A Day Without Chores

On Thursday, Karim invited him to go fishing off the town jetty after school.

"We're going to catch the biggest fish in the sea!" said Karim excitedly. "And my mum will grill it for us!"

Ziad knew he was supposed to be back at the lighthouse before the afternoon prayer, to polish the lens and fill the oil. But the sun was warm, the sea was sparkling, Karim was laughing, and fish were leaping round the jetty.

Just one day, he told himself. The lens is already clean. Nothing will happen.

And so Ziad spent the best day of the summer. He caught three little fish and one medium-sized one, fell into the water twice, ate grilled fish with bread and lemon at Karim's house and laughed until his tummy hurt.

Then he looked up at the sky and saw the sun sinking towards the sea. His heart leapt.