He wasn't supposed to be on the big kid swings, not by himself at least, but mummy had gone to the corner shop to buy milk and sweets and had trusted Thor to look after his little brother on the climbing frame. Thor had soon tired of hanging upside down and had run off to join the other children that had entered the park, leaving Loki by himself, sat on the floor in front of the metal frame.
"Thor?" Loki called after his brother, watching as he grinned at the little boy and his parents from across the road. He didn't get an answer, so he stood, planning to make his way over to his big brother and tug on his shirt until he agreed to teach Loki the monkey bars.
The five-year old didn't get very far before the empty swings caught his eye. He knew he shouldn't, mummy had told him he'd get hurt and that the swings were for big seven-year olds like Thor, but mummy wasn't here now and even if Thor was looking he wouldn't tell. Thor said telling was for babies.
With a quick glance around to make sure mummy really was at the shop and wouldn't see, Loki ran over to the swing set and wriggled into the closest seat. He started kicking his legs, grinning to himself when he started swinging backwards and forwards. Feeling brave, he leant back further, stretching his legs out as far as possible, urging the swing set to take him higher, higher, higher. Loki laughed when the wind whipped his hair against his cheeks and he leant forwards in the seat.
He felt like he was free, like he was flying.
He realised he was falling when he hit the ground.
Trying not to cry, Loki pushed himself into a sitting position so that he could assess the damage. His knees and hands stung and he was pretty sure he'd knocked his elbow on the edge of the swing as he fell. There was blood on the tarmac next to him and when he looked down at his knees he realised not only were they stinging, they were bleeding as well.
He tried not to cry as he used a nearby bench to pull himself to his feet but tears started slipping down his cheeks anyway. As he made his way over to where Thor was still playing his knees dribbled blood down his shins and on to his clean socks and that made him cry harder. If mummy didn't get angry at him for playing on the swings on his own she'd certainly get angry at his stained socks.
"Thor," Loki sniffed as he reached his brother, rubbing his eyes and nose with the back of his hand. "Thor, I fell."
Thor turned to look at his brother and his smile fell when he saw the blood dripping down his legs and dotting his palms. "What happened?" he asked, eyes wide with shock.
"I fell," Loki answered, purposely not telling Thor what he'd fallen off, just in case, and trying to stop fresh tears falling down his face. Thor said only babies cried.
"We'll get mummy, okay," Thor said. He wrapped an arm around his little brother's shoulders and started walking in the direction of the shop where their mother was and murmuring it'll be okay over and over to Loki.
Loki kept sniffing as they walked, the pain in his scraped hands and knees just seemed to be getting worse and he tugged on Thor's arm to get him to slow down. "Hurts," he muttered between sobs and pulled on his brother's arm again, hoping that Thor would let them sit down for a bit.
The seven-year old stopped walking and turned to face his brother who promptly sat down on the grass on the side of the pavement and wiped the tears of his cheeks. Thor crouched in front of Loki and took a better look at his knees, wincing when he saw bits of gravel stuck in the wound. Mummy always said that was bad but Thor wasn't sure what he should do. "Stay here," he said in the end, standing up straight and thinking whether it would be quicker to get mummy from the shop or the first aid kit from home.
"No!" Loki cried, reaching out to grab Thor's knees. "Don't go!" The blood on his knees was almost dry now and his sobs had turned into hiccups and he didn't want mummy to see him like this because she'd know he'd broken the rules. "Can we go home?" he asked quietly, looking up at his big brother with wide eyes.
"I don't know…" Thor said, biting his lip and glancing down the road to the shop. "Maybe we should wait." As much as he wanted to help his brother he didn't want mummy to worry and if she couldn't find them at the park she'd worry. He sat down next to Loki and pulled the smaller boy into a hug.
"Mummy will be back soon," Thor said. "You'll be okay."
Loki nodded and sniffed, then leant his head on his big brother's shoulder to wait for mummy to come and get them.