• I often wake up to the rays of the sun and the touch of the wind. In my mind, it's another day - visitors to greet, patients to entertain, and staff to talk to - in front of me. Thank God, I can still do all of this!
    Oh, they call me Alfonso. I'm adopted by a cook. For boredom to rest somewhere else, I took care of the garden of the hospital - one of the most beautiful places I've been to.
    In this garden, there are roses, sunflowers, ilang-ilangs, sampaguitas, gumamelas, bougainvilleas, and santans. They were of different colors, yet they were still arranged. If we were to compare it with the Cartesian plane, the kinds of flowers were the integers of the x-axis and the colors represented the y-axis. It's really lovely if you look at them from above - as if a rainbow on land.

    There was one time in which I was watering my sunflowers, when Dr. Oracion, one of my doctor friends, called me, "Come here, I'll introduce you."
    He is a foreigner, that's why he finds it hard to speak in my native language, so I told him to just speak in English, as I understand the language.
    "Alfonso, this is Yulya. Yulya, this is Alfonso."
    And I saw the most beautiful creature. Her hair was corn-yellow, her eyes are shiny and blue, her complexion is white, she looks very cheerful. Yes, obviously she was one of the Westerners. If ever she had said something, I had not noticed, for I only took note of the way she spoke - really calm - and she wore a sweet smile.
    "-fonso...Alfonso!" Dr. Oracion waved his hand in front of eyes to get my attention.
    "Eh...what is it, doctor?" I asked.
    "Yulya likes this place, so she'll stay for a while, okay?"
    "I see..."
    As soon as Dr. Oracion turned, Yulya asked me, "Do you know Spanish?"
    "A little," I answered in my native language, when I remembered she was also a foreigner, and maybe she didn't understand me, "Eh, Filipino, do you know it?"
    To my shock, she answered me in the same language, "Of course! I grew up here, even I was born in Germany."
    "Ah...I see. Where in Germany?"
    "Um...in Ilmenau, my parents said. Ah, ya, you're adopted? What happened to your parents?"
    "Yes, I'm just adopted..."
    I didn't continue my answer. I just looked at my sunflowers. The next moments were spent in silence. Yulya seemed to think of something to say.
    "This garden is beautiful, yes? Specially the sunflowers," she stated, "I wish it will always be sunny."
    "Yet the skies still pour theirs sorrows. Anywhere you go, the rains come, again and again."
    "But they shall stop, and the sun shall take its mighty place in the heavens again, to show a majestic rainbow, like this one!"
    She pointed to my flowers.
    "Yulya, let's take a check-up," Dr. Oracion called.
    "Coming! Well, 'til tomorrow, then, Alfonso. Bye!"
    "Sure, be careful, okay?"

    From then on, Yulya always went to the garden. I was pleased, for whenever we see each other, we would grab the opportunity to voice out our thoughts, life, likes, dislikes, and knowledge. We always had various stories to enjoy listening to. Indeed we don't play much, since her condition would worsen, yet we were happy in just telling tales of wonder.
    She'd always say, "It's beautiful here, yes? Most specially the sunflowers...it's as if a rainbow from above...I wish it was always sunny. Don't worry - the rains shall stop soon! The sun shall shine again, and the rainbow shall show itself."

    Once, she had mentioned to me, "Alfonso, this is only between the three of us - Dr. Oracion, you, and me - okay?"
    "...sure. What is it?" I nervously asked, with a bad feeling inside of me.
    "Dr. Oracion told me I'm pregnant."
    Say what?!
    "You heard me. It's only between us, okay? Don't tell anyone else, not even your adoptive parent. I repeat, it's only between Dr. Oracion, you, and me."
    I was so shocked. I can't even believe what she said.
    After that, I never saw her again. I didn't ask Dr. Oracion for I am afraid. I was expecting my tears to fall down for my friend. My former playmates would often say that I'm a coward - because I really am.

    Several months had passed when Dr. Oracion decided to enroll me again in school to ease my sadness. When I entered secondary level once more, I felt an extraordinary happiness. I learned things I didn't hear from Yulya. Only that, I yearned for the happiness we shared; it was more fun to be with her, because even if I am older than her, she is more mature than I am in terms of the way we think. She has a better perspective in life, amazing me.
    I didn't forget the garden. The garden which was the rainbow of the hospital is still nurtured in my care. The sunflowers which had followed the sun for generations became my favorites.

    Years passed. I had finished my studies. I'm 28 years old now, but I'm still the gardener of the same hospital. Someone needs to do it, so that the rainbow shall remain.
    One day, while watering my sunflowers, a feminine voice called, "Alfonso!"
    I looked, but I can't see where the voice is coming from, for I had requested the hospital to enlarge the area for gardening.
    "Hey, Alfonso!"
    "I can't hear you, talk to me!"
    "Oh, great...hey, it's even lovelier than before! Most specially your sunflowers. It's now a bigger rainbow! You know what, the lives of the patients wouldn't be sunny if not for you. When they are experiencing a rain, they'll just look at this place and they shall remember that the beams shall kiss the earth again...and the rainbow shall appear."
    I found where it was coming from. It's just at the end of the row of the sunflowers. It was...
    "Hey, remember me? I'm Yulya!"