Fanny Nightsky and the Lost Tooth

Fanny Nightsky was at her last house of the night. She was tired and relieved to be finished. Landing on the edge of the sleeping child’s bed, she slipped beneath the pillow to collect the tooth.

It wasn’t there.

Instead, she found a note.

Dear Tooth Fairy, it read. I lost my tooth today. It was on the playground. I couldn’t find it in all the sand and stones. Please leave me a coin anyway. I promise I won’t lose my next one.

It was signed, From Sally.

“Well, Pixiesticks,” Fanny muttered, “I guess I’m not done with my night after all.”

She folded the note into a very small square and tucked it into her pocket. Then she slid the coin into place beneath the pillow.

All children received their coins, even if they lost their tooth.

But now Fanny had one more stop to make.

She needed to see Glimmer Brightwing.

Glimmer was in the middle of cataloging a set of molars when Fanny arrived, humming softly as she worked.

Shelves lined the walls, stacked high with glass jars. Each one bore a carefully written label:

**Fell Down Storm Drain**

**Swallowed by Dog**

**Dropped in School Lunchroom**

**Accidentally Vacuumed**

Glimmer caught Fanny staring at a jar that held a slightly… glistening tooth.

“That one took me three days to collect,” Glimmer said.

“Three days?” Fanny wrinkled her nose.

“Dogs are not cooperative,” Glimmer replied dryly.

Fanny moved down the shelf. “What about this one?”

She pointed to a jar labeled:

**Found Inside Mouse Hole**

Glimmer sighed. “That mouse did not want to give that tooth up. I had to bribe him with a piece of cheese.”

“What did a mouse want with a tooth?” Fanny asked.

“Popsicles, I don’t know,” Glimmer said with a shrug. “He was a screwy mouse.”

“There are a lot of strange ways children lose their teeth,” Fanny observed.

“This isn’t even half of it,” Glimmer said. “Once, a boy stuck his up his nose. And it got stuck.”

“Pixiesticks!”

“I’m assuming you’re here for a tooth?” Glimmer asked.

“Yes. A little girl named Sally. She lost it on the playground.”

“Playground, playground…” Glimmer began rummaging through the jars. “Let’s see. Here’s a Sally who lost her tooth at the beach. No? Another Sally who lost hers down the toilet. No…” She reached higher on the shelf. “Ah, here it is. Tooth lost on the playground. Little Sally Johnson.”

"That’s it!” Fanny said.

“This one was difficult to retrieve,” Glimmer replied. “I had to sift through several tons of sand, and I got it everywhere. I still have some in my shoes.”

“Has there ever been a tooth you couldn’t find?” Fanny asked.

Glimmer paused.

“A little boy lost his tooth while sailing with his parents. It fell straight into the ocean.” She folded her hands. “I managed to track it down to a shark that had swallowed it.”

Fanny’s eyes widened.

“Now listen,” Glimmer continued firmly. “I will wait three days for a tooth to pass through a dog. I will pull one out of a boy’s nose. I will even negotiate with rodents.”

She sniffed.

“But popsicles, that shark was enormous. And as far as I’m concerned, he can keep it.”

"That’s a wise decision,” Fanny said.

Her gaze drifted to a jar on the highest shelf.

**Unclaimed Teeth**

A heaviness settled in her chest.

She knew those teeth belonged to children who had decided they were too big for the Tooth Fairy. They hadn’t tucked them beneath their pillows. They hadn’t written notes. They hadn’t even checked in the morning.

“Every year there are more and more,” Glimmer said quietly.

Fanny stepped closer to the jar. Inside, the tiny teeth glimmered faintly, as if they were still hoping to be claimed.

“That’s the hardest part of my job,” Glimmer continued. “Lost teeth can be found. But forgotten ones…”

She didn’t finish the sentence.

"It’s hard when they stop believing,” Fanny said.

“Double hard,” Glimmer agreed with a deep sigh. “But there are still plenty of children who believe. And a lot of work to be done.”

Fanny said her goodbyes and flew toward the door. As she was leaving, another fairy hurried past her on the way in.

“I have a little boy who lost his tooth to a spider,” the fairy called to Glimmer. “Have you found it?”

Fanny paused midair.

“What would a spider want with a tooth?” she wondered aloud.

Then she shook her head and flew home.

When she finally slipped beneath her own soft blankets, she fell asleep almost instantly, dreaming of teeth, and all the strange, surprising places they sometimes ended up.