While Aliff stood silently watching the children playing football in front of him, a group of kids his age suddenly approached him—four with fair skin and one with slightly brown skin.
"Hey, are you the new kid? I've never seen you around! By the way, do you want to join us?" asked a boy in a red shirt.
"Huh?!" Aliff was surprised, not expecting to be invited by these unfamiliar kids.
"Hey, Naim!" a girl scolded the boy in the red shirt. "Aren't you ashamed to invite someone you don't know like that?"
"Shut up, Aina!" Naim, the boy in the red shirt, defended himself. "We're short on players to play, and it won't be fun if there are too few of us."
"Hmph, you're so shameless."
"YOU!!!"
"Enough, enough," said another child who stepped in, Aina's older brother, Bima.
"Hmph, lucky your brother is here, otherwise..."
"Otherwise, what?, huh?!..."
The two began to argue again, a dark-skinned boy named Ravi commented.
"You're right, they always bicker like this," Jimmy replied.
"Well, it's better to just let them be. Hey, do you want to play with us? We need someone, want to join?" Ravi asked.
Aliff, still hesitant, glanced at Sarah. His eyes silently asked for permission from his sister to join.
Sarah, who had been observing, smiled warmly and nodded. "Go ahead and play," she said gently. "But remember, don't take too long, okay?"
"Great!" Naim exclaimed. "Let's play over there!" He pointed to a small field that wasn't too crowded.
Sarah and Razak watched from a distance.
"By the way, let's introduce ourselves first!" Naim shouted. "My name is Naim, born in Malaysia. And this mischievous girl," he pointed to Aina playfully, "her name is Aina, and she's from Indonesia."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!!" Aina exploded, her hands ready to hit Naim, who was laughing.
"And this is her brother," Naim quickly changed the subject, pointing to the taller boy, "his name is Bima, also from Indonesia."
"The one with brown skin," he pointed to the brown-skinned boy, "his name is Ravi from India. And this is Jimmy, he's from China."
"Oh..." Aliff nodded. "Well, I'm Aliff. Nice to meet you all!"
"Alright, now that we know each other," Naim picked up a small stick, "let's play hide and seek today! Let's draw lots to decide who has to seek!"
A little while later...
"So I have to find them," Aliff murmured to himself, recalling Naim's warning before the game started.
("Hey, remember, don't hide in your rooms or houses, okay?")
*That's what he said earlier; by the way, I'm still not used to this place,* thought Aliff, observing the flat area that still felt foreign to him. *What should I do?*
Aliff looked around, and suddenly his eyes caught sight of a cat lounging on a park bench. An idea popped into his head.
*Hehehe, how about I use my power to find them all? Let's give it a try!*
"Hey," Aliff approached the cat cautiously. "I want to ask you something."
The cat lifted its head, staring at Aliff with its sharp yellow eyes.
Cat: What is this human child doing? And why can he speak my language?
Aliff could hear the cat's thoughts.
*Just as I suspected! But what does this cat mean when it says I speak its language? I've been talking in my language all this time,* he thought. *Forget that, Aliff smiled inwardly. If the cat can understand human language, maybe all animals can understand human language. It's just humans who don't understand the language of animals.*
That was what Aliff initially thought.
"Have you seen my friends hiding around here?" Aliff asked the cat.
The cat blinked, still confused by the situation.
Cat: Strange human child... but yes, I saw a boy hiding in the bushes near the fence, and a girl behind the big tree.
Aliff smiled widely. "Oh, really?!...
"It seems this game of hide and seek will be more interesting than I thought. By the way, this power is quite useful, I guess. Okay, let's get started."
With the information from the cat, Aliff began walking confidently toward the large bushes near the fence.
"Found you!" Aliff shouted, parting the bushes. There were four boys—Naim, Ravi, Jimmy, and Bima.
"Huh?! How did he know?!" they exclaimed in unison.
"Besides that," Aliff shook his head, trying to hold back laughter, "why are you all hiding in the same place?" He turned towards the big tree across the park. "Okay, Aina, I know you're behind that tree too. So just come out!"
Aina emerged from her hiding spot, looking confused. "Huh?! How did you know?"
*Hehehe,* Aliff laughed inwardly, *there's no way I'll tell them that the cat informed me. Even if I did tell them, they wouldn't believe my words.*
"Alright," Naim said as he stood up, brushing the grass from his pants. "So who did you see first?"
"Hm..." Aliff pretended to think. "Of course, it was you!"
"Huh?! Really?" Naim sighed in despair. "Okay, now it's my turn to seek. I will start counting now!"
As the kids ran off to find hiding places, Sarah and Razak watched from a park bench.
"It seems Aliff is starting to bond with his new friends, doesn't it?" Sarah smiled warmly, watching her brother play happily.
"He always is like that," Razak replied indifferently. "He makes friends easily with anyone."
"Don't you want to join them?"
"No," Razak shook his head. "Let them play."
"Hm... alright," Sarah nodded in understanding.
***
Time passed quickly. The clock showed 6:30 PM as the sky turned orange.
"Alright, see you tomorrow!" Aliff's new friends shouted. "Let's meet here again!" They ran back to their flats, waving goodbye to Aliff.
"Okay, Aliff," Sarah stood up from the park bench. "Let's go home too. Mom must be waiting."
"Okay!"
***
"We're back!"
"Huh?! You're back already?" their mother greeted from the kitchen. "How was playing? Fun?"
"Very fun, Mom!" Aliff replied enthusiastically. "I made new friends there!"
"Oh, that's good."
Sarah smiled at her brother. "But now," she gently patted Aliff's shoulder, "you need to take a shower. Look, your clothes are so dirty."
Aliff looked at his clothes, which were covered in grass and dirt. "Yes, Sis!" he nodded obediently, then rushed to the bathroom.
"He played hide and seek with his new friends," Sarah explained to their mother as she walked into the kitchen.
"Thank goodness Aliff has made friends," their mother smiled with relief, her hands still busy stirring soup in the pot. "I was worried he might struggle to adapt."
"Hmm... So what is Mom cooking today?" Sarah asked.
"Just eat what I've cooked, understood?"
"Okay," Sarah replied.