Everybody Has a Story: The case of the twice-lost tooth

It was almost dusk. Three of my four young stepchildren were all accounted for, already inside after riding their bicycles and a tricycle up and down our short, dead-end street on the warm summer’s day.

Soon it was too dark to see outside and dinner was about to be served. The fourth stepchild, Dustin, finally walked slowly through the front door. I was puzzled to see his head hung low with a dejected look across his face. It was odd because he’d been ecstatic all day. He’d worked diligently to extract a loose tooth, got it out by midmorning and proudly displayed it, eager for the Tooth Fairy’s visit later that night.

But throughout the evening, he continued to look miserable, even worried, and remained quiet. He wouldn’t say what was wrong nor why he hadn’t come in with his siblings.

Bedtime came around. Everyone bathed and, after a story was read, the two girls retired to their room and the two boys to theirs. After all the kids were tucked in with lights out, I waited.

Finally, absolutely sure the boys were both asleep, I put on my Tooth Fairy hat, and crept into their room, then stealthily reached under Dustin’s pillow, ready to exchange his newly lost tooth with some Tooth Fairy money.

The Tooth Fairy found something under Dustin’s pillow. No, there was no tooth, but there was something. It was a small pebble about the size of his tooth!

Finally, the truth came out. He evidently wanted to show his tooth to his friends and, after doing so, planned to keep it close until bedtime. But the tooth had accidentally fallen out of his pocket sometime after lunch while riding his bicycle.

The tooth he had lost earlier in the day, he had lost again!

After discovering the loss, Dustin parked his bicycle and walked up and down the half-block dead-end street for hours searching for the missing tooth. Once it was too dark to search any longer, he was devastated, but came up with a plan: find a substitute tooth. Surely, the Tooth Fairy could be fooled, right?

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