

Lily liked to play the violin. She had a small violin that her mom gave her. She liked to make music with it. She played every day in her room.
One day, her brother Max came in. He was bored. He saw the violin on the bed. He wanted to play with it. He picked it up and started to make noises.
"Stop, Max!" Lily said. "That is my violin. You have to be careful with it. It is not a toy."
Max did not listen. He thought it was funny. He made silly faces and silly sounds. He swung the violin in the air.
"Max, you are being silly. You will break it. Give it back to me!" Lily said. She tried to grab the violin.
Max ran away. He ran to the living room. He tripped on the rug. He fell down. The violin fell too. It broke into pieces.
Lily and Max heard a loud crash. They saw the broken violin. They felt sad. They knew they did something bad.
Mom heard the noise too. She came to the living room. She saw the mess. She saw Lily and Max. She was angry.
"What happened here?" Mom asked. "Who broke the violin?"
Lily and Max looked at each other. They did not know what to say. They were sorry. They knew they had to tell the truth.
"It was me, Mom," Max said. "I was being silly. I wanted to play with the violin. I did not care. I broke it. I am sorry."
Mom looked at Max. She was still angry. But she was also glad that he told the truth. She looked at Lily. She saw that she was sad. She felt sorry for her too.
She hugged them both. She said, "I am glad you told the truth, Max. But you have to learn to care for other people's things. The violin was Lily's. She loved it. You hurt her feelings. You have to say sorry to her too."
Max looked at Lily. He said, "I am sorry, Lily. I was being silly. I did not mean to break your violin. I know you liked it. Can you forgive me?"
Lily looked at Max. She was still sad. But she was also glad that he said sorry. She said, "I forgive you, Max. But you have to be more careful next time. The violin was special to me. It was a gift from Mom. I will miss it."
Mom said, "I am sorry too, Lily. I know how much you loved the violin. I will try to fix it. Or maybe we can get you a new one. But you have to promise me something. You have to practice more. You have to show me that you care for the violin. You have to make beautiful music with it."
Lily nodded. She said, "I promise, Mom. I will practice more. I will care for the violin. I will make beautiful music with it."
Mom smiled. She said, "That's good, Lily. I am proud of you. And I am proud of you too, Max. You learned a lesson today. You learned to care for others. You learned to say sorry. You learned to tell the truth. You are both good kids. I love you both."
She kissed them both. She said, "Now, let's clean up this mess. And then, let's have some cookies. How does that sound?"
Lily and Max smiled. They said, "That sounds good, Mom. We love you too."
They helped Mom clean up the mess. They had some cookies. They hugged each other. They felt better. They learned to care.
