The Tooth
“That’s her,” Joanne said to Fred. “The one with braided pigtails and the cat hair ties.”
“You sure,” Fred asked?
“That’s what my older brother said. He’s in her class.”
“I’d hate to give it to the wrong person.”
“Then ask her if she is the Wishee’s sister, but you better do it fast. Her school transport just pulled up.”
Fred went running up to Sarah, “You Wishee sister?”
Sarah smiled down at the little first grader, “Yeah.”
Fred held out an envelope, “This for Wishee.”
As soon as Sarah took the envelope, Fred ran back to Joanne. She looked at the envelope. It had ‘Wishee’ written on it. She looked over at the first-grader and smiled. Putting the envelope in her backpack, she followed her line onto the school transport to go home.
“Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad,” Sarah yelled as she entered the house and ran up to Gregg’s office. “Look, Dad! Look!”
Sarah stretched out her hand with a tooth held between her fingers.
“Oh wow, Sarah Bear. You lost a tooth.”
“It came out on the trip home. I was sitting there wiggling it with my tongue, and it just fell out.”
Dad smiled, “They will do that when you wiggle them with your tongue. Let’s go put it some place safe until you can make a magical Tooth Fairy tooth holder.”
“I can’t make one of those without Mikey,” Sarah pointed out as she followed Dad out of the office. “He was the one that put the magic in the holder so the Tooth Fairy would find the tooth and leave a big prize for the tooth. How am I going to do this without Mikey?”
“That is a problem,” Dad said as he entered the kitchen. “But the other kids in your class have lost teeth, and the Tooth Fairy would visit them. They didn’t have Mikey help them. Maybe it was just magic Mikey had because he was the oldest. You think you might have that magic, now that you are the oldest?”
Sarah moved her mouth around and contorted it in a variety of ways as she thought about the possibility, “Maybe.”
“House, display snack options for Sarah,” Gregg said as he opened a drawer and took out a little container in the shape of a tooth. “Sarah, put your tooth in here until you can make the Magical Tooth Fairy Tooth Holder.”
Sarah took the tooth container and put her tooth in it. Sarah remembered getting this tooth container from the School Nurse back when she was in 1st grade after losing her first tooth. Snapping it shut, she put it on the counter next to the holographic bananas.
“So, what do you want for a snack?”
Sarah looked at the choices; bananas, celery, yogurt, and grapes.
“House,” Sarah asked? “Do we have raisins?”
>>Yes<<
“Can I have Ants-on-a-Log?”
Dad smiled, “Sure. You get the celery, and I’ll get the peanut butter and raisins.”
With all the items on the table, including a little kid knife, Sarah got to work making the snack.
“Make some for Milly too.”
“Okay, Dad,” Sarah said. “Oh, Dad, a little first grader came up to me just before getting on the school transport and gave me an envelope for Milly. It’s in my backpack.”
Gregg went up the stairs to retrieve the envelope. He opened the envelope and found a card with a heart on it. Opening the card, Gregg found a little kid drawing of a boy with a big smile. Above the picture were two words, Thank You. The card was signed below the picture, Fred. Gregg smiled and put it in his office. Then he returned to the dining room.
“Who gave you the card?”
“Just some little first-grade boy,” Sarah said.
“Did he say anything when he gave it to you?”
“He asked me if I was the Wishee’s sister and then said the envelope was for the Wishee. He ran away as soon as I took the envelope,” Sarah said as she filled another stalk of celery with peanut butter.
“Do you know the kid?”
“Never seen him before,” Sarah said, just looking up for a second. “Was it mean? I’ll tell him to stay away from Milly if it was mean.”
“No,” Dad let out a slight chuckle. “It was a Thank You card.”
Sarah stopped working and looked at Dad, “A Thank You card? What was he thanking Milly for?”
“I am not sure, but I would guess he is thanking her for the Wish Magic turning him into a boy.”
“What do you mean. The Wish Magic turned Milly into a girl.”
“Mikey’s wish also turned all people who were transgender into their true gender.”
“It did? Wow! Way to go, Mikey,” Sarah’s smile grew as she sat there and thought about this new information. “The day before he made the wish, we were having a tea party. I asked him if he knew what he was going to wish for. He didn’t tell me what it was, but he said it might help a lot of other kids just like him. I gave him an extra cookie for trying to help others.”
Dad smiled as he watched Sarah start to put the raisins, ants, on the logs.
>>Milly’s School Transport will be here in 1 minute<<
“You stay here and eat your snack,” Dad said. “I’ll go get Milly.”
Milly was eating her third Ants-on-a-log when the house charmed in, >>Reminder, Milly has Ballet in 30 minutes.<<
Gregg’s eyes went wide and looked at Sarah and Milly sitting at the table, “House, how long does it take to get to the Ballet class?”
>>10 minutes of transport travel time.<<
“That means we have 15 minutes or less to get her ready to go and into the transport,” Gregg announced. “Sarah . . . Um, you . . . make sure you have your school tablet with you when we go. You can get some of your homework done during her lesson.”
“That’s not fair. She gets Ballet lessons, and I don’t.”
“You want Ballet lessons,” Gregg asked?
“No, but . . .” Sarah said before taking the last bite of her snack.
“Then stop complaining,” Gregg pointed out. “You did Ballet when you were little and stopped when it switched to the Big Kid classes because you didn’t like it anymore. Now let me figure this out. It’s been years since I had to bring a kid to Ballet lessons. I didn’t know she had Ballet.”
“Need Tutu,” Milly said with her mouth full.
“Yes, leotard and tutu,” Gregg said. “Sarah, clean up here, get ready to go, and go potty. I’ll get Milly ready.”
“But we have to make the Magical Tooth Holder.”
“Sarah,” Gregg looks at Sarah and then at the tooth in the container on the counter. “Your tooth is safe until we get back. Then you can work on a Magical Tooth Holder.”
Sarah’s shoulders slumped, “Alright.”
As soon as Milly was done, she was picked up and carried up to her room. Dad changed her diaper and got her dressed for Ballet class. Before leaving the room, Milly grabbed Susie.
“Sarah,” Dad yelled as he headed for the garage door. “Sarah, where are you? We need to go. Now.”
Sarah came running up and grabbed her backpack. Unzipping it, she stuffed something inside and followed Dad out the door. The girls were quickly secured in their safety seats, and Gregg told the transport to go to the Ballet School.
“Daddy,” Sarah asked as she looked out the window? “Where are we going?”
Gregg looked at Sarah, “To Milly’s Ballet class. You know that.”
“No, Daddy,” Sarah said, pointing out the window. “Where are we going?”
Gregg looked out the window, noticing that they were getting farther and farther away from the ground. He looked at the display screen and asked, “Transport, where are we going?”
>>L.E.O. Kids Training Center, Starlight Ballet School<<
“Oh,” Gregg said. “That explains things. We are going LEO.”
“Leo? What does Leo have to do with where we are going. He is an annoying kid in my class.”
Gregg chuckled, “No, Sarah Bear. L.E.O. stands for Low Earth Orbit. Milly’s Ballet school is apparently on a space station.”
“Why is it in space?”
“Floaty Ballet!” Milly declared with a big smile.
Gregg gestures towards Milly, “That would be why.”
“Floaty Ballet? What is Floaty Ballet,” Sarah asked?
“It is Ballet in zero-gravity or decreased gravity,” Gregg explained.
“Floaty Ballet da bestest,” Milly stated. “Can’t fall down and go boom.”
“That is one major advantage for little kids and ones with disabilities,” Gregg smiled. “Less boo-boos.”
“Do they have a Zero-G playground at the LEO Kids Center,” Sarah asked?
“Yeah, bestest playgwound,” Milly replied.
“Dad, can I play on the playground while Milly has her class?”
“No!” Milly objected. “We play on playgwound afta class.”
“We apparently have a routine, so that means you still have to do your homework while she is in class.”
“But Dad,” Sarah complained. “What about Sofia the Fourth? Can’t I watch it?”
“You can’t watch shows on your School Pad.”
“I know,” Sarah said. “That’s why I grabbed my Kid Pad. I can get Big Kid Disney on it.”
“Okay, Sofia the Fourth. Then you do your homework until Milly is done with class.”
Sarah smiled as she sat back in her seat and watched the scenery as they approached the space station.
The parking garage only had a little gravity, but not much. Sarah was easily jumping back and forth over the transport as Dad got Milly out.
“Milly,” Dad said as he lifted her out of her seat. “You need to leave Suzie here in the transport.”
“No, Daddy,” Milly responded, holding onto her Susie doll tight. “She wants to play at the playground.”
“Well, she can't go to ballet class with you, so she has to stay here in the car.“
“Sawah’s backpack?”
“Let's just leave her here in the transport, okay Milly?”
“No, Daddy,” Milly said, holding tighter onto Susie.
“Sarah,” Dad said. “Stop jumping around and come help me with Milly. Can Susie please stay in your backpack while Milly is at Ballet?”
Sarah looked at Milly’s pleading face and her tight grip on Susie, “I guess.”
Dad let Milly carry Susie as they headed towards the Ballet school.
“May I help you,” the lady sitting behind a desk asked as they entered the Ballet school?
“We are here for Milly’s Ballet class.”
“I am sorry, but we are not currently taking new students until the beginning of the Summer term. If you fill out an application, we can contact you when we have an opening.”
“I believe you will discover Milly is already a student,” George said. “Check your records. They will show she has been coming regularly. Her name is Milly Soffin.”
“Oh, is she one of the Wishee transformed kids? I need her old name, and I will update her records for her new name.”
Sarah giggled.
“No,” Gregg smiled. “She is the Wishee. Her background was changed. Please check your records. Although I have no memory of ever bringing her here, she has full memory of her new past.”
“Oh really, cool,” the receptionist smiled up at Milly being carried by Gregg. “My niece was transformed. She is much happier now. Let me see here. You are right. Milly Soffin is listed as a student. Her class is in the very low gravity padded room. It’s down the hall, the third door on the left. The waiting room for the parents and siblings is the first door on the right, or you can go to the playground and come back when the class is over.”
“NO!” Milly blurted out. “We go playgwound afta class.”
“Don’t worry princess,” Gregg said. “We will wait to go to the playground until you are done with Ballet.”
The receptionist smiled, “My niece’s memory and past were not changed. She is lucky, but she is so little. My data says she’s four. I thought the wish transformed her into a 7-year-old?”
“It did, but then she kept getting younger.”
“Oh my,” the receptionist exclaimed. “Is she still regressing?”
“It doesn’t appear so,” Gregg said. “She has stayed this age for a while now.”
Seeing a few people come in with kids around Milly’s age, Milly squirmed until Dad put her down. She went running off to class.
“Milly,” Gregg called out. “Come back here.”
Milly kept running down the hall.
“I’ll get her Dad,” Sarah said as she took off after Milly.
“I better follow them,” Gregg said to the receptionist.
“Stop by here once she is settled into class.”
“Okay,” Gregg said as he started towards the girls.
Milly turned into her classroom at full speed. She quickly went to the side of the room with almost no gravity and pushed off. Floating up to the ceiling, she pushed off and headed for the foam Ballet barre. Sarah was running after Milly when suddenly she found herself floating through the air.
“Hey,” Sarah complained. “That’s not fair. I wasn’t ready.”
Milly giggled.
“Who do we have here,” A lady said, going over to Milly.
“Silly Miss Twacy. It me, Milly.”
“She doesn’t know,” Sarah said. “She believes that you know her. Wish magic gave her memories we don’t have.”
Miss Tracy looked at Sarah and then back at Milly, “So you’re one of the people transformed by the Wishee.”
“No,” Sarah interrupted. “She is the Wishee.”
Miss Tracy looked at Sarah and then at Milly, “She can’t be the Wishee. She’s too young.”
“She definitely is the Wishee,” Gregg said as he came in the room. “She continued to get younger after the wish was made. It brought her down to a four-year-old.”
“No,” Miss Tracy said, looking at Gregg and then over to Sarah. “Very funny. She’s the Wishee’s age, not the little one.”
Gregg smiled, “School, please state the name and age of Milly.”
>>Melissa Louise Soffin, goes by Milly, age 4-years, 6-months old.<<
Gregg scooted over to Milly, managing to do it without leaving the ground, “School, is someone from the Wishing Stone Society seeking data on a child in this room?”
>>Wishing Stone Society access is confirmed. They are recording data on a substance inside Milly Soffin.<<
Miss Tracy looked at Milly holding onto the ballet barre with one hand and a doll with the other.
Gregg got down on his knees to be at Milly’s level, “Okay, Princess. Susie needs to go with Sarah while you are in class.”
Milly gave Susie a big hug and kissed her, “Hewe, Daddy. Make Sawah take good cawe of Susie.”
“She will be well taken care of,” Dad said as he noticed the room filling up with kids. “You be a good girl for the teacher.”
“Wait a minute,” Miss Tracy said. “We are too far into the term to take new students.”
“School,” Gregg said. “Is Milly a student in this class?”
>>Yes<<
“You will find that she has the memories of being here from the start of the class. She will know you and all the other students, but none of them or you will know her. I know it will be strange, but just Wish Magic at work.”
Miss Tracy didn’t know what to say.
Milly gave Susie to Dad and then kissed Milly on her forehead. On his way towards the door, he grabbed Sarah’s wrist as she was slowly floating hands first down from the ceiling. The two of them headed back out to the receptionist.
“I hope you got her settled in okay,” the receptionist said.
“Milly is fine, but I’m not sure about the teacher. She seemed a little shocked by the new stu. . .”
“Dad,” Sarah interrupted. “Sofia the Fourth is about to start. Can I go watch it?”
“Here, Mr. Soffin,” the receptionist said as she swiped something up to his personal display. “Since you have no memory of her starting here, I figure you can use the introduction packet. She can watch Sofia the Fourth in our waiting area.”
“Thanks,” Gregg said, leading Sarah off to the waiting room.
“Gregg, where are you and the girls,” Marsha asked over the Com-Link?
Gregg looked up at the maze of tunnels on the Zero-G playground, which the girls were going through, “We’re in L.E.O. at the Kids Training Center. Apparently, Milly has Ballet lessons up here every Thursday. I was giving them some time in the Zero-G playground before heading home, but if your there, I’ll round them up and head back.”
“Are they playing together and having fun?”
“All three of them are having a ball,” Gregg replied.
“Three? Last I checked, we only had two children.”
Gregg chuckled, “Susie is up here playing with the girls. Milly insisted that she wanted to play on the playground.”
“At least it is a Zero-G playground. BooBear always got so filthy when Sarah took her to a playground with dirt. You stay, and I will join you up there. When I did sports up there in High School, they had a few family-friendly restaurants where we can eat dinner. Let the girls play together. Sarah needs to see some of the fun parts of having a little sister.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a few. We’re parked in the Starlight Ballet School parking area, but the restaurants are close to the Zero-G stadium parking lots.”
Marsha closed the Com-Link and headed out to her transport. When she showed up, Sarah was sitting on the ceiling, with Milly on the floor, passing Suzie back and forth between them. It only took a few minutes for Milly to notice Mom.
“Mommy,” Milly said, pushing herself off the floor, up to one of the play tunnels. Reaching the tunnel, she did a 360-degree ballerina twirl and pushed with her feet off the tunnel towards Mommy. On her way, she did summersaults until just before reaching Mom. Then she went into a position with her arms spread out, ready to hug Mommy.
Milly’s aim was pretty accurate. Marsha only needed to move over a little to catch her.
“Mommy,” Milly said, as Marsha caught her.
“Impressive moves you did there Milly,” Marsha said as she continued to hug Milly. “Did you learn those in Ballet class?”
“Yup,” Milly said with pride. “Teacha Twacy, teach me.”
“Wow, Milly,” Sarah exclaimed as she floated down to the family. “That was really cool.”
Milly smiled as she reached out for Susie, who was in Sarah’s hands. With Susie securely held by Milly, the family headed for the restaurants.
“How did you know about Milly’s Ballet lessons,” Marsha asked as they waited to be seated.
“House reminded me 30 minutes before it started.”
“You and those reminders,” Marsha smiled. “I guess they do have some positive elements to them.”
“Look,” Sara shouted while pointing towards the ceiling.
“Wow,” Milly said as she looked at the giant bubble of water floating in midair, with fish swimming in it. “Nemo!”
Gregg looked up at the water bubble, “Yup, there is Nemo swimming inside.”
As they were brought to a table, the kids couldn’t take their eyes off the huge water bubble.
“Do you want a high chair for her or a booster seat,” The waiter asked?
“Booster seat, please,” Gregg said as they reached the table.
“Our booster seats are built into the bench seats,” the waiter said. “Where do you want her to sit?”
“Milly and I will take this side,” Marsha said as she sat down.
“Booth,” the waiter said. “Booster seat, side B on the inside, at Little Kid height.”
The bench folded down a booster seat and raised it up. As soon as Milly was put down on the seat, it automatically readjusted to her perfect height.
“Look, Mommy,” Sara said as she looked at the things put in front of her from the waiter. “They have those really cool things. What are they called again?”
“Crayons,” Gregg said. “Very retro.”
“Aren’t they cool,” Sarah said. “Look, I just have to push down on it, and it gets darker.”
“Don’t push down too hard, or it will break,” Marsha said.
Sarah went to work on the fun activities on the placemat. Milly just took the red crayon and scribbled all over the pictures with it.
“Meow, Meow,” Sarah heard as she worked on finishing up her homework. A stuffed kitty appeared on the other side of the dining room table.
A few minutes later, Sarah looked up from her homework as she heard, “Roar, roar.”
A stuffed tiger appeared on the table seconds before Sarah saw Milly running off.
The next stuffed animal to arrive across from Sarah was a pig, with an “Oink, Oink” sound.
Sarah smiled when BooBear appeared on the table next, who was followed by Susie. Sarah managed to get the rest of her Math Homework done with no more interruptions. As she started her English Homework, Sarah could hear Milly in the playroom.
“M,” Milly waved her Letter Magic Princess Scepter, and a Holographic M appeared. “I . . . L . . . L . . . Y”
Milly smiled at her name displayed, so she went and repeated the same thing again. Each time she said a letter and flicked her scepter, the letter would appear. After leaving her name three times in the Playroom, Milly headed to other rooms. She was on her third time going around the Dining Room table where Sarah was working.
“Moooooooooooooooom!” Sarah screamed. “Moooooommmmm, make her stop!”
Milly covered her ears and dropped down to the floor. In a voice just over a whisper, she continued to say her name and flick her scepter.
Marsha came into the Dining Room walking through one of the M-I-L-L-Y holograms. Looking at the multiple letters floating around the room, Marsha centered her attention on the pointy Princess hat with vail coming down from the top. It was rocking back and forth on the other side of the table. A stack of letters appeared to be piling up around her.
“Milly, let’s go upstairs and let Sarah do her homework in peace,” Marsha said, looking at the collection of stuffed individuals on the table. “As long as she doesn’t get help from the zoo on the table.”
Marsha heard a giggle coming from the location of the Princess hat.
“Milly,” Marsha repeated.
Two eyes peaked up over the table, “What, Mommy?”
“I see that you have been practicing spelling your name. Why don’t you go show Daddy that you know how to spell your name?”
Milly went running off towards the stairs, “Daaaaaddddddddyyyyyyyy.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Sarah said.
“No problem. House, turn Milly’s alphabet letters off downstairs,” Mom smiled. “Sarah, I’ll take the zoo so that you can focus.”
Sarah looked at the stuffed animals on the table. Grabbing Blueberry and putting her stuffed bear on her lap, she shook her head, “No, they can stay.”
Marsha came over and kissed Sarah on the top of her head, “If you are okay with it. You doing okay?”
“Yeah, Mom,” Sarah said. “She was just being annoying repeating M-I-L-L-Y, M-I-L-L-Y over and over again.”
“Yeah, little kids can be annoying at times, but they are also lovable at times.”
Sarah smiled, remembering the hug that morning and playing on the playground.
“I was never that annoying,” Sarah pointed out.
Marsha smiled, “Oh, yes, you were. Still are at times, but less so without Mikey around to complain. It looks like you are almost done.”
Sarah blushed and looked down at her School Pad, “Uh-huh. This is easy. We learned how to do it in class today.”
“Okay, keep going. I better go up and save Daddy from the Letter Monster.”
Sarah giggled.
When Marsha entered Gregg’s study, the room was full of letters. Milly was on the floor in a giggle-fest as Gregg was tickling her.
“Gregg,” Marsha commented, causing Gregg to stop tickling Milly. “Looks like you caught the Giggle Monster.”
“No,” Milly got out between giggles. “He tickle monsta.”
“Oh really,” Marsha said with a devilish grin. “Then we better tickle the tickle monster. Attack him, Milly.”
Marsha went in to help Milly attack Gregg. Between gasps and giggles, he declared his surrender.
“Okay, Milly. We won. We defeated the mean and torturous Tickle Monster. Princess Power is victorious!”
“Pwincesses are the bestest,” Milly declared.
“I think the winner needs a change into some clothes more appropriate for her position,” Marsha declared. “I believe there are a pair of Princess Stacy pajamas waiting on her bed for the little princess to put on.”
“Pwincess Stacy PJs,” Milly shouted with glee as she got up.
“Then Daddy can tell you a story,” Marsha declared, glaring at Gregg. “A nice calming story.”
Once Milly was changed and dressed in her PJs, she ran out of her room. Marsha followed behind, but by the time she got to the hallway, Milly was nowhere to be seen.
“How does she do that? House,” Marsha asked. “Where is Milly?”
>>Melissa is running through the Livingroom.<<
“How did she get down there so fast? Off to the playroom? What is she doing in the playroom?” Marsha said as she started down the stairs.
When Marsha got to the bottom of the stairs, she saw Milly. She was not in the Playroom. She was being hugged and kissed goodnight by Sarah.
Then Milly came up to Mom, hands up, while holding onto Susie, “Uppy.”
Marsha picked Milly up, smiled at Sarah, “Come on, Milly. Let’s leave your sister in peace. It’s Daddy storytime.”
“Wait a minute,” Sarah stated. “I want to go to Daddy storytime.”
“Are you done with your homework,” Mom asked?
“No,” Sarah glumly replied. “But it’s Daddy storytime.”
Marsha smiled at the little girl with her favorite stuffed animal on her lap, “Come on, Sarah Bear and Boobear, you can come to storytime too.”
With a huge smile, Sarah jumped up and joined Mom and Milly.
When they walked into Dad’s study, he was sitting on his big comfy chair with three holo-figures in front of him; a dragon, a little girl with pigtails and wearing a princess hat, and a kitty cat.
“Oh, Milly, pick the kitty cat. Pick the kitty cat,” Sarah said.
“Ahhh, two little ones for an audience,” Dad said with a smile. “I’ll let you both pick one.”
“I pick Kitty Cat,” Sarah instantly stated.
“Me, me, me,” Milly said, pointing at the little girl princess as she was handed down to Dad.
“Okay,” Gregg said, taking Milly onto his lap. “One story about a little princess named Milly and her faithful protector Catso the Ninja cat.”
Both girls smiled and hugged their companions.
“Once upon a time in a far-off land lived young Princess Milly. She had just finished lunch when her mom, the queen, sent her outside to play. On the way, Catso joined her. An hour later, when the Queen went out to get Princess Milly, the two were nowhere to be found.”
“Oh no,” Milly exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, Milly,” Sarah assured her. “Catso will protect Princess Milly from danger.”
“Weally,” Milly asked Daddy?
“Catso is the Princess’ protector,” Dad smiled. “Let’s hear the rest of the story and see.”
“No. He has little kids and can’t stay that late. Are you sure you can’t pull off a weekend? . . . Yeah, I understand. You had him scheduled for a month from now. I do appreciate you trying to fit him in early. . . This Saturday? That is awfully short notice but put him in. I will check with him to make sure he can make it but if you don’t hear back from me, assume he can. It is late here. I’ll call you back if he can’t. Otherwise, I’ll call you tomorrow to confirm everything. . . Thanks, Elanor.”
“Office, Com-link Gregg Soffin.”
>>Soffin residence has him marked as Family Time. Do Not Disturb. To reach him, you will either need to leave a message or change the priority rating.<<
“Office, increase priority rating, but not enough to interrupt Family Time. It must be close to the kids’ bedtimes, so ask the House Unit to deliver a message with a Priority Rating of Very Important, as soon as the kids are in bed, or when Family Time is lifted, whichever comes first.”
>>House Unit says Family Time is predicted to end in 30 minutes.<<
“Hmmm,” Dee said. “I remember when my kids were that little. I hope he is having fun. My little ones were not always cooperative around bedtime.”
Milly was sound asleep by the time Dad finished the story. Marsha came over and took Milly off to bed, and directed Sarah back to her homework.
Dad looked down at Sarah, still sitting on the floor, hugging BooBear, with a big smile on her face, “What are you thinking about Sarah Bear?”
“How do you do it Daddy?”
“Do what?”
“Tell such wonderful stories. You were making it up as you told it. You kept letting Milly and me add elements of the story and make decisions for Catso and the Princess.”
“Ahhh, the art of storytelling,” Dad smiled. “I love coming up with stories and sharing them with others. Back when I was your age, I would spend hours in my make-believe worlds playing with my toys. As I got older, I learned to take that same imagination and turn it into a story I could share with others.”
“I share my playing with others, but when the teacher wants me to write a story, I can’t think of anything.”
“Come here, Sarah,” Gregg brought Sarah up onto his lap. “Next time your teacher wants you to write a story, picture yourself playing with your dollies and what you are going to do with them. Tell about their adventures, even if it is just a tea party.”
Sarah hugged Dad.
“I think Mom said you have to finish your homework. Do you need any help?”
“Nah, it’s easy tonight.”
“Then off you go,” Gregg said giving her a kiss. “I’ll be down in a little bit to help you create your Tooth Fairy tooth holder.”
As soon as Gregg was alone in his office, a notice about a Com-Link appeared on his personal display.
“House, Com-Link Dee Farstone.”
“Mr. Soffin,” Dee said when she appeared. “I am glad you could get back to me so quickly. I have an event for you this Saturday. It is at the Poetry Corner on Europa.”
“Dee, call me Gregg, please. Does this Poetry Corner know I don’t write poetry?”
“Oh, don’t worry. It is the main author's meet and greet spot in the Jupiter system. I had a children’s book author there last week, and one of my mystery writers was there the week before.”
“Okay,” Gregg said. “When do they want me there?”
“4 pm Solar System time.”
“Let’s see, that’s noon my time. How much time should I block off for the event?”
“You should be able to be in and out in two hours.”
“Perfect. Europa has that fabulous Children’s Museum I have always wanted to take the kids to. They can drop me off, and I can meet them at the museum afterward.”
“That is a good Children’s Museum. I’ll warn you, though. Once your kids go, they will want to go again.”
“Thanks for the warning. Send me the info on the Poetry Corner, and I’ll be there.”
“Gregg,” Dee said. “Watch the solar system news tomorrow. The publisher pulled a few strings and got them to do a story on you. I’ll send them information about your Meet and Greet on Europa. Hopefully, they can put it in the report.”
“This should be interesting. I guess a famous author no one has ever heard of is newsworthy.”
“Anything Wishing Stone related is newsworthy, but yeah, this should get a few people interested in reading your already published books.”
“Thanks, Dee.”
“No problem. Thanks for doing this on such short notice.”
Dee faded away, and Gregg pulled up the schedule for the Solar System Train. On Saturday, there were runs every 30 minutes direct to the Jupiter system. If they aimed for the 2 pm one, they could still make it to Europa if they missed it and had to take the 2:30 pm one. Gregg booked a ticket and then headed downstairs.
“No, it has to be yellow, with red, pink, and blue stars on it,” Sarah said.
The holographic box in front of her changed to be the colors Sarah stated.
“Now, on top, we need a tooth. Make it one of those puffy stickers.”
A display of puffy stickers appeared on the table in front of the box. Sarah flipped through a few displays of teeth before she found the one she wanted, “That one.”
“That’s a good one,” Dad said, sitting down next to Sarah.
Sarah moved the holographic tooth sticker into place, “Now I want . . . a fairy sticker.”
A collection of fairy stickers were displayed, “No. I want ones with a sparkly dress.”
A new set of fairy stickers were displayed.
“That one looks nice,” Gregg said, pointing to one looking like it was flying.
“It is missing something,” Sarah scrolled through several fairies.
“What is it missing? A crown?”
“That would be cute, but it needs something else,” Sarah pondered for a minute. “A wand! The Tooth Fairy always has a wand. House, show me stickers with the fairy having a crown and a wand.”
A new collection of fairy stickers were displayed. It didn’t take Sarah long to find the perfect one. She took it and put it on the end of the holographic box. After looking at the box a little longer, she took another fairy sticker and put it on the other side.
“It’s a very nice magical Tooth Fairy box,” Gregg said.
“Bestest one I’ve ever made,” Sarah said with pride. “House, print the box.”
Sarah went running off to watch the Object Printer make her box. She took it off the printer, brought it back to the dining room, and put her tooth inside it.
“Okay,” Sarah said, looking worried. “Daddy, I can’t do this without Mikey. He put the magic in the box. Without the magic, the Tooth Fairy won’t come.”
Gregg went up to Sarah and hugged her, “I know you miss Mikey, but you will always have him in your heart. He taught you a lot of things, including how to put the magic in the box.”
“Yeah,” Sarah responded.
“Go get a Princess Scepter, and we will find out if you have the magic in you.”
As Sarah ran up the stairs to get her Princess Scepter out of her room, Gregg smiled and quietly said, “House, run Tooth Fairy Magic Program.”
Sarah quickly returned and went up to the box. Looking at Dad, she saw him smile and nod.
Waving the scepter above her head, “I call upon Tooth Fairy Magic. Give this box the magical powers to call the Tooth Fairy tonight.”
Sarah brought down the wand towards the box. A stream of holographic sparkles followed the scepter. As Sarah tapped the box, little lights shot up from the spot and exploded like fireworks. Then little stars from those explosions fell over the box. Sarah’s smile grew bigger with each magical scene.
“It worked, Daddy,” Sarah shouted, jumping up and down. “It worked!”
Dad held up his finger to his mouth and got out, “Shhhhhhhhh, Milly is sleeping. Yes, it worked. That’s because you are a magical little girl.”
“I’m a big girl.”
Dad went over and hugged Sarah, “You’re my little girl, but yes, you are a big girl. A big girl with magical powers.”
Sarah smiled, hugged Dad back, and then grabbed the box and ran up to her bedroom.
“Sarah is all tucked in, and the Tooth Fairy box is on her nightstand. She insisted that the light on her nightstand stay on, so the Tooth Fairy can easily find the tooth,” Marsha said as she sat down next to Gregg.
“What is the tooth fairy bringing her this time?”
“I was thinking something really special, a Wishing Stone coin.”
“That would be special. You wouldn’t by any chance have one,” Gregg asked?
“NNNNNNNNNN,” Marsha hedged. “No, I was hoping you would go to London and pick one up.”
“You want me to travel halfway around the world to get a coin for our 8-year-old? You know she would be just as happy with a toy printed off the House printer.”
“She gives really good hugs when she is happy,” Marsha nudged Gregg.
“You’re as bad as the kids,” Gregg complained. “Batt your eyes and tug on my heartstrings, and you expect me to do whatever you want.”
“Who me,” Marsha batted her eyes and put her hand up to her chest. “I would never manipulate my husband like that.”
Gregg laughed and kissed Marsha, “You really want me to do that?”
“Please. It won’t take you that long. It’s only London. It’s not like I’m asking you to go to Jupiter.”
“Speaking of Jupiter, my agent wants me to do an Author Meet and Greet on Europa Saturday. Thought you and the kids could go to the Children’s Museum on Europa while I work, and I can meet you there afterward.”
“I hear that is an outstanding Children’s Museum.”
“Yeah, some say it is the best in the Solar System.”
“That will be fun,” Marsha snuggled into Gregg. “How long will you be busy.”
“Only about two hours.”
“I can watch the kids for 2 hours at the museum, but when you join us, you get the one that is driving me batty.”
“Fine. I’ll take Sarah off your hands.”
“Highly doubt it will be the eight-year-old, but we will see. That aside, you are procrastinating. You need to get going and get her coin. Tooth Fairy Daddy needs to fly off and get back here before I go to bed.”
“Fine, one trip to London and back. As long as I don’t run into traffic, I’ll see you in 30 minutes, maybe 45.”
Comments
tooth fairy
very cute
Cute
My muse likes cute.
Keep Smiling, Keep Writing
Teek
Pure Magic
And original!
Glenda Ericsson
Thanks
Thanks for reading and extra special thanks for commenting. Every comment and kudos is greatly appreciated.
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Teek
I love how a trip to London
I love how a trip to London which is halfway around the world is 45 minutes tops to and from but a trip to Europa is actually a thing. Lol love the scifi future.
future travel
You just have to love future travel. 300 years in the past, the concept of getting from Sydney to London taking just 19 hours and 19 minutes would have been unthinkable. If we travel 300 years into the future, who knows what we will have for travel. The only thing I can be certain about is that it will be a LOT faster than it is right now, as long as we don't have a war that puts us back into the stone age.
In the story, I never established where Milly lives in reference to current geography. I did that on purpose. A reference to the other side of the world from London could be all sorts of places. I do wish we had faster travel to various places on this planet and beyond. I certainly do love scifi future predictions.
Thanks for reading and extra thanks for commenting.
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