“What a privilege to love you.”

https://open.spotify.com/track/4cpQHG5Of9iJZl5y2Uh0ga?si=2f9b348d277c4973

tw: death.

17 years later, after Iris’ sweet seventeenth birthday party.

The clock just stroke nine in the evening when guests started to leave the place one by one. The house still glistened in glitter and confettis, the Y-shaped balloon on the wall was hanging for dear life before eventually fell on the floor, leaving another cluster of balloons that only read as ‘Happy 17th Birthda’ now. A slice of birthday cake was left beside the stacks of wrapped gifts, looked tiny in comparison.

Iris slumped on the couch as she loosened the knot on her hair, a dull ache had begun to build inside her head for tying up her hair too long. Atlas took notice when his daughter started to massage her head lightly, so he came closer and took over the task.

“Capek?”

Iris nodded, but the fatigue didn’t ease the evident happiness plastered all over her pretty face. “Capek ya ternyata, jadi dewasa.”

Atlas laughed. “Baru juga sehari.”

“Aku boleh gak mandi, gak?”

“Uh, uh,” Atlas made a disagreeing gesture with his pointing finger. “That’s not a mature thing to do.”

“Huft.”

“Ga mau buka-bukain kado?”