flying kite

I wrote this one almost three years ago. Still, for me, it's worth reading.

My on-air duty was finished since 3, but this inhuman sunny day kept me from going home directly. I turned on the computer instead, prepared tomorrow’s paper, and then surfed the net.

Anyway, it was 5 o’clock in the afternoon when I finally decided to go home. Took the back gate, I walked down the silent path between the grassy fields.

At the end of the path, near the security post, we have this medium size football grass court that was always full of people in every afternoon like this. What people? No, they’re not the office people, although sometimes some of us joined the crowd for an impulsive no-scores-required game. They’re local people.

In working days, they’re usually children and teenagers. But in weekends like this, the crowd members expand to parents, maybe even aunties and uncles, and an es-doger man with his cart. What were they doing?

They were simply just hanging out and having a good time. Playing footballs, walking around, and laying around on the grass, talking, running, riding their bikes, enjoying the afternoon wind, spooning their es-doger, and.… flying kites!!

Now, THIS I wanted to play too!!

Suddenly I remember those good old days when I was a little girl flying a kite with my big sister and brother. We did it on the rooftop of our house. I always got the job to hold the kite high up above my head, as high as my hand could stretch. Then at the right time, when the wind blew hard enough, my big sis or bro would shout for me to release the kite. Then they would draw the thread a little bit, let the wind work by itself, and the kite was flying!! I would be very happy, and they would allow me to hold the thread a little while.

“Ulur, dek, ulur terus, biar tinggi..!!”

My head’s thrown back; face toward the sky, big grin, the sun burned my skin, my hair. Often times it burned so bad that it smelled like frying oil.
Those were some of the very best times in my life.

Now I promise myself, next time I go on afternoon on-air duty again, I will bring a kite with me. But I wished I could bring along my brothers and sisters, too. To fly kites with me again. And we will be children again. Happy and free.
Just like the old times..

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Sunday, June 02, 2002
Warm afternoon, walking along side football grass court, back gate of RCTI area