TIMUN MAS (TWISTED BY. RUTH / XI IPS 2)

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. Timun Mas noticed how her parents were being frustrated and sad. So she decided to asked her parents. 

“Father, today is my 17th birthday, we are supposed to be happy, right? Why do you and Mother look very sad?” asked Timun Mas. Her father and mother answered the reason why, the reason why they were being sad. Timun Mas was shocked, she never knew something like this would happen in her life. 

“Mother, let’s just meet the giant first. Maybe he never had a bad intention to me.” said Timun Mas. “No, no no no. He is dangerous. He is going to hurt you, he said it himself. He is going to take you, Timun Mas! Don’t be stupid, now we have to go.” said the mother. “Hey, calm down. What Timun Mas said was right. Should we meet him first? We never know what is the intention, right?” said the father to the mother. “No, we must to go. NOW!” the mother shouted. 

Timun Mas and her father decided to listened to the mother’s word. They went to a very far place, so the giant won’t know their hideaway but little did they know the giant had his own way to know their plan. 

The giant followed them secretly and keep knowing every movement that they did. They arrived in a small house and stayed there. For 5 days, there were no signs that the giant was around them. The giant kept spying on them and waited for few days to approach them. 

10 days later, the giant decided to go to their house. “Mother, there is someone knocking the door!” said Timun Mas. “Wait, let me open the door. It could be the giant.” said the father worried. “Timun Mas, hide!” her mother said. Timun Mas ran as fast as she could to the back of their house and hid. “Who is it?” said the father while opening the door but there was no one. After waited for a few minutes, the father decided to come back in to their house. 

“There was no one, it is safe. Tell Timun Mas to come back.” said the father. “Honey, we are safe. There was no one.” said the mother to Timun Mas.

Few hours passed, there were another knocks. “Mother, I will open the door.” said Timun Mas without knowing anything. 

“Hello.” said the giant smiling. “Hi.” said Timun Mas trembling. “Don’t be scared, I won’t hurt you, Timun Mas.” said the giant. Timun Mas wasn’t sure what to do. “Timun Mas, what are you doing?” said the mother. 

“Oh my god! Don’t you dare touch my daughter!” said the mother after saw the giant. “I didn’t say anything. I just want you to keep your promise.” said the giant. “Mother, I’ll go with him. I’ll be back.” said Timun Mas quietly. “No, go back. I will sort this out. What do you want? Money? Gold? Tell me!” said the mother to the giant.

“Nothing. I just want you to keep your promise.” said the giant. The father joined them and didn’t know what to do. The father thought that maybe they should give Timun Mas to the giant. He was sure that the giant will give Timun Mas back. The father and the mother talked about the situation. The father persuaded his wife, even though it was not easy. Finally, they let the giant took their only beloved daughter. 

“Father, Mother. I will go first, okay? I will be back. Don’t be scared and trust me.” said Timun Mas. Her parents said goodbye and let her go.

The giant and Timun Mas arrived in a lake. “Timun Mas,  aren’t you afraid?” asked the giant to Timun Mas. “I’m not scared. I trust you.” said Timun Mas. “Honestly, I am taken aback. I’m really surprised that you have that kind of thoughts. You are brave.” said the giant. “I am sure you got no bad intention to me. My family also believe in you.” said Timun Mas. “You got it right, Timun Mas. This is my first time, someone believed in me.” said the giant. “There were so many people wanted help and I helped them but they never kept their promises when I gave a rule. They never trusted me even though I helped them. I just want to know, is there anyone would believe in me. I am so happy, finally someone believed in me. You and your family kept your promise. You can go back to your family, Timun Mas.” said the giant. Timun Mas was so surprised after she heard the giant. She said thank you and left.

Timun Mas went home and told everything to her parents. Her parents were also happy to know the real reason why the giant did that. They were so thankful and happy because finally they can live peacefully without worrying anything again. 

The moral lesson that I want to convey is we must to keep our promises, no matter what. We must hold on to our own words and never run away to our own promises. Another lesson that we can see is we must not judge people with our own thoughts. If we don’t know the real reason why someone doing something, we should not judge people so easily. 

The reason why I created the twist is to lift up a story that have a big moral lesson. These days, there are so many people that have negative thoughts about someone that they didn’t even really know. I think it needs to stopped because we shouldn’t judge people with our own thoughts and we must know the real reason before we judge easily. Also, these days there are so many people than run away from their own promises that’s why I wanted to tell if we made a promise we should keep them, no matter what happens.