JOHAN and Purnomo are two friends with one thing in common: they’re both incredibly daring, but to varying degrees. Johan’s recklessness stems from his overconfidence, while Purnomo’s recklessness stems from his often obliviousness to the danger he faces. Their current adventure is to try diving at a spot dubbed Ghost Beach, a remote bay rumored to have the most beautiful coral reefs and frequent apparitions. Johan, who has just completed an online diving course, assures Purnomo that the apparitions are just a myth.
“Mo, listen to me,” Johan said, pumping air into his life jacket. “Even if there’s a ghost, it’ll understand we’re just here to see the fish. Besides, ghosts like the cold, so they’ll be comfortable underwater. We can take a selfie, who knows, it might go viral.”
Purnomo simply nodded resignedly. His face was pale, not because he was afraid of ghosts, but because he had just learned that Johan learned to dive from YouTube. “Johan, are we sure this rental equipment is safe?” he asked, eyeing the yellowing regulator hose.
“It’s safe! The guys said this equipment was used by Hollywood film crews. So, it’s classy, Mo!” Johan grinned.
They both finally dove into the water. Johan did a cool somersault, while Purnomo dove in stiffly, like a log. Underwater, the view was truly breathtaking. Colorful fish swam among the coral, and the sunlight filtered through the water, creating a magical lighting effect. However, the tranquility didn’t last long.
About fifteen minutes later, Johan gestured. “Look, Mo! A stingray!”
Purnomo nodded, then pointed at Johan. “Johan, what are you doing?”
Johan didn’t understand. Purnomo was waving his hands up and down. Johan thought he was imitating the stingray and joined in. They both looked like they were dancing the poco-poco dance underwater.
Suddenly, Johan saw something that made his eyes widen. In front of them stood a stone statue of a woman with long hair and a white dress that swayed with the current. Her hair was made of hanging seaweed, and her expression was sad.
“Mo… Mo…” Johan gestured with his hands. “There… there’s a ghost…”
Purnomo looked in the direction Johan was pointing. He wasn’t afraid. Instead, he looked confused. He then touched the statue. “Johan, this is a statue. A stone statue.”
“Eh, how come?” Johan approached and touched the statue too. “Oh my gosh, Mo. I thought it was real. I was about to run away.”
Purnomo laughed out loud underwater. Johan could only grunt. However, when they turned around, Purnomo pointed at Johan’s chest. Johan felt something strange. The bubbles from his regulator were no longer coming out normally. He touched his regulator. Nothing was wrong.
Purnomo pointed at Johan’s chest again, this time with a panicked expression. “Johan, why are you deflating?”
Johan felt his life jacket no longer inflate. He looked at the pressure gauge. It was zero. He tried to press the inflator button, but no air was coming in.
“Mo! My life jacket is leaking! I’m out of air!”
A panicked Purnomo tried to help, but suddenly there was a “pffftttt…” sound. His regulator had also deflated. No more air bubbles were coming out.
“What, me too?” Purnomo looked confused.
They both began to panic. They looked up. The surface of the water seemed very far away. They both tried to kick their legs as hard as they could to rise, but their deflated life jackets made their efforts futile.
“Mo! We’re going to die! We’re going to die stupidly!” Johan pointed to the statue of the woman. “Turns out she’s not a ghost, she’s the one who pulled our hoses!”
Purnomo couldn’t hold back his laughter. “Johan, it’s just a statue. Maybe we were so panicked that we were hallucinating.”
They both finally gave up. They waved, hoping for a passing boat. Suddenly, a hand tapped their shoulder. They both started, startled, and turned around.
“Hey, guys!”
The rental owner grinned. “How about it? Cool, right? Don’t worry, it’s just an alarm. You forgot to tell me that if the air supply runs out, the device will automatically deflate. This is to keep you from going overboard. Now, let’s go up. It’s almost afternoon.”
Johan and Purnomo looked at each other. They felt immense relief, but also incredibly embarrassed. For five minutes, they both pondered, imagining the faces of their loved ones on land, and all because of the rental device with an alarm feature.
“Mo, I never want to dive again for the rest of my life,” Johan said once they were on land.
Purnomo just nodded. “Me too. Unless our regulators are made of marshmallows, so we can eat them when they run out.”
The next day, they both told their friends the story. Instead of sympathy, their friends laughed out loud. One of them even made a short video and posted it to social media.
The idea was titled, “Two Geniuses Defeated by an Automatic Lifebuoy.”
Their story became a legend among their friends. Every time they met, someone would mention “the Johan and Purnomo incident at the Ghost Beach.” From then on, Johan never watched YouTube to learn about extreme things again. And Purnomo, to this day, is still traumatized every time he sees soap bubbles.
“Johan, promise me,” Purnomo said one night. “We’ll never try anything extreme again. How about we try something safe? For example, a cracker-eating contest at the security post?”
“Now that’s a brilliant idea, Mo,” Johan replied, imagining crispy shrimp crackers. “No ghosts, no deflated lifebuoys, just a choke.”
They both fell silent, then laughed together. Their adventure may have failed, but their friendship only grew stronger, bound by the humorous memory of a ridiculous underwater tragedy that nearly killed them both by the alarm. (*)
