"Still a flicker of hope that you first gave to me,
That I wanna keep,
Please don't leave"

"Hey, do you remember when---"

"Don't you remember what happened to---"

"Hey, Upan! Do you remember that---"

Yeah, heh, I get these 'do you remember' questions a lot.

Memories---every humans will experience them, be it the good and exciting ones, or the bad and terrible ones.

The happy ones, well, let's just you're gonna remember those warm sunny days of you smiling and laughing with your family and friends. For the bad ones, they're either cause you pain and though to some, they teach you a lesson in life and tell you not to repeat the mistake over and over again.

Everyone will experience these two kind of memories, no matter what the age and level of maturity you are.

To me, I prefer the nice ones; the laughter of joy and the most fun moments you can have with your loving family and your closest friends. But that's only because I don't wanna recall myself being hurt over the worst things that ever happened to me.

They say 'moving on' is better than to keep it in, and yeah, I'm thinking about this statement. But to move on from something bad isn't really as easy as it sounds like.

And what I can tell you people about this 'moving on' problem I'm having right now is with our dear Tok Aba. He passed away a week ago, and my brothers are truly grief-stricken about it.

Mom and Dad keep giving us news that they're still working outstation and busy as they are constantly caught up with something---which really becomes the talk of the town knowing that their presence weren't even there during the funeral and the majlis tahlil. It brought down the name of the Amato family from that day onwards.

And now, it's a growing embarrassment, shame, and disgrace to us seven. Even with all of these are happening to us, Gempa, as the eldest, is the one who keeps getting pressured by the townspeople's chatter and rumors of him not being responsible enough to persuade our parents to come down to Tok Aba's place for the burial---and at least for the kenduri arwah.

Truth be told, we tried.

We did try.

Thorn used his sobs and be as demanded as he could just for Mom and Dad to come back for Tok Aba. Halilintar and Blaze pretended to argue over the phone---which nearly set the house on fire 'cause the fake fight turned out to be a heated one.

Solar gave many reasons to his "what will happen to those who ignore over their parent's death" question---which lasted hours. Ice recited a poem, a dark and gruesome-themed poem consisted of two stanzas. And adding more with his rather deep and monotonous voice, I think it just scared our parents and immediately hung up on us.

Meanwhile, I just said that they should really come home, since I've been longing to see their faces ever since me and my brothers' arrival to Rintis Island. I really wanna tell them the adventures and misadventures we had here, and the story of us befriended Yaya, Ying, Gopal, Fang and his quite-moody big brother, Kaizo. We even get the chance to rescue a cute ginger kitten and named the little guy "Ocho".

But when it was Gempa's time to call, I could see him holding himself back from crying.

It was ten o'clock at night, and I overheard some noises coming from my bedroom, peeking only to see Gempa had a shaky voice while he's calling our parents through his phone, and somehow, I heard shouting and yelling being thrown at him.

And 12 words (yes, I counted and remember them well) came out from the other side of the line:

"Why did the seven of you call us?! You're wasting our time!"

He covered his mouth with his hand, finally lost to keeping in his tears which were pouring out like a heavy rain.

How could they? We are their sons!

I was so confused, and watched as the whole scene was happening inside our bedroom (me, Hali, and Gempa's of course, because we're a triplet). The yelling and shouting stopped, and Gempa threw away his phone across his bed, tucking his knees close to his chest and cried his heart out.

Being a good brother I was and always have been, I went in, startled my olfer brother as he wiped his tears off.

"W-What are y-you d-doing here?" He asked, sniffing.

My answer? I just gave him a hug.

"If our parents and guardian aren't around us, at least we have each other," I said. "You're so strong, Gempa. I can never handle those screams and I'd be bawling my eyes out in a second."

"I just don't understand why they would do such a thing to their own flesh and blood. We just want them home, that's all," he added in, losing his grip from my hug.

"It's okay if they're acting out like that. Now, we just focus on what Tok Aba had said to us: 'Take good care of the Kokotiam---and keep an eye out for Ocho if he ever pees or poops inside the cabinets'," I smiled at his sullen face.

And well, we did as to what our grandad tell us to do. Customers keep flocking in like a bunch of pigeons, and Gopal can't stop demanding for discounts for his drinks and meals only because we're his 'best buds'.

Gempa and I told to our brothers regarding this, and somehow, Halilintar loses so much respect for our parents. And Solar keeps wondering on what sort of 'job' do our parents work.

I see the smiles are back on their faces, despite the words are still haunting us---especially for me and Gempa. But likewise, I must do whatever I have to do to ensure everyone will get the best memories of them enjoying the best and littlest slice of life.

"Hey, Taufan. Remember when Tok Aba told this one joke about how the coconut got its name? Haha, it's inside my head somehow," Blaze mentions. "When the cocoa fruit married the peanut and then they had a child and named it 'coconut'!" And he continues to laugh.

"Man, I do miss Tok Aba and his jokes . . . even though most of it didn't make any sense," our youngest brother says as he wipes a table. "I just wish Mom and Dad know how we feel."

"Forget what they said to me about us, little brother. It's just not worth our time anymore," Gempa speaks out. "And besides, Tok Aba had taught us a lot about life and its challenges. And what we're dealing now it's part of it."

"The flicker of happiness will come, my bros," say me. "It'll come. Just wait and see."

After finishing cleaning up the stall, the seven of us lie down on the grass, up on this small hill near to the Kokotiam with the huge shady tree that's been there most of the time. We look up to the starry skies, with only a gentle blow of the wind is the only thing that can be heard.

This is what we would do if Tok Aba felt like star-gazing for any random nights, and try to create a constellation out of our own imagination.

It just seems so quiet not to listen to his stories at this time, since it's such a precious memory knowing that he would sit in the middle, and we would accidentally fall asleep to his stories.

"Anyone wanna volunteer telling a story?" I speak up, but silence is the answers given. "Okay, I'll tell one. And it's all just the good flashbacks of us with him . . . "

And I continue on, already hearing some snores among my brothers. As I finally reach till the very end of it, I say my goodnights to them, and eyes staring back to the beautiful black canvas above, "Goodnight, Tok Aba. We miss you. And we love you always."

And I close my eyes, hopefully dreaming of the most wonderful memories I had with him.