Our class is home to a variety of visitors throughout the day. Recently our most regular has been none other than the penny-bearing tooth fairy.
The age of seven means months of toothlessness or if you’re lucky enough to be a member of our class- a series of rather bizzare toothy tales.
One girl proudly announced the loss of her first tooth but in the hype of relating her news and being congratulated by her classmates she somehow seemed to misplace the very treasure that would guarantee her a R20.
Another one of my students seemed very disappointed one day. When I asked why she complained that they had recently moved and she feared the tooth fairy may not have her updated address. She was the only one from amongst her friends who still had all her baby teeth. I told her I’d try my best to send the tooth fairy the location of her new home. As luck would have it, the tooth fairy must have been in a wifi zone for the very next break the little girl slipped in the sand, smacked her mouth on the soil and out popped two of her incisors. Much to my dismay she returned disappointed and said that the tooth fairy wasn’t supposed to steal her pearly whites, she would much prefer if the tooth fairy started with her rotten teeth at the back!
Nearly two weeks had gone by without incident.
He hopped into class with an overloaded chip roll in hand and merrily began unwrapping it, pausing only to say, “I’d better chew carefully my tooth is quite loose!”
A few seconds later a shriek sounded and that very boy bore a bloody gum and a gap where his tooth was mere moments before.
We searched, turned tables over and checked between the lines beneath our shoes. When we had combed every inch of the classroom he tapped me on the shoulder and with a sheepish grin said, “You won’t find my tooth anywhere?”
“Why not?”
“I ate it. It got stuck in a chip and I swallowed it whole. After all, if we eat with our teeth there can’t be any harm if we eat our teeth as well.”
I sincerely hope this isn’t considered cannibalism-for I don’t think the syllabus of grade can take a bite out of that!
I’ve had so many toothy tales to convey that when I visited my dentist, she didn’t seem to impressed by how well I knew the drill.
_Quixotic Novelist
Quixotic Novelist 