A Piece of Sunset for My Girl - Seno Gumira Ajidarma
Sunday, August 31st, 2008Dearest Alina,
Attached with this letter is sunset, complete with its wind, roaring waves, a setting sun, and golden rays of light. Do they arrive safe and sound? Of course, like any sunset in any beach, it has birds, wet sand, silhouette of rocks, and maybe a boat passing off shore. There might be edible bivalves, colorful stones, and the sparks of bright light flickering on the seafoam, resembling dreams that always drive me to think about the things that I most probably do with you, although I know they will all end up as mere probabilities—only God knows when it will come true.
I’m sending this piece of sunset for you, Alina, in a tightly sealed envelope from far away, because I want to give something more than bare words. There are already too many words in this world, and words, indeed, don’t change a thing. I will not add to the innumerable words in the history of man culture. What for? Words are useless and forever in vain. In addition, who will listen to them these days? In this world, everybody is busy wording without ever listening to other people. They don’t care whether people listen to them or not. They don’t even care about their own words. This world is filled with meaningless words. Words are redundant and are not needed anymore. For every word, you can change its sense. From every sense, you can change its meaning. That is our world, Alina.
I’m sending you this piece of sunset, Alina, not words of love. I’m sending you a piece of gentle sunset with real reddish sky precisely in the state when I took it, when the sun almost sunk behind the horizon.
Sweet Alina, melancholy Alina,
Let me tell you how I got the sunset for you. One afternoon I was sitting all alone by the sea shore, looking at the world that’s comprised of time, watching how time and space live in alliance, creating the universe for my eyes. From the seashore, at the edge of earth, universe appeared as a stroke of golden and the sea was a liquid metal, but still the foam on the splashing waves was as white as cotton and the sky was purple and the wind humid and wet and the sand warm when I thrust my feet into it.
All of a sudden the sunset and light shuddered. Beauty suddenly struggled against time and suddenly you came into my mind. “Perhaps, this sunset is good for you,” I thought. So I severed the sunset before it was too late, cutting on its four sides and thrusting it in to my pocket. Hence the beauty would be eternal and I can present it to you.
After that I went home light-heartedly. I knew you would like it because I know that is the kind of sunset you’ve ever imagined for us. I know you’ve always dreamed about a long holiday, a long-distance trip, and probably a pair of deck chairs in the sunset in a beach, where we converse looking up high to the sky wondering whether this is all true or not. Now you can take the sunset anywhere.
When I was leaving that beach, I saw people come swarming. It turned out that they became furious because the sunset was gone. I saw a postcard-sized hole in the horizon.
Loveliest Alina,
All this has happened and the it will still be like this. I had reached my car when from among the crowd I saw someone pointing at me.
“He is the one who stole the sunset! I saw him grabbing the sunset!”
I saw people walking towards me. After judging from their manner, I got into my car and hit the accelerator.
“Get his plate number! Get his plate number!”
I shot right to the highway. I sped up without panic. I had made up my mind to give the sunset to you and only for you, Alina. No body should take it away from me. The golden rays of sunset were flaring in my pocket. I really worried because even though my car windows were dark, the rays were bright enough to shine through every breach in my car, so that my car darted with a brilliant shine on the asphalt and sky.
From the radio that I had turned on, I knew that news about the missing sunset had spread everywhere. On my car TV, I saw my portrait featured. Gosh! Only one sunset gone and they were that panicky. Couldn’t they just wait until tomorrow? What would happen if everyone took one sunset for their girlfriends? It might be the right time now to produce fake sunsets that you can sell in shops, packaged in a plastic bag and sold by roadside vendors. It’s time now for us to mass-produce sunsets so that child street vendors can sell them at crossroads. “Sunset! Sunset! Get three for one dollar!”
My car darted in the highway towards the downtown. I had to be careful because everybody was searching for me. Police sirens roared in every corner. The bright evening lights without the color of sunset made the golden light from inside my car not to prominent. And what’s more, in the downtown, not every people gives a damn whether the sunset is gone or not. In the city, life goes without time, regardless morning, noon, afternoon, or evening. So, it’s never important for them whether sunset is there or not. Sunset is only important for tourists who like taking pictures of the setting sun. Possibly, that was the only reason why police officers searched for the sun that I had with me.
Police sirens approached from behind. With a loudspeaker, a police officer gave a warning.
“Driver of gray metallic Porsche with a plate number SG 19658 A, stop your car. This is police. You’re under arrest for stealing the sunset. Although it is not against any law, but based on…”
I didn’t want to waste more time listening to this. So I just hit him in such a way that he was hurled away from the road. I sped up and jet pass other cars with agility. In a minute, the city became noisy with roaring police sirens. But I knew the ins and outs of the downtown, streets with colorful lights, dark alleys not listed in directory books, and secret sewers secured only for those who live underground. (to be continued…)
* Translated by… (drum rolls) … me 