“That depends on what you’ve done,” he answered gently.
The little girl couldn’t take it anymore; she burst into tears and almost immediately blurted out the thing that left everyone around completely stunned:
“I hit my brother on the leg… really hard. Now he has a bruise. And he’s going to die… I didn’t mean to. Please, don’t put me in jail…”
The officer was bewildered at first, but then he couldn’t help but smile. He gently hugged the crying child and whispered to her:
“No, sweetie. Your brother will be fine. Nobody dies from a bruise.”
The girl looked at him with eyes full of tears.
“Really?”
“Really. But you mustn’t do it again, okay?”
“Yes…”
“Do you promise?”
“I promise…”
The little girl dried her tears, snuggled up to her mom, and for the first time in several days, a sense of calm returned to the police station.
