Irreplaceable Time

Andrew stood at the end of the hill, in a very quiet place, far from the city. Andrew Finley stood staring at the expanse of dark blue sea that seemed very deep, he decided to end his life that day.

"Mom, Dad, we will meet soon!" he muttered softly.

Andrew's face was pale and desperate. The man who lived as an orphan since childhood was sick. Being fired from office, carrying a lot of debt, and being abandoned by his lover to marry another man, made him feel that life was very bleak.

Andrew feels that committing to end his life is the most appropriate way for him to avoid all problems, including debts that will automatically be paid off when the borrower dies.

"Stefanie, I know you never loved me! Thank you for throwing me away! Thank you for ruining my life!" he muttered very quietly.

"God, why did you create me in this chaotic world? I want to disappear! I want the foam of this ocean to swallow me! I'm so tired! Goodbye, everyone!

The sound of seawater rose loudly when Andrew jumped in, but it was only for a moment. The seawater returned to calm, there were no visible ripples of air bubbles from above. The extremely deep sea had swallowed him up. In the sea, Andrew felt salt water enter his mouth, choking his breathing cavity, he was going to die now.

The deep ocean trench had strong water currents even though it was not visible from the surface, Andrew's body spun, spun continuously, and was sucked in very deep, finally, he completely disappeared. Andrew Finley is missing, he wants to die in that remote sea because he doesn't want his body to be found, he wants to completely disappear from a world that doesn't love him.

(Damadwipa 521AD)

The cliffs of the southern coast of Damadwipa are quite hot today. The waves that usually crashed against the rocks that day looked calmer. Crows circling in the sky signify death. A body in tattered clothes lay on the beach sand glistening with sunlight.

"Hey, there's a corpse! Check to see if there's anything valuable!" shouted a man ordering his subordinates.

A big man with a scary face examined the body lying on the sand.

"There's nothing but corpses!" he said.

"Cough..cough..! Hoekk..!" the sound of coughing and vomiting from the body he had just turned over.

"He's alive! We're rich!" shouted the man again.

They pressed on the man's stomach to help release a lot of seawater that he had drunk. The man was Andrew, he didn't die after his attempt, his stomach was very bloated with a mouth full of the taste of salt. He was conscious but still weak, the unknown men carried him, put Andrew's body in an open wooden cart, and pulled him by horse.

"Take him to Abipraya, let the healer treat him temporarily!" said a man.

The horse-drawn carriage took the weak Andrew to a small house where a village healer lived. He was placed on the floor with woven grass, and an old man replaced his wet clothes with a piece of worn batik-patterned cloth, covered him, and brought a stove filled with burning charcoal which made the room warmer.

The old man put his ear close to his chest and checked to see if there was still water remaining in his breathing cavity. Seeing that Andrew's breathing was normal, the old man looked calm.

He brought a plate of warm food and slightly hot water and gave it to Andrew who was now able to sit properly. The healer came out of his small hut, he chatted with the big men who had brought him from the beach earlier.

Andrew ate greedily even though his tongue tasted salty, he didn't know where he was, he just felt very cold, his stomach was still bloated but he was also hungry.

Today he failed to finish his life, but the pain of being choked by seawater deterred Andrew from trying again. Before he had finished eating, three big men entered the hut where he was being treated.

"Tie him up!" said the man with a cruel face.

"Hah! What are you guys doing? Help! Healer help!" Andrew shouted, unable to move when the large rope began to bind his body.

"Hahaha, you asked Abipraya to help you? He's the one who sold you stupid!" said the man with the headband.

"For sale? You human traffickers! You..." Before Andrew could continue speaking, his mouth was already gagged with a cloth tie.

"Let's go!" ordered the cruel-faced man as he dragged him to his feet and started following them.

"Argh...!" Andrew struggled and instead received a lash from the headband man.

"This slave is strong! It will be expensive if we sell him! hahaha," said the man, looking happy.

Andrew, who was still weak and confused, had to obey when his body was dragged and put into a horse-drawn carriage. A fairly large wooden cage was being pulled by 3 strong-looking horses. Andrew was shocked because there he also saw women and children tied together just like him.

The carriage started to move slowly taking them somewhere, it looked like a very green country house, very different from the city he knew. Andrew was still confused, he felt the territory was foreign but he could only remain silent because his mouth was sealed.

A woman appeared to be crying, seeing her mother crying, a boy next to her was crying very loudly. Hearing the noise, the headband man stopped his horse and took out a whip.

Tarrr! sound of whipping.

"Shut up you kid! If you can't keep quiet I'll gag your mouth too!" threatened the man.

Andrew shook his head, indicating for the boy to be quiet and stay out of trouble. Andrew thought, are they in a remote place? Why are there no police? But it's not very easy to see if there are people tied together on a horse-drawn carriage with the cage open. It's unreasonable.

When the horse-drawn carriage finally arrived at the crowd, Andrew started to feel a little relieved because he thought that someone would take pity on him and help him. But far from what one might imagine, the market was a market where slaves were traded. There were lots of whipping sounds and human screams there, very scary.

Andrew began to realize that he was not hallucinating, the human trafficking market was real. The market was busy with visitors, some were even well-dressed in expensive silk cloth accompanied by bodyguards carrying golden cloth umbrellas. Like the nobles who chose half-naked clothed slaves.

"5 people, bid!" said the man with a cruel face to the traders in the market.

"1 man, 3 women, 1 child, 500 Ece, huh!" the trader bargained.

"Add it, now it's hard to find new slaves!" he answered.

"I'll add 50 Ece! If you don't want to sell it to someone else, I still have a lot of slaves that haven't been sold!" said the trader curtly.

"Yeah, that's 550 Ece! Hey, put them down!" said the man in agreement.

Andrew and the others were dropped off at the stall of a man with a mustache and long beard. Their bodies were tied to sturdy, upright poles. Women with women, men with men, children with children. Andrew felt like an accessory on display in a shop.

"Kyaaaaa...!" a woman screams when a rich-looking man comes up and starts touching her.

"This slave, I like her, how much is the price?" asked the man.

"150 Ece, Sir, she is beautiful, she won't disappoint you, Sir!" said the mustachioed trader.

"200 Ece for two slaves! This is also fine with the one who just arrived!" said the perverted man pointing to the mother of the little child who was crying earlier.

"Add another 50, 250 Ece will get two slaves, where else is it as cheap as here!" he said.

"Oh never mind, I need a new slave, my slave I bought last month is dead!" he said casually.

Andrew shuddered at the conversation, they weren't humans, they made humans like animals, they were demons, that's what Andrew thought. He felt like he had to quickly escape from that crazy place.

The two women were dragged and put into their new master's horse-drawn carriage. The boy who was the son of the woman who had been sold cried loudly when he saw his mother leaving. There were no words of consolation, the small boy instead received several lashes on the leg so that he would be quiet.

Andrew was angry, he wanted to struggle and wanted to kick the old man. But his body was bound with his mouth gagged, and the man was crying, he remembered that he was an orphan and had to live alone, but the little boy had to be separated from his mother in a very cruel, truly inhuman way.

Andrew wasn't the only man crying, a shabby-looking old man was crying softly next to him. His face was wrinkled with rough hands and feet, whether he was crying about the fate of the little boy or crying about his fate.

Andrew looked at him, it seemed like the old man had lived a difficult story until his old age. Andrew began to think that maybe God had sent him to that strange place to punish him for wasting his life so easily.

It was time to eat, the trader with the thick mustache removed the cloth gag in his mouth. Each was given a cornmeal slurry that looked more like runny human waste. While spooning his food, Andrew started talking to the old man.

"What is this place, Sir?" he asked.

"Damadwipa," he answered while spooning his food.

"Where? Damadwipa?" Andrew was confused.

"This island is called Damadwipa, Son!" he answered again.

Andrew tried to remember if there was an island called Damadwipa on the map. He who knew the blind map of the world by heart felt confused because there seemed to be no such name on the map.

"Next to Damadwipa Island, what island, Sir?" Andrew started to get curious.

"This is next to Damadwipa Island, is Jiwata," explained the old man.

Frans' brain immediately started thinking hard, he had heard that name in history lessons, Jiwata Island, Damadwipa, the names were somewhat familiar but made him confused.

"Is Jiwanta Island, Sir?" Frans asked again.

"Yes, my house is Ti Hyang Jiwa!" answered the old man again.

"Gosht! What year is it now, Sir?" Frans started to get suspicious.

"The Moon of Suro, year 512 AD!" said the old man in a typical Jiwa language accent.

Andrew was shocked, not sure what he heard, he asked the same question to several male slaves next to him. He got the same answer, information about the fact that he was in 512 AD, on an island called Damadwipa which was the name of Liba Island in ancient times.