Romance In Paradise

Bill

          Wilson jumped out from the heli. His heart was pounding with excitement as he was thrilled seeing the clouds and the shadow of the landscape underneath him. Not long after he jumped, suddenly a strong wind blew, pushing him a few metres than where he supposed to be. The strong wind again pushed Wilson to the far right from where he was. He tried to calm himself and keep himself focus and not panicking! He tried his best to keep calm and waited to pull the rope to open his parachute when the distance to earth was permissible for him. But alas, another strong wind carried him upward; took him north east from his previous position. He remembered to pull the rope when he thought it was the right time and felt his parachute was stuck on something before he was blacked out!!

          The tree branch seemed not strong enough to hold Wilson's body for long and it gave away less than a few minutes later. Wilson fell to the ground!! He was already unconscious when he fell so he did not feel anything when he fell down. The air was cold and thick fog was hanging in the air. The place where Wilson fell was one of a remote area in MountGede in Bogor. It was a dense area with lots of huge trees and thick fogs blanketing the area.

          A few hours later, a man passed by carried with him a rattan basket with dried woods. He looked athletic with dark skin and dress like local villager around that area. It was foggy still but Jaka thought he saw a bluish colour hanging in the midst of the fog! He was not sure about his vision and wanted to find out. He held a long stick with him in case there were wild animals which were still bountiful in the mountain. With the tip of the stick, he touched that bluish big blanket piled up high on the ground and part of it kind of hanging in the air! It was a kind of parachute!!. He quickly moved forward and pulled that heaps of what looked like a pile of blue plastics and found a man, a westerner lying unconscious!! He checked the man's pulse and found he was still breathing. He had blonde hair and looked unconscious!! He put down the rattan basket from his back and then tried to lift the man and carried him to where he lived.

         Jaka was full of sweat carried the heavy burden on his back. He took a few stop and had a rest before continued his walk back home. After an hour or so, he made it to where he lived, a simple hut in a remote area in the mountain. The area where Jaka lived was serene and beautiful where lots of tree and streams of waters flowing. There were patches of vegetables garden, banana trees and flowers everywhere. Jaka did all those garden, planted the flowers and the banana trees after he decided to leave Jakarta and lived like Robinson Crusoe in that remote area.

       Five years ago, Jaka's boy friend left him and married a woman as his parents ordered him to do so. His boy friend was a son of a prominent political leader. His father was one of the most powerful politician in the country. When he found out his son was gay, he was in rage and forced his son to break up or he was going to kill his son's partner. His son knew it was not an empty threat as his father had lots of men that used to do dirty works for him!! Reluctantly he told Jaka about this. Out of fear and heartbroken; Jaka quit his job, sold his house and camped around Mount Gede and found that remote place where he fell in love with that area and decided to live there ever since. Twice a month he climbed down the mountain to buy rice and anything he felt like it but mostly he managed to survive by whatever provided by the mountain.

        Jaka planted cassava and the banana trees and different kind of vegetables. With the helps of some locals he hired, he built a simple wooden hut for his shelter. It was kind of a studio room where the kitchen and bed were in one room. He felt content without television, radio or telephone. He had no parents as they died long time ago. He only had one person he loved and now that person has gone so he thought he did not want to relate to other people and lived by his own.