The Paper Cups on the Lifeguard Chair

The town pool at Harlow Gate opened every morning at seven. Every morning Bashir climbed the tall white lifeguard chair at the deep end and checked the water. For six years it had been the same. The surface had stayed level with the tiles. The lane ropes had floated in straight lines, and the only drama had been the occasional lost swimming cap.

Kolam renang kota di Harlow Gate buka setiap pagi pukul tujuh. Setiap pagi Bashir memanjat kursi penjaga kolam putih yang tinggi di sisi yang dalam dan memeriksa airnya. Selama enam tahun selalu sama. Permukaan air selalu sejajar dengan ubin. Tali pembatas lintasan mengapung dalam garis lurus, dan satu-satunya kehebohan hanyalah topi renang yang sesekali hilang.

Then, one Tuesday in June, the water was lower.

Lalu, pada suatu hari Selasa di bulan Juni, air itu lebih rendah.

It was not much. A thin dry band of tile, about the width of a hand, ran above the waterline. Bashir stared at it from his chair. On Wednesday, the band was wider. By Friday, there was a clear step between the pool and the edge, and the swimmers had started to notice.

Tidak banyak. Sepetak tipis ubin kering, selebar telapak tangan, tampak di atas garis air. Bashir menatapnya dari kursinya. Hari Rabu, petak itu lebih lebar. Pada hari Jumat, ada undakan yang jelas antara kolam dan tepinya, dan para perenang mulai memperhatikan.

"Is it supposed to look like that?" asked a boy, dangling his feet over the side.

"Memang harus begini, ya?" tanya seorang anak laki-laki sambil mengayunkan kakinya di tepi kolam.

"Absolutely," said Bashir, who had no idea.

"Tentu saja," kata Bashir, yang sama sekali tidak tahu.

On Monday morning he called the council, and the council sent Wanjiru.

Senin pagi ia menelepon dewan kota, dan dewan kota mengirim Wanjiru.

She arrived in a van full of pipes and gauges, wearing orange overalls. She had the expression of a person who had solved every kind of leak and expected this one to be no different. She walked once around the pool, tapped the walls with a small hammer and listened to the pumps for a long time.

Ia datang dengan van penuh pipa dan alat ukur, memakai terusan oranye. Wajahnya seperti orang yang sudah menyelesaikan semua jenis kebocoran dan mengira yang ini tak akan berbeda. Ia berjalan sekali mengelilingi kolam, mengetuk dinding dengan palu kecil, dan mendengarkan pompa untuk waktu lama.

"Nothing is leaking," she said at last. "The drains are sealed. The filter room is dry. Evaporation might take a centimetre in a hot week, not twelve."

"Tidak ada yang bocor," katanya akhirnya. "Salurannya tertutup. Ruang filter kering. Penguapan paling hanya mengambil satu sentimeter dalam seminggu yang panas, bukan dua belas."

"Then where is it going?"

"Lalu ke mana perginya?"

"That is the interesting part." She wrote a number on her clipboard and underlined it twice. "I will run a pressure test tonight. If the water is still dropping tomorrow, I will need to open the floor."

"Itu bagian yang menarik." Ia menulis sebuah angka di papan jepitnya dan menggarisbawahinya dua kali. "Saya akan menjalankan uji tekanan malam ini. Kalau besok air masih turun, saya harus membongkar lantainya."

Bashir winced. The pool had only just been repainted, and the council had been telling him about the budget for months.

Bashir meringis. Kolam itu baru saja dicat ulang, dan dewan kota sudah berbulan-bulan menceritakan soal anggaran kepadanya.

He locked up at eight. Wanjiru stayed behind, determined to catch the pool in the act. She sat on an upturned crate by the filter room with a flask of soup and a torch. Bashir meant to go home, but at the door he remembered that he had left his water bottle on the chair. He went back to fetch it.

Ia mengunci pintu pukul delapan. Wanjiru tetap tinggal, bertekad menangkap basah kolam itu. Ia duduk di atas peti terbalik di dekat ruang filter dengan termos sup dan senter. Bashir berniat pulang, tetapi di pintu ia teringat botol airnya tertinggal di kursi. Ia kembali untuk mengambilnya.

The pool hall was dim and very quiet. The only light came from the underwater lamps, which painted wavering patterns on the ceiling. At the top of the chair, where the stack of paper cups usually stood next to the first-aid box, something was moving.

Aula kolam itu remang dan sangat sunyi. Satu-satunya cahaya berasal dari lampu bawah air, yang melukis pola bergelombang di langit-langit. Di puncak kursi, tempat tumpukan gelas kertas biasanya berdiri di samping kotak P3K, ada sesuatu yang bergerak.

It was small, no larger than a cat, and almost the same colour as the water. Its arms were thin and long, its fingers were webbed, and its eyes were two round points of silver. It held a paper cup in both hands. As Bashir watched, it dipped the cup into the pool, lifted it and drank with a long, happy gulp. Then it did it again.

Makhluk itu kecil, tidak lebih besar dari kucing, dan warnanya hampir sama dengan air. Lengannya kurus dan panjang, jari-jarinya berselaput, dan matanya dua titik perak yang bulat. Ia memegang sebuah gelas kertas dengan kedua tangan. Saat Bashir memperhatikan, makhluk itu mencelupkan gelas ke kolam, mengangkatnya, dan meminumnya dengan satu tegukan panjang yang bahagia. Lalu ia melakukannya lagi.

Bashir did not shout. He did not move. After a minute he heard footsteps, and Wanjiru's torch swung through the doorway.

Bashir tidak berteriak. Ia tidak bergerak. Setelah semenit ia mendengar langkah kaki, dan senter Wanjiru menyapu masuk lewat ambang pintu.

"I found a tiny crack in the pump housing, but it's not—" She stopped.

"Saya menemukan retakan kecil di rumah pompa, tapi itu bukan—" Ia berhenti.

The creature lowered its cup and looked at them. It was not frightened. It simply seemed embarrassed, like a customer caught trying a free sample twice.

Makhluk itu menurunkan gelasnya dan memandang mereka. Ia tidak takut. Ia hanya tampak malu, seperti pelanggan yang tertangkap mencicipi contoh gratis dua kali.

"Do not tell me," Wanjiru said slowly, "that I need to put that in my report."

"Jangan bilang," kata Wanjiru pelan, "bahwa saya harus menulis itu di laporan."

"I don't think anyone would believe it," said Bashir. "But look at the cups."

"Kurasa tak akan ada yang percaya," kata Bashir. "Tapi lihat gelas-gelasnya."

The stack on the chair, normally forty cups high, had shrunk to six. The rest lay in a ring around the creature's feet, each one empty and dry on the inside.

Tumpukan di kursi itu, yang biasanya setinggi empat puluh gelas, menyusut menjadi enam. Sisanya tergeletak melingkar di sekitar kaki makhluk itu, masing-masing kosong dan kering di dalamnya.

Wanjiru sat down on the bottom step of the chair. She was a practical person, and practical people always begin with the smallest fact. "It is drinking the pool," she said. "A cup at a time. That is the whole leak."

Wanjiru duduk di anak tangga paling bawah kursi itu. Ia orang yang praktis, dan orang praktis selalu mulai dari fakta terkecil. "Ia meminum kolamnya," katanya. "Segelas demi segelas. Itulah seluruh kebocorannya."

"Why here?"

"Kenapa di sini?"

"This pool was built over a spring. I saw it on the old survey." She pointed toward the car park. "They sealed the spring with concrete forty years ago. Maybe it has been thirsty ever since, and nobody noticed until the water table dropped."

"Kolam ini dibangun di atas mata air. Saya melihatnya di survei lama." Ia menunjuk ke arah tempat parkir. "Mereka menutup mata air itu dengan beton empat puluh tahun lalu. Mungkin sejak itu ia kehausan, dan tak ada yang sadar sampai permukaan air tanah turun."

The creature made a small sound, somewhere between a hiccup and a bell, and set its cup down very politely.

Makhluk itu mengeluarkan bunyi kecil, antara cegukan dan lonceng, dan meletakkan gelasnya dengan sangat sopan.

Bashir looked at the chair, then at the tap by the first-aid box. Then he thought of the long row of cups on the shelf in the staff room. A plan came to him, plain and almost boring, and he knew right away that it would work.

Bashir memandang kursi itu, lalu keran di dekat kotak P3K. Lalu ia teringat deretan panjang gelas di rak ruang staf. Sebuah rencana muncul di benaknya, sederhana dan nyaris membosankan, dan ia langsung tahu rencana itu akan berhasil.

"We cannot stop it from drinking," he said. "But we can give it somewhere else to drink from."

"Kita tidak bisa menghentikannya minum," katanya. "Tapi kita bisa memberinya tempat lain untuk minum."

It took them an hour. Bashir carried cups from the staff room in stacks of fifty. Wanjiru filled them from the tap with a jug, working in her overalls like a woman at a very strange party. They lined up two hundred cups along the edge of the pool, on the steps of the chair and on the diving platform. Each one was full of clear tap water. The creature followed them from cup to cup, silent and delighted, touching the rims with one finger as if it were counting.

Itu memakan waktu satu jam. Bashir membawa gelas dari ruang staf dalam tumpukan lima puluhan. Wanjiru mengisinya dari keran dengan sebuah kendi, bekerja dengan terusannya seperti perempuan di sebuah pesta yang sangat aneh. Mereka menata dua ratus gelas sepanjang tepi kolam, di anak tangga kursi, dan di papan loncat. Masing-masing penuh air keran yang bening. Makhluk itu mengikuti mereka dari gelas ke gelas, diam dan gembira, menyentuh bibir gelas dengan satu jari seakan sedang menghitung.

When the last cup was filled, it took the first one, tipped its head back and drank. Then the second. Then the third. It moved down the line without hurrying, and the level of the pool did not move at all.

Ketika gelas terakhir terisi, makhluk itu mengambil yang pertama, mendongakkan kepala, dan minum. Lalu yang kedua. Lalu yang ketiga. Ia bergerak menyusuri barisan tanpa terburu-buru, dan permukaan kolam sama sekali tidak bergerak.

"It will need a refill every night," said Wanjiru, rubbing her back. "I can fit a small tank under the chair, with a tap at the bottom. Nothing too obvious. The council will think it is a drinking fountain."

"Ia akan butuh isi ulang setiap malam," kata Wanjiru sambil menggosok punggungnya. "Saya bisa memasang tangki kecil di bawah kursi, dengan keran di bagian bawah. Tidak yang mencolok. Dewan kota akan mengira itu keran air minum."

"They'll be very proud of me," said Bashir. "A lifeguard with an excellent drinking fountain."

"Mereka akan sangat bangga padaku," kata Bashir. "Penjaga kolam dengan keran air minum yang luar biasa."

The creature finished the line, set the last cup carefully upright and slid over the edge of the pool without a splash. For a moment a pair of silver eyes shone under the surface, and then they were gone.

Makhluk itu menyelesaikan barisannya, meletakkan gelas terakhir dengan hati-hati dalam posisi tegak, dan meluncur melewati tepi kolam tanpa percikan. Sesaat sepasang mata perak bersinar di bawah permukaan, lalu lenyap.

Wanjiru collected her hammer, her flask and her clipboard, and crossed out the underlined number. On her way to the door she stopped and looked back at the glittering pool, the lines of paper cups and the tall white chair.

Wanjiru mengumpulkan palu, termos, dan papan jepitnya, dan mencoret angka yang digarisbawahi itu. Dalam perjalanan ke pintu ia berhenti dan menoleh ke kolam yang berkilau, deretan gelas kertas, dan kursi putih yang tinggi.

"Next time," she said, "tell it to ask for a refill before it empties the deep end."

"Lain kali," katanya, "suruh ia minta isi ulang sebelum mengosongkan sisi yang dalam."