Ten Kilometres

A joke on the list

Sebuah lelucon di daftar

Funmi lived in Lagos. She was forty-one, and she was an accountant. She worked for a big company in the city centre.

Funmi tinggal di Lagos. Umurnya empat puluh satu tahun, dan dia seorang akuntan. Dia bekerja di sebuah perusahaan besar di pusat kota.

She sat at her desk from eight in the morning until six in the evening. She liked numbers. Numbers were quiet.

Dia duduk di mejanya dari pukul delapan pagi sampai pukul enam sore. Dia suka angka. Angka itu tenang.

On Monday morning, an email came from the boss. Funmi read it with her first coffee.

Pada Senin pagi, sebuah email datang dari bos. Funmi membacanya bersama kopi pertamanya.

“Dear team,” it said. “Our company is going to run in the Lagos race. It’s ten kilometres, and it’s in six weeks. Here are our ten runners.”

“Kepada tim,” tulis email itu. “Perusahaan kita akan ikut serta dalam lomba lari Lagos. Jaraknya sepuluh kilometer, dan acaranya enam minggu lagi. Ini sepuluh pelari kita.”

Funmi looked at the list of names. The last name on the list was her name.

Funmi melihat daftar nama itu. Nama terakhir di daftar adalah namanya.

She read it again. Then she stood up and walked to the next desk.

Dia membacanya lagi. Kemudian dia berdiri dan berjalan ke meja sebelah.

Tunde was twenty-six. He was younger than everybody in the office. He ran every morning, and he talked about it every day.

Tunde berumur dua puluh enam tahun. Dia lebih muda daripada semua orang di kantor. Dia berlari setiap pagi, dan dia menceritakannya setiap hari.

“Tunde. Did you write my name on this list?”

“Tunde. Apa kamu menulis namaku di daftar ini?”

Tunde laughed. “It was a joke! I’m sorry. Then the boss sent the list to everyone.”

Tunde tertawa. “Itu hanya lelucon! Maafkan aku. Lalu bos mengirim daftar itu ke semua orang.”

“A joke,” said Funmi.

“Sebuah lelucon,” kata Funmi.

“Come on, Funmi. You’ve never run in your life. Have you?”

“Ayolah, Funmi. Kamu belum pernah berlari seumur hidupmu. Benar, kan?”

“No,” said Funmi. “I have never run. Not even for a bus.”

“Tidak,” kata Funmi. “Aku belum pernah berlari. Bahkan untuk mengejar bus pun tidak pernah.”

Other people in the office looked up from their desks. Some of them smiled.

Orang-orang lain di kantor mendongak dari meja mereka. Beberapa dari mereka tersenyum.