"Whee! Look at me, Lily!" Evelyn giggled, soaring through the fluffy clouds. She kicked her legs, pretending they were flippers propelling her through the ocean. She loved the ocean, with all its colorful fish. "We should pack a toothbrush for the trip!" she declared, remembering what her mom always said.
Lily, her funny, furry cat, just blinked slowly from her perch on Evelyn's shoulder. "Meow," she purred, which definitely meant, "Good idea, Evelyn!"
They weren't really going to the ocean today, though. They were going to the Cloud Playground! Evelyn had discovered it last week when she was pretending to be a little bird. She had jumped off a chair, flapping her arms, and whoosh! She landed right on a bouncy cloud!
The Cloud Playground was amazing! The clouds were pink and lilac, just like cotton candy, and they made boingy noises every time you jumped. Plus, there was a little bird who sang the prettiest songs while you played!
"Look, there he is!" Evelyn squealed, pointing her tiny finger. The little bird perched on a fluffy cloud, his feathers shimmering like rainbows.
"Tweet, tweet! Welcome back!" the little bird chirped. "Did you bring your toothbrush today?"
Evelyn froze. "Oh no, I forgot!" she gasped. "Mom always says it's important to brush our teeth, even on the Cloud Playground!"
The little bird tilted his head. "Why do we need to brush our teeth?"
"It keeps our teeth clean and strong!" Evelyn explained, puffing out her chest. "And it makes our breath smell like rainbows, not stinky cheese!"
The little bird wrinkled his tiny nose. "Stinky cheese? Yuck! I want rainbow breath!"
Evelyn grinned. "Then we need to go back and get our toothbrushes!"
"But how? We'll fall!" the little bird chirped, his wings fluttering nervously.
Evelyn knew just what to do. "Close your eyes and hold on tight!" she instructed. The little bird perched on her shoulder, clinging to her shirt. Evelyn took a deep breath and jumped!
They tumbled through the air, spinning and swirling. Evelyn laughed, feeling the wind whoosh past her ears. It felt like flying, just like her dreams of swimming in the deep blue sea.
Thump! They landed right on Evelyn's bedroom floor, soft as a cloud.
"Wow, that was fun!" the little bird chirped, his eyes wide with wonder.
Evelyn giggled and grabbed her toothbrush. "Now, let's show you how to brush like a pro!"
She squeezed a tiny bit of toothpaste onto her brush and demonstrated how to brush up and down, back and forth.
The little bird watched intently, then chirped, "My turn! My turn!"
Evelyn helped him put a tiny dot of toothpaste on a blade of grass, which he declared was his very own bird-sized toothbrush. He then mimicked Evelyn, scrubbing his beak with great enthusiasm.
"Tweet, tweet! My breath smells like sunshine and rainbows!" he chirped happily.
Evelyn beamed. "See? Brushing teeth is fun!"
From that day on, Evelyn and the little bird made sure to pack their toothbrushes, even when they went to the Cloud Playground. They even taught all the other cloud creatures the importance of brushing their teeth, and soon, the whole Cloud Playground smelled like a delicious mix of rainbows and sunshine, thanks to Evelyn and her toothbrush adventures!
