“Wake up!” Someone shook nine-year-old Ronit by his arm. Expecting his mother to be standing before him, he opened sleep-laden eyes and stared at the girl in a blue gown standing before him. She was slim and small built. Her silky brown long hair fringing a heart-shaped face gave her an angelic look.
Conscious of his untidy appearance, Ronit tried to flatten his mop of shiny black curls, which had a bad habit of looking messy and wild even after a thorough combing.
‘Who? Who are you and why did you wake me up?” he stammered.
“Hello! I’m Catherina, a tooth fairy. You can call me Cathy,” she introduced herself in a melodious voice and smiled exposing a set of perfect white teeth resembling a string of pearls.
“But you can’t be a tooth fairy; you don’t have a magic wand, a halo or wings,” said Ronit.
“I’ll answer your questions one by one, in the reverse order. I’ve made my wings invisible, as they spoil my appearance. My halo too has been done away with, as it would have blinded you. As for my magic wand, I have it in the pocket of my gown. Satisfied?” Cathy asked.
“But what are you doing in my room in the middle of the night?” Ronit questioned.
“You have won a free trip for two days to Fantasyland. At the Annual Tooth Fair held last week, your broken tooth, which you had kept under your pillow, was selected, winning you the grand prize. You have exactly 30 seconds to decide. If your answer is positive, I’ll escort you to Fantasyland. If it is negative, then the prize will go to the first runner-up,” Cathy said.
Surprised!
Illustrations: Sreejith R. Kumar
Ronit stared at her wide-eyed. “Are you coming to Fantasyland or not?” Cathy asked impatiently.
“But what will I tell my parents,” Ronit moaned. Eager as he was to embark on this fascinating and fabulous trip, he was scared of incurring his parents’ wrath. “What will my mom and dad say if I go away just like that, without telling them, without taking their permission?’
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of your parents’ permission,” Cathy assured him. She had guessed what was going on in his mind. “All you have to do is to come with me.”
“How will we go to Fantasyland?” Ronit asked.
“On that cloud,” Cathy pointed to the window. A fluffy cloud hovered near the window.
“Cool,” Ronit said. “But, I’ll look silly if I come to Fantasyland in my pyjama suit. I’ll also need time to pack my clothes for the trip.”
“No need to pack anything,” Cathy said. “All your needs will be taken care of by us Fantasylanders.”
“At least give me five minutes to change.” Jumping out of his bed, Ronit ran towards his cupboard. Opening it, he took out a pair of blue jeans and a blue T-shirt and rushed into his bathroom.
In a record time of four minutes and 30 seconds, Ronit had changed his clothes, washed his face and combed his unruly mop of curls.
When he emerged from bathroom, there was no sign of Cathy. Ronit ran to the window. There was no cloud outside the window.
Seeing a folded slip of paper on his dressing table, he opened the paper. Two words were written on it.
“Pranked you!”
