Saturday was a beautiful day. It was summer and the sun was hot and there were flowers in all the gardens. It was a day for everybody to be happy.
Tom came out of his house with a brush and a big pot of white paint in his hand. He looked at the fence; it was three metres high and thirty metres long. He put his brush in the paint and painted some of the fence. He did it again. Then he stopped and looked at the fence, put down his brush and sat down. There were hours of work in front of him and he was the unhappiest boy in the village.
After ten minutes Tom had an idea, a wonderful idea. He took up the brush again and began to work. He saw his friend Joe Harper in the street, but he didn’t look at him. Joe had an apple in his hand. He came up to Tom and looked at the fence.
‘I am sorry, Tom.’ Tom said nothing. The paint brush moved up and down? Working for your aunt?’ said Joe. ‘I’m going down the river. I’m sorry you can’t come with me.’
