Chapter 95 - Introduction to Ceramics

*Clack* I was woken up by the front door closing. I then brushed aside the curtain by my window to see the sky outside. The sky is still dark, so I'm confused at why the front door was shut. I quickly got up from my bed and saw from the gap under my door that the lights are turned on in the living room. I silently creep to my door and slowly opened slightly it to take a peek. I then saw Tayaw walk by towards the kitchen.

As I watched his back, he suddenly looked back, looking straight to my eyes. I was so started I shut the door immediately. I then heard him laugh from outside the door. I'm getting kind of scared of Tayaw. I can't prank him anymore. Whenever I creep behind him or follow him when he's going out somewhere, he always finds out. I don't know how he does it. When he finds me, he's not angry but just brings me along with him to wherever he goes.

He's also weird. Whenever I join him in his truck and drive somewhere, it's always somewhere there are no people. He brings his guitar with him to the brook, to the neighbor's farm, or to the forests. He just stares into nothing while playing his guitar with ugly tunes. The guitar would sound ugly at first then become more and more beautiful. It's weird.

Tayaw is awesome though. He can play awesome guitar and can sing awesome songs. I like it when he plays the songs I hear from dad's radio. I think he's even better than the singers in the radio. When we saw him sing when we were in Nashville, the white people like listening to him. A lot of ladies also looked at him with googly eyes. I think they have a crush on Tayaw.

He also makes good food. Whenever he's home, I eat a lot because he cooks all the time. I once said to dad that Tayaw's food is better than mom's. Dad just laughed and said 'Don't tell your mom you like Tayaw's food better'. I asked why, but he just said that 'I'm still too young to understand.' I also asked Payew, maybe he knows, but he said he doesn't know.

I also asked Tayaw but he just said 'Listen to dad well.' They're weird. They said it's bad to lie, but they're lying to mom. I said it to Tayaw and he said 'Lying is not always bad. You can lie as long as you did not do anything wrong. You can lie too when you're not planning something bad.' It makes sense, but why lie at all if you're doing something good? Tayaw and dad are weird.

Just like now, I think Tayaw just came back from somewhere and didn't tell mom and dad. He was wearing PE uniform for college students. You don't wear that at home. So, he lied but maybe he did not do anything wrong outside.

I suddenly feel that below my tummy hurts. I have to pee, so I opened my door again to go the bathroom. When I entered the living room, I saw Tayaw sitting in the couch, he already changed out of his PE clothes. "Why are you up early?" Tayaw asked. "I was awaken by the door." I said, I pointed at the front door before I rushed to the bathroom.

After washing my hands, I went back to the living room to join Tayaw. He's always up early so I wonder what he's doing. I saw Tayaw doing something in his laptop. He's probably writing something. Tayaw is also awesome because he makes good stories. I read his stories a lot. "Are you writing?" I asked Tayaw. "No. I'm just researching." He replied

"For school?" I asked again. "Yeah… For school." Tayaw answered, chuckling. That was weird. It wasn't funny. "Where did you go?" I asked again. "Oh. I went jogging." Tayaw said. "Oh. Okay." I said. I understand now why he wore his PE clothes. I looked at his arms and noticed that they're bigger than dad's. "Does jogging give you a lot of muscles?" I asked. "No. But you don't get tired easily if you jog." Tayaw answered. He then closed his laptop.

"How about you? What were you doing while I was away?" Tayaw asked this time. "School. Homework. Then I paint or make pots." I answered. "Really? Can I see your pots?" Tayaw asked. "SURE!" I said, happy that he asked. "Alright. Bring me to your workshop." Tayaw said and he stood up from the couch. "What's a workshop?" I asked. "The place you make your pots." Tayaw answered. "Workshop…" I like it. So my pottery base is called a workshop.

A few moments later, we arrived at my workshop behind the house. Tayaw turned on the light and he saw my workshop for the first time. Mom and dad said that all the stuff I use is all bought with Tayaw's money, so I have to be careful when using them. Thankfully, I didn't break anything yet aside from the pots I made.

"Ooh. You're making a vase already?" Tayaw asked. As he was about to pick up the piece I'm working on, my tummy felt weird. "STOP!" I shouted, surprising even myself. Tayaw also stopped and looked at me weirdly. "What's up?" Tayaw asked. "They're not dry yet." I said. Thank goodness, he didn't touch it.

"Oh. Sorry about that. How about these? Are they okay to pick up?" Tayaw asked as he pointed at where I put the ones that dad had the guy in town bake for me. "Yeah. But they're not done. I'm going to paint them." I replied. "Oh cool. Can I see the ones you have already baked?" Tayaw asked again after studying the bisque-fired vases.

"Here they are." I said and removed the plywood covering the vases I already glazed. Tayaw walked to them and picked one up. He looked at them closely and I see his face get serious. Tayaw also knows pottery? I became nervous that he will say it's bad. "Hmm… Hey. Isn't this guy uhh… Falbo Fabbins?" Tayaw said and he pointed at the small guy I painted on the surface of the vase.

"Haha! No! It's Rumplestiltskin!" I said, correcting him. "Oh. Well, they're both little people so I got confused." Tayaw said. I took a closer look at my painting and realized that if I didn't draw it, I would have mistaken it for Falbo too. But because I made it, when I say it's Rumplestiltskin, then it is Rumplestiltskin.

"Here. This is Falbo with Grandalf." I said to Tayaw as I picked out one of my finished vases from my 'finished stuff' shelf. "Oh. I see. Hey, it's cool." Tayaw said. I felt happy when he said it's good. "By the way, why is this one shiny? That Rumplestiltskin is not?" Tayaw asked. This made me stop… So he doesn't know anything about pottery after all.

"Well. The Rumple one was … only baked once before I painted it. The Falbo one … Was baked.. then I painted it .. then baked again, now they're shiny." I struggled explaining. Tayaw just looked at me for a few seconds, and then nodded as if he understood.

"So. What you do is to create that shape over there on the wheel, yes?" Tayaw asked. "No. I prepare the clay first. I roll them. Then I put them on the wheel." I said. "Oh. Okay. Then after you make the shape, you have it baked in Tabila, right?" Tayaw guessed the next step. "No. They have to be dried for two days first." I said. "Hmm. Then you have it baked, then." Tayaw said. "Yes." I nodded.

"Alright. After it's baked, you bring them home to paint, yes?" Tayaw guessed again. "Yes." He's right this time. "Then after you paint them again. You let them dry. Then you bake them again to make them shiny?" Tayaw asked. "Yes." I said, glad that he understood. "So. Aside from dad having your stuff baked, you don't need help?" Tayaw asked. "At first. It was hard to roll the clay, so I had dad or Payew help. Then I learned how to use a rolling pin." I explained. My hands are not that strong yet.

"Why don't you teach me?" Tayaw said as he rolled up his sleeves. I'm curious too. I want to see what Tayaw can do. "Here. Let me mix the clay and the water first." After a minute or so of mixing, we let the mixture sit for a few minutes. After the clay mixture is ready, it's finally time for Tayaw to wedge the clay. "Okay. Wedge it." I told Tayaw. "What's wedge?" Tayaw asked in return. I'm stuck.

Seeing that I can't explain, Tayaw just played with the clay, and was actually wedging the clay. "That's wedging!" I told him. "AH! So this is wedging. Well, in baking, this is called kneading. We knead the flour to make into dough bake it to make bread." Tayaw said while chuckling. It reminded me of what I saw on TV once. A chef was playing with the dough on TV. So kneading is what it's called.

"Okay. But make sure to remove the air. It will be bad if there are bubbles when it gets baked." I instructed next. Looking at the way Tayaw wedges the clay, though, I am shocked. He's doing so easily and very quickly. I poked the clay from time to time just to check, but it is still as hard as the clay that I know.

"You're strong." I could only say.