In the heart of a wood which lost its name long ago, is a place where a seeker of stories
may go.
If you've arrived and a story is your desire, come take a seat for what you require is a
tale from the second story teller.
Welcome back to my oddities room, my jubilous junk heap, my delightfully darling debris
depository.
And maybe if I keep attaching positive adjectives to it, I'll be able to convince both of us
that it's not just a room full of disorganized rubbish.
I really can't even act as though I've ever tried to organize this place.
You know though, I remember reading in a textbook at some point that Matt naturally
prefers a disorganized state, so really, who am I to stand in the way of mother nature?
Feng Shui in this place is probably cataclysmically awful, but I think I've procrastinated so
long that getting everything sorted now is Feng Shui out of my league.
All I wanted was to find it.
Whoa, what?
That is one impressive jar of assorted teeth.
Hey, and look here, there seems to be a story inside too.
Perfect.
And I tell you what then, why don't I share this story with you, and afterwards I'll
see if I can't find anything else of use in here.
Now, let's see, the title of today's story is, In Which The Tooth Fairy Receives Some
Harsh Criticism.
In Which The Tooth Fairy Receives Harsh Criticism.
I just knew it would work.
Cathy said it wouldn't, but what does she know?
I've never once seen her read something that wasn't a magazine.
Bianca snorted.
What would work?
Moon asked.
Oh, I lost a tooth yesterday when I was playing Pirates in the backyard.
The swing set was caught in the worst maelstrom to ever hit the high seas, and when I fell
off the slide, my loose tooth popped out.
Bianca explained.
Maelstrom's a big word.
Yeah, isn't it cool?
I read it in a book and kept saying it wrong, and mom showed me how to say it right.
Anyway, I put the tooth under my pillow last night and asked the tooth fairy to bring you
instead of a quarter.
The tooth fairy was nice though, because she brought you and left the quarter anyways.
The silvery blue unicorn halted and prodded the ground with a hoof.
Hmm, well now, this is a little awkward.
The little girl walking in front of him turned around and looked up at the unicorn with her
bright blue eyes.
Huh?
What's the matter, Moon?
The unicorn turned his head from side to side in an embarrassed sort of way.
I've… well, I've never heard of this tooth fairy that you mentioned.
I appeared to you this morning because while enjoying some clover in a distant land, I
suddenly felt somebody's powerful wish that I should leave my breakfast and find them.
That wish came from you, Bianca, and I followed it, until I appeared on your rather small
front lawn, which is quite lacking in dandelions, I'm afraid.
Bianca wrinkled her nose.
I had always put stuff on the lawn to get rid of dandelions.
Waste of perfectly good food, Moon snorted.
But anyways, I'm afraid I've never heard of this tooth fairy person.
Quite frankly, I find it hard to believe that a magical being would collect human teeth
and leave money for them.
Are you sure this fairy is… real?
Bianca's jaw dropped a little.
What?
Of course she's real.
Okay, so maybe she didn't bring you, but she still left a quarter under my pillow,
and the tooth was gone.
That proves she's real.
And she collects teeth because children's baby teeth are filled with magical power.
That's why we lose them, because if we had them as grown-ups, we'd probably do all kinds
of terrible things with that much magic.
So the tooth fairy takes them and grinds them up into magical sand that gives people good
dreams.
Then the sandman takes it and sprinkles it on people when they're sleeping to give
them happy dreams.
Moon gave Bianca a skeptical look.
A fairy grinds up the teeth of children.
Then gives them to a man who throws ground-up teeth at strangers while they're sleeping.
Uh-huh, Bianca beamed.
Moon shook his silvery mane.
Forgive me, the religions of your world are new and strange to me, and your teeth don't
look all that magical to me.
Let me see them.
Bianca opened her mouth as wide as she could, and Moon stared directly into it.
Hmm, well if you say so.
I suppose if they're so powerful, it's a good thing you lose them before you figure
out how they work.
Bianca closed her mouth and giggled as she turned back around and continued walking.
The cracked sidewalk stretched out before her for a few more feet, then wound around a corner
and up towards the school.
I hope nobody saw that because I'm pretty sure it looked pretty silly, Bianca said
sheepishly.
Don't worry, Moon replied.
His hooves making a pleasant clopping noise as he walked.
I can only be seen by those of your choosing.
If you don't want them to see me, I can't be seen.
It's pretty helpful I think because grown-ups tend to react quite stupidly when they face
something that is both unique and real.
Bianca nodded.
Yeah, don't worry, I'll keep you safe so just me and you will know that you're here.
Oh, and Erica.
Who's Erica?
Erica is my best friend ever.
We've known each other since preschool and we tell each other everything.
We play all kinds of cool games together.
She's gonna love you.
As they continued towards the school, Bianca recounted to Moon the adventures that she
and Erica had discovered in the basement.
Shoe boxes filled with treasures and empty goldfish bowls that turned out to be ancient
cursed artifacts.
As they walked, a lone figure stood by the flagpole, waiting.
Hey, Bee.
Oh, you lost your tooth.
Cool.
She smiled brightly and poked her tongue through the new hole in her grin.
Yeah, and look what the tooth fairy brought me.
Oh wait, I mean, she didn't actually bring him, but say hello to Moon.
Isn't he great?
Moon straightened himself up and adopted a pose that he felt to be impressive, trying
to get the sunlight to reflect just right off of his horn.
Erica blinked.
What are you talking about, Bee?
Bianca looked from Moon to Erica.
Oh, I'm sure you could see him because I really, really want you to.
I wished really super hard last night that the tooth fairy would bring me a unicorn instead
of a dumb old quarter, and even though I got the dumb old quarter, Moon heard me wishing
and showed up this morning.
Isn't that just awesome?
Erica covered her eyes with one hand inside.
Bianca, come on, we're in second grade now.
Huh?
Bianca blinked.
Tooth fairy, unicorns?
You have to stop believing in silly things like that.
Bianca felt like a bucket of water had been dropped on her.
But why would I stop believing in fun things?
Because they're not real bee.
That stuff is fine when you're super little, but if you don't stop talking about fairies
and all those pretend things we used to play, people will treat you like a stupid kid forever.
You're my best friend and I don't want people to make fun of you for believing in silly
stuff.
That's all.
Bianca pouted.
But I'm not making it up.
Moon is standing right there behind me.
Erica raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.
Okay, Bianca, turn around and look and tell me the truth.
Not storybook true or I really want it to be real true.
Turn around and tell me for 100% sure, cross my heart, hope to die true, that there's
a unicorn standing right behind you.
Suddenly, Bianca felt half her height, which felt awful because she was already the shortest
in her class.
Erica wasn't shouting or being mean.
In fact, it felt more like she was pointing out something that Bianca should already know.
But she furrowed her brow seriously and turned around with what she was sure was the full
expectation of seeing Moon tapping a hoof impatiently on the ground.
But when Bianca turned around, there was no silvery blue unicorn, no gentle wise eyes
looking back at her and no light gleaming off an intricate golden horn.
Bianca felt surprised, then sad as the realization passed through her like a cold wind.
Moon had been made up after all.
I'm sorry Erica.
I guess Moon really wasn't real.
Erica gave her best friend a hug.
No, don't be sorry.
She didn't do anything wrong, but everybody has to grow out of that stuff sometime.
Grown-ups don't have make-believe tea parties with giants all the time.
Bianca laughed.
Oh yeah, I remember when we did that.
Anyway, check this out.
Erica showed Bianca the cute strawberry-shaped plastic ring on her finger, which, in fact,
smelled like real strawberries.
I got this yesterday.
They're so popular right now.
They have all these rings that smell like stuff.
Oh neat!
Bianca chirped.
Erica rummaged in her pocket and brought out a ring that had a miniature bottle of sunscreen
on it.
I got you this one because you always say you like the smell of sunscreen.
Bianca held up the ring to her nose and laughed.
Oh wow, it really does.
She slipped the ring onto her finger and she and Erica walked into the school, leaving
the flagpole by itself with no unicorn beside it.
Mmm, lion's tooth.
Good for hair thinning.
Not sure I need that one.
Bare tooth improves your singing voice.
Oh, dolphin tooth.
That's a rare one.
Only good for poisons though if memory serves.
I never did trust those dolphins.
Should be nicer if perhaps there was a real tooth fairy here to help me sort through this
lot.
Oh, I do hope you've enjoyed today's story though.
If there is a type of story that you desired here, do let me know.
Ah, a strength enhancing squirrel.
Just a ticket.
I'll just pocket this one for later I think.
Oh yes, and of course, for today, be well and carry today's story in your heart.
Please tell us what you think.
Thank you for listening to The Second Storyteller.
If you have a prompt for a story, please send it to thesecondstoryteller at gmail.com.
If your prompt is selected, your name will be credited at the end of the episode.
Today's prompt was Imaginary Friends, submitted by Science In Sox.
If you would like to help support the future of this podcast, please consider becoming
a patron by going to patreon.com slash the second storyteller.
A donation as small as a dollar is greatly appreciated and helps keep us going.
A donation of just $10 a month puts you on the list of current library card holders,
and your name will be read at the end of the episode.
The Second Storyteller podcast and the featured stories were written and created by Katie
Chaconne.
The role of the second storyteller is played by Charles Scott.
Today's voice of the story was provided by Chris Camp.
The voice of the intro and outro is Chris Camp, and you can find the fantastic games
he's worked on at rix.itch.io.
That's riks.itch.io.
The music was written by Fintan, who can be found at garbagebag, all one word,.itch.io.
The Second Storyteller will return next month with more magic, fun, and of course, a story
to tell.