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This chapter was requested by anon user Maddie.
100 Snapshots of Their Lost Future
10- Apples
"Mu-um!" Alfendi shouted from upstairs. "Mu-um!"
He called again.
Claire had been cooking dinner in the kitchen. She turned around towards the doorway and took an awkward step backwards, keeping her hand on the pan. She tried to look through the doorway and up to the top of the stairs. She could just about see his legs through the banister, at the top of the staircase.
"What is it?" Claire called up. "Is it something your Father can help with?"
By this, Claire of course did mean "Go and ask your Father. I'm busy." Anything that she could do, Hershel could do just as well. Unless it was making a bed. He seemed to struggle to put the duvet cover on the quilt the right way round.
"Maybe, but I want you!" The five year old boy shouted.
Claire sighed and was about to turn down the sizzling pan to go and attend her wailing son, when she heard Hershel make his way through to the ground floor hallway.
"What is it, my boy?" Hershel said.
"Only mum can help!" Alfendi exclaimed in response.
"Can you not even tell me what it is?" Hershel asked. "Maybe I can help."
"My tooth is all wobbly," Alfendi told him. "I need mum to use her science to fix it!"
Hershel began to laugh. This did not impress Alfendi.
"Papa, don't laugh! This is serious," Alfendi stomped his foot. "My tooth is broken and all you can do is laugh about it!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Alfendi," Hershel apologised, his laughter subsiding out of kindness for his son. "Here, why don't you come into the kitchen. I think I know how we can fix your wobbly tooth."
Claire looked over as the two made their way into the kitchen. She, too, had heard the conversation between the two from the kitchen, as she cooked. She watched Alfendi take a seat at the kitchen table and then her husband take an apple from the fruit bowl that sat in the middle of the table, and then roll it across the table to their five year old son. He caught it, picked it up and looked at the apple curiously.
"An apple?" Alfendi said, quizically.
"An apple, indeed," Hershel nodded. "The apple will fix your teeth for certain."
"But how?" Alfendi asked, still just as confused.
"Well, dear, the crunchiness of the apple," Claire began to explain, making her way over to the dinner table after putting the pan onto simmer. "Will help make your tooth fall out."
"What?!" Alfendi exclaimed loudly. "But I don't want my tooth to fall out! I like my tooth. And I need it for biting and eating!"
The two parents laughed at this, which made Alfendi pout. He couldn't understand what they found so amusing.
"In that case, I think it's about time you heard about the Tooth Fairy," Claire said, taking a seat down at the table. Hershel stood between them.
"A Tooth Fairy?" Alfendi repeated. "A fairy made of tooths?"
"Teeth," Hershel corrected. "Not quite, Alfendi. You see, when your teeth fall out, the Tooth Fairy will come and pay you a visit whilst you sleep. If you leave your tooth under your pillow, when you'll wake up, you'll find a coin under your pillow the next morning."
"From the Tooth Fairy?" Alfendi asked.
"Yep!" Claire smiled. "She swaps your tooth for a coin."
"But what would a fairy need my tooth for, Mum?" Alfendi wondered.
"Why, to build the Fairy Queen's castle, of course!" Claire answered. "They use children's teeth like bricks to build a sparkling, white castle- so I hope you've been brushing your teeth!"
"I have, because I want nice teeth, but my teeth are still gonna fall out, like you said they would if I ate too many biscuits!" Alfendi sulked.
"But those are your baby teeth," Hershel explained. "You see, as you grow older, you get your adult teeth. They're much stronger and bigger. But, for you to get your adult teeth, you need to lose your baby teeth first. And for you to do that, your teeth get all wobbly as the new ones begin to grow, and then, after a few days, your teeth will get so wobbly, that they fall out."
"And then the Tooth Fairy comes?" Alfendi asked.
"That's right," Claire nodded.
"And eating apples will make my teeth fall out?" Alfendi asked.
"It will indeed," Claire confirmed.
Without any hesitation, Alfendi then bit into the apple.
For the next three days, Alfendi ate a lot of apples. He had an apple for breakfast. An apple with his sandwiches at lunchtime at school. Then, when he came home, he would have another apple, and after dinner instead of dessert, he would have an apple. This went on for three days, before Alfendi's tooth finally fell out.
"Mum!" Alfendi cried, as he ran out of school towards Claire.
"Hello, dear," Claire chuckled, as Alfendi sprinted towards her.
"Look!" Alfendi said, holding up a small brown envelope with pride. "My tooth fell out at lunch!"
"Oh, wow," Claire beamed. "We best keep that safe and put it under your pillow tonight for the Tooth Fairy."
And that was exactly what they did.
The next morning, when Alfendi woke up, he looked under his pillow. Sure enough, there was a shiny coin.
"What are you going to buy with it?" Claire asked, over breakfast that morning.
"Apples!" Alfendi replied.
"Apples?" Hershel said.
"Yes, apples," Alfendi nodded. "Then, I can eat more apples and make more teeth fall out, and then get more money. So, I will buy more apples."
AN: Hope you enjoyed this guys. I'm on holiday at the moment and have caught a cold and given it to my boyfriend. Whoops...
Anyway, this story was sort of inspired by one of my brothers. I was only a baby when one of my brother's lost his tooth, but my Mum tells this story frequently. It's also the reason why she never buys apples anymore- I think the amount of apples she bought for my brother when he was younger has made her sick at the sight of them!
Hope everyone's having a good Summer. And remember to give me a one word request in your review!
Nikki~