Emilka and Kuba are pulled into a magical kingdom inside a bathroom cabinet, where a guardian dentist begs for help against a creeping bacterial threat.
On an ordinary Tuesday morning, Emilka was brushing her teeth with extra care while her older brother Kuba was already half-dressed and thinking about school. Their dad, who was a dentist, always reminded them to brush properly, especially after breakfast. Kuba, as usual, gave his teeth a quick once-over and reached for the door.
"Kuba, look!" Emilka called from the sink.
Under the cabinet, tipped on its side, lay an empty toothpaste tube. Not just any tube. It was silver at the edges, as if it had been caught in a strange light. Emilka picked it up, and Kuba leaned closer just in time to see a flash burst across the bathroom tiles.
The room spun. The mirror blazed white. The floor dropped away beneath them, and in a heartbeat they were shrinking, smaller and smaller, until the sink looked like a waterfall and the toothbrushes towered above them like poles in a parade. Then the cabinet door swung open by itself, and a tunnel of whirling colour swept them inside.
When the spinning stopped, they were lying on something smooth and bright, like a giant white cushion. Emilka sat up first and stared. Rows of enormous teeth stretched out around them in shining ranks, each one taller than a house. Above them hung a rainbow toothbrush the size of a bus. The air smelled faintly sweet and minty, but underneath it was something else, something sour and wrong.
A tiny man in a white apron hurried toward them, clutching a huge loop of floss. His round glasses flashed, and his little dental cap sat crooked on his head.
"Welcome to the Kingdom of Toothland!" he cried, bowing so low his cap nearly fell off. "I am Doctor Dandelion, chief guardian of the kingdom. I'm afraid you have arrived at the worst possible time."
He pointed a trembling finger down the row of teeth. In the distance, one molar was beginning to darken from within, as if smoke were curling behind it. A sticky black mist pulsed in the gap, and from its edges came a faint, furious buzzing.
"The Vanity Bugs are back," Doctor Dandelion whispered. "And they have already reached the first gate."
Emilka tightened her grip on the floss. Kuba reached for the giant toothbrush just as the mist split open and a swarm of buzzing shapes surged toward them.