The Handless Clock in the Canteen

The wall clock in the building site canteen fell off its nail at half past seven. It hit the floor, spun twice and lost both its hands. Nobody was sad about it. The clock had been wrong for years.

Jam dinding di kantin proyek bangunan itu jatuh dari pakunya pada pukul setengah delapan. Jam itu menghantam lantai, berputar dua kali, dan kehilangan kedua jarumnya. Tidak ada yang sedih karenanya. Jam itu sudah bertahun-tahun salah.

Neha was the new apprentice joiner, and she had been on the site for just two weeks. The foreman gave her a simple job. She had to find something to hang in the gap. Forty workers needed to see when their break ended.

Neha adalah murid tukang kayu yang baru, dan ia baru dua minggu berada di proyek itu. Mandor memberinya tugas sederhana. Ia harus mencari sesuatu untuk digantung di celah itu. Empat puluh pekerja perlu melihat kapan istirahat mereka berakhir.

She went to the salvage shed behind the cabins. It was full of things the crew had saved from the old cinema they were pulling down. There were brass door handles, torn velvet seats and a box of dusty light bulbs. At the bottom of a crate, wrapped in a cinema curtain, she found a round clock.

Ia pergi ke gudang barang bekas di belakang barak. Gudang itu penuh dengan benda-benda yang diselamatkan para pekerja dari bioskop tua yang sedang mereka bongkar. Ada gagang pintu kuningan, kursi beludru yang robek, dan sekotak bola lampu berdebu. Di dasar sebuah peti, terbungkus tirai bioskop, ia menemukan sebuah jam bundar.

It was heavy and beautiful. The case was dark wood, and the glass was clean. But the face was completely empty. There were no numbers, no marks and no hands at all. And yet, when she held it to her ear, it ticked.

Jam itu berat dan indah. Rangkanya dari kayu gelap, dan kacanya bersih. Tetapi wajah jamnya benar-benar kosong. Tidak ada angka, tidak ada tanda, dan sama sekali tidak ada jarum. Namun, ketika ia mendekatkannya ke telinga, jam itu berdetak.

"It works," she said to nobody.

"Jam ini hidup," katanya kepada siapa pun yang tidak ada.

She carried it to the canteen and found Kai, who helped the cook on weekdays. Kai was seventeen, and he spent most mornings stirring a pot that was bigger than he was.

Ia membawanya ke kantin dan menemui Kai, yang membantu juru masak pada hari kerja. Kai berusia tujuh belas tahun, dan ia menghabiskan sebagian besar pagi dengan mengaduk panci yang lebih besar daripada dirinya.

"That is the strangest clock I have ever seen," he said. "How do you read it?"

"Itu jam paling aneh yang pernah kulihat," katanya. "Bagaimana cara membacanya?"

"I do not think you do," said Neha. "But it is better than a hole in the wall."

"Kurasa tidak bisa," kata Neha. "Tapi ini lebih baik daripada lubang di dinding."

She hung it on the nail and stepped back. The ticking filled the room, slow and deep, like a heartbeat in a very large animal. Kai shrugged and went back to his soup.

Ia menggantungnya di paku dan mundur selangkah. Detaknya memenuhi ruangan, lambat dan dalam, seperti detak jantung hewan yang sangat besar. Kai mengangkat bahu dan kembali ke supnya.

At ten o'clock, the cook left to collect the delivery, and Kai was alone. He had started the lentil soup early. The pot sat on the biggest flame, and the flame was as high as it could go. By eleven, the pot should have been bubbling. It was not.

Pada pukul sepuluh, juru masak pergi mengambil kiriman bahan, dan Kai sendirian. Ia sudah mulai memasak sup lentil sejak awal. Panci itu berada di atas api terbesar, dan apinya sudah sebesar-besarnya. Pada pukul sebelas, panci itu seharusnya sudah mendidih. Tetapi belum.

By half past eleven, the soup was only warm. Kai put his hand over the pot, and then he took it away again, puzzled. The steam rose very, very slowly. It curled up from the surface like smoke in a dream. Then it hung above the cooker.

Pada pukul setengah dua belas kurang, sup itu baru hangat. Kai menaruh tangannya di atas panci, lalu menariknya lagi dengan bingung. Uapnya naik sangat, sangat pelan. Uap itu melingkar naik dari permukaan seperti asap dalam mimpi. Lalu ia menggantung di atas kompor.

Neha came in at a quarter to twelve for a drink of water. She stopped in the doorway.

Neha masuk pada pukul dua belas kurang seperempat untuk minum air. Ia berhenti di ambang pintu.

"Why is it so quiet in here?" she asked.

"Kenapa di sini sepi sekali?" tanyanya.

"I don't know," said Kai. "But my soup has not boiled, and the break starts in fifteen minutes."

"Entahlah," kata Kai. "Tapi supku belum mendidih, dan istirahat dimulai lima belas menit lagi."

"Fifteen minutes by whose watch?" asked Neha. She looked at the clock, and the ticking seemed to answer her.

"Lima belas menit menurut jam siapa?" tanya Neha. Ia menatap jam itu, dan detaknya seolah menjawabnya.

Kai picked up a wooden spoon from the counter. For a joke, he let it go. It did not drop. It sank toward the floor so slowly that he could have read the tiny letters on its handle. Neha watched it with her mouth open.

Kai mengambil sebuah sendok kayu dari meja. Sebagai lelucon, ia melepaskannya. Sendok itu tidak jatuh. Ia tenggelam ke arah lantai begitu pelan sehingga Kai bisa membaca huruf-huruf kecil di gagangnya. Neha menontonnya dengan mulut ternganga.

"Did you do that?" she whispered.

"Kamu yang melakukannya?" bisiknya.

"I just let go," said Kai.

"Aku cuma melepaskannya," kata Kai.

They stared at each other. Outside the window, they could hear the usual noise of the site. The cement mixer turned, and a man shouted about a ladder. Inside, everything moved like honey. A fly floated by the window and seemed to forget how to fly.

Mereka saling menatap. Di luar jendela, mereka bisa mendengar bunyi biasa dari proyek itu. Molen semen berputar, dan seorang pria berteriak soal tangga. Di dalam, segalanya bergerak seperti madu. Seekor lalat melayang di dekat jendela dan tampak lupa cara terbang.

"The clock," said Neha slowly. "The ticking is slower than my pulse. What if it is slowing down the room?"

"Jam itu," kata Neha pelan. "Detaknya lebih lambat daripada denyut nadiku. Bagaimana kalau jam itu memperlambat ruangan ini?"

Kai laughed, but it was a nervous laugh. "Time does not slow down in canteens."

Kai tertawa, tetapi itu tawa yang gugup. "Waktu tidak melambat di kantin."

"Then explain the spoon," said Neha.

"Kalau begitu jelaskan soal sendok itu," kata Neha.

He could not. The spoon was still falling.

Kai tidak bisa. Sendok itu masih jatuh.

The workers began to arrive at five to twelve, the way they always did. They came in loud and hungry, with dust on their boots. Within seconds, they went quiet. Some of them blinked, and some looked at their watches. A man in a yellow helmet said that the door felt heavier than usual.

Para pekerja mulai berdatangan pada pukul dua belas kurang lima, seperti biasa. Mereka masuk dengan ribut dan lapar, dengan debu di sepatu bot mereka. Dalam hitungan detik, mereka menjadi diam. Beberapa berkedip, dan beberapa melihat jam tangan mereka. Seorang pria berhelm kuning berkata bahwa pintunya terasa lebih berat dari biasanya.

"Lunch is not ready," Kai announced. His voice came out higher than he wanted. "Give me a minute."

"Makan siang belum siap," Kai mengumumkan. Suaranya keluar lebih tinggi daripada yang ia inginkan. "Beri aku semenit."

"We only have thirty," said the foreman from the doorway. "You know that."

"Kita cuma punya tiga puluh menit," kata mandor dari ambang pintu. "Kamu tahu itu."

Kai looked at the soup. Neha looked at the clock. A very clear idea arrived, the way a nail finds its place when you stop pushing.

Kai menatap sup itu. Neha menatap jam itu. Sebuah gagasan yang sangat jelas datang, seperti paku yang menemukan tempatnya ketika kita berhenti mendorong.

"If the clock is the problem," she said, "then the answer is simple. We take it out."

"Kalau jamnya yang jadi masalah," katanya, "maka jawabannya mudah. Kita turunkan saja."

She dragged a chair to the wall and stood on it. The clock was warm now, almost like a living thing. She lifted it off its nail with both hands. The ticking changed at once and became faster and lighter. The sound of the room snapped back around her.

Ia menyeret sebuah kursi ke dinding dan berdiri di atasnya. Jam itu sekarang hangat, hampir seperti makhluk hidup. Ia mengangkatnya dari paku dengan kedua tangan. Detaknya langsung berubah, menjadi lebih cepat dan lebih ringan. Suara ruangan itu kembali menyentak di sekelilingnya.

Kai's spoon hit the floor with a clatter. The fly shot out of the window. The soup gave a great, rolling bubble. A cloud of steam rose from the pot and filled the kitchen with the smell of garlic.

Sendok Kai menghantam lantai dengan bunyi nyaring. Lalat itu melesat keluar jendela. Sup itu mengeluarkan gelembung besar yang bergulung. Segumpal uap naik dari panci dan memenuhi dapur dengan aroma bawang putih.

"Right," said the foreman, who had not noticed anything strange. "Now we're talking."

"Nah," kata mandor, yang tidak menyadari apa pun yang aneh. "Begini baru benar."

Neha carried the clock out through the back door and across the yard. She did not know where to put it. In the end, she hung it on the wire fence beside the window. It looked lost there, a dark wooden circle against the grey mesh and the bright, empty sky.

Neha membawa jam itu keluar lewat pintu belakang dan menyeberangi halaman. Ia tidak tahu harus menaruhnya di mana. Akhirnya, ia menggantungnya di pagar kawat di samping jendela. Jam itu tampak tersesat di sana, lingkaran kayu gelap di depan jaring abu-abu dan langit cerah yang kosong.

Behind her, the canteen came alive. Trays banged, chairs scraped, and somebody asked for more rice. Kai ladled out soup as fast as he could. He passed Neha a bowl through the open window without a word. She ate it standing in the yard, with the clock ticking beside her.

Di belakangnya, kantin menjadi hidup. Nampan berdentang, kursi berderit, dan seseorang meminta nasi tambah. Kai menyendokkan sup secepat yang ia bisa. Ia mengulurkan semangkuk kepada Neha lewat jendela yang terbuka tanpa berkata apa-apa. Neha memakannya sambil berdiri di halaman, dengan jam yang berdetak di sampingnya.

The break lasted exactly thirty minutes. For once, nobody ran late.

Istirahat itu berlangsung tepat tiga puluh menit. Untuk sekali ini, tidak ada yang terlambat.

When the afternoon shift began, the workers went back to the cranes and the scaffolding. Neha helped Kai clean the pots, and they washed up in a tired silence. At last Kai dried his hands and leaned on the sink.

Ketika shift sore dimulai, para pekerja kembali ke derek dan perancah. Neha membantu Kai membersihkan panci, dan mereka mencuci dalam keheningan yang lelah. Akhirnya Kai mengeringkan tangannya dan bersandar di bak cuci.

"We cannot tell anyone about this," he said.

"Kita tidak boleh memberi tahu siapa pun soal ini," katanya.

"They would not believe us," said Neha.

"Mereka tidak akan percaya pada kita," kata Neha.

"Maybe we can use it," said Kai. "A clock that slows time. Imagine what it could do on Friday afternoons."

"Mungkin kita bisa memanfaatkannya," kata Kai. "Jam yang memperlambat waktu. Bayangkan apa yang bisa dilakukannya pada Jumat sore."

"Or on a Monday morning," said Neha, and she smiled for the first time all day.

"Atau pada Senin pagi," kata Neha, dan ia tersenyum untuk pertama kalinya seharian itu.

They left it on the fence for the rest of the afternoon, to be safe. At five o'clock, the site went silent, and the crew drove home in their dusty vans. The foreman locked the gate. Neha and Kai stayed behind to turn off the last lights.

Mereka membiarkannya di pagar sepanjang sisa sore itu, agar aman. Pada pukul lima, proyek itu menjadi sunyi, dan para pekerja pulang dengan mobil van mereka yang berdebu. Mandor mengunci gerbang. Neha dan Kai tetap tinggal untuk mematikan lampu-lampu terakhir.

The sun was low and gold when they stood in the yard. The fence cast long shadows across the gravel, and the cranes stood still above the empty building. The handless clock hung on its wire, ticking slowly in the evening air.

Matahari rendah dan keemasan ketika mereka berdiri di halaman. Pagar itu melemparkan bayangan panjang di atas kerikil, dan derek-derek berdiri diam di atas bangunan yang kosong. Jam tanpa jarum itu tergantung di kawatnya, berdetak lambat di udara petang.

A swallow flew past the canteen window. For a moment, it seemed to stay in the air a little longer than it should. Then it passed over the roof and was gone.

Seekor burung layang-layang terbang melewati jendela kantin. Sesaat, ia seolah bertahan di udara sedikit lebih lama daripada seharusnya. Lalu ia melintasi atap dan menghilang.

Neha watched it go. Beside her, the clock kept its own quiet time, and the long day seemed to rest.

Neha memandanginya pergi. Di sampingnya, jam itu menjaga waktunya sendiri yang tenang, dan hari yang panjang itu seakan beristirahat.