Discovering a Pinch of Heaven’s Taste in A Long Icy Road

By Rizki Sulistya

Rideau Canal during winter

e sun shone brightly, beamed upon my face as I gazed the cloudless, blue sky while shuffling down an empty street packed with snow with my hands stuffed in my pockets. My face went numb as the icy breeze whispering over my skin and painting my cheeks red. The squeak and crunch noise of my winter boots against the snowy road fills the sound in my head as I walked through the snow heavily.  

Not realizing as I step forward I suddenly slipped. I felt a different road down my boots; hard, slippery, icy road with a touch of sprinkle snow on it. That is when I realized, I arrived at the world’s largest skating rink: Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa, Canada.

The Rideau Canal connects the city of Ottawa to the city of Kingston. It is 202 kilometers in length. In winter, a section of the Rideau Canal passing through central Ottawa becomes officially the world’s largest skating rink. The cleared length is 7.8 kilometers and has the equivalent surface area of 90 Olympic ice hockey rinks which later it was added to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2005 for being the largest naturally frozen ice rink in the world.

When I stepped my foot on that frozen ice rink for the first time, I was amazed. I kept starring at the ground, while falling on my knees, trying to knock the ground numerous times from side to side as the wet, cold ground absorbed through my jeans and it felt to my knees, a sudden shudder of chills sent down to my spine. I got up quickly and brushed off the wet, icy snow from my knees with my bare hands and for a second I thought, this used to be a waterway. I would not be able to step on it if it wasn’t for the cold, freezing, under minus ten degree weather. I would probably drown, deep down into the river by then.

I walked on the icy road carefully, trying not to fall with my hands out of my pocket, spread a little, balancing between my body and feet. The crunch of metal against the ice was a sweet sound of music to my ear. I stopped and stared at people flying past by me then I continued walking on the side with my un-bladed boots, walking faster and faster, almost running, trying to keep up with the skaters. I slipped and fell on my butt really hard, it was one cold pain.

As I was trying to get up, I suddenly smelled something good, sweet, and unfamiliar. I sniffed my stuffy nose really hard as I enjoy the unusual sweet smell of heaven. I followed the smell and came to this kiosk that said Beaver Tails on it with other snacks and beverages being sold along with it. All I could think of was to try that food but the line was like a ten deck train full of people, it was really long. I couldn’t help myself but to wait patiently in the line in one cold, freezing weather with my frozen hand which I sometimes rub it together and breathe into it, trying to make them warm.

The famous Beaver Tails

I could hear everyone’s excitement in front of me as they got closer and closer to the shack of beaver tails. As I got closer, the smell of the beaver tails grew stronger, one of the best aroma in the world, sort of like a sweet peppermint scent. I got to the front of the shack and a lady in red apron with her name tag on it that says Maggie greeted me in a really friendly way. The thin lady was probably around early thirties at that time, with a typical westerner look, blond curly hair, high bridge nose, light blue eyes and rosy red cheeks. I ordered the beaver tail, and voila! There it was in my hand a huge piece of bread that literary looked like a tail of a beaver drizzled with cinnamon powder and sugar.

I could see why people were willing to wait in line for so long because the taste was to die for, the experience of the unforgettable combination of cinnamon powder and sugar. The moment I took a huge bite, I could hear the crunchy of it, the cinnamon powder and sugar melted in my mouth, the taste was a little bit sweet, sort of spicy, and gave a sense fresh mint in my mouth. I took another bite and each bite delights with rich flavor of sweetness. My stomach was satisfied. I went home with a hunch of happiness waiting to come again next time.

The most interesting part of it all wasn’t the feeling of walking on ice for the first time or eating beaver tail but the little laughter I had every time someone slipped and fell in front of my face. It was hard for me to restrain my laughter since it was hilarious each time they fell which I shouldn’t have done it because the next time I tried skating for the first time, I fell on my butt really hard and the pain wouldn’t go away for days.

Life Is Too Boring to Not Take a Challenge

 Life Is Too Boring to Not Take a Challenge

By Rizki Sulistya

Debrina giving her speech in a meeting

In a room full of serious people, the meeting was just begin, she appeared sitting, unconcerned with her surroundings, just staring at her books on her desk looking at it as if she was trying to figured out something with a pen on her fingers. She was stunt when someone called her.

20 years old Debrina is now enrolling her 6th semester as a university student whilst being in two organizations, one being a member of Constitution Commission in Student Representative Board and the other one being the head of the Legislation Board in FBS.

Everywhere she goes, everyone that knows her would greet her simply by saying “Hi Ka…” or “hi deb!”

“Being in organizations, not only I get to meet different types of people but also I get to learn something new every day”

In high school, Debrina’s first organization wasn’t a major one, in fact at first she was afraid to join any kind of organization.

“In high school I was afraid of being open to people that’s why I didn’t take any major organization and I regretted that. I realize being in organization is really fun.”

From being a staff to being the head in organization, she works her way up with a positive thought in mind.

Debrina believes that in every organization, there is always something new to learn. When she was only a staff, she learned how to be useful to people. When she became the head, she learned how to be a leader but that didn’t stop there. Her determination of being active in organizations leads her to try something new, something different. She starts all over again as being only a staff but at a higher level. “I tried something different, I learned from the beginning again because it was something different from what I’ve done before.” She said.

Debrina and her staff in a meeting

Last year, being The Head of Public Relation in Student Executive Board was one of her favorite. It was the time where she really learned how to help people without asking them to help her back.

“I learn how to be professional. Like when people force me to finish a task in a limited amount of time then I have to get it done. They don’t care about my excuses, what matter is to get the job done in no time. It was a fun yet stressful year.”

Despite active in organizations, it doesn’t stop her from getting good grades in college. In fact she maintained to keep her GPA high throughout the years.

“It can become very hectic sometimes, in a day there is a time when I have to attend a very important meeting, at the same time I have a deadline due tomorrow but I also have to teach. When that happens, the first thing I have to sacrifice is my sleeping time. I sleep only when I finish the assignments because academic is always my number one priority.”

She believes that organization is not something that stopping people from getting behind in school performances rather it is a chance to get new life experience.

“Life is too boring to not take a challenge.” She said. “I’m not perfect, but it’s not how perfect we are in organization but how we are willing to learn to take every risks and chances to keep moving on and do the best with our capability.”

[Mid-term] Rizki Sulistya - The Necklace (Drama)

A Play

By Rizki Sulistya

Based on the short story "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant

Mathilde Loisel an old, strong, hard, coarse women of poor households. Her hair is badly done, her skirts are awry. She spoke in a shrill voice. For ten years she worked like a slave to pay her debts. She came to know the heavy work of the house, the hateful duties of the kitchen. She washed the plates, she washed the dirty linen, the shirts and dish-cloths, and hung them out to dry on a string; every morning she took the dustbin down into the street and carried up the water, stopping on each landing to get her breath. And, clad like a poor woman, she went to the fruiterer, to the grocer, to the butcher, a basket on her arm, haggling, insulted, fighting for every wretched halfpenny of her money.

One Sunday, Mathilde walk along the Champs-Elysees to freshen herself after the labours of the week, she caught sight suddenly of a woman who was taking a child out for a walk. It was her old friend, Madame Forestier, still young, still beautiful and still attractive even after ten years.

[Slow music is playing while mathilde enters] 

[Mathilde enters looking rough. Her clothes are dirty and torn. She went up to her]

Mathilde : Good morning, Jeanne.

Jeanne : [Confused] Madame . . . I’m afraid I don’t know you. You must be making a mistake.

Mathilde : There is no mistake. I’m Mathilde Loisel.

Jeanne : [Shocked] Oh! My poor Mathilde, how you have changed!

Mathilde : Yes, I've had some hard times since I last saw you and many sorrows . . . and it was all your fault.

Jeanne : [Dumbfounded] My fault? But how can that be? How can it be my fault?

Mathilde : You remember that diamond necklace you lent me to go to the party at the ministry?

Jeanne : Yes! But what about it?

Mathilde : [sigh] Well, I lost it.

Jeanne : How could you? Why, you brought it back.

Mathilde : You know Jeanne, wearing that necklace was one of the most amazing feeling ever. You see, all the men in the ball looked at me in an amazement. [All the light turns off. Spotlight on Mathilde. She walk slowly to the edge of the stage, talking to the audience]. I was beautiful . . . No, I was the most beautiful woman in the room. I don’t suppose I’ll ever know another evening like it. Even the minister asked me for a dance. It was truly one of the best days of my life.
 

Lights off for a moment then on. Mathilde appeared beautiful than ever with her fancy dress. She just got back from the party. She went straight to her room, stares and admires herself in the mirror.

[classic music plays for a moment as she admiring herself then stop abruptly]

Mathilde : [Smiling] Oh look how beautiful I am. [Shocked] Aagh! No! No!

Loisel : [Rushing] What’s wrong dear?

Mathilde : Madame Forestier’s necklace is gone! [Panicked while searching through her body]

Loisel : What do you mean gone?

Mathilde : [Showing her neck] It’s not here!

Loisel : [Panicked] See if it’s fallen down the front of your dress. Perhaps it got caught!
 

They looked frantically into the clothing

Loisel : Are you sure that you still had it on when you came away from the ball?

Mathilde : Yes, I’m sure dear.

Loisel : But if you had lost it in the street, we should have heard it fall. [They stared at one another, dumbfounded]. 

[Loud music plays then slowly fades out]
 

The lights turn off for a brief moment then on again. Mathilde appeared looking old and fragile still talking to Madame Forestier about the diamond necklace.

Mathilde : I brought you another one just like it. And for the last ten years me and my husband has been paying for it. You realize it wasn't easy for us, we had no money [sigh]. . . . Well, it's paid for at last, and I'm glad indeed.
 

Jeanne : [Shocked] You say you bought a diamond necklace to replace mine?

Mathilde : [Proud] Yes. You hadn't noticed it? They were very much alike.

Jeanne : [Took her hands] Oh, my poor Mathilde! [Guilty] But mine was imitation. It doesn’t worth ten years of working . . .
 

Mathilde gasps and fall to her knees, cries 

[Sad melody from a violin plays. Curtain drops. Melody fades out slowly.]

[Mid-term] Rizki Sulistya - Love at First Sight (Poem)

Love at First Sight
By: Rizki Sulistya

Do you remember?
It was back in December
The leaves were wet
The day we first met

Standing across the room
Like a flower that just bloom
"What a beautiful sight you are!"
Just like a sky full of dazzling star

You strolled while staring into my eyes
The closer you get, the more my heart tickles
I count your every footsteps, one... two... three...
My heart burst when you said "hi I'm Johnny"

I've tried to ignore, I've tried to forget
But all I see is the first time we met
I cannot ignore such a sweet delight
Indeed, this is love at first sight

Drama: The Necklace

A Play

By Rizki Sulistya

Based on the short story "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant

Mathilde Loisel an old, strong, hard, coarse women of poor households. Her hair is badly done, her skirts are awry. She spoke in a shrill voice. For ten years she worked like a slave to pay her debts. She came to know the heavy work of the house, the hateful duties of the kitchen. She washed the plates, she washed the dirty linen, the shirts and dish-cloths, and hung them out to dry on a string; every morning she took the dustbin down into the street and carried up the water, stopping on each landing to get her breath. And, clad like a poor woman, she went to the fruiterer, to the grocer, to the butcher, a basket on her arm, haggling, insulted, fighting for every wretched halfpenny of her money.

One Sunday, Mathilde walk along the Champs-Elysees to freshen herself after the labours of the week, she caught sight suddenly of a woman who was taking a child out for a walk. It was her old friend, Madame Forestier, still young, still beautiful and still attractive even after ten years.

[Mathilde enters looking rough. Her clothes are dirty and torn. She went up to her]

Mathilde : Good morning, Jeanne.

Jeanne : [Confused] Madame . . . I’m afraid I don’t know you. You must be making a mistake.

Mathilde : There is no mistake. I’m Mathilde Loisel.

Jeanne : [Shocked] Oh! My poor Mathilde, how you have changed!

Mathilde : Yes, I've had some hard times since I last saw you and many sorrows . . . and it was all your fault.

Jeanne : [Dumbfounded] My fault? But how can that be? How can it be my fault?

Mathilde : You remember that diamond necklace you lent me to go to the party at the ministry?

Jeanne : Yes! But what about it?

Mathilde : [sigh] Well, I lost it.

Jeanne : How could you? Why, you brought it back.

Mathilde : You know Jeanne, wearing that necklace was one of the most amazing feeling ever. You see, all the men in the ball looked at me in an amazement. [All the light turns off. Spotlight on Mathilde talking to the audience]. I was beautiful . . . No, I was the most beautiful woman in the room. I don’t suppose I’ll ever know another evening like it. Even the minister asked me for a dance. It was truly one of the best days of my life.
 

Lights off for a moment then on. Mathilde appeared beautiful than ever with her fancy dress. She just got back from the party. She went straight to her room, stares and admires herself in the mirror.

Mathilde : [Smiling] Oh look how beautiful I am. [Shocked] Aagh! No! No!

Loisel : [Rushing] What’s wrong dear?

Mathilde : Madame Forestier’s necklace is gone! [Panicked while searching through her body]

Loisel : What do you mean gone?

Mathilde : [Showing her neck] It’s not here!

Loisel : [Panicked] See if it’s fallen down the front of your dress. Perhaps it got caught!
 

They looked frantically into the clothing

Loisel : Are you sure that you still had it on when you came away from the ball?

Mathilde : Yes, I’m sure dear.

Loisel : But if you had lost it in the street, we should have heard it fall. [They stared at one another, dumbfounded].
 

The lights turned off for a brief moment then on again. Mathilde appeared looking old and fragile still talking to Madame Forestier about the diamond necklace.

Mathilde : I brought you another one just like it. And for the last ten years me and my husband has been paying for it. You realize it wasn't easy for us, we had no money [sigh]. . . . Well, it's paid for at last, and I'm glad indeed.
 

Jeanne : [Shocked] You say you bought a diamond necklace to replace mine?

Mathilde : [Proud] Yes. You hadn't noticed it? They were very much alike.

Jeanne : [Took her hands] Oh, my poor Mathilde! [Guilty] But mine was imitation. It doesn’t worth ten years of working . . .
 

Mathilde gasps and fall to her knees, cries

Life Goes On

By: Rizki Sulistya

I looked at the sky. A sky full of dreams, a sky full of hopes. As I look up, I remember those days. I was not the typical rich boy who goes around the school showing off their new stuff. I was far from that. My high school days were full of pity and misery. I lived alone in a world so cruel that you can’t even think of other for just a second, you just have to think about yourself.

I am 5 foot 7 inches tall, pretty tall for boys around my age. At least that’s what I’m most proud of, being tall. I grew up in an orphanage. No one knows how I ended up in an orphanage, some says my parents threw me away because they don’t have money to raise me other says my parents died so I ended up here. Anyways, I never wanted to know how I ended up here, just knowing the fact that I’m alive makes me happy.

“Edwin! Dinner is ready!!” Shouted a little girl.

“I’ll be right there Eriiin!” Said Edwin.

That’s my little sister, Erin. She means the world to me. We are not related in anything but I just love her so much, maybe because we grew up together and we are together twenty four seven. We depended on each other a lot. I was there when she needed a shoulder to cry on and she was there when I needed a source of happiness. She’s just so fun to be around with, even though she can be a little annoying sometimes.

“How was school?” I asked Erin.

“School was as usual” Said Erin uninterested while playing with her food.

Erin has been acting a little weird lately. She’s not her usual bright self. I’ve asked her several times but she never wanted to talk about it. She just sulking it in by herself. I started to get worried. Every day after I finished my part time job selling noodles, I decided to follow her everywhere she went until I found out what has been bugging her these days. I found out that she has been getting picked on by her school friends for being poor and not having parents. Every day I saw her suffering by herself. I tried to approach but every time I tried to talk to her she got really angry to the point she’ll hate me forever if I keep bugging her.

“Hey, are you okay? Talk to me…” I asked Erin worriedly.

“Go away Edwin! Unless you could give me a parent, a mom or a dad and money then stay, otherwise please mind your own business!” Said Erin annoyed.

“Hey! If it is money that you want, I’ll get it for you… tons of them, I promised! We got each other’s back remember? We are one of the few lucky people to be alive today. There are more unlucky people out there living in the street! We should always be grateful okay?” I said.

“I’m sorry Edwin!” Cried Erin.

“The next time your friend is making fun of you for not having a parent, tell them that at least you have a really cool, handsome and tall brother that is ready to jump for you in case there is a grenade…” I said jokingly.

She then ran and hugged me tightly and we both laugh out loud while trying to catch our breath from crying and laughing at the same time. We shared one of the sweetest moments of our live. From that moment I realized Erin is just a fragile little girl that needs to be protected at all cost. I promised to myself I will work hard to make money for her.

Every day after school I worked hard selling noodles until late at night. But all those money I made doesn’t seem to be enough. So I decided to sell pirated DVDs’ on the weekend. I’d do anything as long as my little sister is happy. The businesses were going really great. Everything was going according to the plan until one day it just started to fall apart all at once. My sister decided to end her life. She left me a letter next to her frozen body.

Dear Edwin,

I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye. I don’t know why I decided on this path, but this is the easiest path to take. I’ve been having a really hard time and I know you are too. It was really hard on me to see you suffer for the things I’ve done. I’ve realized money isn’t going to solve anything. It was great at first but I was just getting more lonely and lonely each time and with you working all the time, I don’t think it’s going to solve anything. I’m only in the way for you to live your life the right way. That’s why I took this path, everything is solved now and I don’t want you to suffer anymore, so please live your life to the fullest. I am now in the brightest place high up above. I hope you don’t hate me too much. Even though our place is different now, we will still be together forever. I love you Edwin, my dearest brother.

Love,

Erin

As I read the letter my heart shattered into pieces. I fell to my knees, crying as hard as I could. The people started to gather in the room. They pulled me out of the way but I don’t want to. They tried to lift me up but I pushed them away. I hugged my sister’s frozen body for the last time. I hugged her tightly while screaming my lungs out.

“How could you do this to me?! I thought we agree, we’ll go through this life side by side?!” I cried loudly.

Two months have passed since the day my sister left me. I live my life like the usual, boring life, trying to balance out between school and work. My life has become more depressing after my sister is gone. I barely went to school. For me, working is like the only thing I could do to get my mind off of my sister.

I got called out by teachers a lot for having bad grades. This time was worse. Ms. Lillo even called me to her office to talk about how I failed my English test really badly.

“What happened Edwin? This is the lowest grade you got by far” Asked Ms. Lillo concerned.

“I’m just so tired all the time Ms. Lillo. I can’t seem to get her out of my mind. Everything I do is just reminded me more and more of her” I answered while trying to held back my tears.

Ms. Lillo seems the only person to know that my life has been going downhill ever since Erin is gone. She showed me concern and I feel grateful for that. She told me to have courage and that life must goes on. She promised me to help me get back up and get my life back.

Weeks have passed and I started to get my life back only until I got caught selling pirated DVDs’ by the police and was thrown to jail for months. I was so embarrassed to face Ms. Lillo that I promised myself not to meet her until I become successful.

Today, March 29^th 2016 marked the 5^th anniversary of my noodle restaurant. I now owned few of noodle restaurants that are placed all over the country. Not trying to brag or anything but I can confidently say that now I’ve become someone, a person. Too bad Erin couldn’t taste my hard work over the last few years.

I am now on my way to visit Ms. Lillo after so long. I promised myself to visit her after I become successful. I don’t know if she’ll remember me but I still remember her vividly. I remember she was the only person that showed me concern when nobody else was. She was the one that told me “people come and go but life goes on and so are you, don’t stay in the past, live for the future.” From there and on I’ve lived my life to the fullest. And there she is, standing across the room, the person I admired smiling like I am her most favorite person on earth.