Skyler first noticed it when he was brushing his teeth.
He was very careful to brush his teeth twice a day and do it thoroughly. He didn't want to get a cavity. They'd watched a video about cavities in school once. It wasn't a fun movie. Cavities were evil, little monsters that made your teeth turn black and fall out. His mom had a silver filling in one of her teeth and while it was kind of pretty, he didn't want one. His grandmother's neighbor, Mr. Hubbard, had a thing called dentures, and his teeth could come out of his mouth. He laughed whenever Mr. Hubbard popped them out to show him, and he would ask him to do it again. Skyler didn't want them either though. He'd been scared and obsessive about taking care of his teeth at first, but his dad assured him that he'd probably never have to worry about cavities because his teeth most likely were not affected by it. As long as he made sure to continue brushing twice a day, he'd be fine. He'd relaxed somewhat since then, even though he had dreams about his teeth falling out sometimes. If he lost his teeth, he might have to eat applesauce for the rest of his life.
This morning Skyler discovered one of his teeth was loose. He took his tongue to it and wiggled it. His eyes got big. It was ready to fall out!
His mom knocked on the door impatiently. "Hurry up, Skyler! You have to get to school, and your dad and I have to get to work."
Skyler didn't know what he was going to do. His parents might think he'd been doing a bad job with his teeth. He looked around the bathroom for glue. He could glue his tooth back in. Glue fixed everything. He couldn't find anything in the bathroom, but he had to find something. He cracked the door open. His dad was wrestling with Noel to get her socks on; Noel kept pulling them off. His mom was typing with one hand and trying to put on her own socks with the other. He knew where the tape was kept. If he could just sneak pass them, he could tape his tooth down.
Unfortunately, his dad noticed him standing there. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," Skyler lied.
His mom was looking at him too. She could tell he was lying. "What did you do?"
Skyler came all the way out of the bathroom and burst into tears. "I got a cavity."
"Let me see," his mom said gently.
He walked over and opened his mouth and tried to stay still for her, but he shook a couple of times because of his sobs.
"Where?" she asked.
He wiggled the loose tooth with his tongue.
She smiled, "Honey, it's nothing to worry about. It's just a baby tooth. All kids loose their baby teeth and get grownup teeth to take its place."
"Really?" Skyler asked, hoping with all his might that it was true and he didn't have a cavity.
"Really," his dad said. "And do you know what the best part about losing a tooth is? The tooth fairy comes and puts money under your pillow in exchange for your tooth."
"The tooth fairy will give me money for my tooth? Why?" Skyler asked.
"Yeah, why?" his mom asked, seeming amused.
"Because she likes to build her house with them," his dad explained, "and your teeth are extra strong, so I'm sure she'll appreciate them. I ran out of baby teeth to give her awhile ago."
"How does she get in the house?" Skyler wanted to know. "Does she come through the chimney like Santa Claus?"
"She's a fairy. She just flies into the house."
"Like you, Daddy?" Skyler asked, getting more and more excited about the tooth fairy.
"Exactly, but she has wings."
"That's neat." Skyler said in awe.
"We have to get a move on," his mom said. "We're already late. Be sure you work on wiggling your tooth loose. It's barely hanging on and you don't want to swallow it."
All during the school day, Skyler worked on his tooth. That afternoon it finally fell out onto his desk and blood filled his mouth. It was a strange experience. He'd never bled before. He guessed it was because his tooth came out, leaving a hole. He made a face. Blood was in his mouth and it didn't taste good. It had a salty, metallic taste. He raised his hand. The teacher spotted the problem and told him he could take care of it. He spit his blood into the classroom sink and washed his mouth out with some water. Then he took a tissue and put it on his gum where the hole was. He smiled at his window reflection, so he could see it. He thought it looked pretty cool. He had seen other kids with holes in their smiles, but he always thought it was because of cavities.
He was careful not to take the toothbrush over the empty space, even though it probably wouldn't hurt. He examined the inside of his mouth in the mirror. There was already a little white spot where another tooth was starting to grow in but it would take a little while before it finished coming through.
His mom opened the door. "I know it's interesting stuff, but it's a school night and the quicker you get into bed, the quicker the tooth fairy will come."
His mom didn't have to say it twice. He ran to his bed at super speed.
"Not that quick!" his mom called out.
Skyler smiled and then double checked under his pillow to make sure the tooth was still there. He kept his eyes wide open as long as he could because he wanted to see what the tooth fairy looked like, but he must have dozed off. He woke back up when he felt a breeze. He looked around his room, but there was no one there. He checked under his pillow. His tooth was gone and in its place was a crisp, green dollar bill. He smiled his missing-tooth smile. He had to loose more teeth soon. He had at least 20 dollars worth. He was going to be rich.
TBC
