A Truly Lost Tooth

The other night this week Rebekah lost her third tooth naturally (two have been lost unnaturally). She was more than ecstatic in anticipation of what gift the tooth fairy might leave her! You see, since she began losing teeth very young, the tooth fairy leaves an age-appropriate gift rather than a coin. (So now the tooth fairy is stuck because every time a tooth is lost, from here until forever, she's going to have to scramble under the bed in her stash to find something that hasn't been seen before and that would serve as an exciting gift.) Rebekah quickly and eagerly goes to bed, finally goes to sleep, and the tooth fairy is now free to make the fast exchange of tooth for present (sidewalk chalk - thank you stash!). The tooth fairy quietly approaches the pillow in the dark....reaches for the special tooth pocket pillow thingamajig...opens the pouch...and...the tooth is...GONE! Gasp! Someone has either beat me to it, or the tooth is floating around the bed somewhere-she says to herself in a hush! And as the tooth fairy hasn't eaten enough carrots, she seeks the aid of a handy flashlight to begin the frantic search for the missing tooth. Because, she thinks to herself, what greater trauma for this sleeping princess than to awaken to a gift and the tooth! What confusion! What tragedy! This must not be! Eventually, as the noisy search proved unfruitful, the sleeping princess and her sister have now both awakened...wondering what in the world is going on....the lights of a flashlight criss-crossing the sheets and pillows. It is quickly and confidently explained that a midnight search of bedbugs is taking place. Happy with this very logical explanation, both angels lay back down and focus on getting back to sleep. The tooth fairy, exhausted, goes back to the couch, forced to delay her own bedtime until the angels have fallen back asleep and the gift can be safely placed under the pillow, leaving to chance the missing tooth which must be hiding somewhere in that bed. Finally, well past anyone's bedtime, tooth fairies and toothless children alike, the job is done. Well...half the job. And the next day, while Rebekah exclaims over her new sidewalk chalk, a quick revision of the now-empty bed reveals that darned tooth...sure enough...in the middle of the bed, under the sheets. And that, my friends, is the tale of the truly lost tooth.