Antara Darah dan Hati: Dream Reality English Translation

Chapter 20 Part 4 "Bleeding In Hotel Prodeo"

*Play the song above for the theme of this part

POV Karim

So, is this the kind of life story that has been written for me? Well, if this is for the best I guess I should accept the reality. No matter how hard my friends try, they are just a bunch of people who have no control over what happens against their will. Well, if being imprisoned makes me safer than out there like what has happened to Prophet Joseph then I should try to be grateful for it.

One thing I never thought would happen in my life was, I will spend a long time in my life in a place called a prison cell. Inside this cell there was only a mattress, a toilet and a very small window that provided a single line of light to illuminate the prisoner cell where I was confined during the day.

In the detention cell there were no clocks to indicate how much time had passed, neither friends nor entertainment, only a feeling of loneliness pervading in the heart. I can't feel the taste of food, heat, cold or pain but I can feel the feeling of being lonely.

If you ask me how someone who has Congenital Analgesia disorder like me can feel lonely, my answer that I can give is because I have people who can make me feel safe and at ease in my heart. The people I refer to as family and friends, their presence makes my bland life a little better through their voices which I can hear whenever I and they talking and joking.

Actually I could try to befriend someone in prison every time I was asked to get out of my cell by the prison guard to take part in community development activities or do my daily duties as a prisoner such as cleaning toilets only I felt that none of them understood what it was like to not be able to feel anything.

Sometimes when I pass through a certain area, the people gathered in that area look at me with fiery eyes. Ah yes, I remember that in prisons there are usually street gang members who are detained then the members of the gang gather and use a spot around the prison for their circle to gather. Fortunately, whenever prisoners do their work in various places in the prison, a guard is always watching so that the prisoner is safe from the violence of other detainees, at least as long as the guard is watching.

Yes, the prison guard who often accompanied me was the one who gave me Klappertaart during the days when I was still a defendant. When it was my turn to do prison duty, he always asked me how I was doing, whether I felt sick or annoyed with him and he always apologized to me every time I had to go back into my cell. He apologized to me because he was afraid to treat me badly.

He knew the fact that I and many other prisoners here were not criminals but people who were forced to follow the will of the legal system. Maybe he feels guilty working as an accomplice to this broken system but to be honest I'm grateful there are people like him here, at least with someone like him, my days here are a little better.

The day has changed, morning has arrived. The prison guard woke me up from my sleep then asked me to follow today's physical training schedule with the other inmates in the field. When I left the cell, while walking towards the destination he greeted me and asked me how I was as usual.

"Karim, how are you today?"

"I'm good, Sir." I replied to him.

"That's good to hear." he replied then he continued his sentence.

"Karim, I saw the news on the internet this morning that said that the Sucilangkung City courthouse received a lot of legal files for your appeal, whether online or manual submissions. It seems that your friends have not given up the fight for your freedom."

"Well, I hope the result is good whatever it is." I replied to him.

"Hopefully." he said in reply to my answer.