The hotel room's air conditioner was running strong. Yet, the beads of sweat on the 60-year-old man's forehead were evident. His gaze swept the room slowly, pausing for a tad longer when it met each of the three pairs of eyes.

"All right. Now that I've shared with you my concerns, does anyone have anything to say?"

Silence. As expected.

"Anyone? Anything?"

Some movements produced the slightest sounds. The muteness otherwise prevailed.

As the day drew to a close, soldiers from both parties dragged their tired bodies to the respective camps. It had been agreed to have a ceasefire every night, to allow for the exhausted to recharge, the wounded to be treated, the falling comrades to be buried -- only for the survivors to resume killing the next morning.

Such an irony, if not a sorry attempt by the mankind to make humane what is not. To whitewash the biggest mistake that is war.

The usual long strategic briefings ensued. Battalion commanders reported how many they had lost, made assessments for today and recommendations for the next day, and generally tried to look tough in spite of everything. The generals took these in and had their discussions before passing the final orders.

Kutatap kursor yang berkedip-kedip di atas jendela Outlook-ku. Kugerakkan penunjuk tetikus ke sudut kanan bawah layar komputerku: 10:23. Aku sudah menghabiskan hampir satu jam, berusaha mengkonstruksi surat elektronik ini. Berkali-kali sudah kutulis satu-dua alinea hanya untuk kuhapus lagi.

Masih ingat sahabatku Fulan? Hari ini, aku masuk ke situs Friendster karena mendapat pemberitahuan bahwa seseorang mengirimiku pesan. Mataku tertumbuk pada daftar teman yang baru saja memperbarui profil mereka.

Fulan adalah salah satu teman itu. Updated his profile, demikian tertulis.

Penasaran, aku pun mengakses profilnya. Hal yang pertama menangkap perhatianku adalah status temanku itu.

The old man showed up just as Marco was about to jump off the bridge.

"Hey, just what are you doing there?"

Marco turned his head with contempt. "Move along, old man! Nothing to see here."

The old man made a face as if having tasted the sourest plum. "Of course there's something to see. I have eyes, have I not?" Then he chuckled. "You're taking your life, aren't you?"

"Lodorus!"

I snapped out of my day-dream -- hey, it had been a slow day at work -- and tried to locate the voice. Right shoulder, no. Left shoulder, no.

"Over here!"

Valentine's Day had never been my time of the year. But it was especially worse this year.

I reached the place by the river at seven in the evening. It was always couples' favorite spot, all the more so on Valentine's Day. All the couple benches -- so called because they seated two persons and were ideally positioned for the romantically involved -- were occupied. Most, if not all, the ladies had flowers in their hands, naturally -- flowers the gentlemen had undoubtedly spent ridiculous amounts on. The men were all smiles, nonetheless. The beauty -- mystery, some said -- of love.

Jika engkau cukup jeli, kau pasti akan dapat menduga rekan sekerja mana yang baru saja menyampaikan surat pengunduran dirinya.

Berdasarkan premis di atas, aku dan Jeffrey memulai permainan kami lima tahun yang lalu. Permainan kami ini sederhana saja. Jika ada seorang rekan sekantor yang mengundurkan diri, yang mengetahuinya lebih dahulu di antara kami berdua berhak menuntut ditraktir di tempat pilihannya oleh yang lain. Jeffrey adalah sahabatku pada masa kuliah dahulu dan setelah lulus nasib membawa kita bekerja di kantor yang sama, divisi yang sama. Tahun ini adalah tahun kedelapan kami bekerja di tempat ini dan kedudukan sementara adalah 10-9 untuk Jeffrey.