

Lily and Ben are friends. They like to play in the park. One day, they see a big dog. The dog is black and white. The dog has a red collar.
"Look, a dog!" Lily says. "Can we pet it?"
"I don't know," Ben says. "Maybe it is not nice."
Lily and Ben go near the dog. The dog wags its tail. It licks Lily's hand. Lily smiles. She pets the dog.
"Hello, dog," she says. "You are kind and soft."
The dog barks. It jumps on Ben. Ben falls down. He cries. The dog bites Ben's arm. Ben has a cut. It hurts.
"Help, help!" Ben calls. "The dog is bad!"
Lily runs to Ben. She hugs him. She sees the cut. She is scared.
"Let's go to mom," she says. "She can help."
Lily and Ben run to mom. Mom is on a bench. She sees the cut. She is worried.
"What happened?" she asks.
"A dog bit me," Ben says. "It was not kind."
Mom takes Ben to the car. She drives to the doctor. The doctor looks at the cut. He cleans it. He puts a bandage on it.
"You are brave," he says. "The cut will heal soon."
Lily and Ben say thank you. They go back to mom. Mom hugs them.
"I'm sorry, Ben," she says. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay," Ben says. "But I don't like dogs anymore."
Lily thinks. She remembers the dog. It was kind and soft at first. Then it was bad and hurtful.
"Maybe the dog was scared too," she says. "Maybe it did not know us. Maybe it wanted to play, but it played too rough."
Ben nods. He understands.
"Maybe you are right," he says. "But we should be careful. We should not pet dogs we don't know. We should ask their owners first."
Lily and Ben agree. They learn a lesson. They are still friends. They are kind to each other.
