Autumn In Kent
Mike Gray Appears in Kent

‘Puti .. Puti,’ sayup-sayup Puti heard the call. But because he was immersed in the object he read he paid little heed to it. He still looked down and read the book in front of him. His determination wants to finish one textbook tonight as well. He doesn't want to be a statue in class tomorrow morning. A statue that does not understand the slightest of what the lecturer is talking about.

‘Puti .. ‘ the call is now more clear and know a small hand swaying his arm gently. Puti.

‘Gee, Tino, have you been up for a long time?’ tanya Puti with American English that is full of typical Ohio pressure. Facing the one hundred percent Indonesian Tino, Puti could not use Indonesian. Tino nodded lethargicly. The sleepiness was still clearly visible on his face.

‘You eat?’ ask her uncle. Unexpectedly Tino nodded her head steadily.

‘Uph!’ exclaim Puti shocked. ‘Not eaten yes earlier?’

‘Not yet,’ sahut Tino hoarse. Wow very reckless Madam Tanti, thought Puti.

‘Yuk let's see what we can have for dinner tonight. I also have not eaten,’ take him while holding Tino's hand to the kitchen. He sat Tino on a chair and he himself busied himself by opening several cabinets to look for food and dishes.

‘You want fried chicken?’ ask Puti while removing the tray from the oven.

‘Nope,’ said Tino short while laying his head on the table. Puti immediately opened the refrigerator to look for possible leftovers. There ain't! He opened a cupboard next to the refrigerator and found some food in a can.

‘How about soup?’ Puti.

‘Ya,’ answered Tino excitedly. ‘Tomato soup,’. Puti breathed a sigh of relief. He was worried that Tino would not eat the food he offered.

‘Oke, wait a minute? Cook it for you.’

When the tomato soup was ready to eat, Puti saw that Tino was asleep. Her small head drooped on the table while her breathing sounded soft and orderly. Puti slowly touched her cheek.

‘Hey, honey, soup is ready. Let's eat first,’ whispered Puti lirih. Tino squirmed lethargicly, but her eyes immediately opened wide when she saw the tomato soup in front of her.

It turns out that tomato soup can eliminate the drowsiness of Tino. While eating he chattered cheerfully. He chatted about his neighbor's boxer dog named Jenny exactly the name of his friend who loved to cry at school. She also told me about her kindergarten teacher who was as beautiful as a princess.

After eating, Tino is ready to go back to sleep on the condition that Puti must read a story to him. Puti qualifies that. She sat on the side of Tino's bed with the book ‘The Pink Fairy Book’ in her hand.

‘What stories do you want to hear?’ ask Puti while checking the table of contents of the fairy tale book. ‘Princess in the drawer? White pigeon? A man without a heart? Urachimataro ..’

‘Urachimataro and the Turtle,’ choose Tino sure. This is a good choice because the story is not too long. Only 6 pages.

Start Puti reading Urachimataro fairy tale from Japan. Sentence after sentence was said captivatingly while Tino listened to it attentively.

When he reached the middle of the story, Puti realized the letters he read more and more blurred and then fused to form black lines that are not read by his eyes. Puti narrowed her eyes in the hope that her vision would be refocused. Apparently not. The letters are still not visible.

‘Come, Puti, go on,’ rebukes Tino when waiting for a while and Puti still remains silent. Puti stunned.

‘Until where was it?’ tanya Puti stutters.

‘The big turtle appeared and brought Urachimataro to the palace under the sea,’ Tino said.

‘Oh yes,’ muttered Puti. He continued his story without reading a book. He had heard the story before, so it was not so difficult for him to imagine. And Tino didn't suspect him.

‘Two times a day should not be taken lightly,’ thought Puti and decided to weld her softlens and go to sleep only.

☘️

The next day as he stood in front of the mirror and examined his eyes, Puti found not a single hint of the irregularity of his eyes. His eyes looked fresh and clear. Even the thin, red veins in the whites of her eyes that often appear when she is wearing soft-lens are completely invisible.

Maybe last night my eyes were adjusting to the lenses I was wearing.’ Puti comforted herself as she headed towards the dining room. Tanti and Don had been waiting for him there.

‘Puti, guess who we met last night?’ welcome Don as soon as Puti sits down.

‘Professor Miller of course,’ replied Puti.

‘Not someone special.’

‘Keanu Reeves?’ guess Puti while taking two slices of toast and polishing them with strawberry jam.

‘Fright!’ exclaims Don surprise.

‘What? You guys really met Keanu Reeves?’ Puti.

‘Iya. Keanu Reeves. Michael Gray,’ Tanti explains.

‘Oh .. I thought you guys really met Keanu,’ complained Puti disappointed. ‘So who did you guys meet? Mike?’ he continued to turn enthusiastic.

‘He uh,’ says Tanti.

‘Cannot be. It's not Mike. Mike is currently in Oregon. ‘

‘Dead oath. We saw Mike,’ protest Tanti fiercely.

‘But how could Mike who was in Oregon be at Professor Miller's party?’

‘Maybe he just came,’ Don provides an alternative.

‘Yes, maybe too,’ sigh Puti hesitate. Yesterday morning Mike texted me that he was still in Oregon for a few more days.

‘If Mike changed plans and was in Kent why didn't he call me?’ thought Puti. ‘Ah she may have been looking for me in the dorm and because Emma had not come home so she had no shadow of where I was,’ she argued inwardly.

☘️

The charisma of the Kent State University campus lies in the sweet blend of more than a century-old ancient buildings with modern contemporary buildings. Lecture buildings for students who deepen business administration, law, communication dominated by exposed red brick and strong British style blending with the latest style buildings of the Architecture building, the, Auditorium and student dormitories. It even merges with the sports stadium that has just been completed in the middle of the campus. The meadows surrounding each building as well as thousands of oak and maple trees give it its own breath. Puti fell in love with this college once she saw it for the first time.

Don stopped his car in front of an old building in the western part of the University of Kent. Not to mention the car stopped perfectly, Puti had jumped down and then stopped upright on the side of the road.

‘Thank you, mas Don,’. He still had time to wave his hand to Don before walking across the grassy courtyard towards his faculty building.