"OK, you two, stay in the sand and don't get into too much trouble," Johanna said as she sat her daughter in the sand. Little Barry crawled around the woman to sit beside his best friend, giggling when she threw sand at him. "I'll be at the store," Johanna said as she waved goodbye.
"We should build a castle!" Dawn giggled. She started shoveling sand into the bucket and Barry ran to get water, pouring it on top of the bucket and smacking it down. The two were used to being in Sandgem, since there wasn't a store to go to in Twinleaf Town. Neither of them minded the slightly bigger town, since it meant they could play in the sand.
Dawn overturned the bucket and let Barry smack the top a few times before lifting up. They both gasped at the perfect column. "More!" Dawn giggled. They filled in a square and added two more towers on top of the base, then they carved out windows and drew little designs into the wet sand. Once they stood back to admire their work, Dawn couldn't help but feel like something was missing.
They had a moat, so that was fine. There were plenty of windows, and the balcony was perfect, not to mention the leaves stuck in the top for flags…what could be missing? The little girl pushed on the tooth in her mouth that shed figured out was loose.
Barry stroked an invisible beard, looking from Dawn to the castle. Then, an idea hit him. "I'll be right back!" he shouted, darting off toward the water. Dawn watched him for a moment, then shrugged and dropped to her knees to see if there was anything she could do for the poor castle.
That's when a little boy about her age came over. "Hi," he greeted, stooping down to Dawn's height. His dark hair was mostly hidden under a beret and the light jacket he had on seemed silly with his khaki shorts and bare toes.
"Hello," Dawn said back, patting sand around the base of the castle. "What's missing?" she asked, hoping this new boy could tell her what to do for the castle.
"Hm?" The boy looked a little harder, then just as he was about to say something, Barry came running back over.
"I found something, Dawnie!" Barry shouted. He tried to stop himself as he drew closer, but that proved more difficult than he'd originally thought. Barry slammed his foot into the loose sand, trying to stop, but the momentum still propelled him forward and onto Dawn's back. She was pushed forward and forced into the castle, which morphed around her face and hair the farther she sunk in. The shell Barry had been holding flew out of his hold and cut the girl's hand, just to top things off.
For a moment, nothing happened. Barry sat up, the new boy sat too shocked to do anything, and Dawn just laid face-down in the remains of her castle. Then, the girl started to shake. Her fists filled with sand weakly and both boys could hear her gasping breaths. "Dawnie!" Barry yelped. He picked her up and pulled her close, letting the little girl bury her face in his neck to wail. She gripped the collar of his gray t-shirt and soaked his shoulder in salty tears.
"Oh, dear!" Johanna's voice came through. The woman ran over, stooping down to examine her daughter's hot tear-stained and sand-covered face. "Dawn…" she breathed out.
Then, the new little boy tapped Johanna on the shoulder. When she looked at him, he held out a little white tooth. "I think that's hers…" he mumbled.
Johanna whipped her head back to Dawn, who started to cry harder when she realized the tooth was missing.
"Mamaaaa!" Dawn cried, moving from Barry's arms to her mother's. "Mama, it hu-uuuurts!"
"I know, sweetie," Johanna cooed, rubbing Dawn's back. Barry kept apologizing over and over, hovering carefully over the two.
Then, the other boy tapped Johanna on the shoulder again. "You can clean her up at my house," he offered. Johanna agreed, thanking the little boy. "It's this way," he said, leading the way. Johanna picked Dawn up and settled her on her hip before taking Barry's hand. They entered the boy's home and Johanna sat Dawn on the kitchen counter.
"Here's a cloth," the boy said, handing a rag to Johanna.
"Thank you, sweetie," she said with a nod.
"It's Lucas," Lucas said, twisting his body nervously. He let Barry help him up onto the counter to watch Dawn a little closer. They watched as Johanna wiped away the dirt and blood and sand from Dawn's cheeks and chin, then watched the motherly process of stopped the girl's tears. "Here's your tooth, girlie," Lucas said once he was sure Dawn was calmed down. She took the bone with wide eyes, tears again filling her eyes.
"Oh, thank you, Lucas," Johanna said with a smile. "Dawn sure wouldn't want to miss seeing the toothfairy tonight because she lost her tooth!"
"Toothfairy?" Dawn and Barry asked together, one more enthusiastic than the other. Johanna nodded, explaining how the fairy would leave gifts in exchange for lost teeth.
"That's awesome!" Barry laughed. He scooted across the counter to hug Dawn, thankful that she reciprocated the affection. Johanna smiled and picked all three children up off the counter.
"Thank you, young man, but I think we should head home, now," Johanna thanked, patting Lucas on the head. She took either child's hand and started out the door.
"Bye-bye, girlie!" Lucas giggled, "Hope you feel better!" Dawn turned to look at him, waving with her free hand.
Dawn woke up the next morning to Barry's loud snoring. She rolled her eyes at the boy, though winced at the movement. Her face was quite sore from the face-plant. She ran her tongue over the gap in her mouth, then remembered her toothfairy present. Throwing back her pillow onto Barry's face, she saw her very pretty gift.
It was a necklace. The neckless had three pink rocks, the center one being the largest, and the rocks were tied in with silvery cord. Other, smaller stones lined the pink ones, making much of a rainbow effect.
"Barry!" Dawn shouted, startling the blond.
"Wah!" he shouted, bolting up where he laid. The pillow fell into his lap, which made him glare at the girl. "What is it?!" he yelled. Dawn giggled and held up her necklace. "Is that from the toothfairy?" he asked. Dawn nodded and had him clip it around her neck. "That's so cool!"
"I know!" Dawn giggled.
"I should ram into your back more often!" Barry added.
"No." Dawn cut off that idea immediately, making poor Barry pout.
This is one of my favorites, with out a doubt.
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