This is about the government officer I met this week for a few hours' briefing on something. He looked like someone who should have a story written about him. He did.

She hears from him again today after the death of a dictator, the forced closure of a spa centre and the discovery of error in a particle physics experiment. Between now and his last text, a country was set free, a community was deprived of fish spa and Einstein’s relativity lived on; the world has changed.

Those two days. Spanned eons.

She wonders if his texting her is a compensation for his having broken the social inertia, or if he really means to reach her.

Al-fatihah.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Bila perasaan yang bukan milikku semakin jauh dari gapaian. Dan malam bergelapkan diam yang asyik dan legam. Jasad dan jejaknya tertaut dekat, tetapi aku tak buta saat melihat pandangannya. Nyata apa yang dilihatnya bukan apa dilihatku.

Khabar ini benar; bukan aku yang buta, cuma sendiri membutakan. Aku bukan tuli, tetapi aku yang mendiamkan. Aku tak bisu, namun aku yang mengkuburkan.

Tunjukilah kami jalan yang lurus; tunjukilah kami jalan yang lurus; tunjukkanlah kami jalan yang lurus.