Story by Darminto M Sudarmo
Mr. Gembrul was the richest man in my village. He had a nice house, surrounded by a wall that was topped by spiky shards of glass. He also owned large rice fields. He owned not just one or two cars, but several. Unfortunately he was also very tight-fisted. His house was always locked and looked haunted. No neighbors ever visited the house unless they had a very good reason.
One day my father and some villagers went to Mr. Gembrul’s house to discuss something. My mother explained to me that my father and some villagers wanted to ask Mr. Gembrul to share the cost of building a floodgate at the end of the village. With a proper floodgate the water could be managed better and channeled to all the rice fields around the village, including of course to the fields of Mr. Gembrul.
