25. Gentleness: The Surprising Roar that Makes a New Dental Assistant

Hi and welcome to Lamplighter Podcast. My name is Rebecca and this is my squirrel friend Momo. Hello kids! We have an exciting story for you today. In each of our stories, we are going to learn about one virtue. A virtue is anything that is good and right and true. Virtues are like little lights that shine bright and beautiful in a story. Can I tell them about letters from Momo? Go ahead! I want to send you a real letter in the mail once a month. In my letters, I will tell you more silly four stories. Talk about virtues and show you a real historical person who practiced that virtue. Oh and I'll also talk about acorns. If you would like to get letters from Momo in the mail once a month, just ask your adult to visit Lamplighterkids.com. If you sign up before the 20th, you will get a letter from Momo for that month. Visit Lamplighterkids.com for more information. So are you ready? Come and listen while we light the way to your imagination. [Music] [Music] Hi Momo, what are you doing there? Oh, eating acorns I see. Yes, very. Ouch! Oh my, are you okay? I heard a crunching noise that didn't sound very good. Tooth is equal to a bit harder than the rest of them. Does it look like I chip my tooth? Let's see, no, no, it looks okay. I think you just need to rest that tooth for a little bit. Maybe take a small break from eating acorns. They are really hard. A break from acorns? Oh, I guess you're right. Just a small break though, and maybe you can tell me a story to distract me from wanting to eat them. That is a great idea. And how about I tell you a very toothy story? It all started at a dentist office near a zoo. [Music] Dr. Oli was the best dentist in town. The dental office where his happy clients went was on the second story of a building near the grand city zoo. In fact, it was so close to the zoo that, from the big window in his office, you could see the monkey exhibit that rose in a tall net over the walls of the zoo. And the monkeys could see his office as well. They enjoyed watching Dr. Oli and his clients just as much as the clients in the office enjoyed watching them. Oh, he's taking out the picker. There he goes. Would exclaim one monkey as they watch Dr. Oli work? I think he uses that tool to pick bananas from human's teeth. No, no, silly, human's don't eat bananas. We eat bananas. Humans eat crickets. He uses it to pick crickets from their teeth. No, that's not a picker. It's a squirter. He's squirting water in the human's mouth so that they grow taller. Humans are just like plants, you know. They need to be watered every day to grow. The monkeys would enjoy their dental entertainment for a while. Then eventually they'd get bored and go back to swinging and chasing each other in their pen. All except one monkey that is. Bonnie could watch Dr. Oli for hours. She loved seeing his tools and watching his clients laugh. She spent so much time watching him that she knew what tool he was going to use before he even used it. She thought that being a dentist must be the most fun job in the whole world. And sometimes she even imagined herself as Dr. Oli's assistant. But then she'd shake her head, laughing at such a silly thought. A monkey as a human dentist's assistant? Now that could never happen. One warm evening, just before sunset, Bonnie was watching Dr. Oli clean a child's teeth. Suddenly, there came a loud roar that shook the branches of the tree she was cleaning to. All the monkeys in the cage began to chatter fearfully and swing around. Even though they knew very well where the roar was coming from. It was Aaron, the lion, who lived in his pen across from the monkeys. The monkeys had never really liked living near Aaron. Even though they knew that they were safe in their pen, they would still jump around fearfully anytime he let out his rumbling roar. My tooth! Aaron roared again. By this time, the monkeys were all gathered on the highest branches around Bonnie, shaking and clinging close. Did you hear that? Oh, I hate this big roar. Reminds me of the days when we lived in the jungles. Donald, you never lived in the jungles. You were born in the zoo. Oh, well, it's still scary. What is he saying, guys? Bonnie tried to hush her friends to see what Aaron was yelling about. My tooth! My tooth! The lion moaned. Bonnie's heart jumped with excitement. Somebody had a tooth problem? Maybe she could help. She completely forgot to be scared of the lion and began to swing across the pen until she got as close to his cage as she could. Excuse me, Mr. Aaron, sir! She yelled, "I can't help but notice that you seem to have a toothache." I actually know quite a lot about teeth, and was wondering if you could tell me what happened. Aaron was surprised to hear Bonnie speak to him, for the monkeys had always ignored him. But he took a breath and said in his deep voice. Well, I was just playing around with a coconut in my pen. I was pretending it was a gazelle running away from me, and so I tossed it up and caught it in my mouth. I bit down too hard on the coconut, and look! The lion slowly opened his big mouth. Even from far away, Bonnie could see that the lion's biggest front tooth had chipped at the end. Where there should have been a sharp point, there was now a flat edge. "Oh, wow! That must hurt," said Bonnie. She had often seen humans visit Dr. Oly with chip teeth, and he had been able to fix them with some kind of paste. As she stared at Aaron's tooth, she began to get an idea. She wondered if maybe, just maybe, she could get Aaron to Dr. Oly's dentist office. Then he would be able to fix the lion's tooth. Bonnie's eyes brightened and she yelled, "Don't worry, Mr. Aaron, sir. I'll be right over." Before she could even see the lion's confused look, she began running around her cage, looking for a way to escape. "Bonnie, what's gotten into you? What are you doing?" Her monkey friends watched as she began pushing around the corners and edges of the netting. "I'm escaping," Bonnie said. "I'm going to help Aaron get his tooth fixed." The monkeys looked at each other and shook their heads. "Maybe she's been watching Dr. Oly a little too much." "I told you we should have stopped her long ago. I knew it would go to her head someday." "I think Bonnie's gone a little bananas if you know what I mean." Bonnie stopped and turned around, watching her friends whispering and shaking their heads. "I knew it was a crazy idea, but she had been waiting her whole life to help someone with their teeth." She swung over to her friends. "I understand your concern, and I'm thankful you care so much about me, but just think of Dr. Oly. He is very kind and very gentle. I think he will help Aaron if we can just get him over there." "My whole life I wanted to help people with their teeth, and I wanted to meet Dr. Oly. This would be a dream come true for me." The monkeys were quiet for a moment, and then one of them spoke. "Well, if it means that much to her, what are we waiting for? Let's find her away out of here." With a loud cheer, all the monkeys began to run around looking for a way out. Bonnie's heart lifted, seeing her friends help her. After a few minutes, someone yelled out, "Over here, guys." Up in a tall corner, someone had found a small hole. With everyone's help, the hole got bigger and bigger until one small monkey could just fit through. Bonnie hugged all her friends goodbye, then squeezed through the hole and began to swing down the netting towards Aaron's home. She ran across the way, then stopped. Aaron had fallen asleep, his paw still on his back. is hurting tooth. She wondered for a second if perhaps she had gone a little crazy. The lion's teeth sure looked pretty big, even if one of them was chipped. "Hey, Aaron! Aaron! What? Aaron looked sleepily over and then jumped. How did you get out of your pen? What are you doing here?" "I want to take you to my dentist. He can fix your tooth. He's a very gentle man. I just know he would help you." " Aaron raised his eyebrows and then began to laugh a deep, rolling laugh." "Well, that's just the funniest thing I've ever heard. There's no way a human would want to get near me. They're all afraid of me." He put his paw over his mouth again in pain. "Well, you certainly look like you need some help. If you promise not to eat me, I can get you out of here. Dr. Oli fixes chipped teeth all the time. You'd feel so much better." Aaron looked at Bonnie and then nodded his head, "Okay, let's try it. I promise I won't eat you. I don't like eating things with hair anyways. If this doctor of yours can fix my teeth well, it would be worth it." Bonnie gave him a thumbs up, then climbed the walls of his pen and jumped down inside next to Aaron. He seemed even bigger standing right next to him, but she kept her mind on the job, fixing a broken tooth. Aaron showed her the door in the back of his cage, and Bonnie with her human-like hands had no problem opening it. Through the zookeeper's office and out to another door they went and tell, "They were free." They quietly made their way to the entrance of the zoo, thankful that it was now dark, and all the zookeepers were gone for the night. Bonnie was feeling more and more excited. She was going to meet Dr. Oli. "Come on, Aaron. This way." They left the zoo and made their way up a sidewalk until they stood in front of the large glass doors of Dr. Oli's building. Bonnie wiggled and jiggled the door knob until it opened for them. Then they found the staircase and went up to the second floor. "Here it is. Number 221," said Bonnie sleepily. "He won't be here until morning, so I guess we can just sleep here for the night and wait for him." Aaron nodded letting out a large yawn, which showed off his chip tooth more than ever. With a large thump, he lay down right in front of the door and fell fast asleep. Bonnie watched him for a minute, then lay down herself. Even though she felt tired, her mind was so excited. Oli in the morning. But it had been a very big day, and she soon drifted off into a happy sleep. Bonnie woke up, realizing that someone was coming up the stairs. She jumped to her feet and shook Aaron awake, putting her finger to her lips for quiet. Both of them stared at the stairway, nervous, but excited. Dr. Oli came out of the doorway and started walking up the hallway, his eyes on the floor. When he got near to his office, he looked up and quickly stopped. His eyebrow shot up in surprise. "I do believe there is a lion and a monkey in front of my office." He took his glasses off, rubbed his eyes and put them back on. "Yes, yes, I am not mistaken, there is a lion and a monkey in front of my office. Or perhaps I didn't wake up this morning and I'm dreaming right now." Dr. Oli scratched his head in confusion. Bonnie knew she had to do something to explain their situation to him. She ran forward and began to make wild noises, pointing at Aaron, then at her teeth, then making a sad face, and pointing to the doctor, and making a happy face. Dr. Oli stared at her in amazement. "If I'm not crazy, I would think that you're trying to tell me something." "Lion, two, sad, me, two, happy?" Dr. Oli looked up at the lion who was opening his mouth and pointing to his chipped tooth. "Oh my, you poor thing, look at that tooth of yours! You must be in a lot of pain." For getting all about his safety, Dr. Oli walked right up to the lion and gently examined his mouth. "Yes, this won't do at all. I suppose you two came to the right place. Follow me then, let's fix that tooth of yours. With that, he opened the door and led them back to his dental chair. Of course, the lion was too big to sit in the chair, so instead, he laid his head on it while Bonnie watched an amazement. She finally got to see all the tools up close. Whenever Dr. Oli began to search for the tool he needed next, Bonnie was quicker than him and found it first, handing it to the doctor. "Well, it'd be how does a little monkey like you do so much about these tools. This is the craziest morning I think I've ever had. Lions in my office, monkeys helping me with tools, and there! It's all fixed! How does your tooth feel now?" The lion lifted his head and slowly ran his thick tongue over his tooth. Dr. Oli had put a sticky paste on it and then placed a cap over it, making it look white and shiny and sharp again. "Oh, yes, it doesn't hurt a bit anymore!" Aaron told Bonnie, who clapped with joy. Not only had she helped someone with a tooth problem, but she got to help Dr. Oli with his tools. This had been the best day of her life. A couple weeks later, Bonnie became the first monkey assistant that Dr. Oli had ever hired. He had been amazed at how helpful Bonnie was when fixing Aaron's teeth and decided that she could be very useful in his office. Not only would she be able to find the tools quicker than he could, but she would also keep the clients happy. Everyone loved seeing a monkey in his office. Every other day, Dr. Oli would come and pick her up from the zoo to spend the day with him, helping people fix their teeth. Bonnie couldn't believe that her dream had really come true. In celebration of her success, the monkeys in the zoo made a song just for her. Now we get to what you do across the way from the grandly zoo. A grandly zoo. Dr. Oli sure sounds like a brave dentist. I don't think I'd stick my hand anywhere near Lyon's mouth. No, thank you. Yes, he was and he also had to practice gentleness. Gentleness is when you are kind and polite and helpful to those around you. Gentle people are wonderful to be around because they're easy to talk to and trust. Bonnie could tell that Dr. Oli was a gentle man just from watching the way that he treated his clients. I wish I could visit Dr. Oli so he can make my tooth feel better. It's still a little sore and I want another equal. I think your tooth needs a little more rest. In the meantime, let's do question time. Question 1. What is gentleness? Question 2. Do you know someone who is a gentle person? Hey, Rebecca. Yes, Momo. Can I eat it, Corns yet? Soon, Momo. Real soon. I promise. Thanks for listening to Lamplighter Podcast today. If you liked our story, please leave us a review. It really helps other listeners find these stories. If you're interested in subscribing to Letters from Momo, just visit our website at lamplighterkids.com. I also love to hear from my listeners. You can email me anytime at [email protected].