Behind that Bars

A busy street will always be busy. Be it in the morning, noontime, or nighttime. It's always full of people with stories. You can't tell what stories that lie behind people's head, but luckily, I witnessed some of it.

There he goes. Do you see him? The man with the white and big green stripe motorcycle. I see that he has gotten him a new lover. Look at the other one's helmet. His ex-girlfriend wouldn't wear that old looking helmet. They broke up because she was cheating on him. I could still heard his shouting, mockery directed towards her through the window. His pained expression imprinted on my mind. Though the rain was pouring over them, I knew he shed a tear. She didn't cry. All I saw was she being.. relieved? Anyway, they were so loud! I wish I could stop them.

Oh? That white car! Today must be my neighbor's lucky day! He will get a visit from her daughter. I will never understand though, why she is always in a rush and why she always wears a muffler. I could hear her impatient footstep from my room. "Hi, Dad!" She greeted her father with an excited tone. Right away, she would always told her father about stories I couldn't hear because the walls are soundproof. I wish I could hear her stories more than just "I have a story to tell you!". It is now 2.40 p.m. 30 minutes after she went inside. She'll be out in mere seconds. "I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time with you today, next week I promise you a more entertaining story? I love you, Dad", as expected, she always say the exact same words before leaving. By the way, isn't it strange? My floor has always been the most noisy and yet I never hear her father's voice. Not even once. It's strange...

I heard knock on my door and someone went inside. The street is still packed with people.. I thought to myself, still looking out of the window. "Are you feeling well today?" She asked. I am not, I wanted to answer her so bad. "You didn't finish your lunch..", Yes I didn't. It tasted horrible. "Do you want to get fresh air?", Yes, I'm sick of this ill scented room. "Give me your hand please, after that I'll take you to the food stall in front of this building", she won't. She'll only inject a drug that will calm my nerves. "Okay then, if you insist on ignoring me", she calmly put her things back on the tray and slowly went outside. Before closing the door I heard her whisper, "Prepare yourself".

I understand it fully, ignoring the nurse would only cause me trouble. No one would hear my screams towards the guards and nurses, me shouting "I'm not crazy! I only have depression!", let alone the endless rant about my family who gave up on me long ago because they thought I was crazy. In the end, I will always be left alone with a few bruises, drowsy feeling, dark room, and noises from the street.

Ah, a busy street will always be busy afterall. It is either because of my screams aren't loud enough, or they're all also busy screaming inside their head so they couldn't hear me. I'll always hear them out nonetheless, though they may never know.

--

Photographed on December 2016,

Pasar Baru Area, Bandung.

A Hello from Hany before 2016 ends. It is considered new for me to share my writing--well.. an actual piece that needs a lot of thinking kind of writing. Usually, it only ended in my draft, but I decided to post this anyway. I am not fluent in english so please be nice on the grammar and vocabulary stuff hehe. Nice catching up with you all! Have a nice December!

-Hany