When She Was 18

Big question mark

Elena walks to a store. It's a guitar store. She spend her money for that black guitar. That is totally a good guitar. She knows how to play guitar from her neighbor. And we can't say that she is not a professional guitarist. She is totally amazing. She can play more than 500 songs. And she learns all of that songs from her neighbor in just a year! We need to say that she is a clever girl.

She walks out from that store. There's a black guitar on her back. And her cute son walks next to her.

"Just be patient. We'll gonna get a lot of money there," she says.

She sits on a chair, plays the guitar carefully. She can't realize that she plays "Nearer To God Thee", the song that played by the band in the Titanic when the Titanic is going to sink.

She plays it, and all that black and white picture plays in her head. The flying scene, all the crews are shouting to calm down people, Edward's kisses and the brandy. That little lifeboat, and Carpathia. She feels like she just looks an opera of the Titanic.

She hears coins dropped by someone, and she says, "Terimakasih."

Terimakasih is thank you in Indonesian. She says that to make an image that she is not anti-Indonesia, and same like them.

More coins dropped to a little bowl in front of her. And she become rich in just an hour. More people standing there, want to hear her voice.

And that become a stage. She plays Minuet from J. Sebastian Bach. Everybody loves it. Have you ever seen Jung Sung Ha plays that? She plays better than that.

After she plays 10 songs, a man comes to her. "Young lady, would you like to play that song in front of Mr. Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg?" he asks.

"Mr. Alexander Willem Idenburg? The governor general of Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie?" she asks.

"Yeah. He is here, and needs some entertainment. Would you?" he asks.

"Sure," she answers. They enter the Benz Parsifal. She really excited to go by car like this. This is the first time she goes by car.

***

She is there, on the big stage. Her fingers plays the guitar really amazing. Mr. Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg gives her a standing applause. That's totally awesome!

"Thank you for playing here. Would you like to play another song on that stage, someday?" he asks.

"My pleasure," she answers.

She walks out from there, walks to wherever she can. She losts her mind, because she is completely happy right now.

"Edgar, let's eat some bread," she says to her two-years-old son.

They eat some breads there. It's really delicious. "We'll sleep at a hotel near here," she says.

They walks together to a hotel. She gets a room in the second floor. It's not a really big room, but at least, they can sleep well tonight.

***

Charles is still walking to everywhere, looking for Elena. His stomach makes a sound, tell him that he needs some food to eat. He didn't eat anything from yesterday morning. It means that he didn't eat a day. He stops at a restaurant, eat some breads, and walks again. But he steps at something...

And that is Elena's dress with lots of blood on it...