Danny sobbed as he ran through the back door of his friend's home. Sam's mother rushed into the kitchen the moment she heard his cries and cooed softly as she calmed him down.
"Oh honey, what's the matter? What happened?"
Danny hiccuped and sniffled as he tried to calm down, then took a shaky breath and answered, "I...I scratched my knee!"
He held his dirt-streaked knee out for her to see, his lip and chin quivering as he struggled not to cry again.
"Oh, that's not so bad!" she said, her tone excessively cheerful. "Why don't you have a seat and I'll clean that scratch up for you. And if you're a good boy, I'll give you a little treat that you can share with Sam!"
Danny nodded and climbed into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. Sam's mom was good at fixing cuts, better than his own mom who used that stuff that hurt, and he liked her bandages better. Sitting still was easy, but his lip continued to quiver whenever he caught sight of blood on the washcloth.
"There you go," she said as she applied a camoflague-patterned banadage over the scrape. "Good as new. And since you were so good, I'll give you an extra treat!"
She reached into the treat jar on the counter and handed Danny two lollipops and two small packets of chocolate. Danny offered her an excited thank you, then hurried back outside to their fort near the back fence.
"What did we get?" asked Sam excitedly as Danny returned. "Anything good?"
"A lollipop and some chocolate!" answered Danny, handing Sam his share of the treats. "Much better than the crackers my grandma gave us."
Sam tucked his treats into the old lunchbox that served as his safe and then ripped the bandage off of Danny's knee, causing Danny's eyes to tear up. Then he slapped a streak of dirt across Danny's knee and smiled.
"Quick, go over to Mrs. Perillo's house and see what you get! I've heard she gives out whole cookies when kids are crying!"
This prompt was provided by @mariannewest and can be found here.
Image sourced from Pixabay.