Racing Goat (Part 1)

“Ha... ha... ha... you'd better just stay quiet here in the garden. They say there are wild dogs here, so you can get eaten. You're a useless kid anyway,” said Warno, the leader of the village's children's gang. He and his cronies were bullying the son of Kyai Husein. Even though Kyai Husein was a well-known and highly respected man, it didn't deter the mischievous gang from tormenting his son.

Rahmat, despite being the son of a Kyai, was never feared like his father. This was because Rahmat was born blind and became the subject of ridicule among his school friends. Although at the Islamic boarding school, these friends would pretend to be angels, seemingly protecting him. However, outside that safe zone, Rahmat often couldn't hold back his tears.

One day, Warno, the oldest among the children his age, conspired with his gang, which he named King Cobra. As a result, Rahmat was now left in a vast, eerie former Dutch plantation.

“Please, Warno, I don't really know the way home from this garden, I beg you, Warno...” Rahmat, unable to see due to his blindness, had no choice but to memorize routes. Unfortunately, he had never played in this garden. Consequently, he didn't know the way home from it. Moreover, a rumor circulated in the village that there was a mythical dog that preyed on children in the vicinity.

“Ha... ha... ha... let that wild dog eat you. Besides, if you're gone, your parents won't have any trouble, right?” Warno said, punctuated by laughter with his crew.

“Come on, guys! Let's go home and –“

“But boss, what if this kid really gets eaten by a dog?” Joko, Warno's subordinate, blurted out. He actually felt sorry for Rahmat. However, he was powerless, being weaker and afraid of Warno, so he didn't dare to help openly.

“Oh, so you're starting to care about this kid, are you? Do you want to stay here with him and get eaten by a dog too?” Warno intimidated Joko with a sneer. Joko then raised his hands in surrender.

“Okay, boss, let's pretend nothing happened.”

“Good, that's what I call loyalty.”

They left Rahmat in the garden, the echo of their laughter lingering in his memory. Rahmat could only continue to shed tears, moving right and left as far as his small steps could take him.

Sobbing, Rahmat pondered Warno's words. He felt that what Warno said seemed to be true. Yet, Rahmat never wanted to trouble anyone, not even his family. But the opposite was happening.

Rahmat thought, maybe he should just stay here and disappear into the digestive system of a demon or whatever else could eat humans.

Just as he had a sip of coffee, he thought like that, he was again overcome with fear. He imagined how painful it would be to be swallowed and digested by a demon.

Hurriedly, he tried to recall the prayers his father had taught him. Holding his stick tightly, he recited the prayer, stammering due to fear.

As the evening breeze tickled his skin, there was no sign that anyone sent by his father would pick him up from the garden. Rahmat felt like he was running out of time, anxiety and frustration swirling in his mind and heart.

Imagining the worst, Rahmat's lips moved silently, reciting a prayer for safety. Only Rahmat's faint voice, interspersed with sobs, could be clearly heard by him at that moment.

“Haaa –“

Rahmat flinched, startled by a growling sound from a distance. Cold sweat poured even more profusely down his pale skin. Despite this, Rahmat still tried to recite the prayers correctly.

However, out of sheer terror, Rahmat recited the prayers for safety faster and louder. Because of this, rather than praying, Rahmat resembled someone shivering and desperate, waiting for help.

“Rustle, rustle, grrrr....” The growling sound grew closer. Out of sheer terror, Rahmat screamed,

“Mercy, mercy, don't eat me, whatever form you take, be it a jinn or a dog, just don't eat me, I'm just lost here, I didn't mean to disturb you, mercy!”

Rahmat could feel the creature's breath. He was cornered, and his body wouldn't obey him. He trembled and was confused, unable to see it. Only its breath could be felt by Rahmat, and that breath was incredibly foul. He couldn't quite place it, but Rahmat remembered this smell. In Rahmat's mind at that moment, the breath was more like a chicken carcass mixed with Rahmat's own breath when he first woke up in the morning. Just a moment after thinking that, a tongue touched his face.

“Slurp....”

A large black dog licked Rahmat's face. However, the lick wasn't because the dog wanted to taste Rahmat and then eat him. Instead, the lick was a sign that Rahmat was not a threat. Moreover, the dog considered Rahmat its sibling.

Rahmat didn't know what prompted the dog to act that way. Perhaps it was due to the prayer for safety he had recited. Or perhaps, Rahmat simply had the same scent as the dog.

Suddenly, Rahmat remembered a television show about animals. He recalled the narrator's voice explaining dog behavior. And he remembered it: a dog will lick people it likes.

However, another voice emerged in his mind. It was his father's voice.

His father had once said that a dog carries ritual impurity (najis). Therefore, if possible, one should not get close to it.

But what could he do? He was alone in a place he couldn't see. Reluctantly, Rahmat stroked the dog.

In response, the dog became overjoyed. It returned Rahmat's petting by licking his face again.

Rahmat could only chuckle. His face was now wet with the dog's saliva. Although Rahmat felt the dog needed to brush its teeth, he still allowed it to lick his face.

He was afraid the dog would run away. He was alone, and his only unexpected friend was this dog. So, as much as possible, Rahmat didn't disturb its enjoyment.

So, he gave the dog a name. Perhaps, by giving it a name, it would help him survive in the garden.

“I will call you Friend.”

“Woof!” The dog barked happily.

Then, Friend nudged Rahmat and ran a little distance away, then barked again. It seemed to want Rahmat to follow it.

Although filled with confusion, Rahmat reluctantly unfolded his stick. Then, he walked, following the sound of Friend's barks. Slowly and quite carefully, Rahmat took one step after another towards the direction of the sound.

Once Rahmat got a little closer, Friend moved further away from him and barked again to call Rahmat. Rahmat was confused again, but he had no choice but to follow it.

“What do you mean, Friend?” Rahmat wondered to himself.

Despite his questions, Rahmat still felt that following Friend's barks was the only thing he could do in such moments. So, he continued to follow it. Until, from a distance, a very familiar voice reached Rahmat's ears.

“Gus! Gus Rahmat!!”

The appearance of that calling voice freed Rahmat from the shackles of belief that Warno had forced upon him. Karyo, his father's student, restored Rahmat's conviction that he was not a burden to his family.

“Cak Karyo!” Rahmat shouted, followed by Friend's barks.

“Good thing I found you, where have you been, Gus?”

Asked like that, Rahmat hesitated to reveal what had actually happened to him. Because if he reported it, Karyo might fly into a rage and beat up those scoundrel children.

For Rahmat, retaliation was not the right thing to do. If there had to be retribution for those who did evil, then only one was entitled to it: God. Not himself, not Karyo, and certainly not his father.

“I was just playing, then I got lost and ended up here, Cak.”

Because Friend was there, Karyo was astonished. He took a stance, ready to chase Friend away.

“Astaghfirullah, watch out, Gus, there's a stray dog, you might get bitten, let me chase away this impure creature, Gus!”

Rahmat quickly positioned himself to protect Friend. Although he doubted whether he was in the right place between Karyo and Friend, he didn't care, because Friend had tried to help him get out of this garden.

“Wait, Cak! He's the one who helped me, so don't chase him away. Just let him come with us if he wants, maybe he's just hungry and wants to eat.”

Karyo was confused by the request of his Kyai's son. However, Karyo was just a student, and one day Gus Rahmat would become a Kyai like his father. So, he had to obey all his commands.

“Alright, Gus, but what if Pak Yai asks about it later?”

“I'll talk to father about it later.”

Despite his astonishment, Karyo felt he had no right to question it. He was just a student, and before him was the son of his Kyai. In his mind, if God extended his life, he would serve Rahmat someday.

Because he had nothing else in this world. If Kyai Husein hadn't saved him back then, he might not have known God as he did now. So, he could only hope to repay Kyai Husein and his successor. Although this particular request seemed strange to him, repaying his teacher and his successor was something that had to be done.

Upon arriving home, his father was waiting on the porch with the smoke from his clove cigarette. When they arrived, his father stood up and approached them.

“Go take a ritual bath seven times immediately, don't forget to use sand or dust first, okay!”

“How did Father know I was exposed to dog saliva?” Rahmat asked.

“Well, there he is, following behind you.”

“Woof!” barked Friend.

The small face curved into a faint smile. He had just realized that Friend had been following him on his way home.

If it weren't for that jet-black creature of His, Rahmat would not be in his family's embrace now. He was grateful that, by His grace, he could now breathe a sigh of relief.

In his mind, there was a strong desire to forge friendships with other creatures of His. However, a speck of doubt lingered in his heart.

No one in the village had ever befriended a dog. Moreover, in the teachings Rahmat believed in, dogs were considered ritually impure (najis), and if one wished to care for them, there had to be a specific function for it.

No angels would enter his house, and his rewards would decrease by the size of a mountain every day. Such was the saying of the Prophet that he had heard from his father.

However, various questions swirled in Rahmat's mind. Aren't dogs also His creatures? Shouldn't His creatures befriend one another? And isn't God the Most Gracious and Merciful?

And isn't God also the creator of beauty? After all, nothing He created is in vain. Even if, to humans, it seems imperfect or is considered mere trash.

To be continued in Part 2