Nobody Replied

Twelve invitations

Dua belas undangan

Amir drove a bus in Toronto. He was forty-two, and he came from Iran. He lived with his son, Daniel, in a small flat.

Amir mengemudikan bus di Toronto. Umurnya empat puluh dua tahun, dan dia berasal dari Iran. Dia tinggal bersama putranya, Daniel, di sebuah flat kecil.

It was only the two of them. Amir worked long hours, but he always came home before dinner.

Hanya ada mereka berdua. Amir bekerja berjam-jam, tetapi dia selalu pulang ke rumah sebelum makan malam.

One evening in February, he sat at the kitchen table with twelve cards.

Pada suatu malam di bulan Februari, dia duduk di meja dapur dengan dua belas kartu.

“Daniel, come here,” he said. “Your birthday is in two weeks. You will be ten!”

“Daniel, ke sini,” katanya. “Ulang tahunmu dua minggu lagi. Kamu akan berumur sepuluh tahun!”

Daniel came out of his room. He was a quiet boy with big dark eyes. “I know, Baba.”

Daniel keluar dari kamarnya. Dia anak laki-laki yang pendiam dengan mata gelap yang besar. “Aku tahu, Baba.”

“So we’re going to have a party. A real party, with your friends from school. Look, I bought invitations.”

“Jadi kita mau mengadakan pesta. Pesta yang sebenarnya, bersama teman-teman sekolahmu. Lihat, aku membeli undangan.”

The cards had blue balloons on them. Amir opened the first one and started to write.

Kartu-kartu itu bergambar balon biru. Amir membuka kartu pertama dan mulai menulis.

“Dear friend, please come to Daniel’s tenth birthday party! Saturday, 7 March, from two until five.”

“Teman yang baik, silakan datang ke pesta ulang tahun kesepuluh Daniel! Sabtu, 7 Maret, dari pukul dua sampai pukul lima.”

“Where: our home, 15 Weston Road, flat 12. There will be pizza, cake and games. Please reply to Amir.”

“Tempat: rumah kami, 15 Weston Road, flat 12. Akan ada pizza, kue, dan permainan. Tolong beri balasan kepada Amir.”

He wrote his phone number at the bottom. Then he looked at Daniel. “Who do you want to invite?”

Dia menulis nomor teleponnya di bagian bawah. Lalu dia menatap Daniel. “Kamu mau mengundang siapa?”

Daniel didn’t answer at once. “I don’t know. Maybe nobody.”

Daniel tidak langsung menjawab. “Aku tidak tahu. Mungkin tidak ada.”

“Nobody? What about the boys on your football team? You talk about them all the time.”

“Tidak ada? Bagaimana dengan anak-anak laki-laki di tim sepak bolamu? Kamu selalu menceritakan mereka.”

“OK. The football team. And some girls from my class.”

“Baiklah. Tim sepak bola. Dan beberapa anak perempuan dari kelasku.”