A story of Bapak Pucung family

A story by Andi Arsana

Once upon a time in a beautiful garden there lived an insect family of Bapak Pucung. Four of them in the family: Bapak Pucung, Ibu Pucung and two children: Ana Pucung and Dody Pucung. They are beautiful family; their color is beautiful, orange with black spots on the wings. The Pucung family members always spend their time talking to each other every time they can. Bapak Pucung is a wise father for the family and Ibu Pucung is a patient mother for her children. Ana is the oldest daughter and Dody is her little brother. They love each other.

One day, they were having dinner together and they had a conversation.

“Ana, how is your school?” Bapak Pucung asked.

“Good dad. Everything is all right at school. I love studying.” Ana replied her father.

“Very good, Ana. Do you have a lot of friends at school?”

“Yes, dad! a lot of them. They are very nice.”

“How about you Dody, do you enjoy your kindy? Bapak Pucung asked Dody.

“Yes Dad, I like playing with my friends.”

“Very good Dody. I like to know you two enjoy your school.”

“We should thank your mom for taking care of us” Bapak Pucung smiled to Ibu Pucung. They look so happy.

“Tomorrow, I am going to meet some friends in the garden close to the human school. I will fly there and my friends will be waiting for me in the trees close to the human school.” Bapak Pucung told the family about his plan.

“What are you doing there, Dad?” Ana asked her father

“We will find some food for us. We do not have more food left around here so I need to find food far away.”

“Why do you go to the human school, aren’t you scared?”

“Why should I be scared, Ana?”

“Yes, you should because there are many humans there. They are children of humans. They can catch you if they see you there”

“Do you think so?” Bapak Pucung was a bit worried.

“Yes, Dad. Be careful. The SD kids can be naughty. They can catch you and put you in a bottle.”

“No, Ana. I will be careful. I think the SD kids are not that bad. They look nice.” Bapak Pucung calmed her daughter down.

“Yes, Kak Ana is right, Dad. Please be careful. We do not want to lose you” Dody added what Anna said to her father.

“OK kids, I will be careful. I will not be caught.” Bapak Pucung was so touched by his children.

The family enjoyed their dinner and kept the conversation for a very long time. They are a happy insect family.

The next day, early in the morning Bapak Pucung woke up already. He then prepared his journey to find food in the garden close to a human school. The school is named “SD Model Sleman” where many children are studying, Bapak Pucung flew to the garden even when his two children, Ana and Dody, were not yet awake. He had to go to the garden close to SD Model because he had to get food for the family.

At 7 am, he arrived at a tree close to SD Model and joined his friends. There have been a lot of of pucung insects hanging on branches and leaves. There are hundreds of them. The color is beautiful, brown with black spots.

“Attention everybody” an announcement made everybody quiet. A leader of Pucung was giving information.

“Good morning my friends” said the leader

“Good morning leader” said the crowd.

“Today we will find food for our family in this garden close to SD Model. We come here because we do not have enough food at home and it is getting more and more difficult to obtain food around our place. Thank God we can find a lot of food here. But be careful my friends, in this area, there are many children of human. Students of SD Model are a lot in number and some of them are naughty. Sometimes they come here in this garden to catch us. There is one girl named Dory and she is very naughty. Be careful with her and watch out. If you see a human coming please run before they catch you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, leader, we understand” said the crowd.

Meanwhile, Bapak Pucung is now a bit worried. He remembered what Ana told him last night. He remembered his family back home and he misses them already. He promised to himself that he will be careful. He has to go back home for them and he does not want to be separated from them. Bapak Pucung started to collect some food. He traveled from one leave to others and from one branch to the next. He was so happy to see a lot of food and he had fun with his friends. They work happily and diligently. They work for nearly two hours without feeling tired because they are happy. Because they are so focused, they did not realized, a human girl was coming to them.

The girl is Dory from SD Model. She is a naughty one. Soon as the girl arrived close to where Bapak Pucung was collecting food, her hand moved quickly to catch Bapak Pucung and his friends. Bapak Pucung could not run away and he was caught with four of his friends. Bapak Pucung tried to fly but Dory’s hand is too strong. Bapak Pucung cannot set himself free. Before he realized it, Dory has placed him and his friends in a bottle and closed the bottle tightly.

Bapak Pucung screamed “help help help help” but nobody heard him because he is in a bottle. Meanwhile, his four other friends started crying. Five of them were in the bottle and started crying. Bapak Pucung tried to break the bottle but it was too strong. The bottle was made of strong glass and covered with a strong lid. He could not do anything. Meanwhile Dory keeps walking to find other pucungs. He caught more and more Pucung and put them inside the bottle. Now the bottle was very crowded because the bottle now contains a lot of Pucung. Bapak Pucung panicked and he could not breathe well because there are too many Pucung there and also because the lid was closed tightly. They desperately needed fresh air.

Everybody in the bottle screamed hysterically. They asked for help. But Dory could not hear them because Dory is human and they are insects. Dory could not understand their language. When the pucung jumps and tried to fly in the bottle, Dory laughed. She thought the pucung were happy. They were actually not happy in the bottle. They are very sad and worried. They cried a lot and they are hopeless but Dory did not even know what they feel.

Dory stopped catching pucung and now she came to her classroom. Everybody in the class, all human, came to see the pucung in the bottle. The pucung were actually crying and asked them to release them but the children do not understand their language. They are very sad and they could not breathe easily. They suffer but the human children look very happy. Only if they know that the pucung were suffering.

Meanwhile, in the home of Pucung family, Ibu Pucung, Ana and Dody were waiting for his father. They all were sitting around a dining table waiting for Bapak Pucung to come. One hour, two hours.. Bapak Pucung did not turn up. Three hours.. four hours..still Bapak Pucung did not show up. Ana started to cry. She cried because she was worried. Ibu Pucung tried to calm her down but it did not work. Dody started to cry also. He did not want to lose his father.

“Mom, where is dad?” Ana asked her mom

“I don’t know Ana. I hope he is coming very soon.”

“But Mommy, this is very late already. Daddy might not come” said Ana and cried even louder now. Ibu Pucung started to cry also. She could not help herself.

Three of them cried around the dining table because they have lost the father. Bapak Pucung might not return because he is now locked in a sealed bottle by a young girl named Dory. That night, the family was very very very sad and they keep crying all the night. The sound of crying was very touching and it make everybody hear it also cry. The night is very dark and they were still crying and crying. Ana and Dody missed their father. Ibu Pucung also missed her husband.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Meanwhile, at the same night at Dory’s house, everybody was sitting around a dining table. They were having dinner together and had conversation.

“How was your school today Dory?” Dory’s father asked his daughter.

“Good, Ayah. Everything is good.” Dory replied.

“What did you study in school?”

“Math Ayah.”

“Oh. Do you like math?”

“Yes, of course! I love math”

“Is it difficult?”

“No Ayah. Not at all! Math is easy”

“Oh really? Can I give you one question?”

“Sure Ayah!” Dory was excited.

“If I have two books, Ibu has ten books and you have three books, how many books are there in total?”

Dory thought for a while and then answered “fifteen books Ayah!”

“Wow, great! You are very good, Dory”

“Thank you Ayah” Dory replied politely and smiled.

“Ayah, I have something from school” Dory wanted to show something to her father.

“What is that Dory?”

“Surprise surprise!” Dory took a bottle that she hided under the table. In a second, a bottle full of pucung was placed on the table. Dory was very proud of what he did.

“Wow. You have a lot of pucung in the bottle.” Dory’s father took the bottle and hold it. “Do you know what pucung is in English, Dory?”

“No Ayah. What is it in English?” Dory was excited.

“Pucung is known as Red Cotton Stainer. Its Latin name is Dysdercus Cingulatus-Fabricius.”

“Wow, a very good name, Ayah”

“Yes. And they are beautiful too, right?! By the way, where did you get them from?

“From garden close to my school, Ayah.”

“Oh, OK. Why did you catch them, Dory?”

“Because I love insect ayah. I love animals. You know that right?!”

“Ok. Why do you love animals?”

“Because I want to be a vet!”

“Dory, listen to me, my dear” Dory’s father is now quite serious.

“Yes Ayah” Dory was listening to her father

“I know you love animals and you want to be a vet. But look. Don’t you think the pucung are suffering?” Dory’s father was pointing at the bottle.

“Hm.. do you think, Ayah?” Dory looked worried.

“Yes I think so Dory. They must be very sad because they cannot breathe well. If you put a lot of them in the bottle, it will be crowded and they cannot get enough air to breathe.” Dory was still listening to her father.

“And the most important thing, Dory. They must be sad because they are taken from their family. Do you know that pucung also have their family, just like us? Can you imagine how sad their kids are now at home?”

Dory’s father looked sad also and Dory was listening to her dad carefully. She also looked a little bit sad.

“Dory, you are a nice girl and we are so proud of you. I know you love animals and you will be a great vet when you are grown up but we also have to know that animals also have their family. We cannot take them in a bottle because they will be very sad. Their children will be sad at home because they lose their parents. Can you imagine if somebody take me and put me in a bottle? You will be sad and Ibu will be sad, right?”

Dory started to cry. She realized that what she did was wrong. Her dad came close to her.

“That’s okay, honey. You do not have to be sad. I know you did this because you love animals. Now, that you know how bad this can be for pucung, you have to do something. What are you going to do with the pucung?”

“I will release them Ayah” Dory answered while crying.

“Very good my little girl. I am so proud of you”

“And I will not catch pucung anymore Ayah. I promise.”

“I am so happy to hear that Dory. You are a very nice and smart girl.” Dory’s father hugged his beautiful daughter.

“Ayah, I want to release the pucung now.”

“Yes, you can. Let me help you.” All of the family went out to the front page and Dory brought the bottle. In once second she opened the lid and let the pucung fly. One of the pucungs was Bapak Pucung.

Bapak Pucung flew fast to his house and he arrived at night. He heard something from outside, his children were still crying. He knocked the door and he was really tired.

Ibu Pucung opened the door and she was so surprised and happy to see her husband come home. They hugged each other and the kids also came to join them. Everybody was crying but now it was a happy one. They cried happily because Bapak Pucung came back safely.

Bapak Pucung then joined them to have dinner and told everybody his tragic and heroic story. Everybody was impressed with the story.

“I think Dory is a naughty girl, Dad!” Dody said something.

“No, I don’t think so” Ana replied her brother

“Why don’t you think so?” Dody could not accept that

“Dory is not naughty. She just did not know yet what to do. When her father explained everything, Dory released our father. It means she is a good girl. She just needs to learn more.” Ana replied her brother wisely.

“Yes, Ana is correct.” Bapak Pucung agreed with Ana. “Dory is a nice girl. Now she understands that she cannot catch pucung like us. I believe she will be a very good vet someday.”

The family members smiled to each other and they hold hands. They are so happy because now they can be together again. This is because of a nice girl named Dory.

THE END

PS. The story was written for Lita because she caused a little trouble in her school by catching Bapak Pucung (Red Cotton Stainer) and put them in a bottle. Lita attracted attention from her friends in her class so that teaching activities were disturbed. This story really made Lita realized that catching insects and putting them in a bottle is not a good thing to do. Here is her response when the first part of this story was emailed to her

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dear ayah,

I want the story to be continued and I released the pucung already, all of them, three bottles. Unfortunately, some bapak pucung died. I am really sorry. I promise I will not catch Pucung again, I will put them in my garden.

I like the story, I love you ayah

love

Lita

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After the rest of the story emailed to Lita, here is her response

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dear ayah,

thank you for the story, it’s very nice.

love

lita

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