The Rainbow Maker Project

By Katherine Gae T. Yamar

Errol badly wants his Science project to win first place. He finally thought about the Rainbow Maker Project when he met Sunday, a jovial girl, who fell from a broken rainbow. Sunday needs his help to save their worlds from being parched; and Errol cunningly needs her - or her greatest possession - to help him win in his Science project. The challenge is on to pass their formidable projects.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katherine Gae T. Yamar
• Release date: Dec 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311600257

Katherine Gae T. Yamar

I am a Performance Assessment Specialist, a teacher, and a writer.I started writing stories at the age of eight, inspired by the tales of the Grimm Brothers.I always refer to an idea or an inspiration to a story as “The Jolt” because once I have this idea for a story, it catapults in my mind until written.

Book preview

The Rainbow Maker Project

by Katherine Gae T. Yamar

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 Katherine Gae T. Yamar

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

*****

To Daddy, Mommy, Chinky and Karole and to all those who believe that everything is possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1 - THURSDAY

Chapter 1 - Panatang Makabayan

Chapter 2 - Making a Difference with Science

Chapter 3 - The Unbearable Heat

Chapter 4 - The Girl Who Crashed from the Rainbow

Chapter 5 - The Unexpected Project(s)

Chapter 6 - The Poetic Errol

PART 2 - FRIDAY

Chapter 7 - The Proposed Project

Chapter 8 - The Perfect Plan

PART 3 - SATURDAY

Chapter 9 - Number 6 in Yellow

Chapter 10 - The Flight of the Mechanical Bird

PART 4 - SUNDAY

Chapter 11 - Save the World… Now?

PART 5 - MONDAY

Chapter 12 - The Rainbow Maker Project

Chapter 13 - The Verdict

Chapter 14 - More Lies

Chapter 15 - The God of Drought

Chapter 16 - The Rain of Soft Natural Things

Chapter 17 - The True Victors

Chapter 18 - The Colors Remain

Acknowledgment

Reading Discussion

Dictionary

About the Author

Other Works by the Author

Part 1 - Thursday

Chapter 1 - Panatang Makabayan

The smell of newly cooked breakfast reached his room upstairs. He was on the process of the last strokes of combing his jet black hair. He glanced at the digital clock on top of his bedside table. It read 6:35 AM.

Errol, breakfast is ready, called out a female voice coming from downstairs.

Without a word, he grabbed his backpack and headed out of his room.

The soft blue painted wall was confined in his small room for he was welcomed with off-white interior which was the color of the entire house inside and out. He descended the narrow staircase and landed on the living room where he tossed his backpack on the pale brown couch. He walked straight to the dining room where the inviting smell of morning meal came from. On the table were plates of scrambled eggs, hotdogs, and garlic rice.

Where’s Mommy? he asked his older sister, Stella, who was sitting right across him.

Pluto, she laconically replied in her usual monotonous voice, and took a big bite of hotdog while looking straight at him with those lazy eyes.

Tss! Errol breathed, exasperated. I’m asking you a rhetorical question, he said, raising his voice.

Rheto-what? Wait! I have to get my dictionary. And she took another bite of her food. Stella did not seem to be too affected like she got herself used to Errol’s vents.

Errol gave out a big scream as he pulled his own hair, extremely aggravated. He took his fork and he wanted so badly to throw it to his sister. Instead, he raked a scrambled egg to his plate, spilling some excess cooking oil on the table. A skinny young woman came from the kitchen holding a pitcher of orange juice.

Errol, did you tidy up your bed? asked the young woman with an annoying high pitched voice as she poured some juice in his glass.

Yes, he replied.

Liar.

Errol turned quickly to Stella with mad wide eyes.

Did you switch off the airconditioner? the young woman continued her interrogation.

Yes.

Liar, Stella repeated with the same lack of emotions, absentmindedly staring at the horizon beyond.

Errol pursed his lips at her.

Did you close the door?

Yes, he replied, his irritation was obvious in his tone.

Liar.

She’s not asking you for crying out loud, Errol shouted at Stella while the latter remained calm, drinking her glass of water.

But you lied for crying out loud, interfered the young woman, planting her knuckles on her waist.

Errol took a deep breath.

So what if I lied? Besides it’s not my job to do all those things. That’s why Mommy hired you to do all the work.

The young woman gasped. Her bulging eyes widened at Errol in disbelief. As a matter of fact, everything on her face bulged: her nostrils and her mouth which looked bigger because of her protruding teeth.

What is going on? I can hear your loud voices from the bathroom. It was Errol and Stella’s mother. She took a seat for breakfast, and one could tell that she was annoyed by the noise that greeted her early in the morning. A vertical line formed in between her eyebrows.

Ate, Errol forgot to tidy his bed, switch off the airconditioner, and close his door, the young woman timidly answered which seemed to be theatrical to Errol. But don’t worry, Ate, I’ll do all those things now. The young woman’s mood shifted to a merry worker. She left the pitcher on the table and left the dining room for Errol’s room. He rolled his slit eyes.

Errol, I hired your Ate Bing to do a lot of work here but it doesn’t necessarily mean that she has to do everything, said his mother, her voice now calm. "When I and your uncles were little, we had to do everything from cleaning our room and even the toilet, buying things we need from the wet market, cooking our meals, washing the dishes and even our clothes, cooking rice without using a rice cooker. But you are lucky that you have everything now and we can afford someone to help us with the chores. However, simple things like switching off the airconditioner and tidying your bed are your responsibilities as a responsible child."

I wish Auntie Nena were still here, Errol mumbled.

Your Auntie Nena, his mother continued, is too old to work around here. That is why she sent her niece as her replacement. So let’s just help Bing so she can stay with us for I hope more than a decade like Auntie Nena. Is that a deal?

Errol nodded his head quietly, his eyes down on his plate.

That goes to you too, Stella, said their mother.

The older offspring neither nodded nor raised an eyebrow but the mother of two knew her children well and she knew that her daughter with a dry personality was listening.

By the way, kids, aren’t you excited that in two months, your father is coming home from Kuwait?

Yey! Stella exclaimed less the lively tone.

Ate, are you really going to Bohol this summer? Bing suddenly appeared out of the blue.

Oh yes we are. I’m excited to see the Chocolate Hills and the adorable tarsiers, said the mother of the house. Which reminds me. Stella, let’s go to the mall and check the packaged tour from the travel agency we inquired at last week.

I can’t. Our football team has a practice today. We have to beat our nemesis this Saturday.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about it. I hope we can visit the travel agency after the game.

Errol was not interested anymore with the topic. He finished his breakfast quickly, forgetting to grind his garlic rice and egg. He concluded his breakfast with two big gulps of juice and sprang from his seat. His mother was surprised with his swift actions.

You still have ten minutes to go to school.

Yes, Errol said without looking at his mother as he rushed to the toilet to brush his teeth.

He dashed through the dining room and kitchen towards their backyard. He slowed down to a corner and sat on the dried grass. A small cross made of twigs stood sturdily like its trunk was pinned into the slightly parched ground.

How are you doing there, boy? He said, dusting off fallen leaves of the Indian tree that stood nearby. I have a Math quiz later and I’m sure I’ll get a perfect score again just like the old times. His smile faded slowly. Yeah. Just like old times… he said, his voice trailing off. His body jerked from the state of melancholy as he shook his head and gave out a big smile on the ground beneath the cross. Anyway, I know you’re in a happy place right now, Buchog. And that’s what matters now, right? He sat there silently, reflecting those old times with a dear friend. He glanced at his watch and stood up as he dusted the dirt off his pants. See you later, Buchog.

He walked through the house without giving a glance at Stella and Bing. He grabbed his bag from the couch and headed for the door.

Bye, Errol, his mother said as he pulled his arm and gave him a peck on his right cheek.

Errol did not reply. He even shrugged his right shoulder, irritated, and thought he was not a little boy anymore. Only little boys get a goodbye kiss from their mothers, he thought. He walked his bicycle out of the gate.

Hey! Stella called out from the door after she planted a kiss on her mother’s cheek. Call a tricycle for me.

Errol pretended he didn’t hear anything. He mounted on his bicycle and pedaled towards school