Tala

In the morning, Yazan tried to convince himself that it had all been a dream.

But when he stepped out onto the balcony into the sunshine, his shadow wasn't there. When he put on his red trainers, there was no shadow of his trainers. When his mother put a glass of milk in front of him, he could see the glass's shadow on the table... but not the shadow of the hand holding it.

"You look pale, love," said his mother, without really noticing. "Did you sleep all right?"

"Yes, Mum."

He went to school walking in the shade the whole way, under the trees and close to the walls, so nobody would notice. He sat in his back seat by the window and put his bag on the floor so that it hid the place where his shadow should have been.

His plan worked very well... until break time.

In the playground he was sitting alone on the steps, drawing the distant clock tower. Suddenly someone stood in front of him and blocked out the sun.

He looked up. It was Tala.