The Flicker in the Laundry Room

Sven worked the night shift in the hospital laundry room, three floors below the wards. The room was warm and loud, and it smelled of clean cotton. Twelve big machines turned all night, and one old lamp hung over the folding table.

Sven bekerja shift malam di ruang binatu rumah sakit, tiga lantai di bawah bangsal-bangsal. Ruangan itu hangat dan bising, dan berbau katun bersih. Dua belas mesin besar berputar sepanjang malam, dan satu lampu tua tergantung di atas meja lipat.

The lamp had a habit. Every few minutes it flickered in the same pattern: two short blinks, one long blink, and then nothing. Sven had worked there for six years, and he no longer noticed it.

Lampu itu punya kebiasaan. Setiap beberapa menit ia berkedip dengan pola yang sama: dua kedip pendek, satu kedip panjang, lalu tak ada apa-apa. Sven sudah enam tahun bekerja di sana, dan ia tak lagi memperhatikannya.

Mika noticed it on her first night. She was the new assistant. She was young and careful, and she carried the sheets as if they were glass.

Mika memperhatikannya pada malam pertamanya. Ia asisten baru. Ia muda dan hati-hati, dan ia membawa seprai seakan terbuat dari kaca.

"Does that lamp always do that?" she asked.

"Lampu itu selalu begitu?" tanyanya.

"Always," Sven said. "Two short, one long. It is like a message in code."

"Selalu," kata Sven. "Dua pendek, satu panjang. Seperti pesan dalam sandi."

"Has anyone tried to fix it?"

"Sudah ada yang mencoba memperbaikinya?"

"Many people. The electrician came twice. He found nothing wrong with the wiring."

"Banyak orang. Tukang listrik datang dua kali. Dia tidak menemukan apa pun yang salah pada kabelnya."

Mika watched the lamp for a while. "It bothers me," she said. "I keep waiting for the long blink, and then I forget what I was doing."

Mika memandangi lampu itu beberapa saat. "Ini mengganggu," katanya. "Aku terus menunggu kedip yang panjang, lalu lupa apa yang sedang kukerjakan."

"You will get used to it. Everybody does."

"Nanti kamu terbiasa. Semua orang begitu."

"I don't think I will." She folded a towel and put it on the pile. "I only work here for three weeks, until my nursing course starts. Could you find out why it does that before I leave?"

"Kurasa aku tidak akan terbiasa." Ia melipat sehelai handuk dan menaruhnya di tumpukan. "Aku hanya bekerja di sini tiga minggu, sampai kuliah keperawatanku mulai. Bisakah kamu mencari tahu kenapa lampu itu begitu sebelum aku pergi?"

Sven laughed. He wanted to be kind, and the question seemed small. "Fine," he said. "I promise. You will know before your last night."

Sven tertawa. Ia ingin bersikap baik, dan pertanyaan itu tampak sepele. "Baiklah," katanya. "Aku janji. Kamu akan tahu sebelum malam terakhirmu."

It was a bigger promise than he realised.

Itu janji yang lebih besar daripada yang ia sadari.

On the first night, Sven changed the bulb. The lamp flickered: two short, one long. On the second night, he cleaned the switch and tightened every screw he could find. The lamp still flickered in its old pattern.

Pada malam pertama, Sven mengganti bohlamnya. Lampu itu berkedip: dua pendek, satu panjang. Pada malam kedua, ia membersihkan saklarnya dan mengencangkan setiap sekrup yang bisa ia temukan. Lampu itu tetap berkedip dengan pola lamanya.

On the fourth night, he called the electrician again. The man stood under the lamp with his arms crossed and watched it for ten minutes.

Pada malam keempat, ia memanggil tukang listrik itu lagi. Pria itu berdiri di bawah lampu dengan tangan bersilang dan memperhatikannya selama sepuluh menit.

"The wiring is fine," he said at last. "The hospital has no money for new cables. Leave it alone, my friend."

"Kabelnya baik-baik saja," katanya akhirnya. "Rumah sakit tidak punya uang untuk kabel baru. Biarkan saja, Kawan."

"But there must be a reason," Sven said.

"Tapi pasti ada alasannya," kata Sven.

"There is always a reason," the electrician said. "Nobody pays me to find it."

"Selalu ada alasan," kata tukang listrik itu. "Tidak ada yang membayarku untuk mencarinya."

After that, Sven carried a small notebook in his apron. Each time the lamp blinked, he wrote down the time. After a week, he had pages of numbers and no answer. The gaps were never the same. Sometimes the lamp waited four minutes, and sometimes it waited twenty.

Setelah itu, Sven membawa buku catatan kecil di celemeknya. Setiap kali lampu berkedip, ia mencatat waktunya. Seminggu kemudian, ia punya berlembar-lembar angka dan tak ada jawaban. Jedanya tak pernah sama. Kadang lampu menunggu empat menit, kadang dua puluh.

In the break room, the two of them made a list of ideas. Mika thought it was a mouse in the wall. Sven thought it was a ghost, and he only half joked. They crossed out both ideas by Thursday.

Di ruang istirahat, mereka berdua membuat daftar dugaan. Mika mengira itu tikus di dalam dinding. Sven mengira itu hantu, dan ia hanya setengah bercanda. Kedua dugaan itu mereka coret pada hari Kamis.

"Any news?" Mika asked every night, and she smiled in a way that made it worse.

"Ada kabar?" tanya Mika setiap malam, dan ia tersenyum dengan cara yang membuatnya makin berat.

"Not yet," Sven said. "I am still working on it."

"Belum," kata Sven. "Aku masih mengerjakannya."

By the second week, he felt tired and a little foolish. He lay awake in the daytime and thought about the lamp. He had made many promises in his life, and he had kept most of them. This one felt like a trick he had played on himself.

Memasuki minggu kedua, ia merasa lelah dan sedikit konyol. Ia terjaga di siang hari dan memikirkan lampu itu. Ia sudah membuat banyak janji dalam hidupnya, dan menepati sebagian besarnya. Janji yang satu ini terasa seperti tipuan yang ia lakukan pada dirinya sendiri.

He thought about telling Mika a good story. He could say that a wire was loose, or that an old machine upstairs caused it. She would believe him, and she would leave happy. But he knew he would hear the lamp in his sleep for years.

Ia berpikir untuk menceritakan kisah yang bagus kepada Mika. Ia bisa mengatakan ada kabel yang longgar, atau mesin tua di lantai atas yang menyebabkannya. Mika akan memercayainya, dan akan pergi dengan gembira. Tetapi ia tahu ia akan mendengar lampu itu dalam tidurnya selama bertahun-tahun.

So he did not lie. On Mika's last night, he came to work an hour early, with a plan. He would sit under the lamp until sunrise, if he had to. He told no one.

Maka ia tidak berbohong. Pada malam terakhir Mika, ia datang bekerja satu jam lebih awal, dengan sebuah rencana. Ia akan duduk di bawah lampu sampai matahari terbit, kalau perlu. Ia tidak memberi tahu siapa pun.

At midnight, the machines hummed and the lamp blinked. Two short, one long. Sven did not write anything down. He was too tired to hold the pen.

Pada tengah malam, mesin-mesin berdengung dan lampu berkedip. Dua pendek, satu panjang. Sven tidak mencatat apa pun. Ia terlalu lelah untuk memegang pulpen.

"Sven," Mika said, "I need to fetch the cart from the corridor. The porters are sending sheets down from the operating theatre."

"Sven," kata Mika, "aku harus mengambil kereta dorong dari koridor. Para porter mengirim seprai dari ruang operasi."

"Go ahead," he said. He did not look up. He kept his eyes on the lamp, as he had done for fourteen nights.

"Silakan," katanya. Ia tidak menoleh. Matanya tetap tertuju pada lampu, seperti selama empat belas malam.

Mika pushed the empty cart into the corridor. She stopped at the old service lift at the far end. Nobody used it much, because the main lifts took the beds. She pressed the button and waited.

Mika mendorong kereta kosong itu ke koridor. Ia berhenti di lift servis tua di ujung seberang. Hampir tak ada yang memakainya, karena lift utama dipakai untuk tempat tidur pasien. Ia menekan tombol dan menunggu.

Somewhere above her, a motor began to groan. The metal doors shook. Through the open door of the laundry room, she saw the lamp. It blinked twice, quickly, and then once for a long time.

Di suatu tempat di atasnya, sebuah motor mulai mengerang. Pintu-pintu logam bergetar. Lewat pintu ruang binatu yang terbuka, ia melihat lampu itu. Lampu itu berkedip dua kali dengan cepat, lalu sekali dengan lama.

She stood very still. Then she pressed the button again. The lift stopped, and the lamp stopped. She pressed it a third time, and the motor started once more. Two short blinks, one long.

Ia berdiri diam sekali. Lalu ia menekan tombol itu lagi. Lift berhenti, dan lampu berhenti. Ia menekannya untuk ketiga kalinya, dan motor itu menyala sekali lagi. Dua kedip pendek, satu panjang.

"Sven!" she called. "Come here. Quickly!"

"Sven!" panggilnya. "Kemari. Cepat!"

He ran into the corridor with the notebook in his hand. "What is it? Is somebody hurt?"

Ia berlari ke koridor dengan buku catatan di tangan. "Ada apa? Ada yang terluka?"

"Nobody is hurt. Watch the lamp." She pressed the button a fourth time.

"Tidak ada yang terluka. Lihat lampunya." Ia menekan tombol untuk keempat kalinya.

The doors rattled, the motor groaned, and in the room behind them, the old lamp blinked. Two short, one long.

Pintu-pintu berderak, motor mengerang, dan di ruangan di belakang mereka, lampu tua itu berkedip. Dua pendek, satu panjang.

"It's the lift," Mika said. "The two short blinks are the doors closing. The long one is the motor starting."

"Ini liftnya," kata Mika. "Dua kedip pendek itu pintu yang menutup. Yang panjang itu motor yang menyala."

Sven opened his notebook and read the times with his finger. Then he started to laugh. The lamp had blinked whenever someone used the service lift. The porters used it at night. So did the cleaners, and the kitchen staff with their trays. That was why the gaps were never the same.

Sven membuka buku catatannya dan membaca waktu-waktunya dengan menunjuk memakai jari. Lalu ia mulai tertawa. Lampu itu berkedip setiap kali ada yang memakai lift servis. Para porter memakainya di malam hari. Begitu juga petugas kebersihan, dan staf dapur dengan nampan mereka. Itulah sebabnya jedanya tak pernah sama.

"The lift and the lamp share one cable," he said slowly. "Of course they do. The electrician checked the lamp, but he never checked the lift."

"Lift dan lampu memakai satu kabel yang sama," katanya pelan. "Tentu saja. Tukang listrik itu memeriksa lampunya, tapi tidak pernah memeriksa liftnya."

"Nobody checked the lift," Mika said. "Why would they? It was not the thing that looked broken."

"Tak ada yang memeriksa lift," kata Mika. "Untuk apa? Itu bukan benda yang tampak rusak."

"I stared at that lamp for six years," Sven said, "and for fourteen nights I stared harder. The answer was never in the room. It was in the corridor."

"Aku menatap lampu itu selama enam tahun," kata Sven, "dan selama empat belas malam aku menatapnya lebih keras. Jawabannya tak pernah ada di dalam ruangan. Jawabannya ada di koridor."

"And you never went into the corridor when it blinked."

"Dan kamu tak pernah pergi ke koridor saat lampu itu berkedip."

"Never. I always stayed in my chair." He shook his head. "You found it, not me."

"Tidak pernah. Aku selalu tinggal di kursiku." Ia menggeleng. "Kamu yang menemukannya, bukan aku."

"You promised that I would know," Mika said. "I know. You kept your promise, with one hour to spare."

"Kamu berjanji bahwa aku akan tahu," kata Mika. "Aku tahu. Kamu menepati janjimu, dengan sisa waktu satu jam."

The lift doors opened. A porter stood inside with a huge pile of sheets and a surprised face. "Why are you both staring at me?" he asked.

Pintu lift terbuka. Seorang porter berdiri di dalamnya dengan setumpuk besar seprai dan wajah heran. "Kenapa kalian berdua menatapku?" tanyanya.

"We are saying thank you," Sven said. "You are the answer to a question."

"Kami mau berterima kasih," kata Sven. "Kamu adalah jawaban atas sebuah pertanyaan."

The porter looked at the lamp, then at the two of them, and he decided not to ask. He rolled the sheets into the laundry room and left.

Porter itu memandang lampu, lalu mereka berdua, dan ia memutuskan untuk tidak bertanya. Ia mendorong seprai-seprai itu ke ruang binatu lalu pergi.

For the rest of the night, they worked in a good mood. Now the lamp was no longer a mystery. It was a doorbell. When it blinked, they knew a delivery was coming, and they had time to clear the table. Sven said it made the room ten percent more efficient. Mika said it made it a hundred percent less spooky.

Sisa malam itu, mereka bekerja dengan suasana hati yang baik. Sekarang lampu itu bukan lagi misteri. Lampu itu adalah bel pintu. Ketika ia berkedip, mereka tahu kiriman akan datang, dan mereka punya waktu untuk mengosongkan meja. Sven bilang itu membuat ruangan sepuluh persen lebih efisien. Mika bilang itu membuatnya seratus persen kurang seram.

At six in the morning, she took off her apron and folded it neatly. She stood by the door and looked up at the lamp one last time.

Pukul enam pagi, ia melepas celemeknya dan melipatnya dengan rapi. Ia berdiri di dekat pintu dan memandang lampu itu untuk terakhir kalinya.

"Please do not let anyone fix it," she said. "It deserves a better job than just being a lamp."

"Tolong jangan biarkan ada yang memperbaikinya," katanya. "Ia pantas mendapat tugas yang lebih baik daripada sekadar menjadi lampu."

"The electrician says there is no money, so it is safe," Sven said. "And I never fix things anyway."

"Kata tukang listrik tidak ada uang, jadi aman," kata Sven. "Lagi pula aku tidak pernah memperbaiki apa pun."

"Really?"

"Sungguh?"

"I am a laundry worker," he said. "I only wash things."

"Aku pekerja binatu," katanya. "Aku hanya mencuci."