fiction - brigits_flame - reap

[hwango]

When Samantha noticed that one of her teeth was coming loose, she started to cry. The other children laughed at her and told her that it was no big deal. It was just one of her "baby teeth," and they would all fall out eventually. Samantha found this idea terrifying. Eventually someone got around to mentioning that new teeth would grow in to replace them, and, more importantly, you could trade the old teeth for money.

Even to a child only eight years old, this sounded suspicious. "Who would pay for teeth?"

"The Tooth Fairy, stupid. You leave your tooth under your pillow at night and the Tooth Fairy takes it and gives you a dollar." This statement provoked an immediate uproar among the other children.

"A dollar?! I only get a quarter!"

"I get a piece of candy!"

Samantha, however, had more pressing concerns about this scenario than the going exchange rate for a child's tooth. "You leave it under your pillow? Does the tooth fairy wake you up and make you move your head so she can get it?"

"You're so dumb! She gets it by magic while you sleep!"

This was disappointing. It seemed like a terrible waste to have a magical being come and give you gifts if you didn't even get to see them do it.

After Samantha got home from school she told her father that one of her teeth was loose, and that when it fell out she was going to sell it to the Tooth Fairy.

"Oh, really?" said her father. "Who told you about this 'Tooth Fairy' person?"

"The kids at school. They said she flies in through your window at night and gives you a dollar for your tooth."

"Did they, now? A whole dollar? That seems like quite a lot of money for such a tiny tooth. Did these children tell you where the Tooth Fairy gets all of the money to pay for the teeth, or what it does with them?"

Samantha considered this, but she didn't remember either of those topics being discussed. Mostly she remembered a lot of arguing about who got the most money. "No," she said.

"Well, it all sounds a bit fishy to me," said her father. "You be sure to let me know how it all works out, though."

A few days later, Samantha's tooth finally fell out. She held it up and looked at it with profound disappointment. It felt so much bigger in her mouth when she'd been poking it with her tongue…which was something she'd been doing a great deal over the past couple of days in the hopes of speeding up the whole process a little. She shrugged. Maybe this one would only get her a quarter, but surely some of her other teeth were bigger and would fetch larger sums. She put the tooth under her pillow that night and wondered if she'd be able to stay awake long enough to catch a glimpse of the Tooth Fairy.

* * *
Samantha felt cold, even under her blankets. She burrowed deeper under her covers, then snapped fully awake when she remembered she'd been trying not to fall asleep. She felt under her pillow and discovered that her tooth was still there. Samantha realized she'd forgotten to leave her window open, and turned to see if the Tooth Fairy was waiting impatiently outside. That's when she spotted the monster in her room.

By the faint light of her nightlight she could see its pale, spindly body looming over her, its head nearly scraping the ceiling. It had the biggest, sharpest teeth Samantha had ever seen, but the worst part was how many of them it had, and the fact that not all of them were in its mouth. It also had several spindly white arms, two or three of which were holding a scythe for some reason. It was horrible and terrifying and Samantha wanted to scream. On the other hand, if she did scream, she might not get her quarter.

"Are you the tooth fairy?" she said in a very small voice.

"No!" the hideous thing chattered at her. "She Quit!" It didn't shout, exactly. It certainly wasn't loud. But when it spoke there was an intensity and an impatience that made Samantha feel like it was yelling at her.

This seemed terribly unfair to Samantha, who didn't think she'd done anything wrong. In fact, even though Samantha hadn't even heard of the Tooth Fairy until a couple of days ago, Samantha still felt cheated that apparently she wasn't going to show up. "Quit?"

"Yes! She Said The Hours Sucked, And The Rising Cost Of Teeth Was Bankrupting Her!" Whenever the creature spoke the teeth all over its body clicked together like tiny, horrible castanets.

"Who are you?" Samantha asked.

"I Am The Harvester Of Fangs! The Reaper Of Jaws! The Ivory Archivist!"

"What's an archivist?"

"It Means I Collect Teeth!"

"You already said that…like, eight times."

The creature glared at her. A moment passed as the thing hovered over her expectantly, and then Samantha dug under her pillow and emerged with her tooth.

"Here's my tooth," she said, holding it out.

"Excellent!" the Harvester said. It extended a delicate, bony-white limb and snatched the tooth out of her hand. "I Accept Your Offering!" The creature held her tooth close to one eye and examined it for some time. "Good, You Have Been Brushing! A Dirty Tooth Would Be A Terrible Insult, And Would Result In Dreadful Retribution!"

"Do I get a quarter now?" Samantha asked.

The creature shook with fury, filling the room with the sound of clattering teeth and bones. "No! I Do Not Buy Teeth! I Accept Them From Fearful Mortals Hoping To Appease My Terrible Wrath, Lest I Choose To Lay Claim To All Of Their Teeth! Cower Before Me In Terror!"

"The kids at school said the Tooth Fairy gave them money!" Samantha objected.

"That Was The System Under Previous Management! Things Will Be Different Now!"

"You're mean."

"I Am A Being Of Terrible Wrath And Fury!"

"You're just a big bully."

There was a pause. Then the looming terror sat on the bed next to Samantha, who pulled the blankets up in front of her in alarm.

"Look Kid, I Don't Have Any Quarters! This Is My First Night At A New Job, And You're Not Making It Easy For Me!" It was awkward for the Harvester to hold its scythe while it was sitting down, and after fumbling with the long, unwieldy tool for a few moments the Harvester finally propped it up against her nightstand.

"Why have you got that thingy?" Samantha asked, pointing her chin at the scythe. "Do you use it to cut open people's heads to get teeth?"

"Ew!, Gross!" said the Harvester. "No, It's Just Symbolic!"

"What's that mean?"

"It's Just Symbolic, Okay! Something About Being A Reaper, I Have To Carry One!"

"That sounds dumb."

"…You Know, It Kind Of Is!" the Harvester said. Samantha thought it sounded a little sad, but it was so hard to tell. Samantha felt a bit sorry for the monster. It didn't look nearly as scary when it was slumped dejectedly at the foot of the bed as it had when it was towering over her and holding that big sharp thing. On the other hand, it was still pretty frightening. Maybe getting a quarter wasn't that big a deal after all, and she should just be happy it wasn't eating her. With all those teeth it certainly seemed like the sort of monster that would eat you.

"I guess I don't really need a quarter. I'm sorry I upset you."

The Harvester looked at her for a moment, and then slowly stood up and retrieved its scythe. "You Are A Very Polite Little Child!" It paused and tried to recover some of its lost dignity. "You Are Forgiven! Now, Go Back To Sleep! Oh, And Make Sure You Keep Brushing!"

"Yessir."

"Farewell!" the Harvester said, then raised its arms dramatically. There was a great rushing of wind and a loud chattering noise, and Samantha covered her eyes. When the wind had gone she opened her eyes again and saw that the monster had disappeared.

Well. She didn't get a quarter, but she did get to see the Tooth Fairy…sort of. Its replacement, anyway. Samantha crawled back under the covers and drifted off to sleep.

* * *
The next morning, Samantha's father came to wake her up so she could get ready for school. She smiled at him, and he pointed to her mouth.

"Hey, your tooth must have fallen out. You didn't swallow it in your sleep, did you?"

"No, I put it under my pillow like the kids at school told me to."

Samantha's father raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how did that work out? Did the Tooth Fairy come and leave you anything?"

"Um…no. Not exactly."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," her father said. "Tell you what, after school today we can go get ice cream. How does that sound?"

"Yay!, ice cream!" Samantha said, clapping with enthusiasm.

"Not until after school, though. Come on, let's get you some breakfast. And then don't forget to brush your teeth."

"I won't."

"So, what do you want to do with your next tooth that falls out? Do you want to put it under your pillow, and try again for the Tooth Fairy?"

Samantha considered this.

"No. Next time I think I'll just leave it outside on the windowsill."

Comments

[gunthersdncemix.livejournal.com]

Hey - I finally got a chance to catch up on your stories for the month. I liked this one and flourish the best. The last one reminded me a bit of the time we visited the insincere pumpkin patch that tried to eat my shoe ;)

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Whee, glad you're caught up, and that you were amused.

[alabasterfalcon.livejournal.com]

This is almost like a scary bedtime story. I really kind of like it. I used to write similar things in high school. They're still my favourite stories.

Good luck!

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[mistvieh.livejournal.com]

That was a blast to read; I agree with alabaster's 'scary bedtime story' sentiment, like Poe trying to be 'light-hearted' or 'hopeful'. I actually kind of wish that's how the whole tooth-for-money thing really worked. XD

I love Samantha's outlook on things, and how she rationalizes childhood concepts like Tooth Fairies and monsters. Very fun. I got a kick out of her dad, too. Kudos to him for nippin' that Tooth Fairy/Santa Claus/Easter Bunny thing in the bud! Haha.

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Heh, I now I'm imagining this whole thing happening again when the kids at school talk about Santa or the Easter Bunny. = )

[tierfal.livejournal.com]

Haha! XD

Just brilliant -- light, bright, and wickedly clever. So engrossing.

My only question is why I don't leap on your entries every week. 8D

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! I'm just happy to have people read them at all - first, last, or anywhere in the middle is fine by me. = )

[drippedonpaper.livejournal.com]

This was hilarious:) And very timely for my as my middle child just started losing teeth. I think I will have my 8 year old read this, he writes stories and loves monsters, I bet he would love the twist you gave this one!:)

Great job!

I really like her conclusion that, basically, there are some magic beings she would rather never talk to again.

How did you come up with this? You are so creative!

Great job.

Please do keep sharing your writing!

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it! I hope your son enjoys it, too.

As to how I came up with it - like so many things I've written or painted, I have no idea where it came from. At least some of the credit has to go to the fact that I usually end up writing these things between 3 and 7 AM. That must be when the madness is the most concentrated. = )