The After The Rain
A New Beginning

At half-eleven p.m., the goods had been raised all over the truck. Papa walked to the truck and got into the passenger seat. Papa will be the guide for the truck driver, while Kinara is assigned to drive the car with Mama and tail behind.

Kinara looked back for a moment. Staring at the large door in front of him with a pushy look. The door that used to greet him warmly was now as if waving a hand to take his departure which would certainly not return.

His gaze then turned to Mama's small garden. Some of the flowers planted there seem to start blooming. Supposedly, they can stay longer to care for the flowers until they fall. But what power, those pretty flower petals might be about to die in just the next few days.

Once again Kinara sighed. Hurriedly he turned around, walking briskly towards the car before his tears trickled back and he grew heavier to leave this house. 

After making sure no one was left behind, Kinara got into the car, overtaking Mama who was already sitting in the passenger seat. Unlike Kinara who seemed to be hoarse the day left their dwelling, Mama looked much more steadfast. The woman did not appear to be crying at all. In fact, when Kinara turned her head back and forth, Mama did not falter at all. The woman continued walking away without hesitation.

As her foot touched the accelerator, Kinara's feelings were mixed. It was hard to step on the gas pedal. Because Kinara knew, once this car drove, he would not have a chance to retreat again. But in the end Kinara continued to drive his car.

"It's okay, everything's gonna be fine."

Kinara could barely hold back the crying as Mama touched her hand that was on the wheel. Kinara desperately held back the tightness that began to reach his chest. Convince yourself time and time again that everything will be fine. Because it should be, everything can still go well. As long as there is a mother. As long as there is Papa. As long as Kinara still had people she cared about and also loved herself, Kinara was sure everything would be fine.

"Yes, Ma. Everything will be fine."

...****************...

The rented house that Papa rented for the next year was obviously much smaller than their previous home. There is no spacious yard that can be used as a park as well as a parking space for two to three cars. The yard in front of the old gray painted rented house was only fit for parking one car and a place to put clothesline. 

Kinara took out the suitcase from inside the trunk. Dragging him through the gravel-filled yard and then stopped in front of the rented door that was wide open. Papa and the truck driver were already busy carrying luggage into the house, while Mama seemed to help direct where the items should be placed. 

For a moment, Kinara watched the prospective new residence carefully. At first glance, the house in front of him is not too bad. The building looks new and well-maintained. The paint color is also neutral, not tacky like some houses on the left-right side whose color tends to be mingjreng. Then, although there is no spacious yard to be made a small garden, on the terrace of this house there are already several pots of colorful flower plants. Maybe you just need to add a few that fit their taste.

Then, as Kinara turned her head to look around, she saw four mothers looking at her from the house on the left side of her rented house with a difficult look. Their lips seemed to be muttering. Kinara was sure he was being made into a talking point right now.

Lazy to see the annoying sight for longer, Kinara decided to go inside the house, scrapping her hard-earned suitcase.

"Put the suitcase over here, here's your room." Mama's orders while pointing to a room at the end near the bathroom. 

Kinara just complies. He immediately went into the room that Mama pointed at. The pungent aroma of room scents soon overtook the sense of smell when Kinara first entered. The room was not as big as his room before. Only fit filled a single bed, one medium size wooden cabinet and a set of study tables. The empty space between the study table and mattress can still be used for prayer. There is no bathroom inside. Next to his mattress was a small window that allowed him to look at the neighboring house next to his house. Maybe it's only 10 meters.

Kinara was about to put her clothes into the wooden cabinet, but stopped because she was not sure if the closet was clean of dust or not. Not that arrogant, but Kinara is indeed allergic to excess dust. If there is too much dust around him, he will sneeze continuously until it makes his nose red. Sometimes if the allergy is severe enough, he will also experience a rash on certain parts of his body such as on the neck and the area around the face. Lucky when he got the task of packing the goods from the warehouse, the items were already cleaned by Mama and Papa so that not much dust was left behind.

Eventually, Kinara decided to delay her intention of unpacking the suitcase. With a slow step, he walked out of the room. Following Mama who was tidying up some cardboard that had just been dropped by Papa.

"Our stuff turned out to be this much, huh?" he asked when he realized the living room was full of cardboard in various sizes. While living in the old house, Kinara did not feel that their belongings existed this much. Because indeed most of the items they brought here had only been hidden in the warehouse so far out of reach of his eyes.

"Most of your things as a child." Mama says. The smile that the woman was singing managed to make Kinara's heart again feel pained. Why at times like this, do you smile more? Wouldn't it be better if Mama was crying like her?

"Mama want to finish the closet in your room, so you can enter and enter the clothes there. You please help Papa unload these boxes and start arranging urgent furniture first, yes. The rest let Mama do it."

"Yes." Yeah."

After that, Mama walked away. Leaving behind a long silence encompassed Kinara and Papa. To be honest, Kinara still did not know how to start a conversation with Papa. Because since yesterday, he and Papa did not greet each other. Papa did not try to talk to her at all, perhaps too scared and his heart was filled with guilt. While Kinara himself did not want to talk to Papa because he was busy fixing his chaotic feelings.

Finally, because none of them wanted to open their voices first, the activity of cleaning up the goods they passed in silence. Cardboard by cardboard is dismantled, the contents are removed and begin to be arranged to the right place.

As the items began to occupy their respective places, the cracks in Kinara's heart grew wider and more painful.

Lord, please strengthen me.