By Muhammad Abdul Qayyum

WHEN I woke up that morning, the first thing I did was to see under the pillow. My tooth was gone and there was a pack of my favourite chocolate and Rs200 in its place!

IT all started when my first milk tooth fell out. My mum asked me to put it under my pillow. She said that a fairy will come and take my tooth away with her and she will in return give me some money and gifts. Mum said her name is “Tooth Fairy” and she comes to collect the milk teeth of every child.

I don’t know why, but I could not believe in a Tooth Fairy. But as I was sure mum could not lie to me, so I put the tooth under my pillow that night. When I woke up that morning, the first thing I did was to see under the pillow. My tooth was gone and there was a pack of my favourite chocolate and Rs200 in its place.

My mum was amazed to see my gifts, she said she was amazed how quietly the “Tooth Fairy” entered the room and how perfect her choice of chocolate was. I pretended to be happy but in my heart I said to myself, it can’t be a fairy, it had to be my mum. Only she knew which chocolate I like the best. It kept happening time after time, every time when I would lose a tooth, I would hide it under my pillow and every time the “Tooth Fairy” would take away the tooth and leave a gift.

I often wondered how my mum could let a fairy take my tooth away? She was keeping a record of everything I did. Even the first lock of my hair was saved in my baby record book. But how could she tell me something which was not true either? One day I was helping my mum in arranging her room. By that time I was eight years and I had lost eight of my milk teeth. I opened her jewellery box and found a beautiful small box in it. As I opened the box, I found all of my eight milk teeth there. Somehow I had always known it had to be my mum. But I figured out suddenly why my mum said there was a “Tooth Fairy”, not because she wanted to tell me a lie, but because she wanted to celebrate a milestone in my life.

I have a six-month old baby brother now. And when he will turn six and will lose his first milk tooth, I will tell him to put his tooth under his pillow. And you know what? I shall become his “Tooth Fairy” just as my mum was mine.