The Voice Messages from Grandma

Georgi's phone has been dying for weeks. The battery is empty by lunch, and the screen sometimes goes black for no reason. Last night, a warning appeared: "Storage almost full. Your phone may stop working." He decides it is finally time to buy a new one.

Ponsel Georgi sudah berminggu-minggu sekarat. Baterainya habis sebelum makan siang, dan layarnya kadang menjadi hitam tanpa sebab. Semalam, muncul sebuah peringatan: "Penyimpanan hampir penuh. Ponsel Anda mungkin berhenti bekerja." Ia memutuskan sudah waktunya membeli yang baru.

Then he remembers the voice messages. His grandmother lives eight hundred kilometers away, in a village near the mountains. She does not like typing, so for two years she has sent him voice messages instead. Some are only ten seconds long. Others are five minutes of weather, neighbors and advice about his cough.

Lalu ia teringat pesan-pesan suara itu. Neneknya tinggal delapan ratus kilometer jauhnya, di sebuah desa dekat pegunungan. Nenek tidak suka mengetik, jadi selama dua tahun ia mengirim pesan suara. Beberapa hanya berdurasi sepuluh detik. Yang lain berisi lima menit cerita tentang cuaca, tetangga, dan nasihat soal batuk Georgi.

Georgi has never saved any of them. They all live inside the old phone, and he has no idea what will happen when it dies. "If I lose them, I will never get them back," he thinks.

Georgi tak pernah menyimpan satu pun. Semuanya ada di dalam ponsel lama itu, dan ia tak tahu apa yang akan terjadi saat ponsel itu mati. "Kalau hilang, semuanya tak akan bisa kembali," pikirnya.

That evening, he sits at the kitchen table with a cup of tea. The phone is plugged into the wall. He searches for "how to save voice messages". The first answer is far too complicated. The second one works, but only for one message at a time. He tries it anyway. Each message takes about a minute to export to his laptop.

Sore itu, ia duduk di meja dapur dengan secangkir teh. Ponselnya tersambung ke stopkontak. Ia mencari "cara menyimpan pesan suara". Jawaban pertama terlalu rumit. Yang kedua berhasil, tetapi hanya untuk satu pesan setiap kali. Ia mencobanya juga. Setiap pesan butuh sekitar satu menit untuk dipindahkan ke laptopnya.

By ten o'clock, he has saved forty messages. He listens to some while he works. In one, his grandmother is complaining about a neighbor's very loud rooster. In another, she says, "Eat something green, Georgi. I can hear that you are tired." He laughs out loud in the empty kitchen.

Pukul sepuluh, ia sudah menyimpan empat puluh pesan. Ia mendengarkan beberapa sambil bekerja. Dalam salah satunya, neneknya mengeluhkan ayam jantan tetangga yang sangat berisik. Di pesan lain, Nenek berkata, "Makanlah sesuatu yang hijau, Georgi. Nenek bisa dengar kamu capek." Ia tertawa keras di dapur yang sepi.

By midnight, all one hundred and twelve messages are safe in a folder on his laptop. He copies the folder twice, just to be sure. The old phone still has twelve percent of its battery, and it seems almost proud of itself.

Menjelang tengah malam, seratus dua belas pesan itu sudah aman di sebuah folder di laptopnya. Ia menyalin folder itu dua kali, untuk berjaga-jaga. Ponsel lamanya masih punya baterai dua belas persen, dan tampak hampir bangga pada dirinya sendiri.

The next morning, before work, he calls her. She picks up on the fourth ring. "Why are you calling so early? Is something wrong?"

Keesokan paginya, sebelum berangkat kerja, ia menelepon Nenek. Nenek mengangkat pada dering keempat. "Kenapa menelepon pagi-pagi begini? Ada apa?"

"Nothing is wrong," Georgi says. "I just saved all your voice messages."

"Tidak ada apa-apa, Nek," kata Georgi. "Aku cuma menyimpan semua pesan suara Nenek."

"Why would you save them? It is only me talking."

"Kenapa disimpan? Itu cuma Nenek yang bicara."

"That is exactly why."

"Justru karena itu."

She is quiet for a moment. Then she laughs, the same short laugh he has heard a hundred times in the recordings. "You are a strange boy," she says. "Fine. If you want my voice, I will give you something new."

Nenek terdiam sejenak. Lalu ia tertawa, tawa pendek yang sama yang sudah ratusan kali Georgi dengar dalam rekaman-rekaman itu. "Kamu anak yang aneh," katanya. "Baiklah. Kalau kamu mau suara Nenek, Nenek kasih yang baru."

"Can we record one together?" he asks. "You and me, right now?"

"Boleh kita rekam satu bersama?" tanyanya. "Nenek dan aku, sekarang juga?"

"Of course. Wait, let me sit down. And tell me where I should speak."

"Tentu. Tunggu, Nenek duduk dulu. Dan bilang di mana Nenek harus bicara."

Georgi opens the app on his new phone and holds it close to the speaker. He presses the red button, and his grandmother clears her throat and begins to talk.

Georgi membuka aplikasi di ponsel barunya dan mendekatkannya ke pengeras suara. Ia menekan tombol merah, dan neneknya berdeham lalu mulai bicara.