The Noisy Upstairs Neighbor

Amara had lived in her apartment for two years, and she had always liked it. The only problem was the noise from upstairs. Every night around eleven, heavy footsteps crossed the ceiling above her bedroom.

Amara sudah dua tahun tinggal di apartemennya, dan ia selalu menyukainya. Satu-satunya masalah adalah kebisingan dari lantai atas. Setiap malam sekitar pukul sebelas, langkah kaki yang berat melintasi langit-langit di atas kamar tidurnya.

At first, she told herself it was nothing. But the footsteps continued, night after night, and sometimes furniture scraped across the floor too. Amara stopped sleeping well, and she started dreading the sound of eleven o'clock.

Awalnya, ia meyakinkan diri bahwa itu bukan apa-apa. Namun, langkah kaki itu berlanjut malam demi malam, dan kadang perabot juga terseret di lantai. Amara tidak bisa tidur nyenyak lagi, dan ia mulai takut pada bunyi pukul sebelas.

She thought about calling the building manager, but she worried it might make things awkward with her neighbor. She had never even met him properly, though she knew his name was Brendan from the mailboxes.

Ia sempat berpikir untuk menelepon pengelola gedung, tetapi ia khawatir hal itu akan membuat hubungan dengan tetangganya jadi canggung. Ia bahkan belum pernah berkenalan dengannya dengan layak, meski ia tahu nama tetangga itu Brendan dari kotak-kotak surat.

One Saturday morning, Amara saw Brendan in the hallway, carrying groceries. She took a breath and decided this was her chance. "Hi, I'm Amara, from downstairs," she said. "Do you have a minute?"

Pada suatu Sabtu pagi, Amara melihat Brendan di lorong, membawa belanjaan. Ia menarik napas dan memutuskan inilah kesempatannya. "Halo, saya Amara, dari lantai bawah," katanya. "Apa Anda punya waktu sebentar?"

"Sure," Brendan said, setting his bags down. "Is something wrong?"

"Tentu," kata Brendan sambil meletakkan tas-tasnya. "Ada masalah?"

"I don't want this to sound like a complaint," she said carefully. "But I've been hearing noise late at night, around eleven. It's been hard to sleep."

"Saya tidak ingin ini terdengar seperti keluhan," katanya hati-hati. "Tapi saya sering mendengar bunyi larut malam, sekitar pukul sebelas. Jadi sulit tidur."

Brendan looked surprised, then a little embarrassed. "Oh, that's probably me. I work night shifts, so eleven is when I get home and start moving around. I had no idea it carried that much."

Brendan tampak terkejut, lalu sedikit malu. "Oh, itu mungkin saya. Saya kerja shift malam, jadi pukul sebelas itu waktu saya pulang dan mulai bergerak di rumah. Saya sama sekali tidak tahu suaranya sampai sejauh itu."

"I figured it was something like that," Amara said. "I wasn't sure if you knew."

"Saya sudah menduga itu sesuatu seperti itu," kata Amara. "Saya tidak yakin apakah Anda tahu."

"I really didn't," Brendan said. "Now that I know, I'll be much more careful. Let me get some rugs for the floor, and I'll try to keep things quieter after ten."

"Saya benar-benar tidak tahu," kata Brendan. "Sekarang setelah tahu, saya akan jauh lebih hati-hati. Biar saya cari beberapa karpet untuk lantainya, dan saya akan berusaha lebih tenang setelah pukul sepuluh."

"That would help a lot," Amara said, relieved. "Thank you for not being weird about this."

"Itu akan sangat membantu," kata Amara lega. "Terima kasih sudah tidak bersikap aneh soal ini."

"Honestly, thank you for telling me instead of just being annoyed," Brendan said. "I'd rather know."

"Sejujurnya, saya yang berterima kasih karena Anda memberi tahu saya, bukan hanya diam-diam kesal," kata Brendan. "Saya lebih suka tahu."

A week later, Amara noticed the footsteps had softened, and the scraping sound was gone completely. She still heard him occasionally, but it no longer kept her awake.

Seminggu kemudian, Amara menyadari langkah kaki itu sudah melembut, dan bunyi seretan benar-benar hilang. Ia masih sesekali mendengarnya, tetapi itu tak lagi membuatnya terjaga.

The next time they crossed paths by the mailboxes, Brendan smiled. "Sleeping better?" he asked.

Saat mereka berpapasan lagi di dekat kotak-kotak surat, Brendan tersenyum. "Tidurnya lebih nyenyak?" tanyanya.

"Much better," Amara said. "Thanks for the rugs."

"Jauh lebih nyenyak," kata Amara. "Terima kasih untuk karpetnya."