Morning in Kalipura arrived with the sound of roosters crowing and the aroma of fried rice drifting from Bu Sari's kitchen.
Raka opened his eyes when sunlight slipped through the gap in the window.
For a few seconds, he forgot that he wasn't at home.
Then he saw the bag beside the mattress.
He remembered everything.
Bukit Arunika.
Naya.
The journey.
And the story about Bu Sari's son, who had once gone there.
Raka got up from the mattress.
Naya was still asleep.
He looked at her for a moment.
"Nay."
There was no answer.
"Naya."
Still nothing.
Raka picked up the small pillow beside him and tossed it gently.
The pillow hit Naya's head.
Naya's eyes flew open.
"What?!"
"Wake up."
"What time is it?"
"Six."
Naya picked up her phone.
"It's still early."
"Exactly."
"Why'd you wake me up?"
"We're leaving."
Naya pulled the blanket over herself.
"Ten minutes."
"You said you wanted to leave early."
"Ten minutes."
"When you say ten minutes, it usually means thirty."
Naya opened one eye.
"If you keep nagging me, it'll be an hour."
Raka went silent at once.
"Okay."
He left the room.
In the living room, Bu Sari had already prepared breakfast.
"You're up?"
Raka nodded.
"Naya's still asleep."
Bu Sari smiled.
"Let her sleep a little longer."
Raka sat down.
He looked at the table.
There was fried rice, eggs, and hot tea.
"Bu, this is way too much."
"You're going on a long walk."
Raka smiled.
"Thank you."
Not long afterward, Naya came out carrying her camera bag.
Her hair was slightly messy.
Bu Sari looked at her.
"Ready?"
"Ready, Bu."
"Camera?"
"Got it."
"Water?"
"Got it."
"Medicine?"
"Got it."
Bu Sari nodded in satisfaction.
"Good."
After breakfast, they got ready.
Juno arrived just as Raka was tying his shoelaces.
"Ready?"
Raka stood up.
"Ready."
Juno looked at Raka's bag.
"Heavy?"
"Don't ask."
Juno laughed.
"What did you pack?"
"Important stuff."
"Important stuff, or stuff you think is important?"
Naya cut in,
"Stuff he thinks is important."
Juno shook his head.
"You city kids are hilarious."
The three of them left the house.
But after only a few steps, they heard someone running behind them.
"Wait!"
They turned around.
A boy of about twelve came running toward them.
He was small for his age.
His hair was slightly messy.
He wore a simple T-shirt, shorts, and sandals.
He stopped in front of Juno, panting.
"Juno!"
"What?"
"I heard you're going to the hill?"
Juno nodded.
"Yeah."
"I'm coming with you."
"No."
The boy's face immediately fell.
"Why not?"
"Because you're still a kid."
"I'm already twelve."
"That's still a kid."
"I know the way by heart."
Juno sighed.
"No."
The boy looked at Raka and Naya.
"If they can go, why can't I?"
Raka almost laughed.
Naya looked at the boy.
"What's your name?"
"Bima."
"Bima?"
"Yeah."
Raka crouched down to meet his eyes.
"Why do you want to come?"
Bima answered without hesitation.
"I want to see the world."
The answer left Raka silent.
The words were simple.
But they felt familiar.
Bima continued,
"I've never gone far from home."
Juno shook his head.
"If you just want to see the world, do it when you're older."
Bima looked at the ground.
"If I wait until I'm grown-up, I might forget my dream before then."
Raka and Naya exchanged a glance.
That wasn't the kind of answer a twelve-year-old usually gave.
Raka smiled.
"Who taught you that?"
Bima shrugged.
"I don't know."
Juno sighed.
"You really are stubborn."
Bima smiled.
"So can I come?"
"No."
Bima's face fell again.
But Raka said,
"What if you come only as far as the first trail?"
Juno turned sharply.
"Raka."
"We'll keep an eye on him."
Naya nodded.
"As long as it's safe."
Juno clearly disagreed.
But Bima was already grinning.
"Seriously?"
Raka nodded.
"But there's one condition."
"What?"
"If Juno tells you to stop, you stop."
Bima nodded quickly.
"Got it!"
And so they set off.
Bima really did know the way by heart.
He walked ahead, pointing out different places.
"That's Mr. Hasan's farm."
"That's the river."
"There's a shortcut if we go that way."
"Don't take the shortcut," Juno said.
"Why not?"
"A tree fell across it yesterday."
Bima nodded.
"Okay."
Raka watched the boy.
He walked with boundless enthusiasm.
He wasn't carrying much.
Just a small bag.
A water bottle.
And a little notebook.
Raka pointed at the notebook.
"What's that?"
Bima showed it to him.
"A list of places."
Raka smiled.
"What kind of places?"
"Places I want to visit."
Bima opened it.
There were lots of names inside.
Beaches.
Mountains.
Cities.
Islands.
Even several countries.
Raka was surprised.
"All of these?"
"Yeah."
"Why haven't you gone anywhere yet?"
Bima shrugged.
"I don't have any money yet."
Raka let out a quiet laugh.
"The most honest answer."
Bima looked at Raka.
"What about you?"
Raka fell silent.
"Why are you leaving?"
The question slowed Raka's steps.
He looked at the road ahead.
"Because I'm afraid that if I don't leave now, I'll forget my dream someday."
Bima nodded.
"Then we're the same."
Raka smiled.
"Yeah."
They kept walking.
The farther they got from the village, the steeper the path became.
The houses disappeared.
Trees took their place.
The air grew cooler.
Birdsong came from every direction.
Naya stopped several times to take pictures.
Bima watched her.
"Naya."
"Hmm?"
"Why do you like taking pictures?"
Naya smiled.
"So I can remember things."
"What if you don't take a picture?"
"Sometimes we remember anyway."
"Then why take pictures at all?"
Naya was silent for a moment.
"Because there are some moments we want to share."
Bima nodded.
"I want to be a writer."
Naya smiled.
"Why?"
"So I can tell stories about the places I've seen."
Raka looked at Bima.
"Then we'll have a photographer and a writer."
Bima laughed.
"What about you, Raka?"
"A filmmaker."
Juno, walking behind them, said,
"We've got a complete team."
They all laughed.
The journey felt easy.
But after about an hour, Bima suddenly stopped.
Raka nearly ran into him.
"What is it?"
Bima pointed ahead.
There was a large rock.
A red painted mark was visible on top of it.
Juno looked at the mark.
"Haven't seen this marker in a long time."
"What marker?" Naya asked.
"The old trail."
Raka looked at the map.
"The line goes through here."
Juno shook his head.
"The official trail goes to the right."
"Then what about this one?"
"The old trail leading to the back of the hill."
Raka was intrigued.
"Can we take it?"
"In theory."
Naya immediately looked at Raka.
"Don't."
Raka raised his hands.
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face already did."
Bima studied the marker.
"This trail leads to the old forest."
Juno nodded.
"That's right."
"What's there?"
Juno didn't answer.
Bima asked again.
"Juno?"
Juno sighed.
"Don't go there."
Raka looked at Juno's expression.
There was something there.
Just like with Bu Sari.
Just like when they mentioned Bukit Arunika.
A place that made people suddenly fall silent.
Naya noticed it too.
She tugged on Raka's arm.
"We'll take the official trail."
Raka nodded.
"Yeah."
They continued on their way.
But Bima kept glancing back.
Raka noticed.
"Curious?"
Bima nodded.
"Very."
"Don't go there by yourself."
Bima nodded.
"Why?"
"Because curiosity can take you somewhere you're not ready to face."
Bima looked at Raka.
"Are you scared?"
Raka smiled.
"I am."
Bima looked surprised.
"You admit you're scared?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because people who say they're not afraid are usually the ones who cause the most trouble."
Bima laughed.
Naya nodded in agreement.
"He's right."
They finally reached an open area.
From there, the village spread clearly below them.
The houses looked tiny.
The roads looked like lines.
The rice fields looked like scraps of green cloth.
Bima stood at the edge of the overlook.
His eyes shone.
"Wow."
Raka looked at his face.
He remembered himself the first time he'd seen a view like this.
Naya raised her camera.
Click.
One picture.
Bima turned around.
"Did you take a picture of me?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Naya smiled.
"Because your expression was great."
Bima laughed.
Then he sat down.
"When I'm older, I want to go to lots of places."
Raka sat beside him.
"Go."
"What if I don't have any money?"
"Find a way."
"What if people say I can't?"
"Don't believe them right away."
"What if I fail?"
Raka smiled.
"Try again."
Bima looked at him.
"Have you ever failed?"
"A lot."
"And you still want to leave?"
Raka looked at the sky.
"That's exactly why."
Bima smiled.
Naya stood several yards away from them.
She took another picture.
This time, it wasn't just Bima.
Raka was in the frame too.
Two people from different generations sat watching the world.
Neither of them knew what the future held.
But they had something in common.
A dream.
And the desire to see how far that dream could take them.
Juno then said,
"We need to head down before evening."
Raka stood up.
Bima did too.
They prepared to continue the journey.
But before they left, Bima opened his little notebook.
He wrote something down.
Raka was curious.
"What are you writing?"
Bima closed the notebook.
"It's a secret."
Raka laughed.
"All right."
They started walking back.
But when they passed the fork in the path, Bima secretly looked toward the old trail.
The red marker was still visible among the trees.
He didn't say anything.
No one noticed that Bima had just written in his little notebook:
Today I saw the trail leading to the old forest. Someday, I want to find out what's there.
Their journey that day ended without trouble.
But one thing had begun to change.
Raka no longer saw adventure as something that belonged only to him and Naya.
He began to realize that everyone had their own path.
Bu Sari with her past.
Pak Surya with his life's journey.
Juno with his village.
Bima with his list of dreams.
And they all had one thing in common.
They had been afraid.
They had doubted themselves.
But they kept walking.
That night, when Raka returned to Bu Sari's house, he opened his notebook.
He wrote down a new name.
Bima.
Beneath it:
"Don't let anyone else decide how big your dream can be."
Raka closed the notebook.
He looked toward the window.
Bukit Arunika was still visible in the distance.
Tomorrow, they would draw closer to it again.
And this time, Raka felt that something was different.
Not because the hill was getting closer.
But because the closer they got to their destination, the more stories they found.
Maybe Pak Surya had been right.
A journey isn't only about the place you want to reach.
A journey is about the people you meet along the way.
And Bima was one of those people.
A young boy with a simple bag, a little notebook, and a dream far bigger than the world he had known until then.
Raka smiled.
He knew one thing.
Someday, Bima might truly go far away.
And when that day came, perhaps he would remember one morning in Kalipura.
The day a young boy stood on a hill and saw for the first time a world that felt so vast.
The day he learned that dreams didn't have to wait for someone to grow up.
Because sometimes, a dream is exactly what gives someone a reason to grow.