Chandra leaned back and watched the wind rustle through the leaves of the trees. 

She was sitting on the concrete steps of the small university park where ketapang kencana trees shielded the paved walkways and bougainvillea bushes held an array of pink paper blossoms. The warm orange hues of the sunset had begun to streak against the evening sky, high above the trees that she used to study under. 

She had left Kartika’s place after helping her pack for when she moved out after her wedding, boxes stacked high along the walls of her room. They had packed Kartika’s scented candles and numerous vinyl records, mulling over whether to place her record player in its box or have Kartika carry it in her lap later in the car.

As they had lightly chatted while sealing boxes with tape, Chandra began to notice that they were gradually becoming closer. Ever since they started sharing their meals together, their conversations had flowed more naturally and their questions weren't so stiff.

Chandra smiled to herself. She was thankful for her sister and her easy-going way of navigating their silences, knowing that that was helping them become more comfortable with each other’s presence. The occasional awkwardness that would still arise was often soothed with a quick grin from Kartika's face.

Chandra’s phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket, breaking the train of thoughts in her mind.

Nadira Shahab: 

Hi, Kak Chandra! :>

Are you still interested in eating at the campus canteen later?

Sorry we couldn’t eat someplace nicer… I’ll treat you elsewhere next time!!

Chandra smiled at Nadira's text. She was going to meet Nadira's friends today, a group of anthropology grad students who gathered once a week in preparation for their upcoming thesis defense. Nadira had texted her worriedly the night before that their usual gathering had been moved to dinner time, wondering if Chandra would be interested in joining them—to which Chandra had happily agreed.

Chandra Prawiraharja: 

Yes, I’d love to eat at the campus canteen. 

And don’t worry about it, it’ll be a nice throwback for me :)

Chandra's book sat quietly on her lap as she pocketed her phone, checking her watch to see how much time she had before dinner. Seeing as there was ample time beforehand, she decided to take a little walk. It would prevent the evening mosquitoes from getting to her, afterall.

She placed her book of Rumi’s poems in her bag as the evening air began to settle in, the air cleared of its humidity from the December rains that had swept through the town before. She got up and stretched before walking along the paved walkways, wandering around the campus once more. 

It was strange, she thought as she walked past the university buildings. Though she didn’t like to think about the campus while she was living in the city, walking among the buildings and the trees told her that she had missed the place more than she resented it.

Perhaps she had finally made peace with her hometown and everything that it reminded her of, which would be more progress than Chandra could have ever hoped for.

She stopped walking and found that her shoes had arrived at the front steps of a building, not realizing that she had been heading in any particular direction. She looked up, dumbfounded as she realized the building that now stood before her.

Somehow her feet had taken her back to the library. 

Chandra took in the sight of the renovated building and its new coat of paint, unsure if she should laugh or be concerned that she had subconsciously walked back to it. She decided to walk inside.

She greeted Ms. Lasma at the front desk, almost missing the librarian's knowing smile as she signed up for a visitor’s permit. Chandra thanked her before going to place her belongings in a locker.

As she began walking among the shelves, Chandra tried her best to be interested in the archeology section that she found herself in. She knew, however, that her heart was really pulling her towards the bookshelf that she had been drawn to just the other day. 

She stared at the archeology books in front of her, attempting to be engaged in the titles as she continued walking along the shelves. Her eyes skimmed over the spines of the books before she suddenly realized that she was now skimming over the titles within the anthropology section. She looked down at her feet and sighed. 

Sometimes I think you two have minds of your own, she told them, knowing full well that her feet were simply extensions of whatever was inside of her heart.

She reached out to gently trace her fingertips along the tops of the books, fingers ghosting the edges of the spines before her index finger found its way to the book with the maroon cover. Gently tilting it towards her, she took the book off of the shelf and placed her hand on the cover, feeling the material that had withered over time. She allowed herself a small smile. 

She slowly flipped all of the pages of the book aside to find the back cover, intending to see the sticky note that she had left the other day. She was surprised to find not one sticky note, but two. 

Her eyes widened and her heart raced within her chest.  

The second sticky note was yellow, in contrast with her own blue sticky note, and had a sentence written in very familiar handwriting—not unlike the one that filled the margins of the book that she held in her hands. 

She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry as her eyes followed every single letter of the handwritten sentence in front of her, palms beginning to sweat as she reached the curl of the question mark that indicated the end.

You still read this book?