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In the heart of a wood which lost its name long ago, is a place where a seeker of stories

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may go.

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If you've arrived and a story is your desire, come take a seat for what you require is a

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tale from the second story teller.

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Welcome back to my oddities room, my jubilous junk heap, my delightfully darling debris

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depository.

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And maybe if I keep attaching positive adjectives to it, I'll be able to convince both of us

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that it's not just a room full of disorganized rubbish.

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I really can't even act as though I've ever tried to organize this place.

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You know though, I remember reading in a textbook at some point that Matt naturally

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prefers a disorganized state, so really, who am I to stand in the way of mother nature?

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Feng Shui in this place is probably cataclysmically awful, but I think I've procrastinated so

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long that getting everything sorted now is Feng Shui out of my league.

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All I wanted was to find it.

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Whoa, what?

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That is one impressive jar of assorted teeth.

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Hey, and look here, there seems to be a story inside too.

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Perfect.

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And I tell you what then, why don't I share this story with you, and afterwards I'll

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see if I can't find anything else of use in here.

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Now, let's see, the title of today's story is, In Which The Tooth Fairy Receives Some

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Harsh Criticism.

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In Which The Tooth Fairy Receives Harsh Criticism.

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I just knew it would work.

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Cathy said it wouldn't, but what does she know?

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I've never once seen her read something that wasn't a magazine.

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Bianca snorted.

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What would work?

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Moon asked.

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Oh, I lost a tooth yesterday when I was playing Pirates in the backyard.

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The swing set was caught in the worst maelstrom to ever hit the high seas, and when I fell

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off the slide, my loose tooth popped out.

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Bianca explained.

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Maelstrom's a big word.

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Yeah, isn't it cool?

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I read it in a book and kept saying it wrong, and mom showed me how to say it right.

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Anyway, I put the tooth under my pillow last night and asked the tooth fairy to bring you

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instead of a quarter.

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The tooth fairy was nice though, because she brought you and left the quarter anyways.

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The silvery blue unicorn halted and prodded the ground with a hoof.

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Hmm, well now, this is a little awkward.

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The little girl walking in front of him turned around and looked up at the unicorn with her

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bright blue eyes.

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Huh?

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What's the matter, Moon?

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The unicorn turned his head from side to side in an embarrassed sort of way.

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I've… well, I've never heard of this tooth fairy that you mentioned.

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I appeared to you this morning because while enjoying some clover in a distant land, I

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suddenly felt somebody's powerful wish that I should leave my breakfast and find them.

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That wish came from you, Bianca, and I followed it, until I appeared on your rather small

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front lawn, which is quite lacking in dandelions, I'm afraid.

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Bianca wrinkled her nose.

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I had always put stuff on the lawn to get rid of dandelions.

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Waste of perfectly good food, Moon snorted.

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But anyways, I'm afraid I've never heard of this tooth fairy person.

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Quite frankly, I find it hard to believe that a magical being would collect human teeth

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and leave money for them.

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Are you sure this fairy is… real?

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Bianca's jaw dropped a little.

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What?

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Of course she's real.

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Okay, so maybe she didn't bring you, but she still left a quarter under my pillow,

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and the tooth was gone.

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That proves she's real.

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And she collects teeth because children's baby teeth are filled with magical power.

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That's why we lose them, because if we had them as grown-ups, we'd probably do all kinds

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of terrible things with that much magic.

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So the tooth fairy takes them and grinds them up into magical sand that gives people good

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dreams.

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Then the sandman takes it and sprinkles it on people when they're sleeping to give

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them happy dreams.

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Moon gave Bianca a skeptical look.

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A fairy grinds up the teeth of children.

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Then gives them to a man who throws ground-up teeth at strangers while they're sleeping.

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Uh-huh, Bianca beamed.

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Moon shook his silvery mane.

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Forgive me, the religions of your world are new and strange to me, and your teeth don't

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look all that magical to me.

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Let me see them.

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Bianca opened her mouth as wide as she could, and Moon stared directly into it.

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Hmm, well if you say so.

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I suppose if they're so powerful, it's a good thing you lose them before you figure

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out how they work.

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Bianca closed her mouth and giggled as she turned back around and continued walking.

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The cracked sidewalk stretched out before her for a few more feet, then wound around a corner

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and up towards the school.

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I hope nobody saw that because I'm pretty sure it looked pretty silly, Bianca said

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sheepishly.

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Don't worry, Moon replied.

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His hooves making a pleasant clopping noise as he walked.

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I can only be seen by those of your choosing.

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If you don't want them to see me, I can't be seen.

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It's pretty helpful I think because grown-ups tend to react quite stupidly when they face

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something that is both unique and real.

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Bianca nodded.

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Yeah, don't worry, I'll keep you safe so just me and you will know that you're here.

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Oh, and Erica.

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Who's Erica?

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Erica is my best friend ever.

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We've known each other since preschool and we tell each other everything.

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We play all kinds of cool games together.

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She's gonna love you.

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As they continued towards the school, Bianca recounted to Moon the adventures that she

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and Erica had discovered in the basement.

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Shoe boxes filled with treasures and empty goldfish bowls that turned out to be ancient

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cursed artifacts.

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As they walked, a lone figure stood by the flagpole, waiting.

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Hey, Bee.

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Oh, you lost your tooth.

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Cool.

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She smiled brightly and poked her tongue through the new hole in her grin.

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Yeah, and look what the tooth fairy brought me.

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Oh wait, I mean, she didn't actually bring him, but say hello to Moon.

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Isn't he great?

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Moon straightened himself up and adopted a pose that he felt to be impressive, trying

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to get the sunlight to reflect just right off of his horn.

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Erica blinked.

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What are you talking about, Bee?

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Bianca looked from Moon to Erica.

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Oh, I'm sure you could see him because I really, really want you to.

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I wished really super hard last night that the tooth fairy would bring me a unicorn instead

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of a dumb old quarter, and even though I got the dumb old quarter, Moon heard me wishing

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and showed up this morning.

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Isn't that just awesome?

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Erica covered her eyes with one hand inside.

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Bianca, come on, we're in second grade now.

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Huh?

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Bianca blinked.

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Tooth fairy, unicorns?

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You have to stop believing in silly things like that.

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Bianca felt like a bucket of water had been dropped on her.

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But why would I stop believing in fun things?

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Because they're not real bee.

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That stuff is fine when you're super little, but if you don't stop talking about fairies

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and all those pretend things we used to play, people will treat you like a stupid kid forever.

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You're my best friend and I don't want people to make fun of you for believing in silly

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stuff.

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That's all.

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Bianca pouted.

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But I'm not making it up.

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Moon is standing right there behind me.

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Erica raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

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Okay, Bianca, turn around and look and tell me the truth.

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Not storybook true or I really want it to be real true.

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Turn around and tell me for 100% sure, cross my heart, hope to die true, that there's

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a unicorn standing right behind you.

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Suddenly, Bianca felt half her height, which felt awful because she was already the shortest

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in her class.

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Erica wasn't shouting or being mean.

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In fact, it felt more like she was pointing out something that Bianca should already know.

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But she furrowed her brow seriously and turned around with what she was sure was the full

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expectation of seeing Moon tapping a hoof impatiently on the ground.

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But when Bianca turned around, there was no silvery blue unicorn, no gentle wise eyes

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looking back at her and no light gleaming off an intricate golden horn.

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Bianca felt surprised, then sad as the realization passed through her like a cold wind.

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Moon had been made up after all.

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I'm sorry Erica.

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I guess Moon really wasn't real.

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Erica gave her best friend a hug.

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No, don't be sorry.

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She didn't do anything wrong, but everybody has to grow out of that stuff sometime.

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Grown-ups don't have make-believe tea parties with giants all the time.

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Bianca laughed.

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Oh yeah, I remember when we did that.

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Anyway, check this out.

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Erica showed Bianca the cute strawberry-shaped plastic ring on her finger, which, in fact,

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smelled like real strawberries.

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I got this yesterday.

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They're so popular right now.

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They have all these rings that smell like stuff.

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Oh neat!

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Bianca chirped.

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Erica rummaged in her pocket and brought out a ring that had a miniature bottle of sunscreen

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on it.

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I got you this one because you always say you like the smell of sunscreen.

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Bianca held up the ring to her nose and laughed.

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Oh wow, it really does.

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She slipped the ring onto her finger and she and Erica walked into the school, leaving

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the flagpole by itself with no unicorn beside it.

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Mmm, lion's tooth.

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Good for hair thinning.

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Not sure I need that one.

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Bare tooth improves your singing voice.

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Oh, dolphin tooth.

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That's a rare one.

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Only good for poisons though if memory serves.

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I never did trust those dolphins.

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Should be nicer if perhaps there was a real tooth fairy here to help me sort through this

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lot.

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Oh, I do hope you've enjoyed today's story though.

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If there is a type of story that you desired here, do let me know.

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Ah, a strength enhancing squirrel.

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Just a ticket.

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I'll just pocket this one for later I think.

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Oh yes, and of course, for today, be well and carry today's story in your heart.

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Please tell us what you think.

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Thank you for listening to The Second Storyteller.

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If you have a prompt for a story, please send it to thesecondstoryteller at gmail.com.

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If your prompt is selected, your name will be credited at the end of the episode.

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Today's prompt was Imaginary Friends, submitted by Science In Sox.

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If you would like to help support the future of this podcast, please consider becoming

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a patron by going to patreon.com slash the second storyteller.

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A donation as small as a dollar is greatly appreciated and helps keep us going.

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A donation of just $10 a month puts you on the list of current library card holders,

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and your name will be read at the end of the episode.

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The Second Storyteller podcast and the featured stories were written and created by Katie

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Chaconne.

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The role of the second storyteller is played by Charles Scott.

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Today's voice of the story was provided by Chris Camp.

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The voice of the intro and outro is Chris Camp, and you can find the fantastic games

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he's worked on at rix.itch.io.

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That's riks.itch.io.

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The music was written by Fintan, who can be found at garbagebag, all one word,.itch.io.

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The Second Storyteller will return next month with more magic, fun, and of course, a story

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to tell.