Government aid has arrived in my village again, this time even the neighboring village, Mang Krimo's village in Pucuk Lebah, hasn't received any. My own village has already received aid for agriculture twice.

This is the result of the hard work of my village head, Mr. Norman.

Last night, Mang Krimo even complained that his village head couldn't move as quickly as my village head in Bulan Indah. Mang Krimo himself even wanted to move to my village, he... he... he... of course, that was just a joke.

We just talked about it last night, and this morning, aid arrived for the second time this harvest season. My father asked me to pick up the aid at the village hall. The afternoon shift was for work, and the morning shift was still open for assistance.

I got on my motorbike and hurried to the Bulan Indah village hall. There were already quite a lot of people coming and going, registering with their family cards and waiting to receive the fertilizer aid.

While waiting in line, I sat there, waiting. There were long wooden chairs, called "dingklek" in Javanese.

There were also people waiting there. As they sat, the people next to me continued to talk about ghosts. For example, I heard about Lek Firman, who was sitting behind me. A week ago, he was looking for grasshoppers to cook. He and Pairan were searching for grasshoppers, and in the cassava fields about half a kilometer from the late Mbah Pati's house, they encountered a ghost.

Worse, they attributed this to keeping them from approaching the haunted house, the abandoned house left by the late Mbah Pati. At that time, because it was night, they were actually getting closer to the abandoned house. About half a kilometer away, they saw a human head hanging from a tree, seemingly flying.

Pairan and Firman immediately ran helter-skelter near a large banyan tree before a row of bamboo trees.

"Maybe it was just a hallucination, Lek?" I tried to deny Lek Firman's opinion. "Really, Nan, I even shone my flashlight at the head. But because I was so scared, my flashlight fell, and I ran with Pairan, and we got separated because we were so scared."

I started to think they weren't lying, but the flying head thing seemed strange to me.

"Was the flying head chasing you?" I became curious about Firman's story.

Firman seemed thoughtful for a moment, "The ghost didn't chase you, Nan. It seemed to be flying around the banyan tree, and maybe it was the guardian of the old banyan tree near the bamboo grove."

So, according to Firman's story, the ghost only revealed itself with its head as they approached the bamboo grove. There was indeed a large tree before the bamboo grove, and the ghost didn't leave.

This meant that if they had indeed seen a ghost, it was as if the ghost was preventing Firman and Paeran from approaching the bamboo grove.

"So... Firman isn't allowed to enter that area, Lek. That means there's something there," I began to suspect, as several people around us were listening intently to our conversation.

"Yes, of course, Nan," Lek Paeran chimed in. "The ghost must have warned us not to go too far into the realm of the kingdom or the ghost community. If we went in, we might get lost in the supernatural realm and never return."

Hmmm...

It made me think again. There are indeed unique and strange stories, such as people getting lost in the supernatural realm and never returning. Like the story of a teenager named Amir. He disappeared for a week a year ago and has no idea where he went.

He truly vanished without a trace.

Finally, Amir took his bicycle out of the house and disappeared as soon as he went behind the house. Because they couldn't find him anywhere all day and night, the family went to a shaman. The shaman said Amir was lost in the supernatural realm, and a genie had led him astray. He had been kidnapped by the genie.

So, the shaman set a condition for Amir's release: slaughter a black rooster and place it on a winnowing basket, along with yellow rice and incense. They placed it behind their house near a mahogany tree.

The shaman said Amir was nearby and just out of sight. However, the shaman said Amir knew someone was looking for him and was screaming, but no one heard him.

Three days later, Amir returned home alone on his bicycle, looking very weak because he hadn't eaten for several days. Many people thought Amir had been freed from the spirit, and they believed it.

However, I was curious, so I spoke with Amir at Bi Winah's Soto restaurant.

I treated him to a meal a month after his disappearance. As I listened to Amir, I asked him to tell me frankly where he had been for four days.

Amir explained that he had run away from home. He had been scolded by his father for spending his father's money under the mattress for pleasure. When he was about to be beaten, Amir became frightened and left the house, confused, and didn't know where he was going on his bicycle.

Amir, like a frightened man, continued riding his bicycle to his friend's house in another district. He asked his friend to keep his identity a secret and to stay for a few days. Amir wanted to pretend he was missing and his father had forgiven him. When he heard the commotion and his father was looking for him, he stayed at his friend's house until a few days later, feeling that his father had forgiven him.

Then, when I asked him why people said he looked hungry and like he hadn't eaten, he said he was scared and didn't feel like eating. He was so weak that he gave the impression that he had been kidnapped by a spirit. So, his father would forgive him.

That was Amir's true story, but I was also asked to keep it a secret. However, even if people told the truth, they would believe that Amir had truly disappeared and been kidnapped by a spirit.

My turn came. I ended the ghost's conversation with Lek Firman and Lek Paeran. I approached the pile of fertilizer bags arranged under the car. As I approached, I saw several more fertilizer bags inside.

Someone was about to lift the bags, and I was asked to turn the motorcycle around so I could start it, and they would carry the fertilizer bags to my motorcycle. I turned the motorcycle around, and someone lifted the fertilizer bag and placed it on the back seat of the motorcycle I was already driving.

"There's still half of it on the car, sir," I said to the man, who was a stranger and not from our village. He seemed to be an official. "Why don't we unload it together first, so it'll be easier. We can help."

The man who was lifting the fertilizer walked over to me while I was still riding the motorcycle. "No need, that's our job. We're paid for it, sir."

"It's okay, sir. It'll be easier in the village, because things are usually heavy, but they're light to carry and carry. We've been assisted, so it's no problem..."

"No need!" The man suddenly spoke harshly, and I stopped myself.

"It's like this, sir..." The man suddenly lowered his voice, "If the villagers help us, our pay will be lower because it's calculated per bag we bring to the farmers, sir."

That was the man's explanation. I immediately understood; it was true. If their pay was reduced, it would be a shame. I apologized and thanked the man and said goodbye.

I then brought a can of fertilizer and a rice fertilizer spray. I returned home with the supplies.

My mind was still preoccupied with the ghost of the flying head in the large, old banyan tree near the bamboo grove. Should I go see it first? Maybe there was a clue.

That's right!

I immediately went home and returned the fertilizer and the fertilizer spray bottle.

When I got home, I was very curious and headed towards the late Mbah Pati's old house and the large banyan tree to see if I could glean any clues from Lek Firman's story about seeing the flying head.

I hurried there because I had a shift later that afternoon. I headed straight for the banyan tree, which was surrounded by thickets and cassava fields. Indeed, there were many grasshoppers, and Lek Firman had come all the way here to find it.

I parked my motorcycle and headed towards the large banyan tree. It was daytime, alone, and I was going to look for evidence. I wandered around the old banyan tree. It was very quiet, and there were no people around; most of them were probably at the village hall receiving government aid in the form of fertilizer and medicine.

I could observe the flying head ghost on my own and in-depth.

I wandered around looking for evidence. Until I looked up and saw a speck of evidence.

That???