By Giovanni Galavotti, translated into English by Ruth Stephens
Chapter 7 – In Bed With A Temperature
The following morning when his mum wakes Michele he tells her he doesn’t feel well and can’t go to school. His mum feels his forehead: it isn’t very hot.
She fetches the thermometer and takes his temperature. It is a little higher than normal so she keeps him at home. Then she phones her office to say she can’t come to work today.
Michele stays in bed all day. His mum prepares him a little soup but he doesn’t feel like eating. Instead he decides to tell his mum the truth and she persuades him to tell his classmates he is sorry he lied to them. “They’re your friends, they’ll forgive you,” she says.
But when he returns to school the next day he realises his classmates don’t know about what Francesco saw. At break-time, Michele finds Francesco and asks him “Why haven’t you said anything to the others?”
Francesco replies “Because really… I don’t have any goldfish at all! I’m sorry.”
“It’s OK, Francesco,” says Michele “That’s no problem. You told a lie and I told a lie and the goldfish is dead. We mustn’t tell any more lies.”
Francesco nods. “You’re right,” he says.
Michele goes home feeling much better. He begins doing his homework again, studying as he did before, and getting good marks, too…