Meninggalkan Lembah

Tomas bertugas lagi. Dia menemukan Polly di kios pusat pengunjung tepat setelah matahari terbit. Dia membawa termos kopi yang masih hangat. Dia meletakkannya di bangku dan duduk di sebelahnya.

Tomas was on duty again. He found Polly at the visitor centre kiosk just after sunrise. He had a fresh Thermos of coffee. He set it on a bench and sat down next to it.

Mereka tidak banyak bicara untuk beberapa saat. Polly merapikan bulu-bulu sayapnya. Pagi itu sejuk dan beraroma sungai.

They did not say much for a while. Polly preened her wing feathers. The morning was cool and smelled of the river.

"Aku bayangkan kau akan pergi," kata Tomas akhirnya.

"I imagine you're moving on," Tomas said eventually.

Polly memiringkan kepalanya yang merah. Dia mengangguk perlahan.

Polly tilted her red head. He nodded slowly.

Dia menceritakan tentang bagian lain dari taman ini, bagian yang belum pernah dikunjungi Polly. Daerah pegunungan tinggi di luar Tioga Road, dengan danau-danau dan kubah granit yang gundul. Hetch Hetchy, lembah lain di utara, dibendung dan diubah menjadi waduk lebih dari seratus tahun yang lalu, masih indah, masih sebagian besar kosong. Rimbunan pohon redwood di Tuolumne Meadows. Dia berbicara tentang tempat-tempat ini dengan kebanggaan tenang seseorang yang telah menghabiskan empat belas tahun untuk mengenal satu bagian pegunungan.

He told her about the rest of the park, the parts she had not been to. The high country off Tioga Road, with its lakes and bare granite domes. Hetch Hetchy, the other valley to the north, dammed and turned into a reservoir more than a hundred years ago, still beautiful, still mostly empty. The grove of redwoods up in Tuolumne Meadows. He spoke of these places with the calm pride of someone who had spent fourteen years getting to know one stretch of mountains.

"Tempat ini sebenarnya tidak menunjukkan semuanya," katanya. "Bahkan jika kau tinggal di sini. Kau menangkap potongan-potongan. Elang peregrine, bunga lili, Bima Sakti pada hari Rabu tapi tidak pada hari Kamis. Orang-orang datang selama tiga hari dan berpikir mereka telah melihat semuanya. Mereka melihat kartu pos." Dia menyesap kopinya. "Lebih baik melihat satu bagian hingga tuntas, menurutku. Elang peregrine yang kuceritakan padamu? Empat belas tahun dan aku masih tidak tahu apa yang akan mereka lakukan besok."

"This place doesn't really show you everything," he said. "Even if you live here. You catch pieces. The peregrines, the lilies, the Milky Way on Wednesday but not on Thursday. People come for three days and think they saw it. They saw a postcard." He sipped his coffee. "Better to see one piece all the way through, I think. The peregrines I told you about? Fourteen years and I still don't know what they're going to do tomorrow."

Polly memikirkan tentang terjunan dari tebing El Capitan. Dia belum pernah mendarat dengan sempurna sekali pun. Namun, setiap kali dia semakin kurang buruk. Dia berpikir dia bisa terus semakin kurang buruk seumur hidupnya.

Polly thought about her dives off the El Capitan ledge. She had not landed cleanly once. She had also gotten less bad at it each time. She thought she could keep getting less bad for a lifetime.

Sebuah bus antar-jemput tiba. Bus hijau yang sama. Pengemudi yang sama. Pengemudi melambai pada Tomas saat dia membuka pintu. Tomas melambai kembali.

A shuttle bus pulled in. The same green bus. The same driver. The driver waved at Tomas as she opened the door. Tomas waved back.

"Pergilah," katanya. Dia berdiri. Dia belum selesai dengan kopinya.

"Off you go," he said. He stood up. He had not finished his coffee.

Polly merentangkan sayapnya yang biru-kehijauan. Pintu bus masih terbuka. Dia bisa mencium aroma pinus pagi yang menghangat dan sedikit aroma diesel dari bus serta sungai di kejauhan.

Polly stretched her blue-teal wings. The shuttle door was still open. She could smell the warming pine of the morning forest and the faint diesel of the bus and the river beyond.

Dia meluncur dari pagar bangku, berputar sekali di atas pusat pengunjung, dan naik. Lembah menjauh. El Capitan berdiri di kiri. Half Dome di kanan. Sungai Merced mengalir di dasarnya.

She lifted off from the bench railing, circled once over the visitor centre, and climbed. The valley dropped away. El Capitan stood on the left. Half Dome on the right. The Merced ran the floor.

Di tepi, dia berbelok ke barat. Di bawahnya, seekor elang peregrine sedang memburu sekawanan burung layang-layang kecil di sepanjang wajah tebing. Polly mengamatinya selama setengah menit. Kemudian dia menemukan angin yang dia inginkan dan membiarkannya membawanya keluar dari taman.

At the rim, she banked west. Below her, a peregrine was hunting a small flock of swifts along the cliff face. Polly watched it for half a minute. Then she found the wind she wanted and let it carry her out of the park.

Di belakangnya, Tomas sudah bergerak menuju padang rumput. Dia mengeluarkan papan klip. Akan ada bunga lili jagung untuk ditandai hari ini, dan besok, dan tahun depan.

Behind her, Tomas was already moving on toward the meadow. He had a clipboard out. There would be corn lilies to mark today, and tomorrow, and next year.