Creative Nonfiction Prompt #32 - Introducing Nature to The City Boy

Four years ago, when I was still a high school student, my friends and I often visited the Wanasadi forest, which is located in the Gunung Kidul district. The Wanasadi Forest is sacred in my village. The forest is believed to be the residence of the creatures that guard our village. Even though city people think it's a myth, my villagers believe it from generation to generation. Even legends about knights who have supernatural powers are still in the forest.

When the holiday season came, a cousin of one of my friends came to our village. His name is Rudi, he is the same age as us, and he comes from the city of Jakarta. One day, my friend took his cousin named Rudi to play in the river. My friends and I often play in the river and catch fish. The river is located at the foot of the mountain, on the outskirts of the Wanasadi forest. While at the river, Rudi often looked at the Wanasadi forest and looked at it in awe.

"Hey Rudi, what are you looking at?" ask me.

"Why are there so many trees covered with white cloth there?" asked Rudi.

"The villagers think it's a sacred forest. The elders here surround the forest with that cloth?" Answer me.

"What's in the woods?" Ask Rudi.

"The villagers believe that an unseen entity is in that forest and protecting our village?" Answer me.

"Is it true?" Ask Rudi.

"I do not know, I have never met and seen supernatural beings" I replied.

"Have you ever been into the woods?" Ask Rudi.

"Often. We often go to the top of the mountain to see the view of the village from above" I replied.

"Wow, that's cool," Rudi said.

Seeing Rudi's amazed expression at my explanation, it seemed he was interested in exploring the Wanasadi forest and climbing the mountain peaks. I also asked him to do that. But we are not like mountain climbers who have modern equipment when climbing and exploring the forest. We only brought wood and wore sandals. We didn't bring any special equipment, because we are used to playing in the Wanasadi forest.

When entering the forest area, Rudi was nervous and scared. Perhaps this was his first time in the wild. He admired the plants in the forest a lot. It turns out that Rudi knows a lot about plants. He told me about the rare plants and herb gardens growing in the forest. Even I don't know about the herbs Rudi mentioned. While still walking, Rudi started to feel tired and thirsty. So, we walked towards the Blembem spring. In this forest, I know of three springs that are the source of clean water in our village.

While drinking water from the spring, Rudi was surprised that we drank water that had not been boiled. I told Rudi that we often take water here and drink it straight. Rudi was afraid of stomach aches and diarrhea, but he had to drink because he would become dehydrated on the way to the top of the mountain. While resting in the spring area, we met Mrs. Sri. She is the ranger of our village. Mrs. Sri is a 53-year-old woman. That said, Mrs. Sri is one of the rangers who often check the plants in the forest and cleans the drains that are clogged with leaves. Because the spring water here will be channeled to the village for the needs of the villagers and the rice fields.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" Ask Mrs. Sri.

"We want to take Rudi to the top Mom" I replied.

"I've never seen it before," said Mrs. Sri.

"He is my cousin Ma'am" Tejo replied.

"Yes, ma'am, I'm from Jakarta and want to play here," said Rudi.

"Okay, be careful playing in the forest, this forest has lots of ghosts. So don't play here carelessly," said Mrs. Sri.

"Yes ma'am" we replied in unison.

Mrs. Sri took out a plastic bag and took out some of the guavas she picked from the forest. She shared the guava with us. After enjoying the guava, we continued our journey to the top of the mountain. Rudi suddenly needs to pee. When he wanted to pee behind a tree, Rudi was surprised and ran toward us. Turns out he saw a large monitor lizard. I smiled to hold back my laughter because he was very scared to see a monitor lizard. I also told him to pee elsewhere. For us, seeing large monitor lizards is common.

When almost there, there are large rocks and large woods that are slightly mossy. We climbed and played in the area. When a monkey jumped from a tree, Rudi was shocked and fell on a mossy tree. He held his aching leg. His cousin named Tejo immediately treated Rudi's leg. Luckily just a little sprained. Tejo is an expert in traditional medicine and massage. Seeing that Rudi had difficulty walking, I carried Rudi from behind to the top. After reaching the top, we enjoyed the view of the village from the top of the mountain. Rudi was very happy to finally be able to see the beautiful view from above.

The end.

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This is my participation in The Inkwell Creative Nonfiction Prompt #32. Photo taken by me in the Wanasadi forest which is in my village area.