One morning, Kuba finds a shining mark on the bathroom mirror and slips into a hidden land where toothbrushes sing, toothpaste towers rise, and tiny beetles may be hiding in the darkest corners.
Cuba loved brushing his teeth at night, but that morning the bathroom felt different.
When he stepped inside, he stopped at once. On the mirror, right above the sink, there was a tiny shining mark, bright as a drop of moonlight. Cuba leaned closer. The mark quivered. It glimmered. Then the whole mirror shimmered like water.
Before Cuba could step back, the glass opened wide, as if it had been waiting for him.
On the other side was the strangest land he had ever seen. The ground was lined with sparkling tiles. Toothbrushes danced in neat little rows. Fluffy clouds of foam drifted through the air. High in the middle of the land stood a giant toothpaste tower, striped green and white, and from its windows came merry singing.
Then a small toothbrush with a blue handle rushed out, waving its bristles like arms.
"Cuba! Hurry!" it cried. "I'm Puff. We need your help. The Sugar Beetles have crawled into the Land of Toothpaste, and they keep hiding where no brush can reach."
Cuba's heart gave a leap. He was already standing at the edge of this shining, secret place, with the mirror-door open behind him and Puff tugging at his sleeve.
"Where are they?" he asked.
Puff opened its mouth to answer, but before it could speak, Cuba heard it too: soft, sneaky giggles slipping out of the dark corner near the toothpaste tower....