An Unfulfilled Advice

Ketut Subiyanto

A man once told his son after deep thought to always remain calm. He said to his son:

Do not be scared of anything. Just know that your father does not fear anything and does not fear anyone. Since you are my son, remember that my blood is flowing through you. So, don't be afraid in any way.

This was a father's advice to a son. To be sincere it's good advice but not in all ways. He said again to his son not to be afraid of anything which means including himself.

They were at home and Tade was calling his son, Ope to help him get something, but to his surprise, Ope disregarded his call. He later told him that,

Daddy you were the one who said I should not be afraid of anyone.

Daddy: Even if I said that, must you use that against me? Have you forgotten that I'm your father?

One fateful day, they went to the zoo just to feed up their eyes and to leave the house for once. After getting there, they paid the gate fees. They were so happy entering the Zoo, being the first time going to the zoo.

Tade knew the dangerous animals in the zoo and was moving with care. He was filled with fear and did not want to show it. After walking some distances, his son, Ope saw a python and was stable. He did not shake or run. He did not make any move. He asked his dad to turn to the direction of the python and to his surprise, his dad began to run. He was running and falling just because of the fear in him. He even left his son behind.

His son, Ope managed to run away from the python. When he got to where his dad was, he was so surprised to see the way he was breathing. He was hearing the breathing of his dad's heart which was pounding so heavily. He did not ask his dad anything about getting afraid.

When they got to the house, his dad sat so tired. He was so weak just because of the fear of the python he had seen. His son was moving towards him and used his cloth mistakenly to scrub his leg, immediately, Tade, his dad jumped up and wanted to run. His son was just observing without saying a word.

It's night. They were watching a movie while his dad squeezed himself to one part of the chair without making a sound. When he went to bed to sleep, he rushed out saying that there was something like a snake inside the room. They couldn't enter the room that day.

His son later asked him saying :

Daddy… were you not the one who advised me not to run from anything? Were you not the one that said I should not be afraid of anything? How come you are afraid of ordinary snakes?