Once upon a time, there was a little toothbrush. She lived in a special cup in the bathroom, next to the big brushes. Morning and evening, the big brushes would take turns going off to clean teeth, then return wet and clean, smelling of toothpaste. But the little brush sometimes stood in the cup all day long, completely dry. And then the big brushes would start laughing at her:
Look, nobody needs her, no one uses her to clean their teeth! Maybe your bristles are all messy? Or your handle is crooked and uncomfortable? Or maybe you're just ugly, and nobody wants to be friends with you? Well then, we won't be friends with you either!
The little toothbrush stood there and couldn't even cry, because she was so dry. And she thought to herself:
But I'm good, I'm pretty, my bristles are straight, and my handle is comfortable. Why won't anyone use me to clean teeth?
But sometimes they did take her. They'd wet her with water and put her back, but they wouldn't actually clean any teeth. Probably just to trick the grown-ups. And then the big brushes would laugh again:
Look, she doesn't smell like toothpaste! You must be too scary to use for cleaning teeth. We don't want to be friends with you!
And sometimes it happened that the little brush was used to clean teeth, but only very quickly. And when the little brush returned to the cup, she was wet and smelled of toothpaste. But the big brushes laughed again:
Why did you come back so quickly? You must be disgusting to use for cleaning teeth! Yuck, we won't be friends with you if you're disgusting.
The little brush stood there all night feeling very sad. All the people were asleep, the toys were having fluffy dreams, various objects around the house were quietly dozing. And only the little toothbrush gathered up all the droplets she had and quietly cried into the sink: 'Drip... Drip... Drip...'
But one day, they picked her up, wet her under the tap, put paste on her, and cleaned the teeth for a long time! The little brush got to meet every single tooth, even the ones right at the back that she'd never seen before. And one of those back teeth told her what had happened. It turned out that a tiny piece of lolly had stuck to him and sat there for several days. The brush and paste hadn't come to visit, so the piece had made a real hole in the tooth!
The tooth hurt terribly, so much that he couldn't even sleep. Then the dentist came, treated him, and explained that if they didn't use the brush, he'd get sick again. So now, every morning and every evening, the little brush came to visit and cleaned every tooth together with the fragrant toothpaste.
The big brushes saw how well and thoroughly she worked, and began to praise her:
You're doing such a great job! You look after every tooth, you don't forget anyone. We're so proud of you! Let's be friends!
And everyone was very, very happy. The teeth didn't hurt anymore, and the brushes didn't quarrel or pick on those who didn't work well. The little brush no longer felt lonely, because morning and evening she met with all her tooth friends, who told her lots of interesting stories.
What do you reckon—does your toothbrush know all your teeth? And is she friends with the other brushes, or does she cry at night whilst everyone's asleep?
The brushes will be happy,
The teeth will be glad,
If we don't forget
To brush twice a day!
