“That’s interesting,′ said Dad. ‘Yes,’ said Jack. ‘He came here on a swan.’ ‘A black or white swan?’ asked Dad. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Jack. ‘You always ask the wrong questions!’ ‘How did Tashi get here on a swan then?’ asked Mum.”
“Well,′ said Jack, ‘it was like this. Soon after Tashi’s mother and father left, he was crying for them down by a lake. A swan heard his cries and told him to jump on his back. The swan flew many days and nights until he arrived here right at the front door of Tashi’ s parent’s new house.”
“Jack’s extraordinary imaginary friend Tashi, a gnome-like character from a place far away. Brave Tashi tells adventurous tales of being sold to a warlord and escaping on a swan. ”
“It doesn’t matter,′ said Jack. ‘And I’m not telling you any more because I’m going to bed.’ A week passed and Jach ate lunch with Tashi every day. And every day he heard a marvellous adventure.”
“But at the end of the week he heard the best adventure of all. ‘Listen to what happened to Tashi yesterday,’ Jack said to Mum and Dad at dinner. ‘Last night there was a knock at Tashi’s door and when he opened it, guess who was standing there!”
“The swan answered, ‘If you want to find Tashi, you must go down to the pond. Drop this pebble into the water, and when the ripples are gone you will see where Tashi is hiding.”