Check out this adventrous story by, Ross Rosenfeld.
It was from my older brother Seth that I heard the following tale; for I myself could never manage to stay up the night through – it was he who got to actually meet the Tooth Fairy. It’s true: he told me all about it, and he does not lie.
He had heard from Mike Sarapoli that the Tooth Fairy was a beautiful, beautiful woman, and that if any person of good heart were to lay their eyes upon her, she would have to give that person a kiss. And a kiss from the Tooth Fairy was magical, it was said, and it could make you feel magical too, for just a brief moment.
Now Mike Sarapoli had never actually experienced this – he had heard it from his cousin, hesaid, who swore to him that it had happened and that it was true. You see, no one knows for sure exactly what time the Tooth Fairy will show up, and often it’s extremely difficult for children who have lost teeth to stay awake, especially since that magical lady may arrive as late as three or four in the morning. After all, the tooth market is very unpredictable, and who knows how many teeth she might have to collect on a given night.
Well, Seth, who was about twelve at the time, didn’t have many more teeth to lose, and so he decided he was going to stay up all night if he had to in order to see the reputedly radiant face of the Tooth Fairy. And so he laid in bed that night with the covers drawn up and his eyelids drawn down – but not sleeping. To the casual observer it would’ve looked like he was asleep, but in actuality he lie awake waiting, minute after agonizing minute, hour after nerve-racking hour.
You must understand, of course, that the Tooth Fairy will not enter a child’s room if she feels that child is not asleep, so this deception by Seth was most necessary if he was to achieve his goal. Like this he stayed for quite some time, not even chancing to open his eyes just a little bit so that he could make out the time from the cuckoo clock resting on the mantle above the fireplace.
Now, in Seth’s room was a set of large French windows about twenty feet before the bed. These are the kinds of windows that open from the middle and provide for a wide expanse. There was a railing outside the windows to prevent anyone from falling out, but it was a short railing that could easily be gotten over. In fact, Seth himself had often escaped detention in his room via this route, with the help of a few bed sheets.
On this particular night, Seth had closed the windows but had left the latch undone. Now I’ve heard that a locked window is truly no impediment at all to the Tooth Fairy, whose magical abilities allow her to travel through pretty much any impasse; but Seth evidently felt that the latch might pose a problem for her, or that, in the extra time it might take her to bypass the latch, she might realize his ruse and depart, and so he left it off.
No matter. What does matter is that at some point that night, a gust of wind seemed to push the windows open, and although he urgently wished to open his eyes to see, Seth somehow managed to resist that urge and to keep them firmly clasped. He felt the little hairs on his arms rising up, and he knew that someone was there.
He felt a hand slip under his pillow to take the tooth. He heard the rattling of coins as the Tooth Fairy assessed the value of the tooth and tried to determine the appropriate price.
And then –just then – Seth opened his eyes!
And there she was! The Tooth Fairy! The actual Tooth Fairy! And she was beautiful, just as Mike Sarapoli had said. She had long, curvy locks of gold that extended down her back; blue-green eyes that seemed to sparkle in the moonlight; rosy red lips as soft as velvet; cheeks like sweet red plums; and a perfectly unblemished peachy complexion.
She smiled at him with her gorgeous pearly white teeth. And then she leaned down and planted a slightly wet but pure and wonderful kiss upon his forehead. It made his entire body light up with magic, and Seth couldn’t help but close his eyes to absorb it all.
It was in that brief moment that he had closed his eyes that the Tooth Fairy slipped the money under his pillow and, with money bags in tow, made her way back toward the open windows. Seth opened his eyes just in time to see her float out. He rushed to the railing and watched her gracefully descend to the ground; for the Tooth Fairy, like the rest of us, has to conserve energy at times, and flying is a taxing affair.
She landed gently on the sidewalk and started heading up the street to resume her rounds. At that time of night, usually only the homeless or those up to no good were still wandering the streets. And a moment after the Tooth Fairy landed, two ruffians emerged from around the side of a building and began walking up behind her. Seth didn’t realize that they were after her money bags until one of the men reached out for the Tooth Fairy’s shoulder.
“Tooth Fairy, look out!” Seth yelled.
The Tooth Fairy turned fast and gave the ruffian a round-house kick to the head, sending him sprawling to the ground – for the Tooth Fairy was a triple black belt in karate! The other man threw a punch, but the Tooth Fairy blocked it with her left arm while delivering a tremendous blow to his chest with her right, followed by an elbow to the head which caused two teeth to dislodge. The Tooth Fairy promptly retrieved the teeth, shoved them in her pouch, grabbed the confused man by the lapels, and stuffed some money in his coat pocket before letting him fall idly to the ground.
Meanwhile, the first thug had recovered and was attempting to grab the Tooth Fairy from behind. But the Tooth Fairy – stronger than she looked – pulled the man over her shoulder and slammed him down hard.
His fellow robber helped him up, but both were clearly aching. They eyed the Tooth Fairy nervously, then took to the streets, glancing back now and again to make sure she wasn’t following.
Seth was shocked. The Tooth Fairy had kicked butt.
She looked up at him by the railing and smiled. Then she pursed her lips, put her hand to them, and blew him a kiss. The kiss went up up up up up until it landed smack on his cheek.
Again his body tingled with magic. He watched as the Tooth Fairy turned the corner and disappeared.
Anyway, I’ve heard recently that the Tooth Fairy now uses a sleep detection device to see if kids are really asleep. But that might just be a rumor. In which case, of course, it’s possible that you yourself may see her if you can just manage to stay up until she comes.
You think you can do it?
THE END
About the Author
Ross Rosenfeld lives on Long Island with a rather short wife named Laura and their three lively daughters, who know him as “Fat Dada.” He has a B.A. in Education from Stony Brook and has spent many years teaching and working with children. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including theDaily News,Newsweek,The Hill,Sad Girls Club,VOIS,Nat 1,On the Run,AppleSeeds,andCaterpillar. You can also find his books onAmazon.
