The Missing Tooth Fairy

Indigo wasn't sure what to make of it. For a second morning in a row she had woke up, checked the little pocket on her pink Tooth Fairy pillow and found the small ivory sliver of bone still there. No money. Kiara was concerned too, she was working on her own loose tooth that would spring out at any moment. The fact that the tooth fairy was seemingly neglecting our household was not acceptable.

Indigo's tooth waiting patiently in that pocket was really only half a tooth. The other half had broken off some time back - her father's "bad teeth" genes at work. Perhaps this was the reason for the Tooth Fairy's absence, were half-teeth simply rejected? Or maybe the Tooth Fairy was waiting for Kiara's loose tooth to come out as well to take care of them both at the same time? Kiara did find a quarter on their night stand that wasn't there before - maybe the tooth fairy had been there, but had been scared away when one of them woke up in the middle of the night? Maybe the weather had been too bad? Or perhaps the Tooth Fairy had been up late both nights watching the third season of "24" and had fallen asleep. Theories abounded. But still no answers.

So that evening before going to bed Indigo drafted a letter to the Tooth Fairy and carefully placed it on her night stand along with a pencil and another piece of paper titled "Write Back". She needed an explanation.

Dear Tooth Fairy,
You are my favorite Fairy. I had a broken tooth and I lost it. Not like I dropped it. It got lost and it fell out. It is in this pillow.
P.S. What did you think it was?

That should have done the job. But the next morning still nothing. No money. No explanation. So we waited. Kiara's tooth did indeed come out that day. Would this be the night? Before bed each of them double checked the location of their teeth and their pillows to make sure they would be easy for the Tooth Fairy to find. The handwritten letter was in plain site. The pencil sharpened.

After brushing the scrawling mess of hair from their faces and straining to open and focus their tired eyes, each awoke to find a rolled up dollar bill in place of their teeth. That was good. But what was the explanation? What was the reason for her delay? Why had she neglected them so long?

Here is what the Tooth Fairy wrote back:

"Indigo,
Sorry it took me so long to come for your tooth. I was captured by this really mean kid named Randy Sorensen. He kept me in a glass jar for three days until I could escape. It was crazy. I don't know what he wanted. Maybe money. But he doesn't understand. I don't carry money with me - I use my magic to turn teeth into money. That is how it works.
Love,
Tooth Fairy"

. . . I'm a skeptic. The excuse sounds a little too much like a plot line you would see in the third season of "24".