about me on twitter

I'll write your life, edit your story, report your pain, cure your future, coordinate your need, and cheer your games.

That's what I wrote about myself on Twitter.

Maybe you can't grasp what it means at once, so I'm here to explain.

I'll write your life means that I'm a writer. By writing, I have full control of my characters. I can make them do anything I want. I twist their life line into a story. No one can do anything about it. Yeah, they can criticize me or anything but whether I'll change the story or not, it all depends on me. And to quote a friend of mine, I don't give a fuck if anyone mocks me because of my obsession in writing.

Edit your story means that I'm an editor. Yeah, I do some editing for my campus newspaper. I know, the title is kinda lame but I can't find a better word to describe my job, so get over it.

Report your pain summarizes my other job as a reporter. I write for Media Aesculapius, the first health newspaper in Indonesia. You can say that it's just a small newspaper produced by medical college students, but I really love being a part of it. It gives me the chance to explore my gift in writing, and to think that people on rural areas read my writings.... I chose the word "pain" because in MA, I try to promote how bad is the condition of Indonesian people's health.

Cure your future represents my life as a medical student. That means, I'm going to be a doctor, one day in the future. I will have to cure people, but it's still on the future, so....yeah, you get it right?

Coordinate your need represents the other positions I have, like the Head of Media and Communication Department in FSI (Forum Studi Islam, or Forum of Islamic Study in English) and coordinator of PDJ (Pelatihan Dasar Jurnalistik, Training in Basic Journalism in English).

The last but not least, cheer your games. It reflects my feelings about Arsenal, how I will always love them and cheer on their games although I can't watch them all the time. Well, especially for a certain Welshman with number 16 on his back *wink wink*.

Forum Bahasa dan Sastra Media Aesculapius 2011

Anak supir angkot tersebut tentu tak menyangka, bertahun sejak masa kecilnya yang sederhana di Malang, ia berkarir sebagai Direktur Internal Client Management di Nielsen Consumer Research, New York. Ia mungkin lebih tidak menyangka, novel tentang kisah hidupnya tersebut kini bertengger di rak best-sellers toko buku seluruh Indonesia.

Dialah Iwan Setyawan, penulis “9 Summers 10 Autumns”, yang tak hanya sukses menggapai impiannya, tetapi juga menginspirasi begitu banyak orang dengan satu jalan sederhana: tulisan.

KAMU JUGA BISA!

Jangan biarkan jejak perjalanan hidupmu terhapus tanpa ada yang tahu. Temukan bagaimana merajut kisah hidup dalam kata, menguntai benang-benang pengalaman menjadi karya sastra yang fenomenal. Setiap orang bisa menjadi inspirasi, begitu pun kamu!

Media Aesculapius Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Indonesia dengan bangga mempersembahkan:

Seminar, Workshop, dan Bedah Buku

FORUM BAHASA DAN SASTRA 2011

“Merajut Kisah Hidup dalam Kata”

22 Oktober 2011, 07.30-15.00 @ Auditorium Sarwono Gedung A RSCM, Jakarta

•  “Menulis Kisah Hidup Menjadi Lembaran Sastra” oleh Iwan Setyawan, penulis novel best-seller “9 Summers 10 Autumns: Dari Kota Apel ke The Big Apple”
• “Kiat Menghidupkan dan Memberi Jiwa ke Karya Sastra” oleh Helvy Tiana Rosa, pendiri Forum Lingkar Pena dan penulis lebih dari 40 judul novel
• Bedah buku “Selimut Debu”, novel best-seller tentang perjalanan di Afghanistan, dengan penulisnya Agustinus Wibowo
• Pengumuman pemenang Lomba Menulis Cerpen, Puisi, dan Fotografi Forum Bahasa dan Sastra 2011

+ Sertifikat, makan siang, seminar kit, dan buku kumpulan karya peserta lomba FBS 2011!

HTM

Early bird        : Rp30,000,00

On the spot      : Rp40.000,00

Daftar sekarang!

Ikuti 3 langkah mudah berikut:

1. Kirimkan biaya pendaftaran ke Bank BCA no. rek. 4741060684 a.n. Davrina Rianda atau Bank Mandiri no. rek. 1240005478517 a.n. Oviliani Wijayanti

2. Kirimkan nama, nomor kontak, email, jumlah kursi yang dipesan, dan scan bukti transfer ke fbsma2011@gmail.com

3. Hubungi Ovi (085710000842) atau Nessa (085716278718) untuk memastikan namamu sudah terdaftar.

Atau

Daftar langsung ke sekretariat Media Aesculapius di kampus FKUI, Jalan Salemba Raya No. 6 (samping lapangan basket).

Pendaftaran early bird dibuka hingga 18 Oktober 2011.

Kontak kami:

Website            : http://fbs2011.co.cc

Facebook        : Forum Bahasa dan Sastra 2011

Twitter             : @fbsma2011

CP                   : Ovi (085710000842), Nessa (085716278718)

(Fanfic) Au Clair de la Lune

This is one of two Yoann fics I've ever written. Warning: character death ensued.

---

Author: Mirano Ottawa

Title: Au Clair de la Lune (In the Light of the Moon)

Category: Romance, Angst

Characters: Yoann Gourcuff and an unnamed girl

Length: long hitter

Summary: A man with his dream to reach the moonlight.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yoann Gourcuff. It’s just a fiction, not a reality.

Author’s Notes: My first Yoann Gourcuff fic ever

01.   New Moon

“I want to reach the moonlight.”

The answer was uttered clearly. Suddenly the sound of muffled laughters interrupted the stillness of the class, while the teacher put on the sympathetic smile before shushing the children.

“Do you mean, you want to go to the moon?” the teacher confirmed.

“No,” he shook his brown-haired head in disgust. “I said, I want to reach the moonlight.”

The laughter got louder, even I chuckled a bit behind my palms. But his face remained firm, undisturbed, as if his dream wasn’t something so weird.

But I couldn’t help to be curious. Why did he want to reach the moonlight? It even wasn’t something solid! Although I was still at the third grade of elementary school at the time, I knew that moon doesn’t shine of its own, but reflects the sunlight. So, to satisfy my own curiosity, I approached him who was playing alone with the ball on the corner of the playground.

“Hi,” I greeted him.

My voice seemed to surprise him, because he dropped the ball at once. “Oh!”

“I’m sorry!” I gasped.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing,” he chuckled. “You just surprise me.”

I smiled back, watching as he started playing again with the ball. He was talented at it. I knew that he would be a great footballer later when he was older. But why his dream was so far from football?

“By the way, why are you here?” he asked me.

I blushed, because I had just been thinking about him. “Nothing,” I said quickly. “I just want to know....why do you want to reach the moonlight?”

He looked at me, without losing any of his touches on the ball. “Why do you ask? Is that so important?”

I turned redder. “No, but....it sounds a little insane, you know.”

He smiled dreamily. “Well, you have seen the moonlight, right? It shines on the night. In your darkest hours, in your worst dreams, you know that it’s there, watching you while you’re sleeping, even the new moon that comes in such a way that you can’t see it. And you’ll feel safe again, knowing that there will be no harm upon you.”

I stared at him with my mouth wide-opened, astonished with his choice of words. Of course, I had seen the moonlight so many times, but I never thought about it that way.

I quickly shushed the thoughts off my mind. It wasn’t the right time to speak poetically. And I felt it’s my duty to make him see the truth about moonlight. The scientific truth. “I know it’s beautiful, Yoann, but the moon doesn’t shine on its own. It reflects the sunlight. Don’t you want to reach something shining on its own? Or you just want to be someone’s lame reflection? Besides, the sunlight gives us life and anything.”

“No,” he answered, the same dreamy smile still on his face. “I know about that. But don’t you know why humans can’t reach the sun? Because the sunlight is too hot. It will burn you. You won’t find the same problem with moonlight.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but shut it again because I had nothing to say. Partly because his opinion was too good to be broken, the other part because I didn’t want to interrupt his dream about moonlight anymore, and the last part....maybe just because I looked at his amazing green eyes, knowing that he was serious.

And it’s the first time I realized, how much I admired him.

===

02.   Crescent Moon

I was raged in fury. This was my birthday and he was supposed to come and celebrate it with me. But I had no idea where he was. Even when I tried to call him, he didn’t answer.

I looked outside the window. It was crescent moon at the time, and the moon sent its soft silvery light inside my room. Definitely something he would really like if he was here. I smiled a little while remembering his addiction to moonlight. But the smile quickly faltered because he’s not here now. He must be somewhere, admiring the moon so obsessively that he forgot to celebrate the birthday of his own girlfriend!

I decided that he wouldn’t come. While the thoughts of the best ways to kill him whirling on my mind, I slammed myself to the bed and pulled the blanket around my body. But by the time I were about to close my eyes, I heard the familiar knock on my balcony door.

“Excuse me, is there anyone ordering birthday cake here?”

I practically jumped off the bed, my brown eyes immediately met his green ones. There he was, with a forgiving smile across his face, and he held a box on his hands, which I was sure there was a birthday cake inside it.

I opened the balcony door and glared at him, unsure what to do first – slapping him in the face, hugging him, or thanking him for the birthday cake? He solved the problem for me by putting the cake on a small table then hugged me tightly.

“Sorry, I’m late,” he murmured, lips pressing on my ears.

“Terribly late,” I grumbled.

“It’s the cake,” he defended himself. “I don’t know that it needed so much time to bake a cake and when it came out it didn’t turn out well so I had to bake again....”

I cut his words. “Wait. You mean....you bake the cake yourself?”

He rubbed his hair. “Sort of. I suck at baking but I want to make it special for you.”

I blushed. “Thanks, Yoann.”

He smiled. “Come on, don’t you want to see it?”

I opened the box and found a crescent-shaped chocolate cake, with all the surface covered with silver icing. He had drawn a smiling face on the cake with a cherry as the eye and pieces of chocolates as the smiling mouth. I couldn’t say anything when I saw it, I could only stare at it for a while before returning my attention at Yoann.

“It’s a crescent moon,” he explained, which I found unnecessary.

I rolled my eyes. “I know, Yoann. I’m not stupid. We have known each other for years.” Then, seeing the pained look on his eyes, I softened my voice. “But it’s beautiful. Thanks.”

His green eyes brightened at once. “Really?”

I nodded, chuckling slightly. “Only, the moon doesn’t smile.”

“Oh, but it smiles,” he protested. “The moon always smiles. If it’s full, it smiles widely and triumphantly because it could show all his face to the world. When it’s crescent, it cannot smile so widely because most of its face is hidden. But it doesn’t want to disappoint you, so it smiles – a warm and motherly smile – and sings lullabies for you until you fall asleep.”

I shook my head. Of course, it was just one of his wild imaginations about moonlight. I decided to stop it by blowing out the candle and cut the cake in half.

“What’s your wish?” he asked.

I winked playfully. “If I tell you, the wishes wouldn’t come true.”

He laughed. “You don’t believe in my imaginations about moonlight, but you do believe that the wishes you say before blowing out the candles will come true?”

I raised my eyebrows. “You don’t believe in wishes?” That was something new.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Every year, I wish that my dream would come true but it never happen.”

“But your dream has come true! You are a footballer now, you play for Rennes, I’m sure you will reach your glory soon if you keep playing well....”

“No,” he shook his head. “I mean, my dream to reach the moonlight.”

I sighed. Of course, he had to say that.

“I believe, the moonlight is not only a lame reflection of sunlight,” he continued, certainly knowing what’s on my mind right now. “You can say it’s not something solid, but for me....it keeps a secret. A mystery that anyone has never solved. Maybe....there’s a dreamland there. I haven’t known it yet. But I believe, I can find the way to reach the moonlight....if I walk on the right path.”

I stared at his eyes, and he stared back at mine. His eyes were shining softly, and I could see some silver sparkles inside them – like the moonlight. I smiled and kissed him on the lips, knowing that my efforts to make him see the reality would only end in vain. So, I decided to keep my thoughts for myself.

But there was still one thing I wanted to know.

“What would happen when you reach the moonlight? Will you stay there and forget all about me?” I asked, grabbing his hands tigtly, not wanting to let him go.

He chuckled. “Of course not, sweetheart,” he said, planting a kiss on my forehead. “We will get there together. And if you can’t, I’ll keep a place for you there until you’re able to join me.”

“I believe in you, Yoann,” I replied, leaning my head against his warm body.

One hour later, I had lied again on my bed, preparing myself to sleep. Before shutting my eyes, I took one last glance on the moon. And I swore that I could see the moon smiled at me, a warm and motherly smile.

I stared at it for a while before turning off my light. So, maybe his imaginations about the moon wasn’t all wrong. But of course, reaching the moonlight was still an impossible dream....

===

03.   Half Moon

“What’s the point of this?” I asked, when he and I were sitting around the table on the balcony of a restaurant. “It’s supposed to be a candlelight dinner, but where’s the candles?”

He chuckled. “I prefer moonlight dinner.”

Typically him. I rolled my eyes then looked at the night sky. And there was the moon, half moon to be exact. “Isn’t it better to have a moonlight dinner when it’s full moon?”

He shrugged. “Who knows? Half moon is beautiful too.”

I knew there was something behind it, but I decided not to complain. We ate our dinner while talking about our daily life. We had been so busy with our own jobs recently that we didn’t have much time to meet each other. So, having dinner together like this was a relief.

By the time we had finished our meals and I was telling Yoann about my new partner at work, suddenly I realized that he paid no more attention at me. He was staring at the moon.

I gritted my teeth. Okay, this was ridiculous! What’s the point of asking me to have moonlight dinner if he always ended up admiring the moonlight? I coughed loudly to catch his attention.

“It seems like the moon is more beautiful than I am, Yoann?” I asked sarcastically.

He burst out laughing. “Don’t be jealous,” he said. “I’m just looking at the moon....and imagining what will happen when I reach the moonlight.”

I sighed. “Why are you so serious? Let me tell you, it’s just a silly dream, for God’s sake!”

“Because I want to make sure that you’re there with me.”

I looked at him in confusion. “What?”

He pulled out a small black box from his pocket. When he opened it, I saw a diamond ring inside. Surrounded by the darkness, the diamond glittered like a living thing.

I stared at it with my mouth wide-opened. “Yoann....”

“Will you marry me?” he asked clearly, his eyes shining with hope.

I swallowed. Of course, I loved him and I always knew that he’s the one, but I hadn’t known how to feel when he finally proposed me. Now I knew. Smiling at him between my happy tears, I forced this words out from my trembling lips, “Yes, Yoann. Yes, I will.”

He smiled back in delight, then he slipped the ring on my finger. I looked at the ring, admiring the beauty of it. But of course, it was more beautiful because of its meaning for me.

“Why do you propose me on the half moon like this?” I asked in a joking tone.

“Because....I think it’s the best to represent this moment,” he said with blush staining his cheeks. “I mean....when I find you, it’s like I find the other half of myself who was hidden....like this half moon.”

I couldn’t help myself to blush, too. “Thanks....”

He kissed me passionately on my lips. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“And I love you too,” I replied, kissing him back.

===

04.   Full Moon

I looked outside the window. It was full moon at the time, and the moon smiled at me with its wide and triumphant smile. Even I didn’t need Yoann to tell me that, as I could see it by myself.

Mostly, because he wasn’t there anymore.

He had reached the moonlight.

Blinking back my tears, I looked at the empty chair beside me. He used to sit there, and then we would admire the moon together. After our marriage, I had learned to let him with his imagination, and even sharing it with me. Of course, I always thought that it was silly, but now I felt like I would give anything in the world to be with him anymore, listening to his silly dreams. I closed my eyes, trying not to feel the ache deep in my heart.

“Mommy?”

The voice of Sofie, my five-years-old daughter, brought me back to reality. I turned around and saw her in her white nightgown, holding her teddy bear.

“Sweetie, why are you here? Why don’t you sleep?” I asked, kneeling in front of her.

Her green eyes – which were definitely the same with her father’s – were full of tears. “I miss Daddy.”

“Oh,” I sighed, then I pulled her in my embrace. “I miss him too.”

She looked at me right on my eyes, and for a second, I felt that it was her father staring at me. “Mommy, where’s Daddy now?”

“Come here.” I brought her closer to the window, then I pointed to the moon. “Daddy’s there.”

She looked at me in confusion. “On the moon?”

“Yes, sweetie,” I whispered. “He has reached the moonlight.”

“Will I meet him again?”

“Of course,” I smiled. “He will prepare the place for us there. Some time later, we’ll fly there and we’ll live together again with Daddy. I promise.”

Sofie smiled back sleepily. “I love you, Mommy.”

I brought her back to her bedroom and watched her sleeping for a while. Then I stood up and looked at the moon again. 

It remained smiling widely and triumphantly, but I realized, there was something more.

It sang a lullaby for me. I could hear it now. 

I immediately felt relaxed, knowing that Yoann was really there, ready to protect me from any harm coming to my way. And I knew, someday we would be together again, in the light of the moon.

I wrapped my blanket around my body and fell asleep.

-The End-

obrolan dalam taksi mengenai calon suami idaman (dan sedikit pengakuan mengenai cowok yang saya suka)

Okay, I know the title of this post is kinda weird, tapi ini benar-benar obrolan saya dan teman-teman saya saat kami sedang berada dalam taksi, dalam perjalanan menuju Plaza Indonesia hari Jumat, 30 September lalu buat hedon pasca ujian.

Saat itu, sedang masanya mahasiswa baru (maba) menjalani masa bimbingan (mabim), di mana salah satu tugasnya adalah mewawancarai senior. Dan saya kebetulan baru diwawancara hari sebelumnya, sehingga saya sedikit bercerita mengenai hal-hal yang mereka tanyakan pada saya.

"Masa gue ditanyain siapa senior favorit gue," saya bercerita sambil sedikit tertawa. "Dan maba bilang, kebanyakan senior cewek jawabnya Kak Fakhri."

Catatan: Kak Fakhri itu senior saya, angkatan 2007, yang pernah jadi ketua senat. Dan memang beliau itu termasuk laki-laki idola di kampus saya, karena memang tampangnya yang....ehm, di atas rata-rata, dan macam-macam lagi.

Teman-teman saya tertawa dan mengatakan hal itu wajar. Lalu obrolan kami pun berkembang menjadi senior favorit kami. Saya bilang bahwa saya suka Kak Sonia (pemimpin umum MA) dan Kak Kazai (redaktur liputan MA dan mahasiswa berprestasi FKUI). Ovi bilang dia lebih mengidolakan Kak Olga (mantan pemimpin redaksi MA). Sedangkan Nessa bilang dia suka Kak Adi, mantan ketua senat sebelum Kak Fakhri. Dan ketika mengatakan itu, Nessa menambahkan sesuatu yang membuat saya sedikit tergelitik, "Kak Adi itu tipe cowok yang nggak ada cewek yang nggak mau jadi istrinya!"

Agak ribet, I know, tapi intinya gitu deh, Kak Adi itu calon suami idaman. Ucapan Nessa itu pun mengarahkan kami pada topik lain lagi, yaitu tentang cowok mana di angkatan kami yang cocok jadi suami idaman.

"Kalo di angkatan kita, kebanyakan cewek pasti maunya Dimas jadi suami mereka," kata Nessa. "Waktu gue ngobrol sama Meller dan Nae di kost-an aja, mereka bilang gue golongan minoritas karena gue bilang nggak mau sama Dimas...."

"Haha, gue tau sih kalo itu," saya tertawa. "Tapi gue nggak terlalu kenal Dimas...."

Dimas itu teman seangkatan saya, dan memang saya tidak terlalu kenal dengannya. Maksudnya, saya tahu dia, dan dia ketua Liga Medika tahun depan, tapi kami tidak terlalu dekat satu sama lain. Mungkin itu yang menyebabkan saya tidak terlalu memperhatikannya.

"**** oke sih," kata Ovi (maaf, nama terpaksa disamarkan demi kesejahteraan identitas. Biarkan saya dan penghuni taksi itu saja yang tahu). "Tapi aku nggak mau jadi istrinya."

"Aku mau," saya menyahut seketika.

Teman-teman langsung menatap saya. "Ya ampun, Ta, ternyata diem-diem...."

Saya nyengir aja. Tapi harus saya akui, saya memang ada rasa dengan oknum **** itu. Saya juga tidak terlalu dekat dengannya secara personal, tapi saya mengikuti satu badan yang sama dengannya dan kami juga pernah bersama dalam satu kepanitiaan (tidak dalam sie yang sama, tapi kami sama-sama PJ). Dia memang punya tampang yang....yaah, cukup di atas rata-rata, rajin (dia tipe yang bawa-bawa tentir ke mana-mana), aktif dalam kegiatan kampus (dia saat ini menjabat ketua panitia suatu acara besar), dan yang saya suka....dia tipe yang rela berkorban demi orang lain.

Ah, tak tahulah. Saat ini saya sendiri sedang bingung dengan perasaan saya. Saya juga masih ada rasa pada mantan saya yang saat ini nun jauh di sana, dan saya juga tertarik pada satu cowok angkatan saya yang entah mengapa, sering sekali membuat saya surprised.

Yah, mungkin memang belum saatnya saya menemukan yang baik bagi saya.

Saya pun berbalik dan kembali mengobrol dengan teman-teman saya.

pengalaman sebagai fasil PSAF.... (Day 2)

Melanjutkan posting saya sebelumnya, di mana saya menceritakan pengalaman saya menjadi fasil PSAF di hari pertama. Sekarang saya akan menceritakan bagaimana pengalaman saya di hari kedua.

Seperti hari sebelumnya, pukul lima dini hari saya sudah bersiaga di kampus untuk menanti kedatangan maba. Karena sebelumnya sempat terjadi masalah antara pihak panitia dan dekanat, kami jadi dilarang menggunakan tensi dua (sayang, padahal itu "puncak"nya tuh, wkwkwk). Saya dan Kak Dani kembali berkumpul untuk mendiskusikan beberapa hal. Karena hari ini angkatan 2008 dan 2007 harus memilih stase klinik, kemungkinan besar Kak Dani harus "vakum" sebentar dari jam 9, jadi sayalah yang memegang tanggung jawab lebih besar hari ini.

Kami pergi ke lapangan untuk menyambut maba. Terasa sekali bedanya dengan kemarin, karena anak keamanan nggak marah-marah lagi. Saya nggak tahu, para maba ngerasain atau nggak. Intinya, kami kembali ngelakuin segala ritual ngumpulin tugas dan ngecekin kelengkapan maba, dan kami bersyukur karena hari ini nggak ada maba di kelompok kami yang telat. Sayangnya, satu maba, Dyna, yang sempat saya sebut di post sebelumnya, nggak masuk. Apa karena masih syok ya?

Maba langsung ngelakuin perpindahan ke aula, sementara kami kembali ngemper di selasar histo buat meriksa tugas maba. Kali ini, waktu meriksanya panjang banget, menurut Kak Ira (PJ fasil taun lalu) jauh lebih panjang dari taun lalu. Dan tetep aja, saya harus tahan ngedenger teriakannya Kak Dani setiap beberapa detik sekali. Tapi begitu jam 9, suasana jadi agak lebih tenang karena Kak Dani udah sibuk nyoba buka siak...and guess what? Pengisiannya ditunda jadi jam 12. Saya terpaksa nyengir-nyengir aja ngedengerin Kak Dani ngamuk-ngamuk (maaf ya kak, saya nggak bermaksud ngejek kakak kok....).

Begitu tugas maba udah selesai dinilai, saya cepet-cepet kabur ke kamar mandi. Sekembalinya saya, saya ngecek lagi tugas maba kalau-kalau ada plagiarisme. Dan dapetlah, tiga maba di kelompok saya yang satu tugasnya sama persis. Ada dua orang lagi sih yang tugasnya sama, tapi yang satu kurang satu paragraf, jadi Kak Dani nggak nganggep itu sebagai plagiarisme.

Meriksa tugas udah selesai, tapi tugas saya selanjutnya masih lama. Akhirnya, saya ngemper di MA sambil nonton Running Man bareng Mbak Lilis (kalo maba tau panitia pada gabut, bisa diapain yahh, wkwkwk). Saya baru keluar lagi waktu briefing sidang (saya yang ikut sidang hari kedua, inget?). Dan terpaksa pasrah menerima kenyataan kalau banyak maba di kelompok saya dapet strata mayor.

Kali ini, kelompok saya kebagian sidang di lab biokimia. Saya dan hakim (maaf saya lupa siapa nama hakimnya -_-) udah siaga di sana, sementara sang keamanan kelompok, Avian, malah ilang entah kemana. Syukurlah, waktu maba dateng, akhirnya dia nongol juga. Saya buru-buru pasang muka jaim. Dan sidang pun dimulai.

Mekanisme sidangnya kayak gini. Keamanan manggil maba secara acak, nyebutin kesalahan-kesalahannya, dan mengonfirmasi apakah itu benar. Kalau maba protes, saya akan ngambil tugasnya dan nunjukin ke anak keamanan dan maba itu sendiri. Kalau ternyata saya salah meriksa, atau si maba punya alesan bagus kenapa dia nggak ngerjain, stratanya bisa turun. Tapi kalau alesannya nggak bagus, stratanya bisa naik.

Sebagai fasil, saya berusaha objektif menilai maba dan nggak ngejatuhin mereka, tapi sialnya, ada satu keamanan lagi yang ikut sidang kelompok saya dan itu adalah Beta. Beta adalah teman seangkatan saya yang badannya agak kecil tapi galaknya minta tobat. Nggak se-toa Kak Dani, tapi suaranya Beta jauh lebih cempreng. Jadilah saya cuma bisa pasrah dan mendoakan kemaslahatan maba-maba kelompok saya yang jadi "korban" Beta. Parahnya, ada satu orang yang sampe nangis (maaf ya dek, saya juga lupa nama kamu... X_X) tapi karena alesannya emang bagus, stratanya diturunin.

Di hari kedua, eksekusi strata langsung di tempat. Saya ditugaskan menilai maba kelompok saya yang mendapat strata 1 dan 2. Yang strata 1 ditugaskan memeragakan cara mencuci tangan yang baik dan benar, sedangkan yang strata 2 harus melakukan monolog komunikasi dokter dan pasien dengan kondisi pasien sedang panik akan melahirkan. Sejujurnya sih mereka nggak terlalu bagus peragaannya, tapi berhubung saya fasil yang baik hati dan tidak sombong (iya, narsis, saya tau) saya lulusin aja.

Seusai sidang, maba ngikutin Mahasiswa Peduli (di mana mereka akan diamukin dan disuruh bikin baksos), sementara saya ngemper di FSI dan tidur di sana sampe saatnya kumpul di aula. Di aula inilah, maba akan diajak merenung, dan kemudian ada acara "Kejutan Ulang Tahun" yang saya suka. Jadi ceritanya, maba-maba yang ultah bulan Agustus dipanggil ke depan dan dibilangin bahwa mereka udah ngelakuin kesalahan yang sangat berat. Pas mereka udah deg-degan, satu angkatan plus panitia nyanyiin lagu Happy Birthday buat mereka. Habis itu mereka dapet kado deh. Hehehe.

Setelah acara di aula, maba salam-salaman dengan semua panitia dan ngambil makanan serta ta'jil. Karena heboh, saya dan Kak Dani jadi agak repot ngumpulin maba kelompok kita buat ngembaliin tugas dan barang berharga. Begitu mereka kumpul, saya nggak ngelewatin kesempatan ini buat nanya, "Gimana menurut kalian, difasilin sama saya? Ada keluhan nggak, misalnya saya galak, jutek, atau apa?"

Syukurnya, maba-maba di kelompok saya semuanya bilang kalau saya baik banget, bahkan ada satu yang ngedoain saya cepet dapet jodoh yang ganteng (ini serius!). Saya ngaminin aja deh, meski sempet syok karena nggak nyangka didoain kayak gitu. Saya juga sharing dikit tentang FKUI dan PSAF, dan saya cerita kalau ini pengalaman pertama saya sebagai fasil soalnya pas PSAF tahun lalu, 2009 belum diizinin jadi fasil.

Setelah semuanya selesai, kami nyempetin diri buat foto bareng. Dan saya bilang ke maba-maba kelompok saya, "Nggak apa-apa kalian nggak jadi kelompok terbaik, kalian tetep kelompok terbaik yang pernah saya fasilin...."

Dan mereka ngebales, "Karena kita kelompok pertama yang pernah kakak fasilin?"

Saya nyengir.

Well, akhirnya dua hari PSAF selesai. Melelahkan, tapi saya puas. Saya berhasil melaksanakan tugas saya mengayomi maba, dan saya juga senang karena sepertinya saya berhasil menanamkan citra baik dalam hati mereka. Meskipun sekarang saya sudah lupa sebagian besar dari mereka (maafkan saya dek, saya emang pelupa) tapi saya tidak menyesal pernah menjadi fasil. Saya bisa belajar bagaimana "mengasuh" adik kelas. Dan tentunya, mendapat bayaran berupa senyum dan sapaan saat saya lewat di depan mereka....

pengalaman sebagai fasil PSAF.... (Day 1)

Tanggal 15-16 Agustus lalu, seperti biasa FKUI mengadakan Pengenalan Sistem Akademik Fakultas (PSAF). Dan seperti tahun lalu, saya mendaftar sebagai panitia. Kali ini, saya masuk sie Fasilitator, berhubung saya sudah masuk angkatan yang cukup tua (hehehe).

Saya terpilih untuk memfasili kelompok 1 bersama Kak Dani, senior saya dari angkatan 2007 yang saya belum terlalu kenal. Oh, saya tahu Kak Dani, tentu, berhubung dia pernah menjadi calon ketua senat, tapi saya belum terlalu mengenalnya secara pribadi. Karena itu, kami baru benar-benar mendiskusikan pembagian tugas pagi-pagi saat kumpul fasil sebelum maba datang.

Dengan suit, diputuskan bahwa Kak Dani akan menemani maba untuk tur intrakampus, sementara saya menunggui maba telat. Kemudian, kami akan memeriksa tugas bersama-sama, barulah saya menemani maba untuk jumpa pahlawan. Kami juga sepakat kalau Kak Dani akan mengikuti sidang maba di hari pertama, sementara saya mengikuti sidang di hari kedua.

Setelah menyepakati itu semua, saya dan Kak Dani bergegas ke lapangan parkir depan untuk menyambut maba. Para maba belum berkumpul, namun para panitia sudah tersebar di segala penjuru lapangan. Beberapa saat kemudian, saya mendengar panitia Keamanan mulai berteriak-teriak, pasti maba sudah mulai datang. Benar adanya, sosok-sosok berbalut seragam putih dan hitam mulai berlarian memasuki lapangan parkir, menyandang tas karung putih dengan makara hijau dan tulisan FKUI 2011, mengenakan berbagai atribut khas PSAF.

Saya dan Kak Dani pun menyiapkan lembar penilaian, nametag peserta, dan trashbag yang akan dipakai untuk mengumpulkan tugas dan barang maba. Kami berkata kepada maba, "Tolong keluarin semua barang-barangnya ya dek. Saya mau cek."

Selama beberapa waktu, saya dan Kak Dani sibuk mengecek kelengkapan barang-barang maba, mengumpulkan tugas dan barang berharga, membagikan nametag, dan sebagainya. Saking hecticnya, saya sampai sedikit panik saat maba sudah diperintahkan meninggalkan lapangan padahal saya belum selesai menceklis. Pada akhirnya, Kak Dani meninggalkan lapangan untuk menemani tur intrakampus, sementara saya menunggui beberapa maba dari kelompok saya yang terlambat.

Setelah maba telat mengikuti tur intrakampus, saya meninggalkan lapangan parkir dan menuju lapangan multifungsi, tempat maba-maba yang tidak telat sedang berdiskusi bersama kelompoknya masing-masing mengenai tur yang tadi mereka ikuti. Saat saya datang, diskusi sudah hampir berakhir. Dalam hati, saya agak jengkel karena saya belum sempat berkenalan dengan maba-maba kelompok saya, karena saat briefing PSAF juga Kak Dani yang mengurus mereka. Tapi paling tidak saya masih bisa ikut diskusi meski sebentar.

"Kak, di departemen faal itu belajar apa sih?" tanya salah satu maba.

"Faal itu belajar fungsi-fungsi tubuh," saya menjawab. "Misalnya....gimana mekanismenya pertukaran oksigen di darah. Gitu deh. Itu mata kuliah paling susah."

"Dan ati-ati, soalnya dosennya killer semua," sambung Kak Dani.

"Dokter Drakula nggak killer ah kak," bantah saya.

"Siapa Dokter Drakula?"

"Dokter Tomi," jawab saya tanpa dosa.

"Yaah, tapi sebagian besar killer lah!"

Akhirnya, diskusi berakhir dan maba diantar ke aula untuk mengikuti seminar. Sementara itu, saya dan Kak Dani menyeret trashbag berisi tugas maba untuk diperiksa. Inilah bagian yang paling saya takuti. Kami harus selesai sebelum seminar usai, karena setelah itu saya harus menemani maba jumpa pahlawan.

Pada saat memeriksa itu, saya jadi tahu satu hal: Kak Dani itu TOA banget. Oke, saya emang pernah ngedenger suaranya waktu orasi calon ketua senat dulu, tapi waktu itu saya nggak terlalu deket darinya. Dan sekarang, saya duduk tepat menghadap Kak Dani dan harus mendengar teriakannya beberapa menit sekali setiap kali ada tugas yang bermasalah. Beginilah kira-kira cuplikannya:

Saya: Kak Dani, gimana nih kalo tugasnya kayak gini.... *nunjukin*

Kak Dani: ADEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Kak Ade: (PJ fasil): Ya kak?

Kak Dani: Ini gimana tugasnya, bla3x....

Kak Ade: Oh, gini kak.... *ngejelasin*

Kak Dani dan saya: *lanjutin meriksa*

Saya: *beberapa saat kemudian* nah, kalo gini gimana kak?

Kak Dani: TIM TIGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Tim 3 (Maela/Nyayo/whoever): Ya kak?

Kak Dani: kalo ini gimana bla3x...

Dan seterusnya, dan seterusnya.

Tapi saya lumayan seneng lho kerja sama Kak Dani. Meskipun saya berpendapat Kak Dani itu terlalu baik. Saat memeriksa, saya nemuin banyak kesamaan dalam tugas maba dan saya ngasih tau Kak Dani, tapi Kak Dani bilang kalo belum 100% sama, dia nggak akan nganggep plagiarisme. Yo wis, berhubung Kak Dani itu senior saya, saya nurut aja.

Akhirnya, selesai meriksa tugas. Bersama beberapa fasil lain yang juga ditugaskan menemani tur intrakampus, saya menunggu di pintu yang menuju bangsal potong. Kami menunggu beberapa saat. Karena saya fasil kelompok 1, tentunya kelompok saya datang duluan. Begitu mereka sampai di dekat saya, saya langsung membimbing mereka menyusuri jalur yang menuju bangsal potong dan menempatkan mereka mengelilingi sebuah meja yang di atasnya sudah dibaringkan kadaver.

Salah seorang maba tampak menutup hidungnya. Mungkin nggak tahan sama bau formalin. Tapi saya agak heran, karena menurut saya aromanya sih nggak terlalu menyengat. Mungkin saya udah tersensitisasi kali ya? Salah satu anak keamanan mendekati maba itu dan memintanya untuk menurunkan tangannya. Setelah semuanya masuk, acara jumpa pahlawan pun dimulai. Biasa deh, maba disuruh ngeliatin kadaver di depannya sementara ada satu orang di depan yang nyeritain gimana pentingnya kadaver itu bagi anak FK. Dua orang maba di kelompok saya nangis, meski saya nggak tau itu karena uraiannya atau karena matanya perih kena formalin.

Selesai jumpa pahlawan, saya nemenin maba ke museum anatomi. Saya bilang, "Habis ini nggak akan se-nyeremin yang tadi kok. Tapi nikmatin ya, soalnya kalian kemungkinan besar nggak akan bisa masuk museum ini lagi."

Dan mereka emang cukup nikmatin, sejauh yang saya lihat. Mereka banyak nanya soal sediaan-sediaan yang ada di sana (yang kebanyakan saya jawab asal-asalan, hahaha). Tapi ada juga yang saya jawab dengan bener kok, misalnya sediaan lidah (yang bagus banget, nggak kayak sediaan pas saya ujian anatomi GI sama respi), sediaan kembar siam, dan sebagainya. Saya juga nunjukin beberapa sediaan sendi yang bisa digerakin. Sayangnya, karena waktu nggak cukup, saya nggak sempet nunjukin semuanya. Mereka ke aula lagi untuk seminar tips and trik, sementara saya nyari tempat buat tidur sampai briefing sidang.

Selebihnya, nggak banyak yang saya lakuin sampe PSAF selesai, soalnya Kak Dani yang ikut sidang. Tapi waktu maba ikut dinamika, saya bolak-balik antara lapangan multifungsi dan ruang kesehatan, soalnya 3 maba kelompok saya ada di sana. Salah satunya, namanya Dyna, bahkan sampe pingsan di depan ruang konferensi anatomi (ruang sidangnya kelompok saya). Ngakunya sih karena dia ngeliat "sesuatu" di depan ruangan itu (err....). Saya rasa sih, usaha saya ini yang bikin para maba kelompok saya jadi suka sama saya, hehehe.

Akhirnya, PSAF hari pertama selesai. Saya dan Kak Dani ngembaliin semua tugas dan barang berharga maba. Kami juga ngasih beberapa nasihat buat mereka, terutama buat satu orang yang dapet strata mayor. Setelah evaluasi panitia, saya langsung pulang. Capek banget. Tapi saya seneng lho jadi fasil, apalagi masih ada satu hari lagi....

Jaga Selalu Hatimu - Seventeen

kau jaga selalu hatimu
saat jauh dariku tunggu aku kembali
*courtesy of LirikLaguIndonesia.net
mencintaimu aku tenang
memilikimu aku ada
di setiap engkau membuka mata

merindukanmu selalu ku rasakan
selalu memelukmu penuh cinta
itu yang selalu aku inginkan

kau mampu membuatku tersenyum
dan kau bisa membuat nafasku lebih berarti

reff:
kau jaga selalu hatimu
saat jauh dariku tunggu aku kembali
ku mencintaimu selalu
menyayangimu sampai akhir menutup mata

kau mampu membuatku tersenyum
dan kau bisa membuat nafasku lebih berarti

repeat reff [2x]

kau, kau jaga selalu hatimu

Source: http://liriklaguindonesia.net/s/seventeen/seventeen-jaga-selalu-hatimu/#ixzz1XDc2rGGV

yang saya pikirkan tadi malam dan pagi ini....

Kali ini, saya bisa merasa senang karena dia telah pergi jauh.

Sebab, jika dia masih ada di dekat saya....

entahlah, saya mungkin tidak mau bicara dengannya selama seminggu.

Forum Bahasa dan Sastra Media Aesculapius 2011

Media Aesculapius FKUI mempersembahkan

"Forum Bahasa dan Sastra 2011"

Forum Bahasa dan Sastra 2011

event:

• Lomba Sastra
• Pameran Sastra
• Talkshow

Event terdekat:

Lomba Sastra,

apa itu lomba sastra?

Lomba sastra terdiri dari tiga jenis materi, yaitu cerita pendek (cerpen), puisi, dan fotografi. Lomba ini terbuka untuk umum dan mengusung tema “Menapaki Jalan Hidup dengan Sastra”. Kegiatan ini bertujuan memotivasi generasi muda untuk menciptakan karya-karya sastra yang berkualitas. Penjurian lomba akan dilakukan oleh sejumlah tokoh yang telah lama berkiprah dalam dunia sastra Indonesia.

Kapan deadlinenya?

Lomba ini dibuka mulai:

1 Agustus-16 September 2011 cap pos (naskah diterima di meja panitia paling lambat 23 September 2011)

Apa persyaratannya?

Persyaratan peserta :

1. Karya orisinil (bukan jiplakan) dan belum pernah dipublikasikan.

2. Karya tidak mengandung unsur SARA, kekerasan, atau pornografi.

3. Setiap peserta dikenakan biaya pendaftaran Rp 25.000,00/peserta/jenis lomba. Administrasi dapat dilakukan langsung di Sekretariat Media Aesculapius atau ditransfer ke rekening Bank BCA No. Rek. 4741060684 a.n. Davrina Rianda.

4. Setiap peserta boleh mengirimkan maksimal 2 karya (untuk jenis yang sama) dalam satu amplop.

5. Melampirkan identitas (nama lengkap, alamat lengkap, nomor telepon, dan email yang bisa dihubungi).

6. Melampirkan fotokopi/scanning kartu identitas (KTP/KTM/SIM).

7. Melampirkan fotokopi/scanning bukti pembayaran.

8. Karya yang berhasil melalui tahap seleksi akan ditampilkan dalam Pameran Sastra Forum Bahasa dan Sastra 2011 pada 19-22 Oktober 2011.

9. Semua peserta lomba DIHARAPKAN hadir dalam acara puncak Forum Bahasa dan Sastra pada 22 Oktober 2011.

Persyaratan Lomba Cerpen:

1. Naskah diketik di kertas ukuran A4, jenis huruf Times New Roman, ukuran huruf 12, spasi 1,5, margin 2 cm rata kiri-kanan, panjang naskah 6-9 halaman.

2. Naskah dapat dikirim langsung ke sekretariat MA atau via pos dalam bentuk print-out 2 rangkap disertai soft copy dalam CD.

3. Cantumkan sinopsis cerita maksimal 1/2 halaman.

4. Di bagian kiri atas amplop dituliskan LOMBA CERPEN FBS 2011.

Persyaratan Lomba Puisi:

1. Naskah diketik di kertas A4, jenis huruf Times New Roman, ukuran huruf 12, spasi 1,5, margin 5 cm rata kiri-kanan, panjang naskah maksimal 2 halaman atau 3000 karakter.

2. Naskah dapat dikirim langsung ke sekretariat MA atau via pos dalam bentuk print-out 2 rangkap disertai soft copy dalam CD.

3. Di bagian kiri atas amplop dituliskan LOMBA PUISI FBS 2011.

Persyaratan Lomba Fotografi :

1. Foto dicetak dalam ukuran 12R 30x40.

2. Foto dapat berwarna atau hitam putih.

3. Sertakan soft copy dengan format JPEG dalam CD.

4. Rekayasa digital diizinkan sebatas sama dengan yang biasa dilakukan dalam kamar gelap fotografi film dan tidak melakukan proses penggabungan beberapa foto; manipulasi hanya sebatas koreksi warna/kontras; editing sebatas leveling dan saturation, bukan hasil retouch maupun manipulasi komputer lainnya.

5. Cantumkan judul foto berikut keterangan singkat makna foto mencakup 5W1H. 6. Di bagian kiri atas amplop dituliskan LOMBA FOTOGRAFI FBS 2011.

Ke mana mengirimkan hasil karyamu???

Kirimkan karya beserta seluruh persyaratan secara langsung atau via pos ke

Sekretariat Media Aesculapius

Jalan Salemba Raya 6

Jakarta Pusat 10430

atau

via email ke fbsma2011@gmail.com (khusus cerpen dan puisi, untuk fotografi harus dicetak dan dikirimkan ke Sekretariat Media Aesculapius)

Pemenangnya?

Pemenang:

1. Pemenang terdiri dari juara 1, 2, 3 dan dipilih melalui tahap penjurian

2. Keputusan juri bersifat final dan tidak dapat diganggu gugat.

3. Pemenang diumumkan pada acara puncak Forum Bahasa dan Sastra pada tanggal 22 Oktober 2011.

Hadiahnya??

woooww...

Juara 1: Rp 1.000.000,00 + Sertifikat + Voucher berlangganan SKMA 2 tahun

Juara 2: Rp 750.000,00 + Sertifikat + Voucher berlangganan SKMA 1 tahun

Juara 3: Rp 500.000,00 + Sertifikat + Voucher berlangganan SKMA 6 bulan

(untuk masing-masing kategori lomba)

Jangan bimbang,

goyangkan imajinasi dan goreskan tinta inspirasimu.

Lalu kirimkan karya besarmu.

Kami menunggu..

informasi lebih lanjut,

kunjungi website kami

http://fbs2011.co.cc

atau page facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Forum-Bahasa-dan-Sastra-2011/174774575926582

atau kirim e-mail ke fbsma2011@gmail.com

Terima kasih......

Jangan lewatkan kesempatan ini.

CP:

Oviliani W: 08170758948

Alia Nessa: 085716278718

(Fanfic) Loud and Clear

Ini satu lagi fanfic gue yang gue suka. Tokohnya kali ini adalah Aaron Ramsey, pemain Arsenal favorit gue, dan Vhiolen, tokoh ciptaan gue. Dan kalo boleh agak narsis, sebenernya sih tokoh Vhiolen ini sebagian didasarin dari diri gue sendiri, hehehe. Well, just enjoy it!

---

Title: Loud and Clear
Author: Mirano Ottawa
Category: Romance, slight angst
Characters: Aaron Ramsey, Vhiolen
Length: hitter
Summary: Aaron was a mute who shut himself away from love. Everything's changed when he met a girl who understood what he really wanted to say.
Disclaimer: I do not own Aaron Ramsey. Neither I do own the song Talking to the Moon, I Swear, and Paint My Love.
Author's Notes: It's alternate universe. Don't kill me, you know I love to torture Aaron.

---

Blood....? Aaron looked at the small reddish puddle on his palm. His little body trembled as he realized what it was. The only thing he knew about blood was if someone started to cough up blood, then he would die soon. Aaron knew that from a film he accidentally watched a few weeks ago.

Aaron could still hear the sounds of shouting, slamming, and glass breaking from the other room. And since the door was opened, he could also see his father dragged his mother to the corner of the room. He closed his eyes, trying not to look at it, but the voices were still there, penetrating through his skull, imprinted in his brain. Aaron tried to lift his hand to cover her ears, but either because he was going to die or because the dizziness was getting into, he was unable to do so.

He tried to remember what had happened. When his father began to rampage earlier, he threw a beer bottle towards Aaron, and one of the pieces pierced his throat. Aaron hadn’t known it at the time because he could not see his own neck, but he felt pain and the next thing he knew, he began to cough up blood. He wanted to scream to call his mother, but his voice would not come, and besides, his mother was also being tortured by her father.

Aaron coughed again.

And the horrible red spots that pooled on the floor were the last things he saw before he fainted.

---

Aaron used to be a normal boy. He had a wonderful family, with a mother, a father and an older brother. Their house was quite large and located in a nice neighborhood. He loved to sing – he had pretty good voice – and play football. His life was happy and his family never quarreled with each other. Okay, maybe Josh, his brother, sometimes made fun of him until he cried, but it's just normal sibling fights that never left any wounds.

But things changed since his father lost his job. They had to move to a smaller house in the slums, and lost most of their beautiful items – Aaron remembered when people came to take his box full of toys and he cried, and then his father slapped his head hard. His father got a new job, but the salary was less than his old one, the work itself was harder, and he didn’t like some of his colleagues, so he always threw out his frustrations at home.

Since then, Aaron and his family’s life turned into living hell.

Aaron was no longer allowed to go to the park to play football (he still did it sometimes, but always in secret when his father was at work and his mother let him go). He was no longer allowed to join the choir club (in this case, his mother could not do anything because they no longer had the money to pay the membership). Aaron never got his favorite foods anymore. And every night, when his father came home from work, he hauled everyone on the coals, beat Aaron and Josh, and threw their toys against the wall. Crying didn’t help because it would just make him hit harder.

His mother did her best to protect Aaron and Josh from their father’s wrath – she always reminded them to behave, not making trouble at school, and clean up any mess they accidentally made. But somehow, the father was always able to find a mistake. And if the mother tried to protect her two children, then the father would beat her too.

Finally, the peak occurred on this day.

On the morning, before leaving for school, Josh had asked his mother to go to his friend’s house. His mother allowed, but she said that Josh had to return home before his father came home from work. But it turned out that his father came home early today. And when he did not find Josh in the house, he immediately fumed. His mother had tried to explain that Josh went to his friend's house, but nothing could stop the father.

And now, with a single piece of glass stuck in his throat, Aaron could only be grateful that Josh was not home.

---

Aaron woke up in a room that he didn’t recognize. The ceiling was white and clean, but the walls were covered in beige floral wallpaper. Green curtains hung on the right side of him. On the other side, he could see a small cabinet, and on the top of the cabinet there were a glass, a pitcher of water, and a basket of fruits. He himself was lying on a bed with white sheet and light brown woolen blanket. His left hand was bandaged, and a pipe stuck out from it. The pipe was connected to the bag containing some clear fluid that hung on the pole beside him.

"Aaron! Honey, you’ve been awake?!"

Aaron turned and saw his mother in the doorway. Her face was pale, there were scratches on her cheek, and her right hand was bandaged, but otherwise she looked fine. Before Aaron could say anything, his mother had walked up and hugged him tightly.

Aaron tried to ask, Where am I? but his voice would not come.

His mother saw it and immediately burst into tears. "Aaron," she whispered hoarsely, "the doctor said a piece of broken glass stabbed your vocal cords. And he said, you could never speak anymore."

Aaron's mind was blank at once. His mother kept talking, telling him that Josh was fine and his father had been imprisoned and she had filed for divorce, but nothing hit Aaron’s mind. He lost his voice. He would no longer be able to talk or sing. He would no longer be able to do many things normal people could do. Although he was still very young, Aaron knew that the chance of bright future for the disables was very thin.

The mother stopped talking when he saw his son's suddenly sullen face. She gently pulled Aaron back into her arms and stroked her hair, while Aaron cried silently in her chest. The mother’s tears soaked into Aaron's hair, and they cried together for a while.

Once Aaron stopped crying, she bent down his bed and took something. When she stood back, Aaron saw his foot ball in her hands.

"I brought you this," his mother said softly. "I thought you’ll need it."

Aaron’s tiny hands reached out and held the ball tightly. Somehow, he felt better once he touched it. He leaned his head into the ball, smelt the typical aroma of the soil as if he was just playing football in the park. And somehow, he knew everything would be fine.

---

Aaron stepped out of his car. His face was slightly pale and his head bowed, but his paces were quite steady. His right hand gripped an Arsenal jersey with number 16 on the back tightly.

Yes, Aaron was now officially an Arsenal player. His great efforts to train his football skill turned out to fruition. He had played for his local club, Cardiff City, until Arsene Wenger became interested in signing him. Now, Aaron's dream to become a world class footballer seemed closer to reality.

After signing the contract, taking pictures for the press, and blah blah blah, he finally had the opportunity to be introduced to the Arsenal players. Aaron felt both nervous and excited. He was excited knowing that he was able play at Arsenal, one of the best clubs in the world, but he was nervous too, as he didn’t know what would his teammates react later when they found out that he was mute. His former teammates at Cardiff understood his situation, but what if Arsenal players couldn’t accept it? Aaron remembered how Wenger’s eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets on the first time they met each other and Aaron demonstrated sign language in front of him.

Aaron sighed quietly. It's too late to escape now. Upholding the head as much as possible, he stepped into Wenger’s office.

Wenger smiled as he entered the room, and shook his hand. "Welcome to Arsenal, Aaron. We sincerely hope that you'll have good times here.”

Aaron smiled, grabbed a pen and a notebook that he always brought in his pocket, and wrote quickly, "So glad to be here, Monsieur Wenger."

"Come here." Wenger walked ahead of Aaron, going out of his office. "The other kids are all there in the dressing room."

Aaron followed Wenger outside. They walked on they arrived at the dressing room. At first the room was so noisy, but when Wenger and Aaron stepped in, everything went quiet.

"Have all of you already been here?" asked Wenger, looking around.

"No, coach, Robin and Cesc said they had to pick something," said Almunia.

Wenger nodded. "Oh, yeah. I’m the one who told them to pick it up. Okay, we’ll be waiting for a while."

Suddenly the door opened, featuring Robin and Cesc who were carrying a large whiteboard.

"Coach, can you explain to us, what is this for?" Robin asked, putting the board on the floor, panting.

"You'll understand," Wenger said, then turned to Aaron.

Aaron nodded, then he grabbed a marker and approached the whiteboard. He quickly scribbled something on it, making sure the letters were large enough to be read by everyone in the dressing room.

"My name is Aaron James Ramsey, but you can call me Aaron. I'm sorry, I can not introduce myself to you in the normal way, because I'm mute. Do not worry if you want to talk to me, I can use sign language, or if you do not understand it, I'll just write it down. Please do not treat me like a handicap, because I seriously think that I'm as normal as you are. I'm so glad to join Arsenal because I want to be a world-class footballer. I hope all of you can help me to reach my dream. Thanks...."

Finished, Aaron put back the marker’s cap and turned around to face the Arsenal players, slightly challenging look in his eyes.

The Arsenal players stared at the whiteboard, dumbfounded. They never thought about it before. No wonder Aaron did not say anything during the press conference announcing his move to Arsenal! At first they thought that Aaron was just embarrassed, but in fact he could not speak.

Cesc cleared his throat. "You don’t have to worry," he said firmly. "We don’t care whether you’re mute or anything. The important thing is you are an Arsenal player and you'll help us to be champions."

Of course, after that everyone nodded and said yes, they would help. Aaron smiled to all of them, knowing that they were sincere with their words and he was going to have happy days at Arsenal.

---

Three years passed, and Aaron found his life at Arsenal was enjoyable. On his first days, it still felt a little awkward, because his friends hadn’t been accustomed to see his language sign, or wait for him to finish writing what he wanted to say. But they were all still young and they learned quickly.

They learned to act normally to Aaron and not treat him like a disable. They learned sign language to facilitate their communication with Aaron (Aaron protested this and said he didn’t mind if they talked like usual, but they just responded by saying, "I can’t hear you, Aaron!"). They learned Aaron’s habits in the field because he couldn’t shout their names when he’s going to pass the ball. They also learned to wait, especially when Aaron had to provide long answers and it took some time to write it all down on paper.

Aaron was happy with his life. He could do the job he loved, he had a spacious and comfortable apartment to live in, his friends were very enjoyable and cared for him a lot. There seemed nothing wrong for him – except for one thing. One thing that he had been avoided on his whole life. One thing that was naturally presented within everyone, but he was unable to do so.

He didn’t realize it until one day Robin accidentally mentioned it in the dressing room.

"You do not have any girlfriend, Aaron?" asked Robin while putting on his training jersey.

Aaron gasped. His eyes stared at Robin questioningly. He was so shocked that he couldn’t write nor make any sign language.

Robin saw Aaron's eyes and rolled his. "Don’t be that surprised. I’m just asking you."

Aaron grabbed paper and pen, then wrote, "Who would want to be with me? I'm mute."

"I think you don’t like to be called a disable," said Lukasz, who was sitting next to Aaron and read what he just wrote.

Aaron sighed and wrote again. "That's the problem. Not everyone can understand me. I don’t want the girls to act weirdly to me because I can’t speak. And I also don’t want girls who are willing to accept my disability just because of my money."

"Not all girls are like that, Aaron," Robin tried to convince him. "Bouchra loves me wholeheartedly."

"That's Bouchra. I don’t want to have a girl now."

Robin shrugged. "Whatever you want, Aaron. But let me tell you, humans were created to love each other. You should not disregard it just because you think that you’re a disable."

Aaron didn’t write anymore on the paper, so Robin went to the field first. Once his friend had disappeared behind the door, Aaron took a deep breath.

As he had told Robin before, he really didn’t want to have a girlfriend. Of course, as a normal guy, Aaron could see the beauty of the girls and feel interest in some of them, but he never really fell in love. He honestly told Robin that he deliberately closed his heart because he believed no girls would want him because his disability, but in fact he had another reason.

Aaron couldn’t forget his childhood, especially when his father threw beer bottle at him and make him lose his voice. Although since then Aaron had never met or even heard from his father, the incident was still fresh in his mind and made him traumatized. He once loved and admired his father sincerely, but the same person was the one who had wounded him. Aaron did not want to have himself hurt again, both physically and mentally, especially by his loved ones.

Indeed, once when he was in high school, Aaron had a crush to a girl from another class and he tried his best to get close to her. One of his friends knew it and managed to arrange a date between them. But when the girl knew that Aaron was mute, she immediately made an excuse and left.

Since then, Aaron shut himself away from love.

---

Aaron didn’t really like it when Arsenal players went to a night club and then they decided to do karaoke. Although he did enjoy listening to music and laughing at his friends who tried to mimic some famous singers’ style, but he himself wasn’t able to fully enjoy it because he couldn’t sing along. So, Aaron often went home first if they started a karaoke night.

But today, Aaron’s car was damaged and he had to take it to be repaired. And when the Arsenal players asked him to go to a club that night, he went with Bendtner. And of course, there was no way Bendtner would want to go home first when they started to do karaoke. Aaron had no choice but stayed and listened to his friends singing.

While they all gathered and watched Sagna trying to sing the song Thriller, mimicking Michael Jackson’s style, Aaron looked around the club, trying not to look so miserable. In fact, he felt a little hurt. He remembered how he used to love singing, and how people told him he had pretty good voice. If only he still had his voice, he would be happy to join his friends for karaoke, but now....

Aaron shook his head and looked away from Sagna to eliminate that thought. At that moment, he caught the view of of a girl who was sitting not too far from him, surrounded by her friends.

The girl had long, black, straight hair, parted in the middle and decorated with a pair of tiny hairpins. He wore a short white jacket over an orange tanktop and skinny blue jeans. Her feet were wrapped in a pair of orange high wedge shoes. When her gaze accidentally met Aaron’s eyes, he discovered that the girl has a pair of dark eyes, the darkest ones he had ever seen. Her face was not too round but not too elliptical either. Her eyebrows were thick, her nose was rather large, and her lips were too thin, but when she smiled, her dimples emerged and every man would admit that it made her looked so cute.

Aaron smiled back, but quickly looked away. He should not be enamored of the girl, he reminded himself. She was just an ordinary girl whom he met at this night club, that’s all. Aaron forced himself to look at Sagna until he finished singing.

At that point, there was a slight commotion at the next table. Aaron turned around and saw the girl was driven onto the stage by her friends.

"No, I do not want to! I can not sing!" the girl exclaimed.

But her friends persisted, and suddenly she's already on the stage. With her face a little flushed with embarrassment, she told the DJ what song would be sung by her.

Moments later, a gentle, sweet melody floated from the speakers and the girl began to sing.

I know you're somewhere out there
Somewhere far away
I want you back
I want you back
My neighbors think I'm crazy
But they don’t understand
You're all I had
You're all I had

As the girl had said before, her voice wasn’t very good, even Aaron could say that it was a little discordant. But Aaron was interested in her expression when she was singing the song – so mellow and full of appreciation, her eyes glazed slightly as if trying to find someone whom she did not know where.

At night when the stars light up my room
I sit by myself
Talking to the moon
Trying to get to you
In hope you're on the other side
Talking to me too
Or I'm a fool who sits alone
Talking to the moon

The girl walked away until she was a few steps in front of Aaron.

I'm feeling like I'm famous
The talk of the town
They say I've gone mad
Yeah I've gone mad
But they don’t know what I know
Cause when the sun goes down
Someone's talking back
Yeah they're talking back

At night when the stars light up my room
I sit by myself
Talking to the moon
Trying to get to you
In hope you're on the other side
Talking to me too
Or I'm a fool who sits alone
Talking to the moon

The girl took a few steps forward, now she was right in front of Aaron.

Do you ever hear me calling?
Cause every night I'm talking to the moon
Still trying to get to you
In hope you're on the other side
Talking to me too
Or I'm a fool who sits alone
Talking to the moon

She prepared to end her song, and Aaron was amazed to see a single tear rolling down her cheek.

I know you're somewhere out there
Somewhere far away....

Once the music stopped, polite applause filled the room. Aaron understood, the quality of the girl’s voice wasn’t very good. But he clapped loudly. He could see that the girl sang the song with all her heart, and he appreciated it.

Aaron waited until all the girl's friends left the table to the dance floor. Somehow, he knew that the girl was not the type who liked disco. Quietly, he went away from his friends, then approached her after ordering a drink from the waitress.

The girl turned around and smiled at Aaron. "Hi....”

Aaron made the gesture "Hi" with his hands, half waiting for the girls’ eyes to widen and then she would make excuses to go, but the girl didn’t do it. Instead, she didn’t seem surprised at all. She only pulled up a chair next to her and gestured at Aaron to sit there.

Aaron sat on the chair, though he still felt little amazed. How could the girl not surprised to see him using sign language? Aaron never told tell the press that he was....

"I know you're mute," the girl said with a chuckle.

Aaron's eyes widened in surprise.

"How could I know?" She smiled again, this time both of her dark eyes were gleaming like a pair of stars. "I have sixth sense. I can read your mind."

Aaron gasped, half because he was shocked to hear what the girl had just said, the other half because he didn’t know why the girl had to tell him that.

"It was nothing important," the girl said. "All of my friends know it."

But.... Aaron thought.

"It’s easier to talk to you this way, right?" The girl laughed again. "You don’t need to write or use sign language."

Aaron looked at the girl in amazement again.

"By the way, my name’s Vhiolen," the girl said softly, her dark eyes penetrating Aaron’s brown ones, and Aaron melted a little bit inside.

That was the smoothest conversation he ever had since he became a mute.

---

Vhiolen and Aaron quickly became good friends, although in a rather peculiar way. They talked almost every day, because Vhiolen could hear Aaron’s thoughts no matter how far the girl from him. And Vhiolen was always ready whenever Aaron wanted to talk.

If they were seeing each other, Aaron insisted that Vhiolen had to speak with her own voice. Not that Aaron didn’t like Vhiolen to enter his mind, but somehow he was pleased to hear her voice. Listening to her laugh, and seeing her sweet dimples.

One day, Aaron visited Vhiolen's apartment and was surprised to learn that she's good at playing a piano.

Play me something while singing it, Aaron pleaded.

"My voice is bad, Aaron."

I don’t care. I want to hear you sing.

Vhiolen paused for quite a long time, his fingers lingering on the piano keys gently. For a moment Aaron thought the girl would refuse, but then she slowly started to hit the keys and sang.

I swear
By the moon and the stars and the skies
I'll be there
I swear
Like a shadow that's by your side

I see the questions in your eyes
I know what's weighing on your mind
You can be sure I know my part
Cause I stand beside you through the years
You'll only cry those happy tears
And though I made mistakes
I'll never break your heart

And I swear
By the moon and the stars and the skies
I'll be there
Oh, I swear
Like a shadow that's by your side
For better or worse til death do us part
I'll love you with every beat of my heart
Oh, I swear

I'll give you everything I can
I'll build your dreams with these two hands
We'll hang some memories on the walls
And when just the two of us are there
You won’t have to ask if I still care
Cause as the time turns the page
My love won’t age at all

And I swear
By the moon and the stars and the skies
I'll be there
Oh, I swear
Like a shadow that's by your side
For better or worse til death do us part
I'll love you with every beat of my heart
Oh, I swear

Vhiolen finished the song. Like before, her voice was rather discordant and sometimes she sang out of tune, but Aaron did not care. He reached out and squeezed Vhiolen’s shoulder gently. Your performance is really good.

Vhiolen laughed softly. "Don’t say that just to make me happy, Aaron. I know I can’t sing."

Aaron sighed. If I still have my voice, I'll sing for you. I used to have good voice.

"I know," Vhiolen smiled, stroking Aaron’s cheek. "But you can’t, Aaron. Accept it. "

Aaron bit his lower lip.

---

"How’s your relationship with Vhiolen, Aaron?" Jack asked, grinning.

Aaron frowned to his teammate.

"Don’t act like you don’t know anything, Aaron. Everyone can see it. "

"Vhiolen and I are just friends," Aaron wrote.

Jack smirked. "Yeah, yeah. But you've got a feeling to her, right?"

"I do not want to fall in love, Jack."

"I'm sure she can accept your condition."

Aaron's hand trembled as he wrote again. "You don’t understand my feelings. I don’t want to be hurt by the one I love, Jack. I’ve lost my voice, I don’t need to lose anymore part of me."

Jack stared at Aaron. "You don’t think that Vhiolen would have a heart to hurt you, do you?"

Aaron did not answer.

"You're so stupid, Aaron," Jack said quietly, shaking his head as he walked away.

---

I want you to be an ENT specialist, said Aaron one day to Vhiolen.

"Why?" Vhiolen asked, raising her head from the book about human respiratory system she was reading (she was a med student, by the way).

So that you’ll be able to give my voice back.

"Why are you so obsessed to be able to speak again, Aaron?" Vhiolen whispered, looking straight into his eyes. "All this time, you never mind that. You’re still able to play football and...."

I want to talk to you, Vhiolen. I want to sing for you. I want you to hear my own voice....

"But I can hear it," Vhiolen said softly. “Loud and clear.”

It’s just my thought, not my real voice.

"Aaron, why do you really care about that? Am I really that important in your life?"

Aaron blinked.

"You told your teammates that I was only your friend. That means that you don’t see me as something more than them, right? Then why are you so determined to talk for me?"

Vhiolen’s voice remained calm, but there was something in her eyes that made Aaron looked downside and did not dare to say anything else.

"I never mean to make you sad, Aaron." Vhiolen's voice faded. "I just want to know why."

Aaron could not answer.

"Try to think about that, okay?" Vhiolen suggested. "I'm going to talk again to you only if you have already know why."

Aaron could only nod, trying not to show that when he heard Vhiolen’s last sentence, something in his heart cracked.

---

"I think you're a fool," said Jack, looking at Aaron sharply.

Aaron did not answer.

"She loves you, and you love her. How can’t you see it? "

Aaron shook his head miserably, hoping it could make Jack go away. At that time, he did not have enough strength to even take a pen and paper.

Jack looked at Aaron, then reached into his pocket and pulled out something, which he dropped on Aaron’s lap. Aaron looked at it. It was an advertisement that clearly was cut from the newspaper. And it was about the surgery to repair vocal cords.

"Maybe it could help you," Jack said. "And maybe not."

Aaron looked at him with the expression of gratitude.

Jack smiled slightly and walked away.

Aaron looked downside again, staring at the ads in his hand. Then he jumped up and got into his car. Less than half an hour later, he was sitting in a waiting room of a hospital, waiting to be called by the doctor.

In his mind, Aaron kept thinking about Vhiolen. It is the time, he told himself. I will gain my voice back, and I will make her happy. He closed his eyes, trying to picture himself singing something to Vhiolen with his newly-improved voice while she played the piano. That would be good....

Yet somehow, his mind couldn’t focus on that image. Instead, he thought about other things. How Jack called him an idiot, how Vhiolen sang while playing the piano for him, how Vhiolen said he could hear Aaron although he couldn’t speak, how the girl's eyes looked like as she urged Aaron to tell her why Aaron wanted his voice so bad. Vhiolen, Vhiolen, Vhiolen. The thoughts of the girl filled his mind, making his heart beat faster. Yes, Aaron knew now that he loved the girl.

If his voice was restored, the girl would love him more, right?

But what if she doesn’t want it? She loves you the way you are. His conscience whispered to him, over and over again in his heart.

Aaron closed his eyes, trying to still the voice. However, being a conscience, the more he tried to mute it, the louder it sounded.

He was snapped back to the real world by a voice calling his name. "Aaron Ramsey."

Aaron opened his eyes and saw the doctor's room door was opened. A nurse stood in front of the door, beckoning at him to enter the room. Within minutes, he would have a consultation with the doctor, and he would have a small operation to restore his voice....

Aaron gritted his teeth. He had taken his decision.

---

Vhiolen was sitting dreamily at her apartment when the bell rang. Without much thinking, the girl jumped up and opened the door. And at the front door, there stood a guy with short brown hair and greenish brown eyes.

The girl blinked. “Aaron?”

Vhiolen, Aaron whispered through his mind. May I come in?

Vhiolen’s eyes widened. "You didn’t take the operation?"

Aaron didn’t answer.

“I thought you really wanted your voice back, so...." Vhiolen’s voice faded.

Aaron raised an eyebrow. So, Vhiolen was the one who gave the ad to Jack to be handed to him! Aaron smiled and reached out to hug the girl. I don’t care about that, Vhiolen. I was being stupid. But I realize now, you can hear me, loud and clear, though I am mute. And you love me just the way I am.

"I love you," Vhiolen repeated, unconsciously gripping Aaron’s shirt tightly.

I love you too, Aaron said sincerely.

Vhiolen’s bright smile widened, revealing her adorable dimples. She buried her face in Aaron’s chest, enjoying the warmth emanated from his body. Aaron stroked her hair, feeling the joy bubbled inside him because he finally found his true love.

"Will you do me a favor?" Vhiolen whispered.

What is that?

"Sing for me."

Aaron frowned. You know I can’t sing.

"I want to hear the song of your heart," Vhiolen said softly, placing her hands on Aaron's chest.

Aaron nodded and mouthed the first song coming to his mind.

From my youngest years til this moment here
I’ve never seen such a lovely queen
From the skies above to the deepest love
I’ve never felt crazy like this before

Paint my love, you should paint my love
It’s the picture of thousand sunsets
It’s the freedom of a thousand doves
Baby you should paint my love

Been around the world then I met you girl
It’s like coming home to a place I’ve known

Paint my love, you should paint my love
It’s the picture of thousand sunsets
It’s the freedom of a thousand doves
Baby you should paint my love

Since you came into my life
The days before are fade to black and white
Since you came into my life
Everything has changed

Paint my love, you should paint my love
It’s the picture of thousand sunsets
It’s the freedom of a thousand doves
Baby you should paint my love

Vhiolen looked at Aaron, happy tears streaming down her cheeks. Aaron smiled and leaned closer to kiss her lips, knowing that the voiceless, tuneless song had started everything between them.

***