SISKA'S WORRIED

Time kept moving. On the road, Frans was stuck in traffic. It was nearing dusk. He glanced at his watch.

“Ugh, it’s been half an hour. I might get home late,” he thought.

Frans looked anxious. The traffic jam stretched far ahead, and the traffic police seemed overwhelmed by unruly motorcyclists. After half an hour passed, Frans finally sighed in relief.

He resumed driving. On a quiet stretch of road, he saw a small child walking in the middle of the street. Frans quickly hit the brakes.

Screeech! The tires screeched. Frans pulled over and rushed out, grabbing the child’s hand.

“Kid! Don’t walk in the middle of the road. It’s dangerous,” he said, pulling the little girl aside.

The girl looked at Frans. She was sobbing.

“Mister, I’m lost. I want to go home,” she said through her tears.

Frans was startled. He looked around — the road was surrounded by forest. He felt sorry for the confused little girl.

“Where’s your house, sweetheart? Let me take you home,” said Frans.

“Mister, my house is far,” the girl replied.

Frans smiled gently. He stroked her head softly.

“It’s okay, dear. What matters is that you get home safely. Come on, let’s go,” he said.

The girl looked hesitant, but had no other choice. She nodded and followed Frans to his car. They drove away from that place.

On the road, Frans started a conversation.

“Sweetheart, what’s your name? I’m Frans,” he said, introducing himself.

The little girl shyly replied,

“My name is Anita, Mister.”

Frans smiled. As they continued driving, he saw a junction ahead. He asked Anita,

“Anita, there’s a fork in the road up ahead. Which way is your house?”

Anita pointed to the right, timidly. Frans understood. He turned on his signal and took the right turn.

As he drove down the road, Frans felt something odd.

“Wait… this road feels familiar. Isn’t this the way to my house? I don’t remember there being a junction here. And shouldn’t I have crossed a bridge?” he thought.

But since it was getting late, Frans brushed off the thought and kept driving through the darkness. Soon, Anita asked him to stop.

“Mister, stop here. That’s my house up ahead,” she said, pointing to a large house.

Frans looked at it, puzzled.

“Why is there such a luxurious house in the middle of this road?” he wondered.

He paused for a moment. Anita looked at him and smiled. She tugged his hand.

“You’re kind, Mister. Come on, I want to introduce you to my mama and papa,” she said.

Frans smiled silently.

“Come on, Mister Kind. Take me inside,” she urged.

Frans’s mind was racing. But feeling sorry for her, he agreed. He drove into the front yard and escorted Anita into the house.

“Anita,” her mother called out, visibly worried.

Anita ran to her mother and hugged her tightly. Her father appeared and greeted Frans.

“Thank you for bringing Anita home. Please, come in,” he said.

Frans entered the house and was warmly welcomed by Anita’s extended family. They invited him to stay for dinner.

After dinner, Frans asked for permission to leave.

“Sir, I’ll head home now. My wife must be waiting,” he said.

“Of course. Take care on the road,” Anita’s father replied.

Frans got into his car and drove off.

“Why is this road so quiet?” he thought.

As he drove slowly, he looked around. Frans was puzzled. The road was brightly lit, but there were no people or cars in sight.

“Strange. This road is usually busy, but tonight it’s so silent,” he thought.

He continued driving. Frans recognized the corners of the road, but the eerie atmosphere made him uneasy. As he entered his housing complex, he was shocked — the road was covered in mist.

“Why is the road to my house foggy tonight?” he wondered.

After a while, Frans saw his house. But he was surprised when he entered. The house was empty. He walked into the living room and sat on the sofa.

“Siska, honey, I’m home,” he called out.

No one answered. Frans was confused. He got up and searched for his wife.

“Siska, sweetheart… where are you?” he called out lovingly.

He walked through the house, but couldn’t find her. He tried calling her, but his phone had no signal.

“Wait, why is there no signal? All providers work well here,” he thought.

He tried the landline. There was a dial tone, but after a long wait, he was disappointed again.

“The number you are trying to reach is currently outside the service area. Please try again later,” said the automated message.

“No signal? That’s strange,” he thought.

He tried again, but the result was the same. Feeling tired, Frans eventually fell asleep on the living room sofa.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Siska was anxiously waiting for Frans to arrive. She sat in the living room, worried about her husband who hadn’t come home.

“Sweetheart, where are you? It’s already late and you’re still not here,” she thought.

She tried calling Frans repeatedly, but there was no dial tone. In her panic, a call suddenly came in. Siska quickly picked it up.

“Sayang, where have you been?” she asked, panicked.

“Uh—sorry, Ma’am. This is Dimas. I’ve been waiting for Mr. Frans, but he hasn’t come to the office. There’s a client waiting,” said Dimas on the other end.

“I’ve been waiting for my husband too, but he hasn’t arrived,” said Siska.

At the office, Dimas paused. In front of him sat Mr. Hendro. He muted the speaker and said,

“Sorry, Mr. Hendro. Mr. Frans can’t be reached. What should we do?”

Mr. Hendro looked worried and confused.

“Sir, I’ve contacted several lawyers, but none are willing to take this case. Only Mr. Frans agreed,” he said with a troubled expression.

Dimas thought for a moment. He called Siska again, who was also a lawyer, and explained Mr. Hendro’s situation. After a brief conversation, the call ended.

“Here’s an idea, Mr. Hendro. You can go directly to Mr. Frans’s house and leave the documents with Mrs. Siska. Sometimes urgent clients drop off files at home,” Dimas suggested.

Mr. Hendro considered it and agreed. He went straight to Frans’s house and was greeted by Siska.

“Ma’am, I’ll take my leave now. I’ll try contacting Mr. Frans again tomorrow morning,” said Mr. Hendro.

“Alright, Sir. I’ll pass the documents to my husband. Sorry for the trouble,” said Siska.

Mr. Hendro nodded and left. After he was gone, Siska locked the front door and placed the documents on Frans’s desk.

As she was about to leave the room, suddenly a fax machine started printing.

“A fax?” she thought.

The machine printed a sheet with a short message. Siska read it and was puzzled.

“This message is strange,” she thought.

Before she could think further, she heard footsteps behind her. Siska was startled. She followed the sound to the kitchen, but it vanished.

“Who was walking just now?” she wondered.

She searched for the source of the sound. When she looked at the oven, she was shocked to see the shadow of a woman behind her. She turned around quickly — but no one was there.

“Who was that?” she thought.

Her skin crawled. Feeling frightened, Siska ran out of the kitchen and locked herself in her bedroom. She tried calling Frans again, but still couldn’t reach him.

Terrified, she covered her ears and eventually fell asleep.

Time passed. Morning arrived. When Siska woke up, she went to the kitchen. As she passed through the living room, she was stunned to see her husband still asleep on the sofa.

“Mas Frans?” she whispered.

She checked the front door. It was still locked, just as she had left it the night before.

“Did Mas Frans have a spare key?” she wondered.

Curious, she investigated and found that Frans hadn’t brought a spare key. With growing unease, she approached her sleeping husband and stared at him quietly.

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