Coffee With Ghosts

had earlier made Damar's hair stand on end like a marching army. His ears were still buzzing from the cheerful yet cold

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nder the table was completely empty. Zilch! Only the shadows of the chairs that looked like the legs of giant spiders hiding, and

ingly bumping into the rickety frying rack. Thud! Blackened used cooking oil dripped slowly from the plastic hanging above

ear his own heartbeat pounding like the bass drum

door creaked open-krieeek... again. This time, there was no piercing child'

.. fog.

irled around the bamboo support pole of the roof wussssh..., deftly seeping into the gaps of the rusty zinc roof ngiik..., and

afening roar either. It was as tall as a double-door refrigerator whose doors often got stuck. Its skin looked like moving clumps of gray clouds, with small flashes of light l

l with all the weirdness in this stall (level 3 ou

ing was like thousands of elevator doors in a skyscraper opening at the

red, Ma

kindergarten teacher confiding while leaning against a bus stop in the mi

hift. Filling the d

ormation that had just entered his already smoking brain. While silently, he placed the smal

a cautious tone like asking for the s

ak... as if it would break into pieces. "My job used to be pleasant. Making people sleep soundly. Flowers blooming. Rainbows after

med to tremble. Then, drops of gray water fell to the fl

the shadow of a husband whose wife hasn't come home, no one knows where? It's tiring, you know! Someti

ok two used plastic sachet coffee cups. One he filled with the remaining cold chocolate milk in the thermos, the other with plain water from the battered dispenser that sounded like

ardened like a brick since that afternoo

sweetness is sincere," Damar said, o

rds the swirling mist at its front that probably served as a mouth. Crunch! It bit

ngs like this. Everything is too serious. Everything i

e name he couldn't even pronounce correctly (what did "quantum" have to do with "cats" anyw

ally asked, breaking the silence t

" pointed directly at Damar's eyes. That eyeless gaze someh

of something considered unreal. In the dream world, everyone is foc

that felt warm and understanding. Like two people sharing the bur

a neighbor's rooster could be heard kukuruyuk..., not loud and demanding, but like a whisper from t

ed again and slowly transformed back into an

y nightmares that need mending tonigh

d faintly. His h

But don't forget to pay. The 'vent

fog. Hihihi... Then it vanished completely, leaving behind a fainter scent of

, written in ink that looked

ams and reality. There are those who need

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mbled softly, as if an invisi

rr... jreng! But this time, it wasn't the mo

lat and slightly hoarse tone. Strangely, the language sounded famili

king as a coffee stall attendant in the vicinity of the old banyan tree, Jalan Kenangan. The police are

feeling like a handful of sand. Hi

g the stall. How can I be missing?" Damar muttered in con

d at his reflection in the dusty

ulse was still weak deg... deg.... He was still breathing. Still alive... wasn't he? But

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erse. The night wind blew hard again, making the bamboo cu

s knocking on

. Like the knocking of a hammer