Half a day travelling, Kandita forcing herself to walk towards the southern sea coast. From the beginning Kandita have followed the bare ground made by the gardener as a road, now she arrived at the palm tree orchard and there was no longer a road.
What lay beyond the orchard is a wild forest untouched by people; there were many insects and wild animals inhabiting the forest, a form of environment that can't always be traversed by just walking in a straight line.
Kandita entering the forest anyway, no matter how sick she is.
Evening.
The sky start to dim, the sun begin to set, the day about to turn into night.
At this time, Kandita lay down in a tree near the river.
The river was too wide to cross, about a cubit deep, and the current was quite strong. Kandita can't cross the river, which is why she stopped and lay down.
Most of Kandita's belongings were left in the carriage, she couldn't carry all her belongings in her current condition, all she took was a bag of pastries and water in a bamboo bottle.
In this free time, Kandita eat a little of her pastries to replenish her energy, she have to estimate when her food and drink will run out with such an appetite, because Kandita didn't know how far the southern sea coast is and how long it will take to reach it.
Kandita decided to rest on this riverbank for the night, wrapping up her shawl if the night breeze was too cold.
The night Kandita have is very uncomfortable, she still can't fall asleep because of the constant pain she feel, and the crowd of mosquitoes and flies that bothered her.
It's not yet late at night, and Kandita's thoughts were already piling up.
The calamity that befall on her make her feel like everything is unreal, her blank gaze wondering why she have to experience this pain, when the day before she's still living her life in the palace, weaving and eating together with her family.
Kandita hoping it was all just a bad dream, hoping to wake up soon, in the midst of her sleepless state.
In the midst of the darkness of the night, not knowing what to look at, and she will go through another night like this tomorrow, and she dreaded it for the rest of her life.
It feels like giving up on life, but Kandita have determined to at least reach the southern sea coast, and only then she think of what to do.
✵
The next day.
Unable to cross the river, Kandita scour the riverbank for a way across, walking east for half a day and finding enough rocks in between to cross. Of course, she keep her eyes to the south so as not to lose her way.
Continuing to walk, finding dry tree branches piled up with dense bushes blocking the way, Kandita make a detour, again to the east, and continue to make sure that she's heading south.
At night, Kandita feel very itchy from rubbing against the rough leaves.
Kandita looking up at the night sky, making sure the bright star in the south is in front of her, giving her an indication of the south.
The next day.
Kandita climbing a hill, avoiding a spider's nest that look as big as her hand, finding banana trees from which she pick the fruit, descending the hill and her footing become unbalance, Kandita fall over and the dry branches that litter on the ground pierce her body.
At night, Kandita moans in pain and weep bitterly.
The next day.
Kandita realize that she have lost her drink and food, is desperate, but still continuing her journey hoping to find fruits and a river.
KAMU SEDANG MEMBACA
Nyai Rara Kidul
Historical Fictionᮑᮤ ᮛᮛ ᮊᮤᮓᮥᮜ᮪ Penulis: JoeTIC Ilustrator: JoeTIC ⚠️English available⚠️ Kandita, seorang gadis dengan kulit cerah mempesona, putri tunggal dari Raja Munding Wangi, pemimpin Kerajaan Galuh. Walaupun kecantikannya melimpah, Kandita tidak mewarisi takhta...
