TIMUN MAS (Twisted by Juan / XI MIPA 5)

Once upon a time, not far from a jungle, lived a husband and a wife. They were farmers. They were diligent farmers and always worked hard in the paddy fields. They had been married for many years and still not have a child yet. Every day they prayed and prayed for a child.

One night, while they were praying, a giant passed their house. The giant heard they pray.

"Don't worry farmers. I can give you a child. But you have to give me that child when she is 17 years old," said the giant.

The farmers were so happy. They did not think about the risk of losing their child later and agree to take the offer. Later, the giant gave them a bunch of cucumber seeds. The farmers planted them carefully. Then the seeds changed into plants.

No longer after that, a big golden cucumber grew from plants. After it had ripe, the farmers picked and cut it. They were very surprised to see beautiful girl inside the cucumber. They named her Timun Mas or Golden Cucumber. Years passed by and Timun Mas has changed into a beautiful girl.

On her 17th birthday, Timun Mas was very happy. However, the parents were very sad. They knew they had to keep their promise to the giant, but they also did not want to lose their beloved daughter.

“My daughter, take this bag and run away from this house. It will save you from the giant.” Sait the father.

“What do you mean? Who is giant and why i have to run away?” said Timun Mas

Her father then explained all of the story. When she heard that story, she was very sad because she has to leave. However, she still had to run away before the giant came. 

Later on, the giant came to the farmers’ house to take Timun Mas. But, Timus Mas wasn’t there. The father said, “Why are you here? You didn’t meet Timun Mas in the mountain? I told her to go to the mountain to meet you.” The farmers were trying to tell a lie to the giant.

Then, the giant was confused. He walked away from the farmers’ house and searched for Timun Mas. He came to the mountain and beach but he didn’t find Timun Mas. There’s only one place left that the giant hasn’t visited yet, the jungle.

He went and entered the jungle, and saw a little girl near the cave, which is Timun Mas.

Timun Mas knew that the giant was coming. She tried to hide inside the cave, but the giant saw her.

“Yes, finally I found her,” said the giant.

He came closer to Timun Mas and said, “What are you doing little girl? Didn’t your parents tell you to meet me?”

“Who are you? I don’t understand what are you talking about,” said Timun Mas.

Then, Timun mas tried to fool the giant so she can run away.

“What’s behind you?” said Timun Mas with a fake scared face.

When the giant looked behind, Timun Mas ran away. The giant was very angry and he tried to chase her. Timun Mas tried to take a gem that her parents gave. She threw the first gems and suddenly, a bunch of nails came out. The giant tried to avoid the nails, so he ran away in the other way. 

About 15 minutes later, the giant didn’t show up. Timun Mas thought that she was already saved so she walked slowly. Suddenly, she heard a strange sound. When she looked around, the giant appeared from the left ! Without thinking, she ran again and tried to take some gems from her bag. She threw the last gems and a pool of mud came out ! But it gave no effect for the giant because he knew how to escape from the mud.

 There’s only one item left in Timun Mas’s bag, a flashlight. She thought that it’s just a flashlight. However, when she pulled it out, the flashlight turned into a lightsaber ! There’s no other way she could run away from the giant, except fighting. The giant wasn’t scared of Timun Mas, so he didn’t attack her. Timun Mas started to attack him many times, but the giant still alive. Timun Mas had an idea, she turned around the giant’s body and made the giant dizzy. Her trick was a success and she stabbed the giant’s leg until he fell down. She attacked him so many times until the giant died.

After that, Timun Mas was very happy because she had escaped the giant and can be returned to her family. When she was walking home, someone grabbed her from behind ! She turned back and it is the giant ! The giant wasn’t dead, he fooled Timun Mas. After he got Timun Mas, he went to the farmers’ house and grabbed both of the farmers (Timun Mas’s parents).

“All of you tryna fool me? Hahahaha that’s a very big big big mistake,” said the giant while walking to the mountain.

“We’re really sorry, please give us one more chance. We won’t do it again,” said the father.

The giant didn’t care what they said. He put three of them in a cage while he prepared a bonfire.

When the bonfire was ready, he took up the cage and put it on top of the bonfire.

“This is what you get for telling a lie. I won’t give you a second chance, I don’t trust you anymore,” said the giant.

The lesson that I want to convey through this story is to be honest. No matter if you lie for good or bad, that will bring you a disaster. Although you tried to hide it many times, someday the person will know it.

The reason why I created the “twist” this way because these days I think only a few people will tell the truth. There are so many smart or good people out there, but there are only a few honest people. When someone (who they lied to) know that they’re lying, they try to hide it or make an alibi. They don’t realize that it can bring a disaster for them. For example, if the person knows that you’re lying, they won’t trust you anymore. We must tell the truth, no matter what happens. It will be getting worse if you tell a lie.