The Girl With The Saucer Tattoo

Busy, is perhaps the apt word to describe the environment I am in now. People walking past, lost in their own minds, pairs of legs hurries in every directions of this place.

The sun is not even yet 90 degrees in the first point of the morning. Too loud, too early. But perhaps it’s a common sight for such a place, an airport of the most popular holiday destination in Indonesia. Ngurah Rai airport, Bali.

Airports to some people are where stories eventually resides. Rendezvous and goodbyes and all their meanings took centre stage here, romantic usually. Only this time not for me. They had just announced a delay to the city I flew in from. The flight’s delayed for two hours due to God knows what.

My type of disappointment isn’t like everybody else’s. Because on Monday, not only do a lot of these people are returning from vacation, they are also going back to the city to work.. just like that man in the corner of the boarding room, with a neat shirt and a really upset look. Maybe he’s got a meeting to catch in Jakarta.

I am not in a rush, Jakarta is very open to accept me whenever. I’m just a little irritated that I had to wake up this early, and to leave a woman who was sleeping without saying goodbye.

From not knowing what to do and where to go for the two hours period, amongst the option is to go back to where I was this morning, to the place where a woman whom I had met only last night is sleeping. Her name is Kania Lestari, a woman with life and enthusiasm in her eyes.

“Hey Kania. Sorry I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye, I was in a bit of a rush. I didn’t want to wake you up, you were sleeping like a baby.. lol” I started to open a chat app in my phone and send her a message.

Yup, “Don’t contact after one night stand”, is the rule of the thumb. But maybe Kania is an exception, many a wonderful thing about her. And maybe, this flight’s delay is Time’s chance to know her better, to give this affair it’s due meaning.

“Hey Timur, where are ya? At the airport already? How did you get out of the room? Why is it locked?” I read and reread Kania’s reply. In all honesty, I did not expect her to reply my message — there are a lot of possibilities as to why she wouldn’t or couldn’t.

“Yeah I’m at the airport. But my flight’s got delayed for 2 hours”..

“Get back here then. What are you gonna do sitting there for 2 hours anyway. Let’s get breakfast somewhere near the hotel, I heard there’s a good nasi pedas”

So we agreed to meet at a place not far from her hotel, but turns out is pretty far from the airport.

Bali. I love this city, in every corner of this city hides an opportunity to meet people from different walks of life. It’s always wonderful to get to know them, to listen to their life’s stories, about where they coming from, about their countries, and to listen to their plans. For me this city is it to learn so many cultures and languages.

Last night was supposed to be my last night. I ended up stranded at 1 AM in a club in Seminyak. That’s where I first saw Kania, among all the living souls in the club, tuning in to loud music. Kania sat alone wearing earphones and enjoying her own music.

“I don’t like the music, I really like listening to this song when I’m a little tipsy” Kania shouted while she’s handing me one of her earphones that night. And then Foal’s Spanish Sahara started our conversations.

“We’re here, Sir” my Uber driver took me back from my thoughts of Kania. The place is quiet, but that could be the case of Monday. This restaurant is by the beach, I can see the ocean’s bright blue and waves chasing after each other, and there sat Kania with all her beauty, her every smiles.

“Have you ordered yet?” I pulled a chair right in front of her.

“Just coffee, I wanted to wait for you. So what’s up with the delay? What flight’s you’re supposed to be on? Oh by the way, I haven’t showered.” Her voice is like music and her eyes is much more calming than the sound of the waves that is rushing in the background. This morning Kania wears a plain tshirt that she pairs with a short pants, her simple looks did not betray her beauty.

Time is loosing against my conversations with Kania. We started to trace back what we talked about last night, and with her asking my flight’s time, I’m sure she didn’t remember anything. That makes the two of us. Not only time that is loosing, but also the food I am eating, all is loosing compared to this conversations and Kania’s smiles.

“Ok, answer me this Timur, stop playing around. What made you decide to say hi to me? You were aware I had earphones on” Kania started to be all serious, with a fade smile.

“Kania, who isn’t intrigued by the sight of a girl wearing earphones in a place where everyone else is dancing? And besides, I was curious about the UFO tattoo on your shoulder. Huh, did I ask that last night?”

“Hmm… Did you? I don’t think so” Kania tries to recall. “No, you didn’t ask” She continues after recalling few times.

“Is it a UFO? You like UFO? Do you believe in aliens?” I ask back, and this time I wanted a serious answer.

“Yes, UFO.. But don’t laugh, alright, so this tattoo actually was a birthmark, it looked like a saucer. But last year I decided to add a tattoo, turn it into a UFO. To make it cool.” She answers with a laugh, and her laugh is a contradiction to what she had said about not laughing.

I half-heartedly believe her, until she showed me some pictures from before, and there was a picture that looked like a saucer. Kania then tells a story about her father, who is an archaeologist, who frequently travels to different countries and is a collector to the antiques. One of which, saucers.

Kania used to think that maybe it was a curse because her dad likes to collect saucers. Though her dad once told stories about people who have birthmarks that appeared as a tattoo, according to him, people with birthmarks on their bodies are special. But until today Kania doesn’t know why and thinks her dad was just making up stories.

“Why are you curious about my UFO tattoo, is it because you believe in UFO?” Kania asked the same question.

“I do!” loudly and confidently I reply. Because I do. “When I was little, I once saw a UFO. I’m serious. I don’t know if you believe me or not”

That time I did see it with my own eyes, blasts of lights coming in slowly at a distance in the sky, right above my backyard. I don’t remember how old I was, all I remember was what my father said about it.. “Son, you are the chosen ones, you are special”, and at that very moment I realised I have an amazing dad. Because of that everything about aliens and UFOs will be very interesting to me.

“Speaking of tattoos, you also have one, a door handle! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? Out of all tattoo designs, why door handle???” Kania ask while holding her laugh back, apologise, and proceed to laugh with no reservations. Damn.

“I like door handles, Kania. To me, door handles are cool. It is the beginning of every journey and end to every return” I look at Kania’s eyes, trying to answer with a face and a voice as serious as I could, but to avail.

I had to lie to Kania, because even if I did answer as truthfully, most likely she wouldn’t believe, and beyond that, I just don’t want anyone to know.

The door handle tattoo has been there since I came around from a coma several years back, and yes this may be a birth mark, because after coma I couldn’t remember much about my past and my stories. Perhaps what Kania’s father said about people with birthmarks the shape of a tattoo being special is true.

If indeed it is true, maybe that can answer my question about what made me confused this morning. As I rushed to leave Kania’s room and turned the door handle of her bathroom, suddenly I’m at the airport’s bathroom.

Maybe. But Kania’s presence here with me is far too precious to waste on such a thought.