Toothbrush

 Written by: Wajiha Sayar

Haroon is riding on his bicycle in the lane and he wants his sister, Qudsia to ride with him on the bicycle but Qudsia is busy brushing his doll’s hair on her toothbrush. Haroon mocks him for brushing the doll’s hair with her toothbrush. Meanwhile, the peddler arrives and the children welcome him. Peddler asks Qudsia that why she is brushing the doll’s hair with her toothbrush. Qudsia replies that she always brushes it with her toothbrush.

The peddler asks that if she knows about the problems of using a toothbrush for other purposes. Shukria replies no. Peddler brings out a magic toothbrush from his bag.

The magic toothbrush says, “Toothbrushes are made for brushing teeth, and one toothbrush should be used by one person otherwise it transfers microbes to other people.”

The magic toothbrush shows Qudsia’s toothbrush in a microscope. When Shukria sees her toothbrush, she is afraid of the germs on her toothbrush. The peddler says that the human mouth is a window to the body and a small mistake causes different diseases. Qudsia says that she always suffers from mouth ulcers and teeth bleeding and sometimes she suffers from throat sore too.

The peddler says if we brush our teeth with a dirty toothbrush, it causes us different diseases like mouth ulcers, teeth bleeding, etc. Qudsia promises that she would use her toothbrush only for brushing her teeth. The peddler gives each of the children a toothbrush and toothpaste and he goes to the next lane.

Second Lane:

Farid, Sharif and some other children are laughing in the lane. Peddler comes and after greeting, he asks the cause of their laughter. Sharif says that Farid has learned a new joke. The peddler wants Farid to tell the joke to him too. Farid tells the following joke, “A plane was to crash. All passengers were crying but a man was sitting calmly in aside. Someone asked him that why he doesn’t worry about the crash of the plane. The man replied that it's not the plane of his father to worry about it.”

Peddler likes the joke and when he wants to go to the other lane, Sharif and Farid stop him and tell him a melody about the rural child. Peddler likes the melody and he wants them to learn new jokes and melodies for the next time and he goes to the other lane.

Third Lane:

It’s raining; Lightning flashes and thunder rumbles. Ahmad says to his sister, Layla that the winter is not ended yet. Layla denies and says that it is summer, not winter. Meanwhile, they hear the voice of the peddler and they go toward him.

After greeting, Ahmad and Layla want the Golden wing fairy to tell them a new part of the story. Fairy wants them to repeat the previous part first. They repeat it and the fairy tells them part three of the story: “Tricky Crow”.