The Alchemists

Their journey was very pleasant and Aleksis was determined to ask her parents to buy her a motorbike once she was old enough. She also wanted to learn to ride a motorbike like this cool guy in front of her.

When entering the road near the harbor, the young man braked so suddenly that Aleksis' helmet hit his back.

"Ouch... what's up?" Aleksis asked, rubbing her cheek which had hit the young man's back.

"Sorry, I braked so suddenly," the young man said quickly, then set the standard of his motorcycle and got off. Aleksis was astonished to see him. She also got off of the motorbike and followed the man, who sat squatting a meter in front of her.

"Jeez... is that...?" Aleksis then saw a wounded puppy in the middle of the road. If the young man had not hurriedly braked, maybe the puppy would have been hit and died. Aleksis looked worried, "We didn't hit it, right?"

The man shook his head. "His wound is still new, it looks like this puppy was hit by a car when he was about to cross the road."

"What should we do?" Aleksis asked worriedly, "If you don't help this puppy, it will surely die..."

Apparently, even before Aleksis asked the man, he had picked up the injured puppy and carried it while walking to his motorbike. "Come on up, we will take it to the ship."

"Oh..." Aleksis was stunned. Very quickly the man had decided to help the puppy that he almost ran over. She could no longer hide her admiration.

"Why just stand there? Come on, the sooner we arrive, the sooner we can treat the wound. I suspect the back leg is broken." The man signaled for Aleksis to immediately climb on the pillion.

"I... yes... Here, let me carry the puppy, it would be difficult for you to carry him and ride a motorbike," Aleksis offered.

The man just laughed, "I was able to drive my motorbike without difficulty while carrying you last week. You were thrown out of a car that was speeding and I almost hit you, I had no choice but to take you home on my motorbike..."

But he eventually handed the puppy to Aleksis.

"Oh... that means this dog has the same fate as me... and you took us both from the street together..." Aleksis said softly. Her tears almost dripped as she accepted the puppy and hugged it tightly. "Thank you..."

"Hey... don't compare yourself to a dog, okay. But you're right, this dog has the same fate as you. Let's just say you two are soulmates..."

Aleksis nodded then climbed onto the pillion. The man spurred his motorcycle faster because he wanted them to arrive at the dock as soon as possible. Five minutes later, the motorbike entered the harbor area and he parked it in the parking lot for the boat owners. Quickly he and Aleksis walked to the dock, and a moment later his boat was visible.

"That's my catamaran ship." The young man pointed at a medium-sized white catamaran ship with white and blue sail. The catamaran was parked nicely at the dock. "Come on up!"

Because Aleksis was carrying a wounded puppy, the man carried their bags. He threw their bags and then climbed aboard and helped Aleksis.

"Your ship is really nice! We have a ship like this in Monaco, the size is a little bigger," Aleksis said, looking around, "My father sometimes sails and takes us around the bay, but not for long. He prefers to drive a helicopter."

The man was impressed to hear Aleksis' words.

"Your father sounds so cool..." he commented, placing their bags in the ship's cabin. He came out with a first-aid kit and towel and then gave a signal for Aleksis to put her puppy on the floor.

"My dad is indeed cool." Aleksis nodded in agreement.

"Do you know what your father does?" the man asked, starting to clean the puppy's wounds with alcohol and then gave some antibiotics. After that he took out the gauze and a short iron bar and used it as an emergency pen to treat his broken leg. Within 5 minutes, everything was done.

"My father doesn't work..." Aleksis replied, "Whoaaa... You're very good at treating wounds. Are you a doctor?"

"Hmm... no. It just so happens that I have experience in treating wounds because I often get hurt in fights," the man replied with a shrug. Aleksis looked astonished to hear that.

This gentle person often fought? Why?

"Why are you staring at me like that?" The man noticed Aleksis' stare finally turned to ask, "Is something weird on my face?"

Aleksis shook her head, "No... no... I didn't expect you to fight a lot. Do you have a lot of enemies? Why fight?"

"You are still too young to understand. Later, when you are an adult and can win against me in a Go game match, I will answer all your questions, even the weirdest ones," the young man answered with a faint smile. He gave the puppy he had treated to Aleksis. "Here, do you want to carry him? Be careful with his hind legs."

"Thank you..." Aleksis cheerfully accepted the puppy and immediately forgot about her questions.

The man then started the boat engine and immediately sailed it to the middle of the ocean. The sun that was shining brilliantly slowly moved towards the west, and a moment later, they were in the open sea with a beautiful view of the sunset on the horizon.

Aleksis sat cross-legged on the deck while holding the injured puppy lovingly. She was very fond of the dog and she was happy that they were in the same boat. They were both injured on the road and helped by the same person.

The ship was left to float following the waves and they sat and enjoyed the sunset. The man went down to the cabin and took a bottle of wine, a carton of milk, and two glasses. He poured milk into one glass and handed it to Aleksis.

"This is for you." Then he poured himself a glass of wine. "You still need to grow."

Aleksis received her drink gratefully. They then sat down while drinking their drinks and said nothing.

"Big brother... if I still can't remember my family... what will you do?" Aleksis asked suddenly after her drink ran out. The man looked surprised at this question. He never thought about that possibility.

"Hmm... I don't know. I am currently in no condition to care for small children," he said apologetically.

"I'm not a child, I'm 12 years old... In Indonesia, in 5 years, I would already have an ID and can participate in the election. I can even get married..." Aleksis exclaimed.

"Indonesia? What does this have to do with it?" the man asked in surprise.

"My mother is half Indonesian, so I know..."

"Hmm... Little girl, we'd better not think about the worst-case scenario. I'm sure you will be able to remember your family, sooner or later. Earlier you could remember the names of your younger siblings, then you remember that your father could fly a helicopter, and that your mother is half Indonesian... I'm sure that soon you will be able to remember everything... so don't trouble yourself thinking about bad things." The man ruffled Aleksis' hair and poured more milk into her glass, "Drink lots of milk so you can grow well."

With a little frown Aleksis downed her milk. At times like these, she just really wanted to grow up quickly. She hated being treated like a child.

Night fell and they ate a simple meal the man prepared by heating it in the microwave. They had the canned lentil soup and lasagna he brought from home. For the puppy they saved, the man roasted two sausages.

"Good thing you remember to bring food, huh..." Aleksis said, eating her soup. She did not forget to cut the sausages and fed the puppy deftly. "I only remembered to bring clothes and books. Usually we catch fish on the boat, so we never brought lunch from home..."

"Can you fish?"

"I'm GREAT at fishing..." Aleksis said proudly. "It's a shame you don't have fishing equipment here. I want to catch fish for us."

"Hmm... this is a new boat. I usually do have fishing equipment on my ship, but now I haven't had time to do so." The young man became more interested in the girl. Aleksis was apparently full of surprises.

"If you have a small knife, I can make a spear with the wooden stick over there and catch fish by spearing the fish in the sea. Did I tell you that I'm good at diving?"

"Gosh..." The man stopped eating his soup and looked at Aleksis in amazement, "Who are you really?"

"Me?" Aleksis was stunned by the question and she looked at the man she called 'Big Brother'. A moment later she shook her head slowly. "I do not know..."

"Hmm... never mind. Tomorrow we will have fun catching fish your way. Who knows, you might be able to remember more things..." The man changed the subject because he didn't want Aleksis to be sad. They then finished their dinner in silence.