“MUM, where is that little duckling? I have wandered through the whole house three times, but the duck is nowhere to be seen,” Pam inquired.

“Oh, here it is,” Mum handed the duck toy to Pam and the girl just threw the duck carelessly into a box.

“There is a toy lying in every corner of the house. You don’t seem to take care of your toys and leave them carelessly all over the place!” Pam’s mother scolded her.

“Oh mum, it happens every year when I throw away all the useless toys. What’s the big deal?”

“Well, just keep them in one place and throw them on your way to school tomorrow. Let’s have lunch,” mum replied and then they went to have lunch.

The next morning, on the way to school, Pam threw the box full of her discarded toys in her neighbourhood garbage dump.

“Ouch, it hurts! This girl nearly broke my wing!” said the toy duck in the box.

“Yes, why don’t humans respect us? At first they are so desperate to by us and then they discard us so carelessly,” the robot complained.

“Yea, I miss Pam, I love her cute hands. I used to sleep with her every night,” said the teddy bear and started crying.

“Don’t cry, she’ll get her lesson soon,” the duck said with a stern face. The toys’ wish was soon granted when that night Pam woke up for water. She found herself in a completely new land — it was the stinky garbage point where there were thousands of toys, some broken and all very dirty. Suddenly, she realised that she was among her discarded toys in the garbage point but she too was as tiny as a toy doll!

“Aah, ouch!” Pam cried. Someone had pushed her really hard. She turned and saw her very own toy duck. All the toys stood in front of her, and they all looked very, very angry! Pam didn’t know what to do and how to go back to her world.

“How can I be here? I want to go back, please! Don’t look me like that, you were all my favourite toys!”

“Really? The favourite toys you threw!” the teddy bear exclaimed.

“I am a big girl now; you are of no use to me. I can’t keep the same toys all my life. You tell me, what else can I do?”

“If we are of no use to you, is this the way to treat your favourite things, by throwing in the garbage? You could have given us to some poor children who can only dream of having us. At least this way you could have shown some respect for the money your parents spent on us and the toys you claim to be your favourites!” the robot answered.

Pam realised her mistake instantly and remembered how desperately she would demand the toys at the toy shop without thinking about the price tag attached to them and her parents would always fulfilled her wish. She remembered when she got bored with one toy, she would carelessly throw it in the garbage. She started to cry at her mean acts.

“Yes, you are right. I will never throw my toys again, not only my toys, but my clothes shoes and everything that’s useless. I will give them to those who need them the most!”

She was still crying when suddenly she woke up from her sleep. ‘Was it a dream, or a lesson?’ she wondered.

Next morning, she was a complete changed person. First, she went to the garbage point and collected all the toys from there. Thankfully they were still in the large box she had thrown them in. She washed and cleaned them, and then went to a nearby slum area with her mum and gave it to the children there. The joys of the children found no boundaries when they saw the toys.

Pam was very happy and satisfied to look at the smiling faces that were so thrilled with even old and broken toys. The toys were also very happy as they now had someone to love and play with them. Pam had learnt a really important lesson — something that may not be valuable to us can mean a lot to others.