Forty Metres of Cord at the Lake

Koji stands in the changing hut at the swimming lake. He holds a heavy reel of orange cord. The hut smells of wet towels and old wood. Along one wall there is a bench, and behind the bench there is a single socket.

Koji berdiri di pondok ganti pakaian di danau renang. Ia memegang gulungan kabel oranye yang berat. Pondok itu berbau handuk basah dan kayu tua. Di sepanjang satu dinding ada bangku, dan di belakang bangku itu ada satu-satunya stopkontak.

It is the only socket within a hundred metres. Koji has checked three times.

Itu satu-satunya stopkontak dalam radius seratus meter. Koji sudah memeriksanya tiga kali.

"Right," he says to the empty room. "You can do this."

"Baiklah," katanya kepada ruangan kosong. "Kamu pasti bisa."

Tonight is the first open-air film night of the summer. Forty people have promised to come with blankets and folding chairs. Koji has borrowed a projector and a big white screen. He has even brought a bag of snacks for the children. The only thing missing is electricity, and the socket in the changing hut is the answer.

Malam ini adalah malam nonton film terbuka pertama musim panas. Empat puluh orang sudah berjanji datang membawa selimut dan kursi lipat. Koji meminjam sebuah proyektor dan layar putih besar. Ia bahkan membawa sekantong camilan untuk anak-anak. Satu-satunya yang kurang adalah listrik, dan stopkontak di pondok ganti itulah jawabannya.

The problem is distance. The best place for the screen is a flat piece of grass beside the water. Everyone can see from there. That is nearly fifty metres from the hut. Koji's cord is forty.

Masalahnya adalah jarak. Tempat terbaik untuk layar adalah hamparan rumput datar di samping air. Semua orang bisa melihat dari sana. Jaraknya hampir lima puluh meter dari pondok. Kabel Koji panjangnya empat puluh.

He plugs one end into the socket and walks outside, unrolling the cord as he goes. The path is narrow, with a fence on one side and a row of bushes on the other. Twice the cord catches on a branch, and twice he goes back to free it. By the time he reaches the grass, his arms ache and his shirt sticks to his back.

Ia mencolokkan satu ujungnya ke stopkontak dan berjalan keluar sambil mengurai kabel. Jalan setapak itu sempit, dengan pagar di satu sisi dan deretan semak di sisi lain. Dua kali kabelnya tersangkut di ranting, dan dua kali ia kembali untuk melepaskannya. Saat sampai di rumput, lengannya pegal dan kemejanya menempel di punggung.

He holds up the end. It stops a long way short of the screen.

Ia mengangkat ujung kabel itu. Ujungnya berhenti jauh sebelum sampai ke layar.

"Of course," he says.

"Tentu saja," katanya.

He is still looking at the cord when a voice shouts from the jetty. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Ia masih menatap kabel itu ketika sebuah suara berteriak dari dermaga. "Hei! Apa yang Anda lakukan?"

A woman in a yellow lifeguard jacket is running towards him. She is about thirty, and she has a whistle around her neck and a very worried face. This is Elan, who looks after the lake. Koji met her once, last week, when he asked about hiring the grass. She said it was fine.

Seorang perempuan berjaket penjaga pantai berwarna kuning berlari ke arahnya. Usianya sekitar tiga puluh tahun, dengan peluit di lehernya dan wajah yang sangat cemas. Itu Elan, yang mengurus danau. Koji pernah bertemu dengannya sekali, minggu lalu, ketika ia menanyakan soal menyewa lapangan rumput itu. Elan bilang boleh.

"Hello, Elan," he says cheerfully. "I am setting up for tonight."

"Halo, Elan," katanya dengan riang. "Saya sedang bersiap-siap untuk malam ini."

"I can see that." She points at the cord with a shaking finger. "That is a mains cable. It is running from the hut to the water's edge. Please tell me you are joking."

"Saya bisa lihat." Ia menunjuk kabel itu dengan jari yang gemetar. "Itu kabel listrik utama. Kabel itu membentang dari pondok sampai ke tepi air. Tolong katakan Anda bercanda."

"The water's edge?" says Koji. "Well, near it. The screen is going to be just over there."

"Tepi air?" kata Koji. "Yah, dekat situ. Layarnya akan dipasang di sebelah sana."

"A screen?" Elan looks even more alarmed. "In the water?"

"Layar?" Elan tampak makin cemas. "Di dalam air?"

"Not in the water," he says. "Beside it."

"Bukan di dalam air," katanya. "Di sampingnya."

"You told me you wanted to put something electric into the lake," says Elan. "You said it in your message."

"Anda bilang Anda mau memasang sesuatu yang berlistrik ke dalam danau," kata Elan. "Anda menulisnya di pesan Anda."

Koji frowns. He takes out his phone and scrolls to the message he sent on Monday. He reads it aloud. "I need power right at the water for the film."

Koji mengerutkan kening. Ia mengeluarkan ponselnya dan menggulir ke pesan yang ia kirim hari Senin. Ia membacanya keras-keras. "Saya butuh listrik tepat di air untuk pemutaran film."

Elan stares at him. Then she takes the phone and reads it herself. Her shoulders slowly drop.

Elan menatapnya. Lalu ia mengambil ponsel itu dan membacanya sendiri. Bahunya perlahan turun.

"Right at the water," she says. "I thought you meant right in the water. I thought you wanted to light the lake from underneath. Last year a man tried to hang coloured lamps from the jetty. I had to throw him out."

"Tepat di air," katanya. "Saya kira maksud Anda tepat di dalam air. Saya kira Anda ingin menerangi danau dari bawah. Tahun lalu ada seorang pria yang mencoba menggantung lampu warna-warni dari dermaga. Saya harus mengusirnya."

"Coloured lamps?" says Koji. He starts to laugh. "I only want a projector."

"Lampu warna-warni?" kata Koji. Ia mulai tertawa. "Saya cuma mau memakai proyektor."

"I am so sorry." She puts her hand over her mouth. "I have been awake since five, and my brain has gone to sleep. I was ready to take your cord and throw it in the bin."

"Saya benar-benar minta maaf." Ia menutup mulut dengan tangannya. "Saya sudah bangun sejak pukul lima, dan otak saya sudah tertidur. Saya hampir saja mengambil kabel Anda dan membuangnya ke tempat sampah."

"I would have helped you," says Koji. "It is very heavy."

"Saya pasti akan membantu Anda," kata Koji. "Kabelnya berat sekali."

For a moment they both stand in the evening light, laughing like people who have survived something dangerous. A duck watches them from the shore with great interest.

Sesaat mereka berdua berdiri dalam cahaya senja, tertawa seperti orang-orang yang baru selamat dari bahaya. Seekor bebek mengamati mereka dari tepi dengan penuh minat.

Then Elan gets serious again. "Safety first," she says. "If we put a cable across a path, someone will fall over it. If a child pulls the plug, the film stops. And if we have any water on the ground, I do not want a plug anywhere near it."

Lalu Elan kembali serius. "Keselamatan yang utama," katanya. "Kalau kita membentangkan kabel di jalan setapak, pasti ada yang tersandung. Kalau ada anak yang menarik colokannya, filmnya berhenti. Dan kalau ada air di tanah, saya tidak mau ada colokan di dekatnya."

"Then tell me what to do," says Koji. "I am not an electrician."

"Kalau begitu beri tahu saya apa yang harus dilakukan," kata Koji. "Saya bukan tukang listrik."

"Neither am I," says Elan. "But I must explain everything to the insurance company." She wipes her forehead. "Come with me."

"Saya juga bukan," kata Elan. "Tapi saya harus menjelaskan semuanya kepada perusahaan asuransi." Ia menyeka keningnya. "Ikut saya."

She leads him to the boat shed behind the hut. Inside, between a pile of orange life jackets and a broken oar, hangs a second reel of cord. It is old, but the plug and the wire both look sound. Elan tests the plug with a small meter that she keeps on a hook.

Ia membawanya ke gudang perahu di belakang pondok. Di dalamnya, di antara tumpukan jaket pelampung oranye dan sebuah dayung patah, tergantung gulungan kabel kedua. Kabel itu sudah tua, tetapi colokan dan kawatnya tampak baik. Elan menguji colokan itu dengan alat ukur kecil yang ia simpan di sebuah kait.

"This one is dry and clean," she says. "It is twenty metres. If we join the two, we have more than enough."

"Yang ini kering dan bersih," katanya. "Panjangnya dua puluh meter. Kalau kita sambung keduanya, lebih dari cukup."

"But the join," says Koji. "It will be on the grass. What if somebody spills a drink?"

"Tapi sambungannya," kata Koji. "Letaknya di rumput. Bagaimana kalau ada yang menumpahkan minuman?"

"Good question." Elan looks around the shed, then lifts a plastic box from a shelf. "We put the join inside this. It is a waterproof box we use for lifeguard radios. And we raise it on two bricks."

"Pertanyaan bagus." Elan memandang berkeliling gudang, lalu mengangkat sebuah kotak plastik dari rak. "Sambungannya kita taruh di dalam ini. Ini kotak kedap air yang kami pakai untuk radio penjaga pantai. Dan kita naikkan di atas dua batu bata."

Koji clicks his fingers. "And I can fix the cord to the fence with tape, so nobody trips."

Koji menjentikkan jarinya. "Dan saya bisa merekatkan kabelnya ke pagar dengan lakban, supaya tidak ada yang tersandung."

"And we lay the part by the path under the rubber mats from the changing hut," says Elan. "I will bring them."

"Dan bagian di dekat jalan setapak kita tutup dengan keset karet dari pondok ganti," kata Elan. "Saya yang akan membawanya."

It takes them half an hour. Koji runs the first cord along the fence line, pressing it flat with his palm. Elan carries the mats, and she kneels at every corner to check the cable lies safely underneath. They fit the join into the waterproof box, close the lid and set it on the two bricks. Then they walk back along the whole line and test it with Elan's meter.

Mereka butuh setengah jam. Koji membentangkan kabel pertama di sepanjang pagar, menekannya rata dengan telapak tangan. Elan membawa keset-keset itu, dan ia berlutut di setiap sudut untuk memastikan kabel terletak aman di bawahnya. Mereka memasukkan sambungan ke dalam kotak kedap air, menutup tutupnya, dan menaruhnya di atas dua batu bata. Lalu mereka berjalan kembali menyusuri seluruh jalur dan mengujinya dengan alat ukur Elan.

"Everything is dry," she says. "Nothing is touching the water."

"Semuanya kering," katanya. "Tidak ada yang menyentuh air."

"Not even a little?" asks Koji.

"Setetes pun tidak?" tanya Koji.

"Not even a duck."

"Bahkan bebek pun tidak."

By seven o'clock, the first families arrive with blankets and baskets. Children run along the shore and shout at each other. Koji plugs the projector into the long cord, and the white screen glows with a small blue square. A cheer goes up from the grass.

Pukul tujuh, keluarga-keluarga pertama tiba dengan selimut dan keranjang. Anak-anak berlari di sepanjang tepi dan saling berteriak. Koji mencolokkan proyektor ke kabel yang panjang, dan layar putih itu bersinar dengan kotak biru kecil. Sorak-sorai terdengar dari lapangan rumput.

Elan stands at the back with her arms folded, still watching the cable. When nobody trips over it for ten minutes, she finally relaxes and sits down on the bank.

Elan berdiri di bagian belakang dengan tangan terlipat, masih mengawasi kabel itu. Setelah sepuluh menit tak ada yang tersandung, akhirnya ia bisa rileks dan duduk di tepian.

Koji comes over and sits beside her. "Thank you," he says. "Without you, I would still be standing there with a very short cord."

Koji menghampiri dan duduk di sampingnya. "Terima kasih," katanya. "Tanpa Anda, saya masih berdiri di sana dengan kabel yang terlalu pendek."

"And without you, I would have thrown away something good," says Elan. "Next time, please say 'beside the water' in your message."

"Dan tanpa Anda, saya sudah membuang sesuatu yang bagus," kata Elan. "Lain kali, tolong tulis 'di samping air' di pesan Anda."

"Next time, please read to the end before you panic," says Koji.

"Lain kali, tolong baca sampai habis sebelum panik," kata Koji.

"Fair," she says. She nods towards the screen, where the opening music has started. "What is the film tonight?"

"Adil," katanya. Ia mengangguk ke arah layar, tempat musik pembuka sudah mulai terdengar. "Film malam ini apa?"

Koji smiles. "It is a story about a giant shark."

Koji tersenyum. "Cerita tentang hiu raksasa."

Elan looks at the dark lake. She looks at forty people on blankets and at the cable lying safely on the land. "Good," she says. "Then I am very glad that everybody is staying out of the water."

Elan memandang danau yang gelap. Ia memandang empat puluh orang di atas selimut dan kabel yang terbentang aman di daratan. "Bagus," katanya. "Kalau begitu saya sangat lega semua orang menjauh dari air."