time. Sometimes, too, they met in the house of one of their friends and
chatted while eating the cakes and cookies his mother had prepared.
But although a week had passed, Tawfiq had not seen Rashad.
He asked his other friends if they had seen Rashad. They all said they
hadn't seen Rashad since the start of the school holiday either. Tawfiq
thought he probably wasn't going out because the weather was so
cold, even though he knew that normally he would go out even if it
snowed because Rashad loved playing with snow. He decided to
phone him.
As soon as he got home he went straight to the telephone and
called Rashad's grandmother's house. His grandmother answered
the phone and recognized Tawfiq's voice right away.
"I haven't seen Rashad since school came to an end," explained
Tawfiq. "I was worried. I thought I'd come round and see him to-
morrow but I decided to phone first."
Rashad's grandmother explained that Rashad had not come to
stay with her because he was ill. He had very bad flu and had to
spend the holiday lying in bed and resting. "I'll give you his telephone
number," she said. "He'll be very pleased to hear from you."
Tawfiq took the number down and called Rashad that
very minute.
Rashad's mother answered. She said, "Rashad, your
friend Tawfiq's calling," and gave the telephone to Rashad
who was lying down in his bedroom.
Rashad picked up the phone and told
Tawfiq: "I'm very pleased you called. It's very
nice to hear your voice."
Tawfiq told Rashad that he had been wor-
ried because he hadn't seen him during the hol-
iday and after waiting a few days had called
his grandmother and been very sorry to learn
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