24 H

A tiny whiny hamster with golden brown white fur looked at me, and suddenly she said, “Hello Sasha.”. My eyes got more prominent, and my nape hair stood up. Little by little, my body approached the hamster to check once again if my sense of hearing was still functional. My head and his or her head only distance between three inches. She or he suddenly spoke also. 

“Your sense of hearing is still functioning. Don’t worry.” Said the Hamster.

“What the??? How can I understand your voice? I’m a human, not an animal.” 

Without answering my question, that hamster went far from my desk. This moment made me doubt my identity. My hand subconsciously opened my white laptop exactly beside me, which was full of the sticker, and immediately my eyes searched for the web browser. My fingers quickly typed hoohle.com and searched for “What happens to us if we can hear animal sounds.” And boom, nothing. I found nothing. “why you so stupid,” Mumbling me. 

Today was Monday, and the clock in my room showed that it’s already 07:00 AM, and today, the morning class was waiting for me. 

“Mrs. Helga is going to get angry at me if I’m late so many times. She is going to beat me up. I need to take a bath as fast as I can.” Reminder me to myself. 

The school bell rang precisely when I arrived at the school gate. My sweat covered my shirt up, and I ran as fast as possible to my class and wished that Mrs. Helga was still on her journey to the class. 

Thank God you heard my prayer. Today, for the first time, I finally arrived on time at school. 

The bold steps were heard from outside. That sounds must be Mrs. Helga. In her 40s with blonde hair, a tall skinny woman came into the class, followed by a little skinny boy with raven hair. 

“Who is that boy next to Mrs. Helga?” I asked a friend beside me. 

“He must be the new boy in our class Sha.” He said. 

While I looked at the boy, there was a familiar feeling about him. I felt like we already met before this. My eyes stared at the boy for a minute, and he suddenly looked at me back. His mouth was brought up and made a smile like a crescent moon. Following his mouth, his eyes also looked like the eye smiles, boosting my serotonin levels. 

“Hello, everyone. My name is Abraham Lucas, and I’m 15 years old. You can call me Lucas. Nice to know you.” Said the boy. 

“Thank you, Lucas, and you can sit next to Sasha.” Mrs. Helga said. 

‘What. Why that boy must sit next to me, eventually had three other empty chairs in this class. Why, why, and why Mrs. Helga chose him to sit in the back row next to me.’ Mumbling me to myself. 

Lucas walked, approached me, and looked at me again. He smiled at me and said, “It was nice to see you again, Sasha.”

My eyes got more significant, and my mouth felt like I wanted to scream at him and asked, ‘Who the hell are you? How can you know my name? How can you say nice to see me again?’ 

Even though I was asked so often, I prefer not to say a word to that boy. He was so strange, yes, he is. Always remember not to judge a book by its cover, even though he looked nice outside, but I was sure that his personality was not as lovely as his appearance. I kept avoiding him all the time in the school until the school time was finished. 

Now it was 3:30 PM, and the school time was over. I chose to use the school bus right now because I felt insecure about Lucas’s existence around me. When the school bus right in front of me, and the door was open, my feet walked through it, and I chose to sit in the back. The chair which is close to the windows is the perfect choice for me. I was looking at the outside when their moms picked up some of my friends. My tears suddenly fell and damped my face. I was thinking of my mom in heaven. I did not know why I was missing her all the time while I never met her, and I was the one the reason for her death, and maybe she regretted having me. 

“Are you crying, Sha?.” A boy’s voice suddenly shocked me. That voice was the boy’s voice, Lucas. 

“AAAAA. Why are you following me?” Screamed me, and immediately I left the bus. 

“Sasha, why are you scared of me? What did I do?” Lucas said. 

“What is your fault? Your fault is, why can you know my name, and why are you always following me? This is our first meet, right? We are strangers!” Explained to him.

“Okay. I’ll try to answer your questions. I know your name because I am your counterpart, and I’m not following you, so this is not the first time we met. I am here because you want me. Do you remember when you want a friend? You prayed when shooting stars.” He explained. 

“You’re so ridiculous! Don’t try to fool me. I’m not a baby. I know you’re lying.” 

“I know you will say that. So, if you still don’t believe me, try to say ‘Kabrakadabra.’ And you will be the animal that you want to be.” 

‘Don’t say it, don’t say it. Told me, and in the end, I said it in the heart.’ 

“Look. There’s nothing changed about me! You lie to me.” Complained me

“Look in the mirror. Who are you now?” Said Lucas while bringing me to a mirror. 

Shockingly, when I looked at myself in the mirror, I found that my body became a cat. 

“What is wrong with my body now! Give my old body back!” Said me to Lucas. 

“I can’t make you become a human again. But, don’t worry, you will come back to a human again after twelve hours from now. Now follow me. I will bring you to your favorite person in the world,” Lucas said. 

“Where? I don’t have a favorite person. My mom already died,” Said me.

 

“I know. Just follow me, Sasha.” Told Lucas. 

As a cat and as a hamster, we do not need to worry about everything. We left our bags and our clothes in the place where we transformed into animals. We ran as free as we could as we did not have any responsibilities in this world. 

After running for about fifteen minutes, finally, we arrived at the place that was new to me. It was a house covered with fire. And there was a human that Lucas thought of as my favorite person in the world. A tall man in his late 30s with brown hair and used a big heavy black set with some lemon strips and a helmet. He holds a heavy hose on the truck, which reads ‘Coronado Fire Paramedics.’ My eyes were getting red and crying while watching that man. 

“Look at your Papa. Isn't he cool? You should be proud of him. He raises you alone. Don’t you love him so much?” Lucas explained. 

“Why he wants to do that high-risk job. He is so stupid. He can just open a bakery. I never know he needs to risk his life while doing this job.” I said it while crying. 

“That’s because he loves you.” 

“Stop it, Lucas. You just make me like a baby. I would not cry anymore.” 

For about five hours, Lucas and I just followed my Papa’s activities. This is my first time being an animal detective like this. Papa usually comes to the house at 09:00 PM when I was already in my bed. We rarely talked to each other because our business was different. His image in my mind was a busy man who never cares about his daughter. He also looked like he did not miss her wife, my mom. He never talked about my mom, but he also never brought any woman to our house. 

At 09:00 PM sharp, we came back to the house. As I remember, this was the first time I saw him after he came back from the job. As usual, he walked to the bathroom to take a bath. Not until twenty minutes, he already finished his bath. With slow steps, he walked into the kitchen and took fast food as his supper. With a tired gaze, he chewed the little burger slowly. 

After he took supper, this was when I could not believe it. He walked to my room! I have never known that my Dad was still caring for me. With slow steps, he approached my bed. My Papa was so shocked when he found that I was not there. Even though I was here as a cat, he would not recognize me. His tears fell, and he knelt in front of my bed. He cried in silence while saying my name repeatedly. 

“Sasha. I’m so sorry. I’m a bad father. I am never by your side when you need me, and I can’t give you a warm hug when you cry. Please come back to me, and I only have you.” 

I heard those sentences from my father that made me want to cry with him, but what can I do? I needed to wait six hours more until the spell was gone. Like a hamster, Lucas stayed by my side and told me not to worry because luckily, now I can see my Papa's real feelings about me.

When I woke up in the middle of midnight, I found that my Papa was not here. So, I looked for him, and I found him in his room. I saw Papa hold a photo, and that photo made me surprised. That is my parents’ wedding photo. He saw the image with a gloomy gaze, and the words he only said are sorry and sorry. My heart hurt when I saw it. It made me want to change as a human again. I wish I could hug him and say those warm words to him. In his tears, he fell asleep on his bed. 

Five hours later. When I opened my eyes, The clock had already shown at 05:00 AM. I slept on the floor in my Papa’s room and found out that I already became a human again! With a happy vibe, I ran into my room, looked for Lucas. I wanted to thank him for bringing this kind of miracle in the past twenty-four hours. 

When I was in my room, I did not see him anywhere. Whether as a human or as a hamster, I could not find him. Instead of that, I found a little white letter on my bed which I read. 

‘Sasha, Once you get back as a human. I must disappear; it’s the rule. Don’t cry, and I’ll come back one day. Please be happy, my friend. -Lucas” 

As he wishes, I was not crying. I had my first-time breakfast with my Papa in the morning, and everything changed like I wanted before. I know that my father loved me. He just did not know how to express his feelings like I want. From now, My father and I promise to open up our feelings to each other. 

When I was at school, I asked one of my classmates about Lucas. 

“Why don't you ask about Lucas? The new student yesterday, now he is absent,” Said me. 

“Who is Lucas? We don’t have a new classmate here. Don’t joke, Sha,” Answered my friend. 

I was not confused because I know this was Lucas’ plan. Wherever you are now, I will be waiting for you. 

Genre: fantasy, youth, drama, and family