Hayu Hamemayu

 

Story by Hayu Hamemayu and Hayya Habibi

Illustration by Hayya Habibi

Long long time ago, there was a little girl named Naia. She lived in a bamboo village near forest with her momma. Among all things in this world, Naia loved sweets. She ate a lot of candies, chocolates and marshmallows. But, Naia hated brushing her teeth. Her momma kept telling her that it is important to brush her teeth at least twice a day, but Naia didn’t listen.

Every time her momma tried to brush her teeth, Naia always ran away or hid in the forest near her house. Her momma tried to catch her but Naia was so quick she was barely able to keep up.

At night, Naia would go to her room quietly and pretended that she had fell asleep when her momma called her and asked her to brush her teeth. Naia did anything not to brush her teeth.

Until one night, Naia suddenly screamed out loud. Her momma ran to her room. “What happened, Naia?” she asked.

“My teeth are hurt,” Naia said.

Naia’s momma checked her teeth using a flashlight and said:

“Oh Naia, your teeth look so bad. They are brown, and yellow, and green and have lots of holes on them.”

“Oh noooo,” Naia screamed louder.

“Come on, we need to see a dentist.”

Naia didn’t want to see the dentist. She’s afraid of dentist. But her momma said it’s the only way to make her feel better. So she hesitantly went with her momma to see the dentist who lived nearby.

Naia’s momma knocked the door once they’ve arrived at the dentist’s house. Naia was still crying next to her momma. Her teeth felt really bad. The dentist opened the door and seemed surprised to see Naia and her momma standing in front of his door in the middle of the night.

“Hi, how can I help you?” said the dentist.

“Please help us, doc. My daughter’s got a toothache. A very bad one,” explained Naia’s momma.

The dentist then invited Naia and her momma to come to his office. He asked Naia to sit on a dental chair and started to check Naia’s teeth. Naia was trembling. Her momma held her hand and kept telling her that it would gonna be just fine.

“Open your mouth, Naia,” the dentist asked. Naia followed his instruction.

“Oh wow,” the dentist said.

“This is bad, Naia. Did you brushed your teeth at least twice a day?” he asked.

Naia shook her head.

“She doesn’t like brushing her teeth, doc,” her momma added.

“Well, your teeth are really bad now. We need to pull them out. All of them,” said the dentist.

Naia’s face turned into white. She didn’t want to lose her teeth. Not all of them. How would she enjoy the sweets if she didn’t have teeth? But she couldn’t do anything. She felt like she couldn’t move anywhere. She was stoned. The dentist took the dental tool and pulled out all Naia’s teeth. Naia screamed in horror: “Noooooooooooo”

 

But it was too late. Naia was already toothless. She screamed much louder: “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo”

And then she heard her momma’s voice in the distance:

 

 

“Naia, Naia, wake up. Are you okay?” she asked in worry.

Naia woke up and seemed puzzled. She carefully touched her jaws and realised that her teeth were still there. All of them. It was just a nightmare. Naia was so relieved. She didn’t answer her momma question and jumped out of her bed instead.

“Naia, are you okay?” asked her momma again.

“Yes, I just want to brush my teeth,” she answered.

Her momma was so surprised to hear that so she followed Naia to the bathroom.

“Naia, why do you suddenly want to brush your teeth?” she asked curiously.

“I don’t want to be toothless, momma. That’s what happened when we don’t brush our teeth. I saw it in my dream. So from now on, I’ll brush my teeth twice a day like you’ve always said. I promise.”

The End