EXPANDING STUDENT VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION THROUGH COLD-CALLING TECHNIQUE

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Increasing engagement during class discussion is a challenge faced by education today, especially during the pandemic which requires students to study from home and reduce socialization with others. This can indirectly reduce the students’ enthusiasm to engage in-class learning actively. Although engagement can be measured in a variety of ways, participation in class discussions is the easiest response to quantify.

Voluntary participation, as simple as raising a hand to answer a question, can be an invaluable tool for teachers to measure the content understanding level of the students and make instructional decisions based on that data. Nevertheless, the problem with large group class discussions is often dominated by the voices of a few. Even in online learning settings, we will find many students with low voluntary participation in class. Whereas, by increasing the number of students sharing answers during class discussions, teachers will better understand how well most students understand the content.

One approach to increasing the number of student volunteers involved in class discussions is cold-calling the students. The term cold-call refers to any instance in which a teacher calls a student whose hand is not raised. Cold Call is intended to be an inclusive technique that has the potential to get more students doing more of the cognitive work. As a simple question method, teachers can use this technique to increase attention, boost energy, and better understand their students by calling on students to answer the oral question at random and not based on who volunteers to participate. This technique was used by Muhammad Rizky Wibowo (an English Language Education student batch 2018) in his School-Based Teaching Practicum and succeeded in making the class more interactive.

Some of the procedures that Rizky did to use the cold-calling technique in his class were; first, he framed the class session. After framing the class session, he names the question before identifying students to answer it. After that, make calls to students regardless of whether they have hands raised. Use simple questions to get students on board. Once they are prepared, the level can rise in a more advanced form. Finally, connect the thinking thread. If one student gets the answers only half right, the teacher can call other students to give it a hint and return to the first students another shot to get it entirely right.

It is in line with a study that found cold-calling effectively increased the number of students who answered questions voluntarily. Furthermore, in a class with high cold-calling, voluntary participation increased over time, and students became more comfortable participating in discussions. Other research has also confirmed that the more students practice participating in class discussions (even if via cold-calling), the more skilled the student becomes and the more comfortable he or she will be when using this skill.

Quality Education for Learners with Disabilities

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Quality education is right for everyone in the world, including people with disabilities. As one of the efforts to strengthen literacy and realize quality education for students with disabilities, Lu’luatul Awaliyah, an English Language Education student at Universitas Islam Indonesia batch 2017, pioneered the OPOR Initiative. OPOR stands for (One Person One Record) Initiative, which means that one voice from us can be helpful for others in need. This community exists to develop learning media for students with visual impairment in South Lampung.

OPOR was founded in February 2020, and this idea stems from a scientific paper. This program stems from concerns about the lack of learning facilities for students with visual impairment. In fact, there is only one special school for the disabled in this area. The school is located on the coast of South Lampung, but it lacks learning facilities and teaching. There is only one special teacher for visual impairment students, one special teacher for students with autism and mentally retarded.

It has become crucial since the COVID-19 appeared, which requires learning activities to be carried out from home. During the pandemic, students with disabilities were only limited by utilizing the existing learning facilities in their homes. Meanwhile, accessing information and learning media is quite tricky due to poor internet signal access and the inadequate ability of students and parents to access the internet. Therefore, OPOR exists to be a solution to facilitate accessible learning media that supports the learning of students with visual impairments.

In May and August 2020, OPOR realized an audiobook project in the form of DVD players. However, since December 2020, OPOR has received support through a Young Leader for Community Projects grant from the Pertamina Foundation to develop its program. In making learning media and others, OPOR is assisted by several offline volunteers from local youths and online volunteers who contribute their voices in recording for the audiobook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over time, OPOR is not only focused on providing facilities for students with visual impairment but also students with autistic and mentally retarded by facilitating learning media in the form of audiobooks, educational posters and pictures.

In addition to providing learning media, OPOR also regularly monitors and evaluates the learning process of students with disabilities. Furthermore, the OPOR audiobook has been distributed to several islands in Indonesia, including Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, Bali, and Papua.

Hopefully, OPOR can help more people with disabilities in learning through the development of accessible media, which can be used anytime and anywhere. Hence, we as young leaders, let’s be part of the solution.

 

Growth and Fixed Mindset: How does your mindset contribute to your achievements?

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(Image from https://jnyh.medium.com)

 

The Rabbit and The Tortoise Story

Have you ever read the rabbit and the tortoise fable?

I think most of us are familiar with this common story.

 

There once lived a rabbit who was able to run fast, he liked to brag about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing the rabbit’s boast and arrogance, the slow and steady tortoise challenged him to a speed race. Then, all the animals in the forest gathered to watch.

 

The speed race began, the rabbit ran so fast for a while and then paused to rest. He turned to the tortoise and arrogantly said, “how do you expect to win by walking so slowly?”

Seeing the tortoise’s distance from him, the rabbit lay down in a shady tree and fell asleep.

 

Slow and steady the tortoise constantly going and running without ever giving up until the finish line. When the tortoise was very close to the finish line, all the animals cheered loudly and woke the sleeping rabbit. Suddenly, the rabbit woke up and started running again, but it was too late. The tortoise has crossed the finish line and won the race.

 

Children’s fable “the rabbit and turtle” is a perfect example of having a fixed or growth mindset. Instead of believing himself to be slow, the tortoise challenged himself to fight the rabbit.

On the other hand, the rabbit boasts of his abilities and thinks that he will win the race from the slow and steady tortoise. This is what a fixed mindset looks like.

 

Transferring the story into context, if you were asked do you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset, what would you say?

Do you look like a tortoise? people who demand improvement despite challenges, or people who are stuck and reluctant to develop abilities like a rabbit?

 

Growth vs Fixed Mindset

The concept of a growth and fixed mindset was first introduced by Carol Dweck, a Psychologist at Stanford University. This is proposed to understand the effect of people’s belief on their own abilities, which has implications for learning.

 

People with a fixed mindset believe that their abilities are fixed traits. For example, if you are not good at something, you believe that you will never be good at it – failure is permanent. Besides, people with a growth mindset believe that practice and effort can make their abilities grow and develop over time. It emphasized by Dweck that growth mindset people can understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching, and persistence.

 

For instance, a study of 7th grade students who were taught that abilities can be formed and developed with effort and hard work. It found that students with a growth mindset earned scores higher than students with a fixed mindset.

 

Additionally, people with a growth mindset pay attention to the mistakes made, the next task is to correct those mistakes. Therefore, having a growth mindset can reduce fatigue, depression, anxiety and behavioral problems.

 

What Should I Do to Cultivate A Growth Mindset?

A study found that teaching a growth mindset to students can change the way they think about achievement and ability with intention and effort. Further, the following are several ways to cultivate a growth mindset.

 

Reward The Process

Learn to appreciate the process of doing something rather than just focusing on the final result. Whereas, people often reward those who achieve excellent results, this can be against a growth mindset. In his study Dweck showed that rewarded effort can improve performance. For example, in the simple case of wanting to be a debate competition winner. Instead of focusing solely on “debate winner,” appreciate and enjoy the small steps you take each day to reach the goal (i.e. reading books, study groups, gain more insights, and togetherness).

 

Accept failure as part of the process

It is easy for us to feel disappointed every time we fail at something. There is a famous quote from Michael Jordan (a legendary basketball player) “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed; I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”

 

Failure is part of the learning process. Imagine if Jordan gave up at his first try, we might never know who he is now. Hence, see failures as a means to improvement rather than a means to an end – live at the process.

 

Believe in the Benefit of Self-improvement and Learning.

Ultimately, we can change and become better from the mistakes and failures that we made. Through this case we can learn to be better, and reap the salary of our efforts.

 

From Kalimantan to South Korea An Incredible Story of GKS Awardee during COVID-19 outbreak

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An extraordinary story comes from an Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) English Language Education alumni in 2020. His name is Rahmad Saputra, a recipient of the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) organized by the South Korean government in 2021. GKS aims to provide opportunities for international students to obtain an education at higher education institutions in South Korea to enhance international educational exchange and strengthen relations between countries.

 

Rahmad got the opportunity to continue his master’s education at Kongju National University for two years. Nevertheless, he needs to complete a one-year Korean language course at Daegu University. This language course is mandatory in the first year for every GKS awardee, hoping it can make them easier in daily life and lectures that use Korean.

 

At the initial phase in Korea, Rahmad felt a cultural shock. It was because the weather drastically changed to minus temperatures, the learning environment and friendship, and the difficulty of finding halal food. In order to get halal food, he and his friends need to walk a kilometer to reach a halal restaurant. Additionally, during the first two weeks, Rahmad found it challenging to communicate with society. For instance, he often used body language and online translator applications when he wanted to buy an item or food.

 

On the other hand, he was delighted to be a GKS awardee. He once said that the tradition of studying in Korea is perfect, highly enthusiastic for learning, diligent, and disciplined. Therefore, he thought this tradition was suitable for him – a person with high education exposure. His main daily activity is studying Korean at Daegu University. He had a hard time during the first month in Korea, and he was unable to catch the speech of his language teacher. Further, he asked friends for help to interpret the meaning of the teacher’s order. Besides, when he was in the second month, he began to get used to the Korean language.

 

Regardless of studying the language on campus, he spends the time studying with friends from Indonesia and several other countries. He also cooked Indonesian food to treat homesickness for local cuisine, weekly shopping, and taking walks around. In addition, he also independently learns Korean through YouTube, apps, and e-books that he collects himself from the internet.

 

Finally, Rahmad hoped to become a better person, inspire, and be valuable to others. Furthermore, he advised that people must prepare everything in advance to get a scholarship. Please seek knowledge in lectures seriously, be an active student both in the academic field and in mobility activities outside of academics. Keep working hard, passionate, and fighting with all your heart.

The Grumbling Warrior An Inspirational Story from a Young Teacher Teaching in International School

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Getting a job right after graduating from college is the dream of every student, but not all have the same opportunity, destiny, and time. One of the interesting stories comes from the 2021 Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) English Language Education graduate, who immediately got a job at an international education institution after graduation. She is Laelah Al Mubarokah, a young teacher at Pelita Bangsa School, Cirebon, West Java. This school is a pioneer of the Cambridge international school in Cirebon that applied either national or international curriculum.

Laelah had the opportunity to be a fourth-grade teacher by teaching three subjects, including Information and Communication Technology (ICT), science, and Global Perspective. After she was accepted as a teacher, she truly struggled. It is because she graduated from English education, but she had to teach three subjects beyond her background. Therefore, she had to learn and start from scratch. In addition, the more challenging part is that because the students are categorized as highly motivated and diligent. They often ask questions that she did not expect previously. Laelah once said, “I know the answer, but it feels difficult to simplify the answers so that it is easier to understand.”

She felt a tough challenge in the first and second months of being a teacher because the school treated her to follow international standards at the school. Meanwhile, she was still carried away by the habit during her undergraduate. Further, everyone here works with high expectations. It makes her put more effort into understanding and adjusting to the school’s culture. She even felt down with high expectations from schools, teachers, and parents of students. Gratefully, in this sixth month, she got used to the school’s study habits and successfully adapted to the work environment.

On the other hand, she felt happy and grateful because the transition from undergraduate to work was relatively faster than others. Besides, she was surrounded by open-minded, respectful, and appreciative people. In addition, she found it challenging because 50% of the educators at school are expatriate teachers. Thus, her mindset, teaching skill, and behavior are required to follow international standards.

Laelah believed that she could thrive in that environment well. She hoped not to be complacent with her current achievements. She also advised that working in any field has challenges, so never stop learning, adapt to the environment, be open-minded, and accept criticism.

Let’s Take Care of Each Other: How to Prevent Suicidal Thoughts During the Pandemic

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Written by: Afni Febriani Muzdalifah

This time of pandemic forces us to stay at home and diminish contact or meeting people to prevent the spreading of the virus. This condition sometimes makes us feel lonely and contemplate many things more than ever. Sometimes, when you have a lot of work and the fact that you can’t meet people for the time being, it becomes a problem and leads you to prolonged stress. Some people think that ending their lives is the best solution to end the problems. In previous years, the IASP (International Association of Suicide Prevention) noted that there had been approximately 300 cases of attempted suicide attempts in about 70 countries.

 

In Indonesia, there are still many stigmas about mental health and suicide circulating in the community. It happens because of the lack of knowledge about the importance of mental health, so many people still misunderstand the importance of mental health. We frequently hear that people with mental health disorders lack faith in God. This is one of the examples of a bad stigma that is often caught around us. Stigma and misinformation like this make mental health get worse. We usually recognise that people who want to seek help for their mental condition are afraid of being judged or getting a terrible stigma from the people around them.

 

It is not easy to find professional help or talk to someone about a mental issue. We might feel uncomfortable or ashamed. But in this pandemic, professional services such as psychologists and psychiatrists change their operating methods by using video conferences to meet their patients. We can also use this method to talk about our mental condition to someone we trust and are comfortable with.

 

There are many ways to help your family, friends, and loved ones that may have signs of suicide. The first thing you can do is continuously check their condition by asking how they are doing or simply asking what activities they are enjoying lately. Then always giving them a safe space and listen to their stories,  Don’t judge them even if you think you’re doing it for them.

 

If you are having thinking of suicidal, there are many ways to distract these thoughts. You can do some activities such as writing a diary and writing down your major emotions at the time. Don’t forget to write whatever makes you happy, no matter how small it is. Take a deep breath, and don’t forget to stay hydrated. You can watch something that calms you down, like funny animal videos or rewatching your favourite movie. If you think the things above do not solve your problem, you can seek professional help such as a doctor, therapist, or charity. Don’t be afraid to tell them if you feel something is wrong, no matter how small your problem is. It’s okay to ask for some help. End the stigma. You are not alone.

 

If someone is in a dangerous condition, please don’t hesitate to call emergency service number 119 or go to the emergency room at the nearest hospital. For more information to help others and yourself go check www.intothelightid.org.

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

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Annisa Bunga Maharani

(Top 10 Short Stories English Language Fiesta 2021)

 

Have you ever heard about beat around the bush? It means, we tend to avoid saying what we mean, usually because it is uncomfortable to be said. Perhaps, I was the embodiment of that idioms. I constantly ignore my own feelings and every responsibility that faces me every single day. Something died inside of me since that day, where I couldn’t see the shoulder of my dad, again. Where my mom couldn’t get up from her bed, and the moment where I held her cold hands… my sight suddenly change… into monochrome. Tears won’t fell out, my screams got leaked on my throat and say nothing but silence. Everything suddenly tears apart, leaving me behind with my own shadows. I got flashbacks for a moment, and then suddenly realized that I was in school, waiting for our first math teacher to come into our class.

“I abandoned our today’s math homework.” Says me, staring right into my friend’s eyes, Ken. He glances at me before throwing a heavy book on top of my table, and then continued to say, “Here, you can look at mine, then.”

I got startled when the book drops and leave a huge sound on it. He stares at my eyes, leaving a cold mark before cutting his eye contact with me, and says, “I know, it must be difficult for you since your dad leaves you alone with your mom who nearly died.”

Silence suddenly wrap our conversation. I can see the awkwardness slowly appears in his stares. “Ali…” he suddenly calls my name before miserably staring at me, “You know… it’s already three weeks since I don’t see your smiles again.”

No, not again. I hate that stares. I don’t want to look pathetic in front of my friend, cause it hurts. So I smiled, and nod at him before saying, “If you only wanted me to smile, then you can say so. I can smile for you without hearing an old classic story like that.”

After that, a massive panic was obviously written on his face. But I smiled, deeply, sarcastically. Stares at him for a while, “It’s obviously easy for me to smile when I feel nothing and saw nothing about my future,” says me. He knows it was a sarcastic sentence, but he says nothing about it.

We didn’t talk until our school rings its last bells. But I regret nothing, especially when he brave enough for having the audacity to bring a sensitive story like that. It was a huge disappointment for me when I already struggled enough to forget my unwanted past.

It was silenced, many students already go home but I still have to stay kind of long because of my late assignments. I didn’t pay attention enough when I was walking in the corridor hallway, so I bumped somebody in front of me. It was a girl. A mole below her eyes, and her hands busy enough to fix her wheelchair that fell into the floor. That girl… reminds me a lot of my… mom. She even has the same short hair like my mom. I wanted to help her, but.. she really triggers me with something I don’t wanna remember with.

“If you clashed with someone, it would be appropriate for you to help the person that you clashed with.” Crap, she is nagging me. I got my realization back in the moment where she starts to say a word. My hands suddenly moved and help her wheelchair back into the first place before she bumped with me. Without saying any word, she stares at my eyes, triggers some of my memories until I got chills and turn my face away. “Do I know you?” asked her, speaking softly. But I shake my head instead.

 

She is squinting her eyes at me. “You look at me as if I was a monster or something like that.” She sniffs for a while, probably got offended due to my previous stares. I feel uncomfortable, so I turn my head away before walking away from her. But she suddenly grabs my hands, “I don’t know what’s your name or anything about you, but if you have any problem, you should face it instead of avoiding it. It was a coward response to handle your own problems like that.”

I’m freezing. My hands started to feel cold and my heart bumped faster than before. It feels like I got hit by a hammer right in the middle of my head. It was a perfect storm for me to explode and unleashed my hidden feelings, especially anger. But surprisingly… I got slapped by her words, then I froze again.

“Oh, so I was right, huh.” She smirks at me. “I may look weak because of this wheelchair, but I have a strong will to live. You looked like you have a massive sadness in your thoughts. All I can say is, although we’re just a stranger, I can’t bear the feelings to ignore a depressed person like you. You deserved to be happy. Cause your past doesn’t need you anymore, but your future does.”

Then she leaves, right after hitting the nail on the head. Her shoulder slowly disappeared her hair blend with the darkness at the end of the hallway. The sounds of her wheelchair slowly turned into silenced and got replaced with the rain noises. This is it, my moment of realization.

I lost both of my parents, ignore my responsibilities, hurting my only one friend. I… started to lost my own future. Is it the end? Should I continue? Is there any second chance for me?

“I heard it.”

It was Ken’s voice. He’s here, listening to my conversation with the girl since the beginning. I gulped, slowly turning back my head and stares at Ken’s eyes. He’s right behind me, watching me stares at the floor with blank eyes. He knows my emptiness. He knows it all.

“Do you think… I’m gonna leave you like that? I’m not that evil, Ali.” he started to open the conversation again. As if he’s trying to unlock the prison of my misery. He’s trying to help me… but I always denied it. I only stare at him and say nothing, tears slowly falling into my cheeks, eyes turned as red as tomatoes, and voice crack fully wrapped my throat. He started to hug me like the first time I got hit by a volleyball on my face, he comforted me like the usual day. He is never changed, but I’am.

“It’s okay to cry, you deserve it. I prefer to see you cry, rather than a fake smile. Stop making me worried…” he said, with a little crack in his voice. I only cry and say nothing.

Something… change inside of me since that day. The moment where I fully realized, every cloud has a silver lining. I may not know what could happen in the future, nobody knows what the future holds anyway. But at least I know… that I still have a loyal person beside me until this time. I still have a chance and a hope to hold. I only focused on the monochrome and dark things that already happened to me, when colorful and so many beautiful things already waiting for me in the future.

A Plastic Bag Of Fish

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Sindu Wanata

(Top 10 Short Stories English Language Fiesta 2021)

 

In a village there lived a fisherman named Asep. Asep lives in a simple and small house with his wife and child. Every night, after Isya prayer, Asep goes to sea to look for fish, then returns home before subuh’s call to prayer. Asep is a good and generous fisherman. He was diligent in worship and never left the congregational prayer in the mosque, even the sunnah prayers he did regularly.

After returning from fishing, if the catch is more than enough, Asep always sets aside some fish to be distributed to people who are in trouble or less fortunate. Asep put the fish in a plastic bag and hung it on the door of a poor villagers house. He did it because he felt pity for the poor. This Asep did when the villagers were still asleep, so the villagers who got the plastic bag containing the fish were confused, because they didn’t know who distributed the fish.

Villagers that got plastic bags filled with fish secretly gathered in one of the villagers’ houses, out of curiosity about the incident. then one of them proposes to do night patrol. After a long discussion, they agreed to take turns daily night patrols for men starting at 23:00 PM and stopping at subuh’s call to prayer.

On the first day of the night patrol, the villagers had not found anyone distributing plastic bags containing fish. Because at that time Asep was seriously ill so he could not find fish in the sea. for several days, the asep did not heal. Villagers who carry out patrols are almost desperate, because they can’t find the person they are looking for, and no one else distributes fish to villagers.

A few days later, Asep who had recovered from his illness decided to go back to fishing in the sea and he caught a lot of fish that day, so he could share some of his fish to the villagers. Villagers who had felt desperate and almost stopped to do night patrols, finally that night they managed to find the person who distributed fish to the villagers. At 03.30 am the villagers saw someone hanging a plastic bag on the door of one of the villagers’ houses. Villagers immediately approached the person, they were surprised that the person who had been distributing plastic bags filled with fish was Asep. Villagers are surprised because to their knowledge Asep is a poor person and not a rich person.

Asep who was distributing fish was surprised by the arrival of the villagers, who turned out to be doing night patrols. Then the villagers asked Asep, why did Asep do this. Then Asep replied, “I distributed the fish because I felt pity for the villagers who did not have enough money to buy fish. Then one of the villagers asked, “Doesn’t your life also lack?” Then Asep replied “Fellow human beings we should share with each other under any conditions.” After hearing Asep’s explanation, the villagers were amazed and then hugged him and thanked Asep for having distributed fish for free.

The next day, news of Asep’s generosity and kindness had spread. After hearing the news, Pak Heru, who is one of the rich people in Asep’s village and owns several restaurants in the city, immediately went to Asep’s residence and offered to cooperate with him. Pak Heru asked Asep to be one of the fish suppliers in his restaurant. then Asep gladly accepted the offer of cooperation from Mr. Heru.

Since then Asep’s life began to change. His income is increasing every week and his economic life is improving. Asep even opens up job opportunities for villagers who don’t have jobs and are in trouble. Asep also provides free food for villagers every Friday.

 

 

School                   :

Woman Behind the Cell

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Btari Edlyana L

(Top 10 Short Stories English Language Fiesta 2021)

 

*This is a work of fiction. Names, events, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any

resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“There they are! Catch them! The Mr. and Mrs. Thief.”

Slam! “You’re under arrest!”

“By committing heinous crimes, theft and taking a life they shall be given the appropriate punishment. Execution will be done tomorrow night. This will be the end of today’s court.”

Clank! Cell door closed. March 26th, is the very day that the famous thieves ‘Mr. and Mrs. Thief’s’ crimes have come to an end. As well as their cell that will witness their last moment before being executed. After being locked in the prison, Mrs. Thief who’s standing in the room looks around, only to find that she’s alone. The couple was placed in different cells for men and women, most likely somewhere quite far from each other. The only person she can find is the guard outside of the cell. She sits down on the ground slowly.

Mrs… Thief? Is that what they call me now? Is that supposed to be my real name? No.. I-i don’t

think so…

Then what is it?

 

The poor woman is trying to figure her name out. Flashback starts filling her head to find the answer. Starting when she was just a village girl who was born in a humble family. A girl with big ambition. The girl yearned for knowledge, she even worked as a maid to pay the academy bills. Happiness is what she remembers even though life wasn’t easy and tiring. She was happy… Not until her parents arranged her to a marriage on her thirteenth birthday.

Thump! Thump! The sound of her fast heartbeat echoes in her ear as she remembers a painful memory where her dream was ruined and ended right there and then. The marriage.. She knew

nothing about it and the next thing she realized was that she had been separated from her parents in a foreign place with an unknown person. It was her new home and husband.

He was a man of a few words, he wasn’t that loving of a person. He always calls her with ‘hey, you, or wife’. Never with her name for some reason. But she was fine with it, and he didn’t do anything by force and always asked for her concerns. It was normal, he went to work and she did house chores like how it should be. They had everything they needed.

So why did we start stealing?

 

Bankruptcy is the biggest cause. Her husband was a businessman, but he got scammed by his people. Failed by an attempt to revive his business, all their capital began to run out and they fell into poverty to the point where they won’t be able to eat for 2 days straight. Finding a job with a big amount of money wasn’t an easy matter for those who weren’t highly educated. There were debts to pay.

This is the starting point of their crimes. Her husband was the first to steal, she caught him. But instead of stopping him, she started helping him cover the tracks instead. She knew that they had reasons, so it’s okay. It was for the better. Little by little they grew greedy and because of their reliable plan, they began to steal with larger amounts. They were uncatchable and living a fun and adrenaline free life for six years known as ‘Mr. and Mrs. Thief’ among people. Unfortunately they are only allowed to live that life for six years. They were caught when they accidentally took the life of a person who was trying to fight back.

And here I am…

 

“Pfft.. pfft.. AHAHAHAHA!!” She laughed loudly. “Guess nobody really does know what the future holds.” She lowers her gaze to scribbled papers around her. The results of the papers and pen she requested yesterday and proof that she didn’t sleep a wink.

If that day they didn’t sell me! If that day I stayed for the academy! If, if that day i didn’t marry

him… would my life not end like this?

 

…Ha, why would I ask such an obvious question. Of course it would. But what’s the use of regrets now.

 

She stands up and brushes her short hair with her hands. Clean and straighten her clothes. For the last time, she at least wants to look good in front of her husband. “Mrs. Florent.” the guard

gives her a blindfold. “You have the right to wear it or not, the same for your husband. Your choice.” the guard explained. “Yes…” she faintly smiles .

“Let’s go.” The guard leads her.

Tap… tap… tap… their footsteps echoes as they walk to the punishment room. The hallway is cold and dark, like it has no end. She stays silent until she arrives at the door. She takes a deep breath to relax before entering. This is it.

 

Creaaakk… doors open. She can see her husband enter from another side of the room, no blindfold in both of them. A few steps they take and at last they meet under the moonlight that enters from the big gap in the wall. They look at each other for a while and smile at each other even though it’s a hard thing to do.

“Acacia…” her eyes widened and shocked to know the fact that her husband calls her by her name.

“So you do know my name, Erick.. Or should I say, Mr. Thief?” She smirks then looks down… by a few minutes later she jumps up to hug him. Her tears falling, he can feel her body trembling in his hug.

He takes out a blindfold and places it on her eyes. Yes, he had predicted that his stubborn wife wouldn’t be wearing a blindfold so he brought one for her. “In three…” he closes her ears. “two…” her sight is dark, she can’t see a thing nor hear anything. But there’s warmth she feels on her forehead. A goodbye kiss it is, she places her hand on his and calmly closes her eyes. “I love you…” “One! Fire!”

.

.

.

| Acaia Florent (1946-1965) |

Erick Florent (1941-1965)

“A letter has been found in the wife’s cell.” says one of the guards. “What does it say?”

We are wrong, I know that since we started our first evil deed. I was greedy for not stopping him and helped him instead. No matter what the reason, it is not justifiable for someone to commit a crime. One deserves what they did. The one who will survive is the one who wants to rise, and unfortunately we are not one of them.

Acacia Florent, 1965. The end.

This story is made to discuss Indonesian problems regarding the common practice of underage marriage in Indonesia. Based on data from SUSENAS on Child Marriage in 2018, it was estimated that 1,220,900 girls married before the age of 18, placing Indonesia in eighth place with the highest number of child marriages in the world. And almost all of them who are married dropout of school.

Education is important. Without it, it can be di cult for someone to distinguish between right and wrong and might lead to crime. The story above is just a representation of what might happen. But the reality can be even worse. Wise readers will not imitate the scene above.

Fin~

Nobody

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Millati Hanifa

(Top 10 Short Stories English Language Fiesta 2021)

 

Luna let out a long breath. She’s wondering how long she has been treated like this, like an animal. She wanted to get along with her friend, but the fact was not like what she expects.

Another paper landed on her hair, which truthfully hurt her inside. She couldn’t believe anyone in this school. Not anymore.  She thought everyone was the same, they’re mean. She tried to ignore them, but she couldn’t stop tears from flowing from her emerald eyes. She wiped her tears roughly.

“Ha-ha! Look! She is crying! So pathetic!” Shout one of her bullies. Luna wanted to get up and punched her bully right on their face. But she got nobody to protect her and she didn’t want the situation to get worst, so she just silently crying, not doing anything.

The first bell of break finally rang, Luna quickly stood up from her seat and ran to the rooftop. When she finally reached the rooftop of her school, the sky greeted her with nice, warm sun and cloudy blue sky. Sweat covered her milky, reddened face.  She leaned her back on the wall behind her to rest herself. She crouched down, buried her face between her knees. Tears flowing again from her eyes, she’s silently sobbing.

“I’m tired…” Luna spoke to herself.

Luna kept crying in her silence. Nobody was around, no one comforting her. She’s on her own, but after a while of crying, she finally felt better. She tried to give herself another spirit and telling herself that everything will be okay.

The sky is somehow getting cloudier, so Luna decided to go back inside her school building. She lost in her thoughts when walking back to her classroom, accidentally bumped into someone. Luna and that person startled at each other and fell to the ground. Luna winced in pain. But that person suddenly stood up without helping Luna. Luna stood up by herself, cleaned her skirt from dust.

Time goes by, the sky is getting redder, the sun started to hide its shine. The bell rang for the last time before all students rushed outside, including Luna. Her hair shined with the sunset’s shine; the breeze made her hair flow beautifully. Luna walked alone on her way home, carrying her little backpack.

“I’m home,” Luna said in a low tone, knocking on the front door, waiting for the door to get opened.

“This late? You come home this late?! What makes you come home this late?!”

The yelling again! Luna just bit her bottom lip. She didn’t dare to say anything, especially to her father who seemed to be drunk.

“I’m sorry, the bus was too crowded,” Luna said as she walked into her house. She hasn’t finished her sentence, when a slap flew right on her left cheek, leaving her shocked and whined in pain, silently.

“You ungrateful kid! Go to your damn room! You’re such a burden to this family!”

Luna shook her head, rushing to her room, slamming the door hard, and locked the door. She threw herself on the bed, burying her face on her favorite fluffy human-size fox doll.

She eventually calmed down after she cried. she looked outside from the window in her room, seeing some water drops through the glass. it rained heavily, soaking up her city. Luna raised her head, her face looked disheveled, her eyes slightly swollen. She felt tired crying, so she decided to sleep, not wanting to eat anything before she fell into a deep slumber.

The sound of alarm rang made Luna stretching her body, rubbing her sleepy and swollen eyes before she got up from the bed and decided to take a quick bath and walked since today was her day off from school. She wore her yellow hoodie. It was a nice afternoon, a peaceful day for a walk at the park, at least it was what she thought. But unfortunately, she saw a girl was about to jump off the bridge. Luna couldn’t help but slowly approach the girl who was at the bridge, panic painted on her face. She couldn’t do anything but screamed from a distance to stop her.

“Hey! Don’t do it please.” The girl looked at Luna, her eyes are dull, with no shine or sign of life there. Luna stopped for a moment before stepping closer. Luna stared at the girl’s face, she looked lifeless. The girl slowly turned around to Luna giving a ‘why?’ expression. Luna smiled, tried to encourage the girl. The girl thinly smiled back at Luna, then start to tell Luna all her woes. Luna listened to the girl attentively and tried to give support to whatever the girl said.

“I feel better now. Thank you for listening to my story.” Said the girl as she walked away from Luna. Her silhouette began to disappear with the distance. Luna let out a long sigh. She wiped the sweat away from her face. She’s glad that the girl felt better but somehow, Luna herself didn’t feel better at all. Luna put her chin on her palm, watched some birds flew past her. Her hair flowed following where the breeze going. The sky is turning blue, no white fluffy cloud covered the sun’s shine and the cicadas start buzzing their sounds. Luna having a thought to stay on the bridge for another moment to relax.

Arriving at home, she saw her household in a total mess, and Luna was the one who had to keep do all of the households.

Another day greeted Luna.  She’s the first one who arrived at the school. She inhaled, hoping no one will disturb her today. She decided to put her bag in the classroom and chilling on the rooftop while waiting for the first alarm to rang. When she arrived at the rooftop, she saw a person who about to jump from the rooftop. She screamed towards that mysterious person. The person turned around and saw Luna.

As soon the person stared at Luna, Luna pulled the person from the rooftop cliff, told the person to sit and calm. Long brown hair covered that person’s face. Luna sat beside her, and that person started telling her story, what thing she’s been through.

“I feel better after telling you this.” the long-haired girl stood up, removing some dust from her skirt, and left Luna alone on the rooftop. Luna sighed. She saved another person’s life, but she couldn’t save herself, and nobody wanted to do it for her.

Since that day, Luna always at least saw one person about to do the same stupid thing, and she was there to listen and be a shoulder for them.

That day, it happened again. A boy stood up on the edge of the rooftop. Tried to end his life. Luna tried to give her support like she usually did, but it’s not working somehow. When the person was getting closer to their death, Luna panicked but mentally tired. Her eyes were tearing and said, “If you want to go then go on! Your pitiful expression is just too much for me!” as Luna fell to her knees.

Surprisingly, that person started to step back and calmly said, “Maybe today is just not my day.”. The boy walked to the door and left the surprised Luna alone on the rooftop.

The sky began becoming red, the sun started to set down from the sky, the birds flew back to their nest. Luna walked toward the bridge, the place where she saw a girl tried to end her life before.

Luna looked down from the bridge. She seemed to hear the deep river calling her name to jump down, and was somehow hypnotized by it. Luna climbed up the barrier, still looking down on the deep river below her.

“I’m gonna jump now and be free.”

As Luna about to jump down, the surrounding became like slow-motion, someone grabbed Luna by her hand. Luna turned around, her eyes widened, but it was all too late! That person who grabbed Luna by her hand couldn’t pull her up. Her body was slowly falling to the lake. Before she drowned in the lake, she saw a vision of her late grandmother, offering her a hand.  Luna brightened up and took the offer. She slowly closed her both eyes, smiling painted on her face.

Several days later, Luna opened her eyes, finding that she’s in white room. Her wrist was injected by infusion and her right hand was held by her big sister who felt asleep beside her bed.

“I’m still alive…? Or is it all just a dream?”

Its not a dream.

 

 

 

Hi, you’ve reached the end of the story, now its time for you to meet the writer, my name is Millati Hanifa Putri, I schooled in SMAN 1 Temon, my hobby is drawing and listening to music, as you know my point of writing this story is to remind you how dangerous if mental health not taken seriously☺