Indonesian short story

The old man and the little boy

By : Nirwati Yapardi

They were walking along the street, the old man and his seven year old grandson. The old man was a sackful of discarded junk to be sold on his hunched back. The boy, Abe, was carrying a few unsold newspapers.

It was dusk, time for them to go to home. Suddenly Abe saw something in one of the shop windows that made him grab his grandfather’s arm.

Grandpa, ”He said,” look at the rocking chair! Isn’t it beautiful? It must be very expensive. I’d like to see you sit in it while drinking your cup of coffee. ”He could see it so clearly. He pressed his face against the shop window and said” I’ve got some money saved, but it’s probably not enough. But I promise I’ll buy that chair for you one day.”The old man smiled gently at his grandchild. He was touched by the boy’s words.”Ah,you poor thing!” He said to himself.”If only your parents hadn’t abandoned you as baby. Who knows, your life might have been so different.”His wrinkled hand caressed Abe’s hair. Secretly he wiped away his tears. He didn’t want the boy to see them.

“that’s very nice of you my son, ”he said, ”but you don’t have to you’d better save your money for school. I might not be able to pay for your studies one day. You have to study hard so you can have a good job later. Then you will have to work hard. Life is hard ,you know.”

Suddenly a loud voice came from the shop:”don’t touch that window with your dirty hands, boy!”It was shopkeeper who was standing at the door of his shop.”I’m sorry, sir, ”the old man said, ”my grandson didn’t do it on purpose,”.”Excuse me, sir, ”Abe interrupted, pointing to the rocking chair, ”how much is that chair?”

“why? Do you want to buy it? Do you have a lot of money ?”Asked the shopkeeper mockingly.

“not right now. But maybe later.”

“Then you’d better leave at once before I call the security guard!”

“lets go, child, ”the old man said hoarsely. Then quickly walked away. Then the old man said, ”son, if you ever become rich, don’t look down on poor people. People don’t always stay rich or poor. Life is like a wheel, turning round and round. Sometimes you are on the top and sometimes you are at the bottom. Life is not enternal, we won’t live forever. we mustn’t be proud of anything, because eventually everything goes back to the maker. When the day came to face him, we won’t be bringing anything with us, just like when we first came into this world.”

Abe nodded, his young face looking serious, trying to understand what is grandfather was telling him.

Meanwhile, it was getting dark. The wind ,which before had been blowing gently, was now getting stronger. Dark clouds were rolling across the sky. Then the rain came down in buckets it was hard for them to find shelter. Besides, they didn’t to wait until the rain stopped. They didn’t want to get home too late. So they walk on until they finally arrived home cold and soaking wet.

Grandpa, all my newspapers are wet. ”Abe said. ”the agency will be very angry to me.”

“just tell them the truth, son. I’m sure they’ll understand. ”the old man tried to comfort the body. ”let’s wash and change clothes.”

Afterwards, the old man lay down on his bamboo bed to rest. Abe took out his books and prepared his lessons for school. By the light of a candle, he studied until midnight. Tired and sleepy, he finally lay down beside his grandfather.  When he lightly touched the old man’s body, he was surprised to find how warm it felt. His grandpa must have a fever!

“Grandpa, are you sick?”

“I’m all right, son.  Don’t worry.  Just bring me a small towel and a bowl of warm water, please.”

Abe quickly got the towel and warm water and carefully attended to sick old man.

“Here let me put this towel on your forehead.” He wasn’t the same as other boys his age who could enjoy nice weekends with their families, sharing happy and sad time together. He was already mature for his age. Exhausted, Abe finally fell asleep at this grandpa’s bedside.

It was around seven thirty when he got up the next morning. He was late for school, but he had to take care of his grandfather first. The old man was still asleep. Abe made porridge for him to eat for lunch later. He remembered that Ali, One of his friends at school, had a father who was a doctor. He might need to ask for his help. Before he left, Abe felt the old man’s forehead. It wasn’t as warm as before. Not wanting to wake up him, he tiptoed out the room.

When he got home that afternoon, he couldn’t find his grandfather anywhere, worried and confused, he went out to find him. He decided to go to the place where the old man usually collected junk that could still be used or sold. At the dump, Abe found him picking some empty cans

“Grandpa!what are you doing here?”

“Oh, hi, son! I’m all right now. How was school?”

Walking back to home, Abe held on to this grandfather’s arm

“Grandpa my friend is coming with his father. He’s doctor. He’s going to examine you. He’s nice, he likes helping people.”

“I hope you’ll be a doctor, too.”

“I hope I can. If I ever become a doctor. I want to be like him”

“Well, you’ll never know you might get lucky. When he did you say they were coming?”

“This afternoon”

“Oh… how kind of them ,but I don’t think I want to see a doctor.”

Of course grandpa,”

Later that after afternoon it started to rain again. The old man called out to his grandson, ”son, i’m going to lay down a bit .be sure to wake me up when your friend and his father arrive.”

While waiting for the visitors, Abe did his homework for school .when he heard a knock on the door, he got up and opened it

“Hi, Ali, Please come in .where is your dad?”

“I’m sorry my father was called away by the hospital. But don’t worry, We can go to another doctor. I’ve got money.”

“”Oh, thank god. Where he is now?”

“He ‘s sleeping .do you want to see him?”

“No, I don’t want to disturb him maybe I’ll see him next time. Well, if you need any help, just come to my house. I’ve go to go now, I’m not yet done with my home work”

“Thanks for coming, pal.”

“okay, see you!”

Late in the evening, when he was about to go to bed, he heard his grandpa call him. The old man was again hot with fever.

“grandpa, I’m going to call the doctor.”

“You don’t need to, son.” He spoke in a weak and trembling voice.

“But, you’re sick grandpa.”

“No. You’re not. I’ll call for help. Just stay here.”

As Abe was rushing towards the door, he heard a big bump behind him. His grandfather had fallen out of the bed. Abe came running back.

“Oh my God, why did you get up?!”he cried anxiously, ”your fever is getting worse. I have to call the doctor!”

“Abe, ”the old man whispered, almost inaudibly, ”take good care of yourself. I won’t be with you anymore.”

Abe felt the tears running down his cheeks. ”Grandpa, please don’t leave me!”he cried, shacking his grandfather’s body.”I haven’t bought you a rocking chair yet. ”But the old man  lay still and said nothing.

The night was very quiet. Only the sound of crickets could be heard. The night became very cold, as cold as the body on the floor before him