Grandma came back from the street and, as soon as she entered the door, called out, "My little darlings, I've bought you something wonderful!"
"What wonderful thing? Is it something delicious?" Little Calico Cat, Little Spotted Dog, and Little White Rabbit ran over to ask.
"Look!" Grandma said, holding up three toothbrushes. "From today on, you all must use these to brush your teeth!"
The three toothbrushes were really lovely. Grandma gave the green-handled one to Little Calico Cat, the yellow-handled one to Little Spotted Dog, and the red-handled one to Little White Rabbit. However, the three little darlings had never brushed their teeth before and were very puzzled. They asked, "Grandma, why do we need to brush our teeth?"
"To protect your teeth, of course!" Grandma said. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl who didn't brush her teeth. Her teeth got full of cavities, so she had to have them pulled out one by one. She became a toothless little girl."
"Oh no, how scary!" The three little darlings quickly covered their mouths and closed their eyes.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid!" Grandma said again. "As long as you brush your teeth every day, you won't end up like that little girl!"
"Well then, how do we brush our teeth?" the three little darlings asked.
"I'll show you." Grandma brought out the toothbrushes and toothpaste, filled a cup with water, and started brushing her teeth at the sink. As she brushed, she said, "See? Brush the top, then the bottom; brush the outside, then the inside; brush side to side and up and down—clean every single tooth thoroughly."
When Grandma finished brushing, she took a few sips of water, swished it around in her mouth with a 'glug glug' sound, rinsed her mouth clean, and revealed two rows of clean, white, even teeth. The three little darlings opened their eyes wide and said together, "Grandma, your teeth are so white and beautiful!"
"No, no, no!" Grandma blushed, shaking her head. "I am that little girl who didn't like brushing her teeth—the toothless little girl!"
"Click!" Something popped out of Grandma's mouth. The three little darlings looked: Ah! It was a set of false teeth!