'First of all . . . the taste of twilight is not sweet like the afternoon and not bitter like the night. The twilight has the taste of warmth.’ She trickles some flavoring liquid. ‘Then the color . . . not bright like the afternoon. . . the color of twilight is: elegant.’ And then she mixes, drips and trickles some drops of liquid, the liquid of colors. ‘There is something else. . . The twilight has to produce some sensation. Not the happy sensation like the afternoon . . . not the melancholic sensation like the night. The twilight will have the sensation of: PEACE.’ She then drops some liquid of sensation. The mixture causes a tiny explosion; sparks of fire come out of it. Finally, it is done: The Potion of Twilight. She knows that when she is creating the potion, she has to shut her mouth. She has to keep it a secret and must not tell any one at all. Because if it leaks out, god will steal the formula to enrich his creation named the ‘world’.
Author
Ratih Kumala, lahir di Jakarta, tahun 1980. Buku pertamanya, novel berjudul Tabula Rasa (Grasindo 2004, GPU 2014), memenangkan Sayembara Menulis Novel Dewan Kesenian Jakarta 2003. Novel keduanya, Genesis (Insist Press, 2005). Kumpulan cerita pendeknya, Larutan Senja (Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2006). Buku keempat berjudul Kronik Betawi (novel/GPU, 2009) yang sebelum terbit sebagai buku juga terbit sebagi cerita bersambung di harian Republika 2008. Buku kelimanya berjudul Gadis Kretek (GPU, 2012) dan buku keenamnya adalah Bastian dan Jamur Ajaib (GPU, 2015). Novelnya Gadis Kretek (GPU, 2012) masuk dalam Top 5 kategori prosa Khatulistiwa Literary Award 2012, dan telah diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Inggris –Cigarette Girl (GPU, 2015), bahasa Jerman – Das Zigarettenmadchen (culturbooks publishing, 2015), dan tengah diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Arab untuk diterbitkan di Mesir. Selain menulis fiksi, Ratih juga menulis skenario untuk televisi dan film layar lebar. Saat ini ia tinggal di Jakarta.
