It had all been going so well. Nanna was playing with him and actually seemed to think it was all interesting and neat. But Nergal knew he was right when he said they needed to clean up. He didn’t want to get Nanna into any trouble for something he didn’t do. That part had all gone well.
Then came the slipping and the falling. That is when it all went really, really bad.
Nanna tried to catch him when he started to fall. His big brother was always trying to help him like that. Nanna really was a good brother, even if Nergal forgot to tell him he thought that. But when Nanna tried to catch him, both boys slipped in the pooled blood on the floor. He knew it was going to hurt when they landed.
Nergal’s head bounced on the stones, instantly giving him a tremendous headache. Then he heard something go ‘pop’. He quickly felt his head to make sure everything was still there. He didn’t want his eyes to pop out of his head. But other than some blood that was leaking from his head, there was no real damage. He wiped the blood out of his eyes and looked for his brother.
Nanna looked hurt and scared when he told Nergal that his arm wouldn’t work. That was not good at all. Nergal knew he had to help his brother above everything else. He decided that he would take the blame for the mess in the kitchen and go get their mother.
“Wait here, Nanna,” he said, wiping more blood off his face. “I’ll go get Mama and tell her that I broke you and she’ll fix everything. I’m sorry I broke you. Really I am.”