Terikat

"Mas, aku sama mbak Yanti tebak-tebakan siapa di antara kita berenam yang pertama lupa temen-temennya dan kita sepakat, kamu itu," said Ika when we rode together from Ondo-ondolu on our last month in Banggai.

I didn't think she saw how I react, and neither did she hear my indignant scoff in reply. I justified my indignation by comparing myself with Lilli, who was besotted in a new relationship and Luqman, who was isolated in a separate island from the rest of us.

I did acknowledge to myself, that the year was drawing to an end, and after that, we most likely will never work together in a team again. Lilli and Auliya will return to the field of medicine. I imagined Luqman would be running his bussiness (though he's in Halmahera now). And me, well, what'd I be doing?

I wistfully admit that the possibility of us being in the same city will be slim to none. I wondered, will we even ever meet again to sit together in a table (and preferably cracking crabs and teased Yanti who won't eat crabs and squids)?

Despite of that, I would like it more if our friendships last.  The trouble is, unlike my friendship with my high school friends, we don't share the same place of origin. Lilli is from Jakarta, Luqman is from Surabaya, Yanti hails from Kalimantan, Auliya's home is perched on the slope of Semeru while Ika has Bojonegoro to call home. There will be no halal bi halal to rely upon to gather us every year.

But then I realized something, we don't share the same place of origin, our interests lie on different field, our religious convictions conflict, but we were bound together in Banggai for a year. We grew there and we have vowed to return there, too.

I have regarded Yanti's and Auliya's host family as mine too, and I would love to visit Solan and Tembang again. I might not be able to make the omission of Sinorang more inconspicuous from this list, but in the whole, our lives did get entangled.

And it's an entanglement I don't wish to unravel. It's a knot that tethers me to the realm of ideals and good intentions. It's a bond that will never let me forget.

So don't worry guys, I won't.