Get your teeth into a magic mythical tale

‘How many unicorns have

you seen?’ ‘Two,’ says Andy.

‘On the green.’ ‘I’ve seen three,’ claims

Susie May, ‘And that was just the

other day.’ ‘Oh, they don’t exist,’ chirps

bright Hortense, Offering some degree of

common sense. See, Hortense is nine and a

whole lot wiser, Than Andy, who’s pulling on a

loose incisor. Both Susie and Andy are

only eight, So what they say carries

no weight. ‘Bet unicorns’ teeth don’t

come out,’ Says Andy with a

doubting pout. ‘Of course they do,’ shouts

sister Susie, ‘That’s how baby unicorns

come to be. Perhaps your tooth will see

one born, Or twins maybe, always born

at dawn.’ Doubting Susie’s

knowledge base, Andy asks what he’s about

to face. Pulling herself to her

fullest height,

Susie explains with

much delight. ‘Bury your tooth under the

Full Moon, Always in the month of June. Two inches down will do

the trick, Then mark the earth with a

house brick.’ Andy looks bemused at

this instruction, Asking if there’s

another option. ‘You have to be able to find

it again, You’ll even see it in the rain. After six hours a unicorn will

be born, Then you feed it lots of corn.’

Andy was coming round to this This unicorn was going to be

all his. Asking: ‘Where will we keep

this new baby? In my small, warm

bedroom, maybe.’ Susie admits: ‘That will work,

I’m sure of it, But when it grows, will it

still fit?’ Hortense was listening to

their plight, Saying: ‘You’ll have to let it go

into the night. It’s a wild animal, it should be

set free But you will both have

to agree.’ ‘That’s OK, we should let it go,’ Susie thought it would love

the snow. Andy says: ‘We can grow more, I’ll lose more teeth, I’m

sure, before June next year — there’s time

to get ready, I’ll collect and store them in

my teddy.’ So, how many unicorns have

you seen? So many teeth, buried on

the green. You’ll see the bricks laid

in rows, Underneath, a unicorn grows.

Verona Newbold, Kenilworth, Warks.