once upon a time, there was a boy who ran on high gear, was part monkey {his mother supposed}, and was tough as nails.

despite all these things, the boy also had an extremely soft, extremely sentimental, extremely tender heart. so much so, that even at the early age of 2, the little boy would cry when he heard stories like, Love You Forever.

one day, the little boy had to go to the dentist to get his tooth extracted. though it should have hurt, he was tough and had not complained about it, but both his mommy and the dentist knew it was best to yank that sucker out {in as painless a way as possible. of course.}

the boy was happy. excited even. because he had never lost a tooth before, and as we all know, a lost tooth equals a visit from the tooth fairy, and well? what could be better?

so, the tooth was set free. and the boy carried his first ever lost tooth home in it’s shiny new tooth-case. that night, the boy slipped the tooth under his pillow, said his prayers and fell fast asleep.

in the morning, as you may have guessed, the boy woke to a shiny $1 gold coin and a handful of change. he was excited and happy with his new treasure and promptly dropped each coin into his little red barn bank, each one making a satisfying *clink* as it landed.

another milestone notch on his little belt.

a done deal.

little did his mother know that deep down in the little boy’s sensitive, soft heart remorse and sentimentality were creeping in, and despite the treasures the tooth fairy had left, the little boy missed his “very, first ever tooth” that he’d lost.

he missed it.

and not only did he miss it,

he wanted it back.

so the little boy did what any self respecting 6 year old would do, he wrote the tooth fairy a note :

and he prayed.

and he worried.

the boy and his mother had many discussions about the kind heartedness of the tooth fairy, and how surely she would return the tooth…she’d been kind enough to trade for it in the first place hadn’t she? by trading back, what did she have to lose?

so, two days after the tooth fairy had made her first visit to the boy, that same little boy {this time, teary eyed and sniffling} slid the money back under his pillow, along with the note, and then…

he worried more.

he prayed more.

until he finally fell asleep.

and do you know, that the next morning, that little boy’s tooth was right back in it’s shiny new tooth-case.

just like it’d never left.

and in the eyes of the tenderhearted little boy with his “first, ever tooth” he’d lost back in his hands,

all was right in the world.

the end.

*  *  *  *  *

that tooth fairy i tell ya…

she’s a keeper.