well. He said they would be expecting them the next day.
Tawfiq and his mother set out early the following morning. After
a few hours' journey they arrived at Rashad's house. Rashad's
mother met them cheerfully. "I was very pleased when I heard you
were coming," she said. "It's really good of you to come all this way."
All together they went up to Rashad's room. He greeted them
happily from his bed. After asking how he was and chatting for a
while, their mothers left the boys together.
Then something attracted Tawfiq's attention. In spite of having to
stay in bed and spend the vacation lying down, Rashad was very
cheerful. He didn't seem to be sad about his condition at all.
"I thought I'd find you very bored and unhappy," he said. "If it
was me, spending my holiday like this would make me very sad in-
deed, but I can see that you're pretty cheerful. You don't seem to be
bothered at all."
"You're right," agreed Rashad. "In the first days that was just
what I thought and I was very unhappy. I was so unhappy that I
couldn't stop myself from crying from time
to time. My
cousin Ali who
came to visit
me was very
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