The Empty Bed

Every child had to have a dream. The dreams might vary from one child to another. There was a child who wanted to be a doctor, an astronaut, a teacher, a businessman, and there was also a child who simply wanted to be a decent person. I also wanted to be a decent person, a person who was living a successful life and helped other human beings. My sister also wanted the same dream as I had. However, no one knew what would happen in the future as much as no one would write being a murderer as a dream. Geez, even the word murderer would never cross on someone’s mind. Since I was a child, I had never known why a person must die. Another thing that I was always questioning was how a human could be so cruel, ending a person’s life without God’s consent. No one could answer my confusion. Killing a living person was not something that I could fathom. 

 
One dark night in summer, I was waking up from my dreamless sleep. Restless as usual. I was looking around and realized that I was in my room. Nothing particular changes happened to the room. The wallpaper was still white. My bed was still in the front of the window. The photo of me and her was still hanging on the wall. Even the book I read last night was still right above my chest. I was looking around again, and I found something different. The bed next to me was empty. No, it was not different. It was always empty. I made it empty. I stood up and walked to the window. I peeked under the window and suddenly my eyes were blinded by millions of light shining brightly from the bottom. I shut my eyes for a moment and some blurry pictures went through my minds. I opened my eyes again, and I could see anything under the window clearly. I saw only darkness. I remembered that I and my sister used to wonder why a person must die and why a human could be so cruel and end someone else’s life. At that moment, I could not give her the answer because I also did not know. I still did not know the answer now. But, one thing that I could say to her was that human was naturally cruel. It was all there this whole time. We just did not realize it yet. It was just so easy to walk blindly in the shroud of fantasy than face reality.



Siti Sarah Safira


Was born in Jakarta, 02 Juni 1994. She is now preparing to enter her senior year in English Department Universitas Indonesia. However, pursuing education in English language and literature was actually not her initial intention at all. Being raised in a family with zero interest in literature and with no knowledge of English literature did make her wonder whether this major suited her or not. Her doubt keeps fading away as she enjoys learning English with its literature. Taking prose class in the sixth semester is her challenge as she is only a reader who never tries to write. However, she believes that it is never too late to learn. She aspires to be a writer who not only entertains her readers but also educates them.