Fabrizio lay still in his bed, the covers to his chin, his head resting on his pillow while a damp cloth was laying on his forehead which was feeling uncomfortably warm today. Earlier he had been outside playing with Cuccilo when a sudden weakness had come over him and his head began to ache.

His breathing was slow and steady as he lay with his eyes half closed while Cuccilo sat beside him, snuggled against his left shoulder and every once in a while would tenderly lick his face.

Fabrizio smiled weakly as he saw Mama enter the room and kneel beside him. Taking the cloth from his forehead she dipped it into a basin of water that was on the night stand and very gently began to dab at his forehead with it. Fabrizio closed his eyes as he felt the cool wetness trying to penetrate the fever. Cuccilo nuzzled beside him and whimpered faintly as if he could feel his pain.

After a few minutes passed, Fabrizio heard someone else entering the room. He opened his eyes briefly and saw Papa showing in another man who was wearing a white coat and carrying a white bag.

Mama stood as he took her place by Fabrizio's bed. He opened his bag and took a few things from it. With a tiny flashlight he looked inside of Fabri's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. He then listened to his heartbeat and breathing, and then felt his pulse.

After taking Fabri's temperature, he went back to the parents and Fabri heard him speak gently to them about him having a small fever and needing lots of rest and care.

Then Papa showed the doctor out as Mama went back to Fabri and resumed dabbing his forehead tenderly with the cloth.

Fabrizio felt miserable having a fever. For the first time in a week he didn't feel like playing with Cuccilo.

Mama then began to tell him a story to soothe him to sleep.

"Once upon a time, there was a man and woman who were married and longed for a child. Finally, they had a son, and he soon grew up and met a friend who would take him over the sea to a faraway kingdom where he became a servant in the Royal Castle. Soon he met the princess there and fell in love with her."

"He wanted to somehow prove himself worthy of her love. He found a knight who was his friend and went with him to a valley where there was a legend of a terrible dragon they could slay. However when they reached the valley they found the dragon that lived there was not terrible at all, just lonely and afraid because the valley he lived in was dying because all the other dragons living in it had gone."

"So they returned to the kingdom where they met with the King's wizard who gave them some magic seeds which they took back to the valley and planted them everywhere. Soon afterward it rained a lot and hundreds of trees flowers and plants grew and filled the valley with life and beauty, and soon many dragons came there to live. As for the hero and the princess, they married and were protected their whole lives by the good dragons."

As the story came to its end, Fabrizio drifted to sleep and began to dream.

As he dreamt, he found himself and Cuccilo playing on a fluffy white cloud surrounded by a deep blue sky. The air around the felt warm and clean.

Fabrizio bounced around on the cloud, sending bits of mist away from it. He tried to catch Cuccilo as the puppy was leaping around on the puffy cloud bed and disappearing momentarily into the fluff.

Cuccilo began to dig into the cloud, and soon had dug deep enough to fall through a hole. Fabrizio dived in to catch him and fell through himself.

He held tightly to his puppy as he found himself sliding down a very big and long rainbow, it's bright colors reflecting off himself.

He laughed as he landed gently on his feet in a grassy field. He set Cuccilo on the ground and looked around finding the valley they were in to be very empty looking. Suddenly, he thought to reach inside his pocket, and found a handful of seeds.

He ran around the field with Cuccilo as he scattered the seeds all around, and before his very eyes he could see wondrous flowers, plants, and trees growing everywhere.

As he watched the trees grow taller, he saw huge multicolored creatures soaring in the sky above. He knew they were dragons.

One smaller dragon with pink spots on its purple skin landed in front of him. He climbed onto its back, holding Cuccilo tightly under his right arm. The dragon spread its wings and took flight.

They soared high above the valley, rising just below the clouds. Fabrizio looked down and saw the land below stretched out. The scenery was magnificent.

Fabrizio looked straight ahead, clutching Cuccilo against him, and feeling the wind blowing through his hair. He felt as if his heart were bursting with pleasure as he could see the golden light of the sunset before him, it seemed to be beckoning to him, as if it had something waiting for him...

As Fabrizio awakened from his nap he realized he was feeling better, his head didn't ache as much as before.

He turned his head to the side and found Cuccilo sitting beside him with his tail wagging and his mouth open in a smile.

With a grin, Fabri reached out and brought the puppy into a hug. He remembered earlier how the doctor had checked him and made sure he was healthy. He thought he might like to do the same for Cuccilo.

He held the puppy in front of him and carefully looked into its ears, eyes, nose, and mouth, just as his own doctor had. He then laid a hand on Cuccilo's chest and laid his ear against it as he listened to his heart beating.

Cuccilo seemed to be a healthy puppy, and Fabri hoped that soon he would be well again himself and then the two of them could play all day again.

A day had gone by and Fabrizio was now over his little fever, and fully well again.

Right now he held onto his puppy, Cuccilo, and climbed carefully onto a chair. He then set Cuccilo down on the smooth top of the dresser, and the pup watched curiously as Fabrizio picked up the soft, blue hat that belonged to his dear Papa, and once again set it down upon his head, trying it on. Once again, the hat fell down over his ears, covering his sweet, brown eyes.

Once again, Fabrizio gave a sigh of disappointment and lifted the hat from his head. He held it in his little hands, looking wistfully at it for a moment, and then he set it down on the head of Cuccilo, and the hat not only went over the puppy's little pointed ears, but completely over it's head. It looked so very funny that Fabrizio just had to giggle. Then Cuccilo whimpered slightly and shook his head underneath the hat, so Fabrizio gently took the hat off of him, setting it down on the dresser again.

Fabrizio picked up Cuccilo and held him tightly in his arms as he hopped off of the chair he had stood on. Then he went into the living room just as he heard the front door being knocked on, and his Mama opened the door to reveal none other than Mrs. Elisabetta Rapizzi, with her son, Stefano, who was the same age as Fabrizio, and the two of them were really good friends.

Fabrizio was just delighted to see Stefano, it had been a while since his last visit. His face lit up with a broad smile as ran to him and exclaimed, "Boun giorno, Stefano!"

"Boun giorno, Fabrizio!" Stefano exclaimed with a smile on his face as he opened his arms out to embrace him.

Fabrizio kept smiling as he gently put Cuccilo down on the floor beside him, and then gave Stefano a big hug.

Fabrizio's mama smiled as she led her goodfriend, Elisabetta Rapizzi, into the kitchen, and they left the boys to each other.

Fabrizio gently released him from their embrace, and picked up Cuccilo again. "Meet Cuccilo, he is 'a my new puppy," he exclaimed happily, as he held him out for Stefano to hold.

Stefano was older than Fabrizio by just one month, and almost an inch taller. He also had the same black hair and brown eyes as Fabrizio, though his hair grew slightly longer, and he also had freckles scattered over his round face. He took Cuccilo into his arms and the puppy licked at his face and wagged its tail.

"He's 'a very nice," Stefano said with a smile. "Where you find him?"

"He was 'a caught in a bush, and I rescue him," Fabrizio explained.

Stefano smiled and handed Cuccilo to Fabrizio again. "So, what you want 'a to play?" he asked.

Fabrizio smiled and shrugged. "I no know," he said simply. "What you want 'a to play?"

Stefano thought about it for a moment, and then grinned and suggested brightly, "How about Hide and 'a Seek?"

"Si, I would 'a love that!" Fabrizio exclaimed with joy.

"Va bene," said Stefano. "You hide and I seek first?"

"Si," Fabrizio agreed.

So then Stefano turned around, facing the wall, and began counting. "Uno. . . due. . . tre. . ."

Fabrizio kept smiling as he frantically looked around the living room for a place to hide.

Stefano continued counting. "Quattro. . . cinque. . . sei. . ."

Fabrizio didn't know how much longer Stefano intended to count, and so he ran quickly from the room with Cuccilo in his arms. He made a dash into his bedroom where he began thinking of where a good hiding place might be. Then suddenly he had a good idea of where to hide.

He ran speedily into his parents bedroom. He went over to their closet, and after setting Cuccilo down beside him, he jumped up and tried to reach the handle on the closet door. Finding he couldn't quite reach that high, he went over to the chair by the dresser and gave it a small push so that it was closer to the closet. He climbed onto the chair, and reaching out he took hold of the closet's handle and opened the door. Then he quickly hopped off the chair and went inside of the closet, leaving the door open very slightly.

Once inside, he smiled to himself at the thought of how clever a hiding place this just had to be. It would probably be a while before Stefano would find him. It was rather dark inside the closet, though this darkness didn't really bother him. He stepped over into a corner of the closet, just beside a row of his parents' clothes, and began waiting for Stefano to find him.

A little while went by, and Stefano still had not found him yet. He began to feel rather bored. He thought perhaps he could try counting to while the time away, for it probably wouldn't be long before Stefano came and found him now.

He was rather startled when at that very moment the closet door was pushed open, and there stood Stefano with a broad smile on his face.

"What took you so long, eh?" Fabrizio said excitedly as he went quickly to Stefano and embraced him tightly.

"You clever, Fabri," said Stefano with a chuckle as he returned his embrace. "Never thought you were hiding in big closet."

Fabrizio just giggled sweetly and then said, "Is 'a my turn now to seek, no?"

"Si," Stefano nodded and smiled. Then he suddenly seemed confused as he looked around them. "Where is Cuccilo?" he wondered. "I thought he was 'a with you?"

Fabrizio looked around as well, and found that his puppy was indeed missing. He thought a moment, and then smiled as he said, "He is 'a playing our game with us, and want 'a us to find him, no?"

Stefano smiled and nodded. "Si. He is around here somewhere. Let's find him!"

So then the two boys searched around everywhere in the bedroom, and finding that Cuccilo was not in there, they quickly went into the washroom where they searched through a basket full of laundry, for Fabrizio remembered how Cuccilo loved to play with the laundry. Unfortunately, he wasn't in there. So, they went into the living room, where they searched everywhere for the little lost puppy in vain.

Fabrizio suddenly began to worry about Cuccilo. The puppy just had to be around here somewhere. What if he was trapped in some unknown place somewhere? Could he possibly be hurt? No, he couldn't be, Fabrizio told himself as he quickly pushed aside that unbearable thought, as he tried to concentrate on finding him.

Desperately, Fabrizio and Stefano ran into the kitchen to search for Cuccilo. There they found their mothers chatting with each other.

"What is wrong?" Fabrizio's mama asked with concern as she watched him open the lower kitchen cabinets to see if Cuccilo might be in them.

"Cuccilo is 'a hiding, and we no can 'a find him," Fabrizio said with a sigh of disappointment as he closed the cabinets, finding Cuccilo wasn't inside them.

Mama was quite worried, for she knew how much he loved Cuccilo. She thought for a short moment about where the puppy might be, and then said, "Have you looked in your room, or in the yard, perhaps?"

Fabrizio's expression brightened a little as he thought that could be a good place to look. "I look for him in my room, now. Grazie," he said, and quickly left the kitchen.

"I look for him in the yard," Stefano declared as he ran to the front door, which led him into the yard outside of the De Rossi's house.

Fabrizio dashed into his own bedroom, and then he stood still for a moment as he took a deep breath, and tried to think of where he should look for Cuccilo first.

Suddenly, he felt the urge to look underneath his bed first, and so he bent down onto the floor beside the bed his Papa had made for him, and there he found his puppy right underneath it, curled up with his head resting on his paws as if he were just waiting to be found.

The instant Fabrizio saw his puppy, his whole face lit up in a huge smile as his heart swelled with true happiness. "Cuccilo! I found you!" he exclaimed with joy as he reached his arms out and took hold of him, and the puppy leapt onto his chest and licked at his face and neck.

Cuccilo yipped happily as Fabrizio hugged him in his arms, and just then Stefano came into the room and smiled when he saw them together again.

"You found him! I'm so glad!" he exclaimed brightly. "Is a nice day outside," he continued. "Let's play tag!"

"Si! Let's go!" Fabrizio exclaimed with delight, and taking Cuccilo with him, he followed Stefano outside, where they played a fun game of tag, chasing each other all around the yard in turns, with Cuccilo mostly in the middle of them.

They played like this for about an hour, until all three of them were quite exhausted. So then, they went inside again, and Fabri's mama gave him and Stefano some cookies and milk, while Cuccilo drank thirstily from his water dish.

After this, Stefano and his mama left, ending their visit.

"Ciao, come again soon," Fabrizio called out as he and Mama waved goodbye.

That night, Fabrizio thought about how much fun he had when Stefano came over and as Mama tucked him into bed he asked, "Why is it I have no brothers, no sisters?"

Mama smiled tenderly, and said with a little sigh, "We just weren't able to have more bambini after you."

"But why?" Fabrizio asked, confused.

"Well. . ." Mama smiled sadly. "That was just how it was, and some cannot have any at all. But we have you, and you are more than we ever hoped for."

She lovingly kissed him, and Cuccilo, goodnight. Then turned the key of his musical angel as she whispered, "Buona notte. Sogni dolci."

Fabrizio smiled as he held Cuccilo close beside him and they fell fast asleep together.

The next afternoon, Fabrizio was walking at his mama'a side with Cuccilo in his arms as they were on their way to the local grocey market. Once they had arrived at the destination, Fabrizio sat down on an empty wooden box that was turned upside down and held Cuccilo in his lap.

"Stay just here, dolci raggazo mio. I will soon be through with the shopping." Mama said gently to Fabrizio.

He smiled sweetly and nodded as he held tightly to Cuccilo, and Mama smiled as she went into the small store.

Fabrizio sat patiently on top of the box, petting Cuccilo lovingly. He smiled at his puppy as he began to speak to it.

"I want to go to America someday," he said to him. "I want to see the gold streets and the shining buildings." He rubbed tenderly behind Cuccilo's little ears. "I'd like to take you with me," he said. Cuccilo wagged his tail excitedly. "You and me, we will grow big and strong together," he said, and Cuccilo licked his face.

After a little while, Fabrizio became a little bored, and so he reached into his pocket and took out a small piece of wood, and setting Cuccilo down beside him on the ground, he tossed the little stick out in front of him, and Cuccilo instantly sped after it. It fell only a few feet from where they were, and Cuccilo soon retrieved in his mouth and hurried back to Fabrizio, and he smiled and patted his head before he thrust it into the air again, and Cuccilo went after it again.

They continued to play like this for a few more minutes before Mama came out of the market, carrying a large woodeen basket full of groceries. Then the three of them started out on the way home again, with Fabrizio skipping along with Cuccilo wobbling along beside him, his tail wagging and his mouth open in a puppy smile.

They hadn't gone for very long before they saw a man walking along with a little girl of the same age as Fabrizio, not very far ahead of them.

As soon as the girl caught sight of Cuccilo, she exclaimed with delight, "Cuccilo mio!"

Fabrizio watched stunned as the girl ran quickly up to him, and Cuccilo ran up to her as well and she caught him in her arms in which he wiggled about and licked her face as she giggled with joy.

Mama spoke to the man, "I trust she is your daughter, and Cuccilo belongs to her?"

The man smiled and nodded as he replied, "Si, they are. I am Rico Orsatti, and," he gestured to the girl beside him,"raggaza mio is Vannasa. We lost Cuccilo last month, and are very thankful that you have found him, as we've both been so worried about him."

"I am Maria De Rossi, and raggazo mio is Fabrizio," said Mama as she gestured to Fabri. "We've had Cuccilo with us for the last month and have taken care of him."

Fabrizio smiled and nodded. He could see how happy Vannasa was to find Cuccilo, as well as how happy Cuccilo was to be with her, and so he was happy and content, and yet at the same time he felt a kind of lonliness at the thought of Cuccilo no longer being with him.

Mama somehow seemed to sensewhat he was feeling in that moment, for just then shee asked Mr. Orsatti, "Where is it that you live?"

"Only just across the next roadfrom here, Westward," he replied.

"We live just two blocks from there, at the East," replied Mama. "You will be welcome to visit us whenever you wish."

"I'd like that," he said with a smile. "You will be welcome to visit us whenever you like to as well," he assured them.

"Well, we must be on our way now," said Mama. "I hope you will visit us soon, I'd like you to meet my husband, Antonio."

Fabrizio was smiling quite broadly now as he wrapped his arms around Vannasa and hugged her along with Cuccilo, and the puppy licked his face once again, and also whimpered faintly.

Everyone then bid each other goodbye, and the Orsattis turned and left them, heading in the South direction. Fabrizio smiled as he waved to them as did Mama.

After a moment, Mama picked up Fabrizio and held him in her arms and he waved to them from there. He kept watching them as they walked further and further away, until they were at last out of sight.

Then, Fabrizio suddenly stopped smiling as he felt pain within his heart and all at once he burst into tears. Mama held him tightly against her as she began kissing every single teardrop as they fell. Fabrizio sobbed his heart out as he was missing Cuccilo so much already. For a few weeks, he had really thought Cuccilo would be his forever, and now it seemed he wouldn't be able to take Cuccilo to America with him when he got there, whenever that would be.

Mama continued rocking, and kissing, and soothing him as she carried him home. When they got there, he calmed down and she carried him into their house.

Papa opened the door for them, and became very concerned when he saw how she was holdingFabrizio the way she was, and how he was sniffling.

Mama let him take him into his own arms, and she explained everything that had happened to him as they sat down and Papa held Fabrizio tightly and rocked him gently, as he listened.

"I understand, Fabri," he whispered soothingly. Fabri sniffled then, and so he gave Fabri his handkerchief to use.

"We must remember the good times we had with Cuccilo," he continued as he rubbed Fabri's back tenderly. "For life is to be lived in the happiest way, not the saddest. All that matters is that you and Cuccilo made each other happy for as long as he was here." He kissed Fabri's forehead.

As Fabrizio listened he felt his Papa was right, and the words soothed him considerably.

After a short silence, Mama spoke. "The Orsattis live fairly close by, and we'll see them and Cuccilo soon, and we should invite them all for Fabri's birthday next week."

Fabrizio looked up and smiled. "Si! Per favor!"

"Of course," said Papa, also smiling now that Fabrizio was again.

Later that evening, as Fabrizio lay in his bed after being tucked in by Mama, he found he couldn't fall asleep as he felt a kind of emptiness without Cuccilo curled up beside him for him to hold as they slept together as they had for the past month.

His hand went to the side of his pillow and he felt only the plump softness of his pillow, and not the tender softness of Cuccilo's fur.

With a sigh, Fabrizio got out of his bed and crept quietly into the living room, where he found his Papa sitting in his armchair in front of the fireplace.

Slowly, Fabrizio made his way over to him and began to climb onto the chair. Papa soon saw him and smiled as he gently pulled him up into his lap where he held him close and rocked soothingly.

He kissed Fabri's forehead, and tenderly whispered into his ear, "I miss him, too."

As his Papa held and rocked him, Fabrizio could feel the warmth radiating from the fireplace before them, and with that and the combined soothing of his Papa's love, he began to feel sleepy. His eyelids became heavy and he closed them, falling asleep in his Papa's lap.