Zi dan Tom (Probably) Foolery

Aku diam seperti subuh yang hening saat ia membacakan cerita-ceritanya. Gelombang suara yang ia hasilkan sangat pas di telinga. Kalau dalam Bahasa Inggris biasanya di sebut fruity voice, suara yang dalam, kuat dan enak didengar. Bola matanya yang biru besar tidak membuatku gagal fokus, malah sebaliknya, membuatku bertanya-tanya bagaimana ia melihat sesuatu dan bisa menghasilkan karya-karya yang selalu berhasil membujukku untuk tidur lebih larut.

Saat pertama kali mendengar namanya disebut sepertinya ada yang aneh, lantaran Tom sering diasosiasikan dengan nama seekor kucing bodoh yang tidak pernah bisa menangkap tikus kecil yang pintar. Nama belakangnya Foolery semakin menambah rasa ketidakwajaran karena Tom Foolery jika digabung menjadi satu kata berarti prilaku bodoh atau tindakan gila. Aku belum tanyakan apakah ini nama sebenarnya atau mungkin cara menyindir dirinya sendiri yang hidup penuh harap di tengah bumi yang setiap hari meyakinkannya, kita untuk menyerah.  Selama empat bulan ini, Tom telah membacakanku delapan cerita, The Great Realization adalah satu diantaranya.

“Tell me the one about that virus again. Then I’ll go to bed.”

“But my boy you’re growing weary, sleepy thoughts about your head.”

“Please, that’s one is my favorite, I promise just once more.”

“Okay, snuggle down my boy, though I know you know, full well. This story starts before then in a world I once would dwell. It was a world of waste and wonder, of poverty and plenty. Back before we understand why hindsight’s 2020. You see the people came up with companies to trade across all lands. But they swelled and got much bigger than we ever could have planned.

We’d always had our wants, but now it got so quick. You can have anything you dreamed of in a day with a click. We noticed families had stopped talking. That’s not to say that they never spoke. But the meaning must have melted and the work life balance broke. And the children eyes grew squarer and every toddler had a phone. They filtered out the imperfections but amidts the noise, the felt alone. And every day, the skies grew thicker till they couldn’t see stars. So, we flew in planes to find them while down below, we filled our cars. We’d drive alone in circles. We’d forgotten how to run. We swapped the grass for tarmac, shrunk the parks till they were none. We filled the sea with plastic because our waste was never capped. Until each day when you went fishing, you’d pull them out from, already wrapped. And while we drunk and smoked, and gambled, our leaders taught us why, it is best not to upset the lobbies more convenient to die.

But then in 2020, a new virus came our way, the government reacted and told us all to hide away. But while we all were hidden amidst the fear and all the while, the people dusted off their instincts. They remembered how to smile. They started clapping to say thank you. And calling up their moms. And while the cars key gathered the dust, they would look forward to their runs. And with the skies less full of voyagers, the Earth began to breath and the beaches bore new wildlife that scuttled off into the seas. Some people started dancing; some were singing; some were baking. We’d grown so used to the bad news, but some good news was in the making. And so when we found the cure and were allowed to go outside. We’re all preferred the world we found to the one’s we left behind. Old habits became extinct and they made away for the new. And every simple act of kindness was now given is due.”

“But why did it take a virus, to bring back people together?”

“Sometimes, you’ve got to get sick my boy, before you start feeling better, now lie down and dream of tomorrow and all things that we can do. And who knows if you dream hard enough, maybe some of them will come true, we now call it The Great Realization. And yes since then, they have been many. But that’s story of how it is started and why hindsight’s 2020. “

The Great Realization adalah cerita keempat yang ia bagi. Ia menulisnya dan membacakannya dengan gaya dongeng dan berdongeng, gaya universal yang diwarisi oleh setiap umat manusia di bumi. Tom meramu masa kini, yang nyata terjadi atau sesuai dengan keadaan sekarang menjadi sebuah dongeng yang relevan tidak hanya untuk anak-anak tetapi bisa jadi dongeng untuk semua umur.

Dalam bentuk alur cerita sederhana dengan pilihan kata indah berima,  cerita ini lebih terdengar seperti puisi saat Tom membacanya. Pada awal cerita, Tom langsung memaparkan ketegangan untuk pendengarnya, ia kemudian menggambarkan dualisme keberadaan di mana keduanya saling berlawanan namun tak akan ada jika salah satu dari mereka tiada. Dualisme ini, ia jelaskan dengan pilihan kata dan keadaan yang saling berlawanan. Walaupun menyedihkan, Tom menaruh harapan yang besar dan membuat pendengar atau pun pembaca lebih positif di masa pandemi ini.

Karya-karya yang ia tulis dan bacakan melalui youtube membuatku membayangkan suatu hari orang-orang (kita) akan menulis dan dipengaruhi sastra seperti bagaimana teknologi dan virus merubah tingkah laku kita.