The Future Tree by Damhuri Muhammad
He likes to make kites. Fly it with Dad when the wind blows furiously. However, mostly he likes when he's with Dad planting. While planting tree seedlings, he is always asked to climb on Dad’s shoulder. He perched, and Dad crouched to plant. I don't know what the secret is to plant while holding a kid. "Whatever grows and rises from your hand, will one day exalt you," said Dad. Once, they planted a strange tree seedling, which was later named; the future tree. “Cutting down the tree that you planted, is the same as uprooting your pride,” whispered Dad. It was the last time he was with Dad. In the dawn, Daddy was carried by a group of people. Bloodied. Mom sobbed. People said, his Dad was pounced on by a tiger while looking for firewood in the forest. After growing up, he knew that a gang of thugs had murdered Daddy. He was accused of reporting illegal logging to the authorities so that the thugs were hunted down like wild boars.
The future tree is towering. If anyone is taller than the tree, it's the man. His incumbency now exceeds all the trees he has planted. A rice-growing area, his childhood playground, is currently under land acquisition. The future tree will be cut down. Residents refused. “Get it done right away!” high state officials ordered his men. After negotiating many times, the logging was approved. The toll road is completely done. "Good job, Mr. Minister..." The president said after the inauguration ceremony. The commendable minister lowered his head, then looked at the debris of the big tree. He seemed to see the pieces of his Dad's body there. Fragments of time as he perched exuberantly on Dad's shoulder appeared one after another. They were swinging in the sky, like the small kite he used to fly with Dad.
“I wrote this story with my heart. I'm really sure, the work authored by the heart will also be accepted by the heart. Even though I was rejected many times, I don't care. Someday, there will be readers who welcome it with sincerity.”
Damhuri Muhammad, Jakarta-based writer. He writes fiction, literary criticism, and opinion columns (Op-ed). His recent works have appeared in The Daily Star, Eksentrika, The Unconventional courier, The Pine Cone Review, ActiveMuse, The Riot-Mag, On-the-high Literary Journal, and elsewhere. Now he is lecturing on philosophy at Darma Persada University, Jakarta (Indonesia). He can be found on Twitter @damhurimuhammad