Бесплатный фрагмент - My whale

One day there was a whale in my fishbowl. It was tiny, smaller than my little finger.

I could not believe my eyes. I rubbed them.

The whale was still there.

He was swimming back and forth, hither and thither and spouting fountains.

I crumbled him some marmalade. He liked it and his fountains got coloured.

We spent the whole day together. Next morning I had to go to school.

But I did not want to leave him alone.

So the whale asked if I could take him with me. I thought it was a good idea.

I had a small transparent box. I put some water in it and helped the whale get inside.

— It’s something like a caravan for you, — I said.

The whale liked it a lot.

On my way to school I showed the whale some wonderful things. Drawings on the pavement. Our neighbors’ roses. An old oak tree. A bright-yellow bus. A thin crust of ice on puddles.

The whale was delighted.

We walked very slowly and I was late. The teacher looked at me disapprovingly but said nothing.

I took out the whale so that he could see everything. Alice Longknee asked me what I had in the box.

I thought I could trust her.

— A whale, — I said.

She was surprised but did not answer. The teacher looked at me disapprovingly again. I sighed but the whale whispered that it was a small matter.