Petrichor
By: Dilaika Septy
Tags: Life, Storytelling, Novel, Romance, Petrichor

Packing up Memories

At least twilight has a way of saying goodbye,

not just leaving without a message.

The sun glints on the surface of the lake inside the campus which is located 10 km to the west of the city centre. Golden light bounced off the surface of the water that rippled because of the evening wind that gently blew across the surface. The tiny watch that is always wrapped around her left-hand shows the time of 17:40. For a moment she left her cubicle and chose to enjoy the change of day to night from behind the thick glass that borders the cyber space of the library with the outside. The third floor of the glass-walled tubular building is indeed good enough to see the orange tinge in the twilight sky until it turns dark as it hugs the earth. Accompanied by a line of cloudy clouds slowly taking over the sky. For her, twilight is a romance that completes a change.

Cring! A message arrived on her cell phone which she placed next to a booklet about a campus. She was only half reading the booklet while surfing the internet for more detailed information. She turned to her cellphone screen which was lit, then immediately opened the message that had just come in.

Ps Senen Station, 09.00 pm

See you there :)

At the same time, she smiled. A trip awaits her tomorrow night. She likes to travel because on every trip there is at least one longing that pays off. Her eyes were shining out of the window again, it was getting dark and the garden lights from the Graduate School across the lake were starting to illuminate some of gazebos that were there. She turned to tidy up her things. She had to come home soon.

Her steps were light, leaving the library and crossing the road to the Faculty of Agricultural Technology. The corridors she passed were quite busy on weekends like this. The conversation of groups of students who sat in a circle at several corners, buzzing filled the ceiling of the corridor. Pros and cons discussions about campus policies, various big campus events, or just hanging out with friends from the same hometown. This atmosphere is still very familiar to her. Her memory swirling toward her busy days long gone. Time always runs much faster than imagined. She continued her steps straight towards the Media Centre Corridor until she finally left the Faculty of Agriculture.

She continued to walk towards the small door that divides the campus from the outside world. The very famous gate on campus, the Berlin gate. She arrived at the student activity centre on the ring road behind the campus. Traffic jams that always occur in the Babakan area with most of the region names begin with the word ‘Babakan’. Babakan Lebak, Babakan Tengah, Babakan Lio and others Babakan.

“TIN! TIN!” The double honking startled her and forced her to move sideways, clinging to the motorbike parked by the side of the road so that the cranky transporter could pass right away. She nags to herself a lot, so where am I supposed to walk ?!

She accelerated her pace because it had just been raining, she reached her place after half running to avoid the rain. But still, rain-soaked her arm. She put her backpack on the table. There is a wooden frame framing a person’s face which she has edited into vector art as a graduation gift. Completion of studies on her campus is not measured by graduation but by the completion of a thesis exam. Actually, it’s solely to speed up the euphoria of graduation and also self-reward after months of doing research that drains energy and thoughts.

In the end, graduation was only a half-day ceremony, it’s uncertain when it will happen depending on how quickly you can get on the waiting list. Two weeks has passed from final exam, but the picture still hasn’t arrived at its owner. Her cell phone vibrated on the table, taking her attention away from the face on the frame. The name “Acha” that appeared on her cellphone screen at that time. Nasha or her nickname is Acha, a friend she has known since her second year. She immediately picked up the phone before the first ring finished.

“Have you arrived home, Cha?” she asked matter-of-factly.

“I’m still on the train, I’ll be arriving soon. What time do you leave tomorrow? “ Acha asked her back. Acha left this afternoon and it took about 4 hours by train from Bogor to Sukabumi. They underwent their final thesis examination at the same time about 2 weeks ago, finished taking care of administration and signed up for graduation, they decided to go home. Take a little break before deciding what to do when they graduate from college.

The door of her room was wide open, then she stepped out into the open space in front of her room. There were three wooden chairs and a small table. That night the sky was quite clear. The lights from the densely populated housing became the scenery in front of her.

“Tomorrow night, I will go. Ten o’clock if I’m not mistaken. “ she replied while sitting on one of the wooden chairs there.

Acha doesn’t say anything.

"Why is it so sad? We will meet again, right? " she continued when their situation suddenly felt strange. Yesterday, it seemed like she still met up with her friends. But after this, everything will be different. One by one they undergo final thesis examination and then one by one they start to leave. Until later, some of them will be gathered again at the graduation ceremony.

"Insyaallah ... we will graduate together, right? Are you forget about that?!" said Acha and they laughed for a while. "Are you going home with Edwin?"

"Yes, so there is a friend who is noisy on the way. Usually, I travel alone."

"Have you met him?"

"Not yet." she sighed.

"This morning I saw him at the dept," said Acha. She didn't say anything, Acha only heard another heavy sigh. "Are you sure you don't have anything to tell him?"

"I don’t know, we’ll see." she gave up denying her heart. On the one hand, she wanted things to end just like that, there was no need for a settlement. After all, they never started anything.

"It’s hard to meet him again later ..." Acha joked and she laughed dryly at that.

"Right, but I thought he will come to the graduation ceremony, " she answered lightly.

"Yes, but it’s still a long time. Two months later."

"Then what if in two months?!" she still tried to dodge it even though she knew exactly where Acha’s conversation was going.

"Are you sure you won’t miss him?" then Acha giggled softly.

She snorted, "Uh, of course not!"

"Hmmm ... okay! It’s up to you." Acha gave up. "Vayla ..." she said earnestly this time.

"Hm?" Vayla muttered briefly.

"Don’t regret it ..." Acha continued and Vayla sighed again.

Their conversation ended because Acha had to get ready to get off the train. She put her cell phone on the table. Looking at this rarely starry city sky. The night wind blew slowly and crept into the recesses of memory.

Frozen.

She had to quickly pack up, not only things but also memories.