rainbows end
DESCRIPTION
Rainbow’s End Julia Lin Words Checked: 3392 Words in Oxford 3000: 94% major, and minors in French. She loves assignment for English Writing. End was an idea she has had for a long books, people and events. Rainbow’s Julia Lin is a student of Wenzao chance to write it down until the novel to get different ideas from different to read and write. It’s important for herTRANSCRIPT
Rainbow’s End
Julia Lin
Words Checked: 3392
Words in Oxford 3000: 94%
About The Author
Julia Lin is a student of Wenzao
Ursuline College of Languages in
Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She is English
major, and minors in French. She loves
to read and write. It’s important for her
to get different ideas from different
books, people and events. Rainbow’s
End was an idea she has had for a long
time. However, she never had the
chance to write it down until the novel
assignment for English Writing.
She doesn’t like being trapped in
one place for too long, so her mother
often travels to other countries with her
and her brother.
She now lives in Kaohsiung, but
there are more things to discover in the
future.
Table of Contents
I. BEGIN IN RAINBOW’S END............................- 1 -
II. THE CHILD .........................................................- 9 -
III. LIFE IN HUMAN’S WORLD...........................- 22 -
IV. THE ILLNESS....................................................- 30 -
V. A VISIT ...............................................................- 38 -
VI. END IN RAINBOW’S END ..............................- 46 -
I. Begin in Rainbow’s End
“Everyone PLEASE stand in line,”
shouted the Key Keeper after his patient
announcement for about the twenty fifth
time, “not need to rush!”
My friends and I sat on the grass
and watched our newcomers with
binoculars, and also, with great interest.
I am Elizabeth, as you may wonder,
and this is Rainbow’s End. It is perfectly
understandable if you still don’t know
what Rainbow’s End is. Well, to say it
- 1 -
simply, all the children need to fill out a
form and have an interview with the
Counselor in order to go to human’s
world. Then, where do those children
have to stay before they go to the
human’s world? Therefore, Rainbow’s
End is a place where children stay
before they hand out the application to
human’s world. In other words, children
stay here before they are born. Ordinary
people can’t fully see Rainbow’s End.
Instead, they can only see a rainbow in
- 2 -
the clear sky. However, Rainbow’s End
always exists, just right below the
rainbow which you see.
There’s the Counselor who has
dark skin and grey hair manages
everything in Rainbow’s End. He is like
a teacher to all the children here. Every
child must talk to the Counselor after he
or she hands out the application. The
application must include the following
papers: one paper on which states your
life in Rainbow’s End, two
- 3 -
questionnaires about the human’s world,
and three pages of different questions to
answer. The questions might be “what’s
your favorite beverage in Rainbow’s
End” or “how do you think of wars
which happened in the human’s world”.
And there is also the Key Keeper,
who carefully guards the gate of
Rainbow’s End.
I have stayed in Rainbow’s End for
about eighteen years. Not that I don’t
want to deliver my application to the
- 4 -
Counselor, but the gate heading to the
human’s world has been closed for a
while. Many years ago, the Counselor
and other members from different
departments had a meeting. They didn’t
want children to go to human’s world
anymore because of the rising rates of
crime and disease. In addition, they
don’t give out anymore applications. I
knew all these things not only because I
am an assistant of the Counselor, but
also that all the residence of Rainbow’s
- 5 -
End received the notice from the
Counselor after their meeting.
The winds blow gently and the
sunshine is warm. Therefore, I decided
to forget about all the upset things and
enjoy the nice weather. I dropped my
binoculars and lying down on the green
grass which looked like a carpet, hands
folded behind my head.
“Liz, Kate, look! The gate is about
to close!” Mark said excitedly waving
his hands toward us. I don’t know where
- 6 -
he got all this energy from.
“Oh, I hope no one has been left
out this time,” said worriedly my friend,
Kate. She put her binoculars down and
joined me, but she didn’t lie down.
There were only three people who
would come to the gate-opening when it
was open season: Kate, Mark and I.
There was really nothing much to do
here, I guess. I was the same age as
Mark, and Kate was about five years
younger than us. When Mark and I first
- 7 -
- 8 -
came to Rainbow’s End, we were about
two. So that makes us twenty years old
and Kate fifteen. We did almost
everything together.
And then somehow, Kate found
something under her bed, something
like paper… an application form.
II. The Child
One day, I passed by Kate’s house
and called her name loudly, because we
were going to be late for afternoon tea
with the Counselor. No one responded,
so I went into Kate’s house. I walked
into her living room, and on my right
hand side, I saw her sitting on her
favorite couch working on something,
paper work, I think.
“What are you doing?” I went near
her. No response. Well, it was really
- 9 -
unusual for Kate not to respond, so I
guess she was concentrating and didn’t
hear me.
“Kate? Are you alright?” I gave it
another try.
“Oh, Liz!” Finally she lifted her
head and realized someone have just
came into her living room. “You will
never believe what I have found!” she
said with excitement. I’ve never seen
her look so happy.
“Maybe you can just kindly tell me,
- 10 -
so I don’t have to guess,” I said, still
unable to handle my curiosity on
looking at the paper she was working on.
Then I decided to help myself to a cup
of tea since Kate’s mug was empty.
“It’s an application form!” Kate
said, taking her glasses off.
“Well, an application for what?
Application for driving?” Kate has had
several car accidents since she came to
Rainbow’s End. She never gets injured,
but her cars were all damaged. No one
- 11 -
would get injured in Rainbow’s End, but
since Kate’s ninth accident and her car
went into the lake, she was forbidden by
the Counselor to drive cars.
“No, it’s not an application for
driving.” Kate frowned at me, not very
happy with the answer I gave her. “It’s
THE application, Lizzy.”
“But…but that couldn’t be,” I said
surprisingly, “The application for going
to the human’s world were already
locked up by the Counselor after the
- 12 -
meeting.”
“I don’t know why this one was
hidden under my bed,” Kate said
lowering her eyes, and putting her
application in order. “The Counselor
must talk to all applicants after they
hand in their applications, right?”
looking at me for support.
“Yes, you are right.” I said steadily.
“Are you going to talk to him now?”
“Yeah, why not? I have finished
my application.” Kate, suddenly
- 13 -
remembering something ,said “Are we
going to have afternoon tea with the
Counselor today?”
“Yep, and we are about to be late
when I came here.” I said carelessly,
sipping my tea.
“Then what are we still waiting
for!” She grabbed my arm, and was
heading toward my car.
“My answer is NO,” said the
Counselor. “I don’t know why there was
an application left in your room, but I
- 14 -
won’t change my mind about that. As
for the reason, I think you clearly know
why.”
It was a fine afternoon; the sun
wasn’t too aggressive, so we went to the
garden to have our afternoon tea. When
the Counselor rejected Kate’s
application, I was about to add one more
tablespoon of sugar into my coffee.
“But why not give it another try? I
mean, there hasn’t been anyone going to
the human’s world for many years.
- 15 -
What if they changed and we don’t
know?”
The Counselor stirred his tea gently,
thinking without looking at both of us.
Finally, after he finished his cup of tea,
he looked up at Kate. “I will have to ask
you a question that every candidate will
be asked after the document review.”
“Which is……?” Kate responded
confusingly.
“What is your purpose of going to
human’s world?” For many years, the
- 16 -
Counselor has received many answers
like “I want to change the world” or “I
want to do something good to the
people”. These answers were good, but
somehow they were too “stiff”.
“I…I just want to be a child and in
fact, I’ve never been to the human’s
world.” Kate said nervously.
It was true that Kate has never
been to the human’s world. I glanced at
Kate quickly, not very surprised that
Kate gave this answer. And I knew that
- 17 -
the Counselor wouldn’t be so picky on
these answers as he used to be. Kate and
I were waiting his answers and holding
our hands tightly.
“Fair enough,” he said with a smile.
“Now follow me, there are some more
important things to be done before
going to the human’s world.”
He took us to the Department of
Preparation. “Now, Kate, all you have to
do here is to draw lots,” the Counselor
said quickly. “You have to decide by
- 18 -
yourself what kind of illness you will
have, who you will meet and what kind
of challenge you will face.” The
Counselor continued when all the agents
were waiting for Kate to draw lots. I
began to feel nervous, but Kate seemed
pretty confident. “After you finish your
last lot, which will to decide when you
are going to die, you will find yourself
in the human’s world."
“Okay…I think I got it.” Kate was
heading toward the office of Department
- 19 -
of Preparation.
“The last thing I am going to tell
you is ten years” the Counselor looked
at Kate seriously.
“You know, this is the first time
since the last opening-up. I would like
to give people a second chance, but in
ten years I will see whether they deserve
this chance or not.”
Kate nodded her head.
“Kate?” I said finally. Kate turned
her head to see what I was going to say.
- 20 -
- 21 -
“Be good.” I gave her a smile. She
waved at me and turned into the office
in front of her.
III. Life in Human’s World
As everyone knew, when you
entered the human’s world, you would
forget everything in Rainbow’s End.
You would have to concentrate on what
you were doing as a mortal. The
Counselor and I were still a little bit
concerned because Kate was the first
one to go to the human’s world, so he
decided to ask me to see what was going
on there.
“Now, Elizabeth, you know that I
- 22 -
trust you very much. And I hope that
you can help Kate. You don’t need to
protect her, but I would like you to be
her teacher. Mark will go with you,
too.”
“Do I need to do anything else?” I
asked worriedly.
“No, you don’t need to and you
can’t” the Counselor answered.
And that was the reason why I was
here, sitting by Kate and teaching her
- 23 -
how to do her algebra homework. There
are fewer and fewer teachers nowadays
because there are no students to teach. I
happened to be the neighbor of the
Heart family, so I didn’t have to worry
about losing my job. I think part of the
reason is that the Counselor arranged all
these things. If he didn’t, he would ask
someone to do it for him. Everyone in
Rainbow’s End took Kate’s leaving as a
serious event. Whether there would be
another opening-up depended on Kate’s
- 24 -
visit to the human’s world.
Kate grew up like every other child
did in the past. She and the Heart family
lived in a small house in the forest. It
wasn’t common to live in the forest now
since most areas were divided into
modern cities.
There was Mr. Heart, who worked
as a carpenter. He didn’t talk much. The
last time he talked to me was to ask me
if I could be Kate’s teacher. Despite his
silence, I knew that he was a good
- 25 -
person. He cared about his family very
much.
There was also Mrs. Heart. She
was very gentle, smart and often shared
her feelings with Kate. Mrs. Heart
became blind after World War IV, which
lasted for two years. That war was part
of the reason why the Counselor close
the gate of Rainbow’s End.
“Hey, Kate. Did you finish your
algebra homework” Mark suddenly
entered our room. Kate was still
- 26 -
working on the last question, which
seemed to be the hardest one.
“I’m almost done,” Kate said
without slow down her writing speed.
“Yeah, I’m finished with my algebra
now.”
“I’ve brought you some books to
read, maybe we can discuss them later.”
Mark smiled handing Kate some of the
books in his arms.
In Kate’s free time, she often took
- 27 -
a walk in the forest with her mother.
They would hold hands, and Mrs. Heart
would ask what Kate had learned that
day. For many years after the war, Kate
was still the only child being born.
However, they lived in the remote forest,
so this birth didn’t catch people’s
attention. Otherwise Kate could be the
next one in the TV news, or maybe
someone would invite her to some talk
shows. Everything remained peaceful
here.
- 28 -
- 29 -
There were no one who could play
with young Kate, so she grew up with
the forest, the books and the adults
around her. She was a quiet kid, not like
the Kate I knew in Rainbow’s End. Well,
what can I say? They WERE different
indeed.
IV. The Illness
The Hearts used to have two kids
before Kate. However, they both died
because of “Black Death”. It was not the
one which happened during the Middle
Ages. Whoever was infected with the
virus of Black Death, he or she would
turn black and each day become smaller
and smaller. It was painful not only for
the patients, but also for the ones who
cared for their patients.
Kate happened to be diagnosed
- 30 -
with this kind of disease. The symptoms
weren’t clear in the beginning. But one
day, Kate fell from her chair when I was
teaching her 19th century literature. I
was petrified. Usually when people fall
down, they will use their arms and
hands to protect themselves. However,
Kate…fainted.
I called her name over and over,
but there was no response.
“Good afternoon, young ladies!”
Kate’s mom suddenly opened the door
- 31 -
with a smile on her face as usual. ”I
have brought you some snacks.”
“What happened? Kate?
Elizabeth?” she began to feel something
was wrong.
At that moment, I really believed
that she could actually see with her eyes.
“Kate suddenly fell from her chair a few
minutes ago. I called her name again
and again, but she didn’t respond,” I
said quickly. I thought I was going to
cry.
- 32 -
“It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s not your
fault.” Mrs. Heart went near her
daughter and touched her hair gently.
“It’s not your fault.”
That evening, Mr. and Mrs. Heart
discussed all night about Kate’s illness.
Mark examined Kate carefully the next
day, and he was sad because he had to
tell us that Kate had been infected with
Black Death. What Kate mostly does
now is to rest. All day. Mr. and Mrs.
- 33 -
Heart didn’t want to lose their lovely
little girl, but they didn’t know what
they could do.
However, they actually did
something for Kate.
Mr. Heart used a small piece of
wood which was left after his work to
make wooden craft to cheer Kate up.
This was not what he used to do.
However, as the quiet man began to see
the happiness brighten up his daughter’s
face, he works harder and harder. He
- 34 -
now spent more time with his little
daughter after his work.
Mrs. Heart prayed for Kate
everyday. She was not religious, but she
still prayed for Kate. She also prayed for
other people who were suffering from
disease. Kate’s illness made her realize
that there were many people suffering.
She was not the only one who had
physical defects.
It was Kate’s tenth birthday when it
- 35 -
got really bad for her. She couldn’t even
talk or open her eyes. She was having a
fever, and sweating a lot. We didn’t
know what to do with the cake which
Mark and I baked in the afternoon.
Therefore, we four adults decided to eat
it. There was no ambience for having a
party. I felt like crying because those
happy memories in Rainbow’s End
suddenly came to my mind: the three of
us having parties all night, Kate’s car
going into the lake, and the sight of her
- 36 -
- 37 -
back before she went into the office of
Department of Preparation.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the
door.
V. A Visit
Thump, thump.
“Yes, coming.” Mr. Heart rose
from his chair to open the door. Outside
the door, there was a man. A man with
dark skin and grey hair, wearing a suit.
“Counselor…” Mark said, “Why
are you here?”
I suddenly remembered that ten
years has passed. And now the
Counselor is here to evaluate whether
the earth is still a fine place to live.
- 38 -
“My dear Mark,” the Counselor
looked at Mark with a gentle smile,
“why don’t you ask Liz? I think she
knows the answer.”
“It’s been a long time since I last
saw you two, Mary and David.” Mary
and David were the names of Mr. and
Mrs. Heart. “I could still remember the
time when you two were in Rainbow’s
End.”
“What? Who are you? And what’s
Rainbow’s End?” Mr. Heart asked,
- 39 -
holding his wooden stick tightly. He
seemed ready to fight with the unknown
guest.
“It would be hard to explain. It’s
easier to say that I am Elizabeth’s
friend,” he turned to me for support,
“right, Liz?”
“Yeah, don’t worry, Mr. and Mrs.
Heart, he won’t hurt Kate,” I said.
“May I see Kate? I’ve heard that
she have been sick,” the Counselor said.
“She is in her room., at the end of
- 40 -
the hall way to your left.” Mrs. Heart
pointed the direction for the Counselor.
I thought she really believed what the
Counselor had just said.
Sat by Kate’s bed, the Counselor
said, “Kate, Kate, wake up. How are
you feeling right now?”
“Light headed, I guess,” Kate
responded. That was the first time she
responded in days!
“Do you remember who I am?” the
- 41 -
Counselor asked Kate.
Kate, giving the Counselor a faint
smile, said, “Yeah, you are the
Counselor.”
“Dear Mary and David,” the
Counselor turned to the two worried
parents who stood near Kate’s door and
said, “I’m not here to take Kate away. It
depends on her whether she wants to
stay or not.”
“Well, I’ve brought the report of
Kate’s lots,” The Counselor continued
- 42 -
and put the lots in chronological order. I
didn’t think Mr. and Mrs. Heart knew
what we were doing here because
human beings were not supposed to see
anything related to Rainbow’s End. I
saw the Counselor lift up a note saying:
Illness: Black Death
“And then, we have this special
one here.” A note with these letters:
Return to Rainbow’s End. The
Counselor put his finger on the last
- 43 -
words so I couldn’t see them. “Now
Kate, do you want to go back to
Rainbow’s End? Or do you want to stay
here?” the Counselor asked Kate
directly.
After a few minutes’ thought, Kate
spoke. “I want to stay here and be with
my family and friends. I can feel love
around me. Despite my illness, I really
had a good time here.”
“Correct answer, young lady.” The
Counselor approved with a smile and
- 44 -
removed his finger for the note.
Return to Rainbow’s End:
No
- 45 -
VI. End in Rainbow’s End
After the Counselor’s visit, Kate
got better and better each day. And one
day, Kate fully recovered.
When we took a walk in the forest
after our lessons, Kate said, “It is really
strange that I recovered. I thought there
was not anyone who could survive from
Black Death.” Kate forgot everything
about the Counselor’s visit, which was
quite normal.
“Well, let’s say, you are blessed.” I
- 46 -
smiled at her.
“No, you don’t mean that!” ,Kate
laughed, “You are just making fun of
me!”
“Oh, and Liz?” Kate said.
“Yes, Kate?”
“Congratulations of your baby
boy!”
“Did Mark tell you that? I was
going to tell you myself!”
“Well, It doesn’t matter,” Kate
said.
- 47 -
- 48 -
As we held hands more tightly,
there was still a journey to go before
going back to Rainbow’s End.
I though I could handle it with
Kate and Mark by my side. This is my
own Rainbow’s End.
- The End -