"Ano ba naman itong Humanities prof namin, Christmas break tapos may pinapagawang assignment!"

Humalukipkip ang bente anyos na si Tammy Cho sa harapan ng kanyang laptop. Alas-diyes na ng gabi ngunit wala pa rin siyang nahahanap na paksa para sa nasabing assignment ng kanilang prof sa Humanities subject nila sa school. Mukhang simple lang naman ang pinapagawa: kailangan lang mag-research tungkol sa isang obra maestra na pumukaw ng iyong atensiyon. Pwedeng painting or sculpture.

Pero ang nagpapahirap kay Tammy ay dapat, ang nasabing obra ay gawa ng isang Pilipinong manlilikha, at dapat, di ito kagaya sa kanyang mga kaklase. Nakuha na kasi lahat ng gusto niyang subject, mula sa Spolarium ni Juan Luna hanggang sa Oblation statue.

Nag-click ng isa pang browser tab si Tammy at tinignan ang Google spreadsheet. Kumunot ang noo niya nang malaman na may nakakuha na pala ng gusto niyang i-research na painting.

"Naku, mayroon nang gagawa ng tungkol sa Parisian Life! Pati na rin yung A Mother's Revenge na sculpture ni Jose Rizal! Aish! Sana di na ako tinamad last week! Eh di sana naunahan ko pa mga classmates ko! Eh sino ba naman kasi gusto gumawa ng assignment, Paskong-Pasko!"

Napakalumbaba si Tammy. "Sige, subukan ko pa."

May naisip siyang i-type sa Google.

Mysterious Painting Philippines

Agad nagkaroon ng search results.

Nag-scroll si Tammy hanggang may nakita siyang web page na ganito ang nakalagay na titulo:

Who is "The Señorita"? No one knows who did this mysterious painting.

Agad nag-click si Tammy at nadala siya sa isang blog page na 2009 pa pinost. Binasa niya ang nakalagay:

Ever heard of this painting called "The Señorita?" I bet you didn't. I never thought this painting existed until I visited the basement of the Manila Art Museum.

It's a painting of a woman in a baro't saya with her back turned to the viewer. I asked the art director about the story of this painting.

According to him, this was donated by a wealthy businessman after he lost his wife to an illness. The businessman was an avid art collector and he got The Señorita for an affordable price at a garage sale in Calamba, Laguna. He was obsessed with looking at it everyday, until he realized that he was starting to go bankrupt and his wife fell ill. After his wife died, he gave away the painting to the Manila Art Museum, where it resided in a basement.

No one knows who did this painting, or even the model with her back turned. All we know is that this piece of art is said to be jinxed.

"Wow, pwede itong material!" Napangiti si Tammy sa kanyang sarili.

Kinopya niya ang link sa blog at nilagay sa Google Spreadsheet.

Bukas na bukas ay pupuntahan niya ang Manila Art Museum. Kailangan niyang kumuha ng impormasyon tungkol sa misteryosong painting.

Tama rin ang timing niya, dahil kinabukasan ay Disyembre 27.

(Itutuloy)

A/N:

Hi! Kung pamilyar sa paningin niyo ang name ni Tammy Cho, isa siya sa mga characters ko sa isang naunang story, ang "My Star Wars Girl". Pinsan siya ng bidang lalaki na si Bearwin Cho. This will be her story, and gaya ng sinabi ko, may connection ito sa "The Katipunero and I." Paano? You just have to read the story!

And yep, sa imagination ko, Gfriend's Umji is Tammy.

It seems like a sequel, pero pwede rin siyang stand-alone. More of like a spin-off. Kayo bahala. ;)

Hope you will like this! Thanks for reading!