Next Door

Sena opened the window wide. Landed both hands on the bottom window frame and gripped it tightly. Again, take a deep breath. He exhaled with difficulty, as if a large stone had filled his chest cavity, making it difficult for him to breathe. Makes it also unable to close his eyes even though late at night has embraced the earth.

The hair on his forehead, which was slightly long, covered his eyebrows, looked messy when the strong night wind hit his face as soon as the window of his room opened. Showing the darkness of the night and the sound of night insects getting louder and louder.

The bedroom window looked out onto the backyard, giving him a view of the dark pine forest looming over, with the full moon right at its peak. Locking Sena’s dimmed gaze. Smiling ironically when he saw the moon that looked so graceful hanging in the night sky, which seemed to have no burden at all.

And again, Sena sighed heavily when he remembered what he had experienced this afternoon. He has failed to enter the most prestigious university that many people desire.

It clearly recorded the names of those who passed the selection on the bulletin board. He could see the name of one of his school friends who had mediocre grades, even more often asking for his help in doing assignments, actually got into the list of the top ten students who passed.

Sena, who is actually not an ordinary student, considering the number of award medals he has after winning various prestigious olympiads both at national and international levels, was naturally very surprised by the announcement of the admission of new students from this famous university.

The look of disappointment was strongly reflected on his beautiful face, amidst the cheers of joy from those who passed the entrance selection. His tall, stout body seemed to have lost its strength to where it almost swayed.

Even though his parents said that he could still continue his education at the best universities abroad, however, still. The failure was a blow for Sena, who had experienced none kind of failure in his life. Three years in a row, the title of the most outstanding student is always in his grasp. The girls always looked at him with adoring eyes, while the teachers always smiled proudly on him.

And this time, he failed? How will he face everyone who knows him as a genius?

Sena again gripped the window frame firmly. Raised his right hand and landed on his face to support his heavy head.

Until the sound reached his ears.

“Look, that human looks pretty bad, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Terrible.”

“I’ve seen a lot of this type of human. They are really bad.”

“Yes. Really bad.”

The voice instantly made Sena look up, looking around warily. However, as far as his eyes could see and investigate, there was no one to be seen in his backyard, which was overgrown with fruit and vegetable plants that his mother managed.

“Oh, look at his pale face, Sein. That man is like a terrible undead.”

“Yes. Horrible.”

“Would you like a bet, Sein? Let me guess, soon that human will cut his wrists and let the blood ooze out until his body dries up like potato chips.”

“Yes. Dried like potato chips.”

The conversation was heard again. Making Sena even more frantic, he looked around to find the source of the sound. Unfortunately, again he found nothing. Even though he was absolutely sure, whoever had that conversation must have been talking about him.

“Who are you?” Sena exclaimed, stifled with a gaze that was still so alert. He even slightly poked his head out the window to widen his field of vision. Although the result is also nil. He found nothing but tree branches that danced so cheerfully when touched by the gentle caress of the wind.

“Oh, is that human looking for us, Sein?”

“Yes. Looking for us.”

Then Sena could hear a low chuckle.

“We are up in the tree, Human!”

And suddenly Sena looked up. His eyes darted around, trying to find the source of the sound. However, he did not find any kind of human there. Instead, there were only two owls perched on a pine branch, glaring at him mockingly.

Sena rubbed his eyes, sharpening his eyes on the branch that was illuminated only by the full moon. Could he be hallucinating?

“What are you looking for, eh?”

The question, which was asked in a scornful tone, suddenly made Sena gasp in surprise. This time, with his own eyes, he could see the mouth of the owl perched about three meters from the ground, and not over two meters away from where he was standing. That had been making a sound like a human.

“Wh-who are you?” Sena asked, stuttering. In all his life, he had seen a none animal that could talk like a human.

Could the owl be a ghost?

Just by imagining it, Sena’s hairs growled. The restlessness of his heart seemed to have disappeared somewhere, replaced by a feeling of fear and curiosity.

“I?” replied the owl asked back. “I’m Rein, and this is Sein, my brother,” he continued, lifting his left wing and wrapping it around the owl beside him, that was slightly smaller than him.

“That’s not what I was asking,” Sena whispered as she looked at the owl with a sharp, squinting gaze full of probing. His brow even furrowed deeply. As if preparing for the worst situation if the two owls were creatures from another dimension who intended to harm him.

“Look, Sein. The human mind is very complicated. Didn’t that human with eyes like the eyes of a dead fish just ask who we are? And not even a second has passed already denied it? I’m so lucky I wasn’t born as a creature of that land,” grumbled the owl, grumbling.

An attitude that really makes Sein widen not believe his hearing and sight. The owl can show a sulky attitude? Is that creature really sulking?

“What do you want from me?” Sein asked timidly, with a probing look. He glanced back quickly towards the door to his room, which had been locked tightly. Worried that someone might pass by and listen to their conversation. If that happened, they would have thought that he had a psychological disorder and forced him to go to a psychiatrist. And of course, Sena didn’t want that to happen. Therefore, he did not want anyone to miss his conversation with the owl, who looked very annoying.

“What do we want, eh?” The reply as a question was immediately accompanied by a very annoying laugh from the owl who introduced himself by the name Rein.

“Has your intelligence really fallen that far, eh? Or maybe even reached the bottom of the ocean and can no longer be saved?” he continued in a very annoying tone. This made Sena frown even more.

However, the owl’s words did not anger him at all. Instead, he was preoccupied with his own thoughts.

What really happened to him? Why did he suddenly meet an owl who could talk like a human? And what’s worse, the owl seemed to understand the confusion very well.

Sena looked up. And by the dark night sky he could see the owl glaring at him scornfully.

“What do you really want from me?” Sena repeated with an incomprehensible look. His curiosity overcame his annoyance at the mockery being hurled at will by the winged creature, which Sena was sure was not the angel.

“Is this the first time you’ve seen a talking bird?”

Sena nodded quickly. For a moment, forget the sadness. Because his mind now seemed to be filled with the owl who could talk. There was absolutely no room for anything else.

Even the appearance of the bird, miraculously, could grab his attention from the fog of anxiety that had drowned him. Like a fresh breeze that slowly removed the fogs of anxiety from his mind.

For the sake of seeing the nod of the human head in front of the window that looked up at him with that curious squinting gaze, with a movement made as graceful as possible, the owl folded its wings in front of the body like a person who was holding hands, with head raised proudly.

“The world is very wide, Human. If you want to go out and walk on this earth, of course you will find a lot of very amazing things. Not only birds can talk, but trees that dance and sing with the wind, mountains that snort fiercely, oceans that love to play with the wind, you can even meet a fierce hippopotamus who has a butt as wide as your door,” said the bird.

An explanation that made Sena let out a laugh involuntarily. The first laughs that erupted since the announcement of his suffocating failure.

“Ah, are you laughing? You can laugh already, eh? Listen, Human, the failure you got today wasn’t the end of the world. If one door closes for you, remember, another door is still wide open, you know? And again, everything that happens in this world is not a coincidence. Maybe your place is not there. But somewhere much better for the development of your abilities. So, do you know why I would bother you with my advice, eh? Because I don’t want you to kill yourself and wander around here. That would be very annoying!”

The bird uttered the long sentence in a fast tone and seemed to not care at all about the effect it had on Sena.

Sena, who had been jolted by the bird’s words, finally fell silent, his head slowly lowered, his gaze landed on his hands which were holding the window frame. His thoughts seemed to be sucked into his deepest self. Ignoring the call of the bird, who was annoyed because he didn’t get a response from him.

After a long silence, it was the ironic chuckle that finally escaped Sena’s lips. Looking up at the bird with a sad look full of gratitude.

“You’re right, Owl. I should not dissolve in this sadness and let other doors await my arrival. Thank you,” Sena whispered with a big smile.

Even though the owl had absolutely no intention of comforting him, however, what the bird said was absolutely true. Although he had absolutely no idea how the bird could know his sorrow, it didn’t matter to him anymore. He won’t give up. If he fails at the best university in the country, he will try hard to reach the best university abroad.

“Finally, you can hear me, eh? It’s really annoying,” grumbled the bird, which made Sena chuckle for a moment.

“Thank you very much, Ren. I have to sleep soon. See you tomorrow.”