Ru

started to talk to the man first. On the next days he became really used to have someone to be

called as father.

Their life was just fine. 5 years passed with a lot of memories. But then, that night came again,

the long waited and rainy night. Ru had just come back from school. He came a bit late because

there was an after school activity that he joined in. Strangely, he found no one home. It was

unusual, because they never left home without telling each other before. Ru tried to call his

grandma and father, but none of them answered. The rain outside became heavier as the time

passed. Ru tried to calm and think positive, so he waited.

After a few hours, his father came. But, he looked terrible. He fell on his knees and said “Ru, I

am sorry, it’s all my fault”. Ru was confused, then he asked “father, what happened?”. “your

grandma is gone, she is dead” “It was my fault, I shouldn’t have let her go by herself” said his

father. Ru was shocked to hear that his grandma was dead, but he tried to calm so that he could

calm his father. “I am sorry Ru, your mother death was also my fault, I shouldn’t have forced her

to let me see you” “I am sorry, I am a bad father, I have ruin your life” said the man. Even

though he never said it, he knew that Ru was always blaming him for his mother death. “I know

right, you really are a bad father, but I’ll forgive you, so you have to forgive yourself” said Ru.

“let’s go, I’ll take you to grandma” Ru continued.

His father might not be a father that Ru expected to be, but he tried to be a good one. So, Ru

wanted to try to be a good son for him. After all, they only had each other.