Big city.
So, this is how It's like. Crowded, spacious and bustling of course.Cars, buses, four-wheeled or two-wheeled online taxis, orderly and neatly pass through busy highways.Franchise shops, cafes, and all kinds of small and large businesses that line along the roadside are ones of the markers that this city is a center of business and industry.Apart from that, here is one of the big cities with the best schools.Some well-known private and public universities are in this city.Many people who migrate here are those who want to continue their studies or people who want to try their luck for the better life.Ria was the one with the first goal.The 18-year-old girl had graduated from senior high school and wanted to continue her study.She's been studying as hard as she can, gave her best effort.It paid off. She got a scholarship at one of the state universities with good rankings.This university is also one of her dreams, because its accreditation reaches an 'A' grade.She hoped that by doing this, she could make her parents proud.Now, she just had to find a place to stay.Renting a boarding house was the right decision, to think the money she had was not much.She must be thrifty.The money left by her parents should be enough, at least until she finishes school.Ria walked along the city center looking for information about each empty boarding house, the ones that was definitely nearby the college building.This was the second day.Nothing.She walked sluggishly.Sometimes expectations don't match with reality.She had already planned a one or two night stay at a cheap suburban inn, specifically to find a boarding house for her to stay in during college.If she couldn't find it today, then she would have to look again tomorrow and so on...That would waste a lot of time...And and a lot of money.Ria steadied her steps towards the next building that she found in an advertisement on one of the social media.When she met with the landlady of this boarding house, she got the same answer."Sorry, our room is full...."Even though she was a little disappointed inside, Ria didn't want to give up. She must do her best effort every day."Oh.. I see... Sorry ma'am, do you know any other boarding house agents? I've been looking for these two days but they're always full. Who knows, you know besides the ads that I got..." She smiled softly.The landlady thought for a moment and then nodded slowly."Yeah... come to think of it, my friend is an estate agent, you can visit her and probably she has anything you need. I'll give you her number and office address in a moment."She immediately took a pen and paper and wrote down something from her cell phone.Ria was confused. Is real estate agent not too much?"Madam, I'm looking for ordinary boarding houses... and you offered seems like an estate agent, I don't have much money to rent a house..."She said while looking at the madam who was concentrating on writing."That's right sweetie, but my friend is the best real estate agent in town, you can see the rental houses with the best offers, besides that, she also has many acquaintances of boarding landlords like me. She can contact them directly without you having to bother looking for one - one by one... Trust me" she finally said.Oh that's right...It's not that Ria couldn't call the number that's been advertised.It's just that when she came, she felt that the place was not suitable for her.Some are too far, some are close but the neighborhood is filthy .There was also this place when she came, already a drunken man greeted her.What's more, the strangest thing was, the advertisement stated that there were still empty rooms, and when she arrived, they were always full.Tsk....Alright she'll give this one a try.The lady handed over a piece of paper to her and she saw that there was a cell phone number and an address on it."Here, just call her, her name is Trisha. You can come there right away or make an appointment in advance if you want to visit another time.""Okay thank you." she answered politely.After leaving there, she immediately headed for the address she already held.Okay, after looking at the g****e map, this place is 10 minutes away from here if she ordered an online taxi.Not too expensive.Besides, she also had to save her energy, one more week there will be a campus introductory orientation. She would be very busy.Before heading to the housing agent's office, Ria took a short walk in the center of the crowd just nearby her college building neighborhood.She took advantage of this opportunity to get to know the environment in which she would live while studying here.This place was crowded, congested, but neat and clean.What she like the most was along the sidewalk there were lots of shady trees lined up to shade the pedestrians.This big city was amazing.The air was also mild.Her mood got better.Not far from here, was the college and school buildings.Vast land filled with buildings ranging from early school to state lecturesThe place where she will gain more and more knowledge.She had visited it yesterday and felt gladsome about it.Her parents must be proud of her....Ria stopped when she saw a small restaurant on her left.Good, she's pretty hungry and doesn't need to cross the road.She entered the restaurant with that "Since 1992" sign on it.After eating her fill there, she returned to continue her journey.----------------------"How about it? Is there anything you're interested in?"The bespectacled woman, with short curly hair, and beautiful brown skin stared at her with bright blue eyes that amazed Ria with her beauty.This beautiful woman is the real estate agent intended by the lady of the previous boarding house ownerRia interpreted the woman who introduced herself as Trisha to be around 40 years old.Trisha flipped through the housing advertisement paper she had again.Ria took a deep breath.That's... what she thought ...This was a place where you plan to rent or buy a house, she doesn't have that much money for this..."Sorry, but... I'm actually just looking for a boarding house. My budget isn't enough to rent any.."She said with a smile, hoping that Trisha could help her."Aah... Yes-yes... Are you a freshmen college this year? Do you want to find a boarding house near the campus?" She said while fixing her glasses and looking around for something on her desk full of piles of papers and notebooks."That's right. If you can help, I would be very grateful..." She said as she looked at the woman hopefully.Trisha smiled while waving her hand at Ria, hinting that of course she would help her."Not a problem young lady. I'll look up the list here, in a moment..."Ria nodded hopefully, and continued looking through the contents of the flyer she was holding to kill time.The house here is really expensive, thought Ria."Near the college building on Strawberry street, huh?" Trisha asked, which Ria immediately said yes to.Of course it's expensive. This is a big city, owning a house here is a promising investment.Even the ones on the outskirts of town won't be cheap."Okay, let me see here... This... No, it was full yesterday... This... this is for men only..."Ria heard Trisha's chatter while looking at the models of houses being rented or sold.Until she turned the last page.The paper looks older than the others.But what caught her attention was..."Um.. Trisha?""Yes?" She answered while fixing her glasses and kept looking at the list she traced with her index finger."Is.. the price of renting this house is this cheap?" Ria showed her the last brochure."Which one? Oh that? Yes, the rent for that house is really that cheap, that old house hasn't been lived in for a long time."Oh..."It's only natural that it's cheap, because you might have to replace some leaky roofs or peeling walls, and all sorts of other damage. Well... It's an old house. If you're interested, I can take you there. It's not far from here, the house it's on the Grape Street...."Oh...Well...Wait a minute. Grape street?!During her two days here, she learned one thing, That the street names in this city have their respective groups.The group is determined from the main road that becomes the estuary of its branches...If the road leading to the college building is Strawberry Street, then Grape Street is..."How long does it take from the location of this house to the college building?" Ria's eyes twinkled with hope."Hmm.. 10 minutes? More or less... You can even take a leisurely walk if you want to exercise..."Trisha stopped paying attention to the list on her desk, and stared at Ria behind her thick glasses.She noticed it too."You want to see it now?"Come! let's follow Ria to observe the house! :D
Ria's POVMy guess was right.Strawberry St where this house is for rent, is one the branch of the main road leading to my college building.What a coincidence…Only ten minutes walk?Wow, this is really a great opportunity. I have to admit that the streets in this city are really well managed.Every branch of the road will definitely lead to one big road.So are the small alleys.After entering Strawberry St, there is an alley that leads to a residential neighborhood.These neighborhood usually contains ten houses.According to Trisha, every alley like Strawberry St. will be filled with five group of housing area, each of them will consist of ten houses.This has been the case since 50 years ago.***Entering this neighborhood, made my mood greatly improved.It is very cool and shady here.There are tall Catappa trees and their wide branches stood side to side along the way .Even though the blazing sunshine is kinda terrifying on the day in this dry season, we won’t get overheat un
At least now Ria's mood have improved a little.Finally she found a place to live.She can focus on her study without worrying about where she lives or how far she was from the campus area.She already paid for one year.Ria actually wanted to pay for two years, but she also wanted to make sure she was still comfortable living there the first year.Or in the first month...Anyway, she was more relieved now.She was now at the inn to tidy up her things.This place was 45 minutes away from the house she had rented.She deliberately chose an inn that was a bit far from the city center, because it was cheaper.Ria tidied up her things and made sure everything was ready and not left behind.Books, clothes and little other things she valued.All of that neatly placed in the two medium-sized suitcases and a backpack.For people who were actually moving house, those were very few.What else would she brought with her? She really didn’t have much stuff.Since her parents died, Ria had started
RIA POV I got out of the online taxi that drove me right in front of the house. Reaching into my pocket, I took out the new fence key and immediately unlocked it. Yesterday when I told Trisha I was going to rent this house she immediately replaced the locks with the new one. I went inside, the taxi driver who helped carry my stuff also followed me behind. "Oohh... Now the one who lives here, this beautiful Miss, yes?" He said it casually and look around the house. "Yes, sir.” I answered him politely He put my two suitcases on the terrace floor and his face suddenly became a bit uncomfortable. "Oohh, is that so... Miss, this is all the luggage, right?" I nodded, "Yes sir. Thank you." I answered. "You're welcome. I- eh.. I just want to kindly remind you to be careful. I mean... this neighborhood is so quiet, so there can be lots of thieves or some bad guys, if you know what I mean..." He smiled awkwardly while scratching the back of his neck. “You should try to move in togethe
*** POV Tsk... Another boring day. I don't remember since when I got the fancy to stare at the view out of my window. Maybe because I don't have much to do? Hell, I don't have anything to do... I feel so empty, until I decided to do some funny stuff towards other people that passed by. Sometimes it's fun, but other times…. I also feel guilty. I rubbed my face with both hands roughly. Until when? How much longer must I wait? The last time I tried to interact with someone that tried to live here, he was really scared and left the next day. I laid my body on the bed, which I used to remember was very soft. Yeah, technically I don't feel anything. I think I look like I'm lying up here. In fact, I'm just floating. Of course. In fact, if I have to move places, I don't have to step foot. But I prefer to do it the way I used to. At least that can remind me of my old habits. While I'm still breathing and alive…. What? you ask why am i still here? Yeah, I did choose to stay. W
There must be an explanation for all of this. Ria walked along the alley, brought her groceries in both hands. Even in the night, this area was not so quite. Some people still passed by and the street light was all on, so she thought it was still pleasant to walk a little at this hour. She needed to think. Maybe, Trisha came back to the house and cleaned up a little after she left. Maybe… She could not accept any illogical explanation for whatever happens in that house. Well, her brain refused to. In this world, there must be some logic answers for every little thing that happens. Even the old once said many things out of myth and belief, it turned out that they just didn't know what really happen yet. Once they said rainbow is a bridge for angels. They descend to earth using the rainbow ladder to a lake to bathe. When she was little, Ria really believed in the story and admired the rainbow because of the beauty of the colors and its function as a bridge for the angels. At
What was that all about? That dream… It was so real, as if she was actually there. Ria rubbed her face roughly. No. She's just exhausted. Dreams usually relate to something we think about before going to bed that day and she was thinking about some odd thing she had found in this house. Her brain made her thought a lot about it all the way to her dreams. She didn't want to think about the nonsense she had in her sleep. Dreams are just collection of thoughts. Right? “Forget it, I have a lot to do now...” Ria muttered to herself. She got up and immediately headed to the bathroom to finish her business in there. After taking a shower and changing clothes while arranging her toiletries in the bathroom, she already felt refreshed. Ria tried not to think about things she didn’t feel necessary, including that dream. Ria often dreams in her sleep. Some things she didn't understand, some things scared her. But she always forgets the dreams, even just hours after she wakes up. That
"What is it? Are you alright?" Hans asked Ria who looked uncomfortable with her food. Ria smiled a little and tried to swallow her food. “I'm fine, thank you…” Ria tried to swallow the bland fried egg in her mouth. She almost spat it out, thank God it didn’t happen. If she did, she would be considered strange and no one would want to be friends with her anymore. At least that what she thought. It had been a long time since Ria had friends at school. Even though it felt awkward but she felt a little happy that someone wanted to sit with her. Moreover considered her as one of their friend. At least nobody here thought she was a weirdo. Or those who think she is jinxed and stay away from her like a disease. “Ria, tell me if you go shopping to prepare for the party! We'll go together
Unfortunately, today she was occupied with her activities in school...Some of the schedules and classes that she had to follow were so hectic, that she instantly forgot about what she was going to do with the dream.She will take care of it later when she returns home…On campus, Ria took part in various classes until the afternoon. She didn't want to be left behind because she was very excited about her study here.In this place, no one seemed to bully her anymore .In this place, no one saw her as if she was a disease.Ria was very grateful to be able to live her new life in a positive environment like this.For that, she must doing everything whole-heartedly.When it was time to go home, Ria decided to walk as usual.“Ria!…Wait!” Someone yelled, not too far behind her