The Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy

The Fairy of Teeth

I’m sure you are aware, dear reader, of a legend whose tale spans centuries. For many years children grew up hearing the story of a kind fairy who left gifts under the pillows of good children whose health were carefully considered. So long as children practiced good hygiene day and night and they were placed under the pillow, all lost teeth would be taken and replaced by a single silver coin. The children, who were at first reluctant, were now excited to take care of themselves, and even more so when they woke up at dawn and found a gift had been left mysteriously in the night for their good behavior.
This time of merriment would not last however. Once the children had grown up and ran out of teeth to give, the coin under the pillow no longer appeared. Growing frustrated, the children- now young troublesome adolescents -began scheming ways to earn the fairy’s silver coins. They began with taking teeth from the carcasses that hunters would drag in, and when no coin was seen the next morning, their frustration only grew.

“It’s not fair,” they said. “Why should we be punished for what our bodies don’t have?”

So they kept at it, trying ever harder to trick the fairy into giving them gifts. Soon, they turned to the worst of all solutions; taking teeth from smaller children and the elderly, no matter how loose the bone actually was.

The next night when the fairy came to inspect the teeth, she discovered what had been done. She woke the terrible youths from their slumber, her delicate voice shrill with anger. “I cannot believe this!” she exclaimed, her cheeks red. “I took your teeth as children and gave you coin so you might take care of your own teeth, not to instill greed in humanity’s youth! This will not do.”

And with that she vowed never to be kind again. She pointed her wand at the group of young criminals and set a curse on them. “You and your children’s children and their families for generations are hereby cursed! No longer will you have bright white smiles. Forever more you will rue the day you tried to trick me.” With a wave of her wand the curse was final, her words echoed through the city.
At first they didn’t believe her. How could a tooth fairy do harm, much less curse them? They wouldn’t find out the answers they sought until one night.

Years later, after the fairy’s wrath was all but forgotten, night fell on the now older hooligan’s homes.

They had finally laid their children to rest on a chilly October night when a window creaked open just enough to let a small figure through. The grown ups had just fallen asleep when they heard a horrible screaming noise followed by a loud, terrifying squelch. The adults--now fully awake--raced down the hall to their children’s bedrooms. Once they opened the door, their hearts stopped. The sight they beheld was one they’d not soon forget, simultaneously remembering the events of their own childhood those many years ago.
The window had been opened and inside stood the figure of a woman dressed in silver robes like that of an angel. As the parents wondered after the source of the horrible squelching noise, the sight before them answered the unspoken query.

Blood was splattered on the walls, dripping down the open window. In the hands of the figure lay the children’s teeth, bits of flesh still clinging to the roots. The woman turned towards the parents and stepped into the moonlight cascading in from the window, the light now slightly red. As she revealed her face, the parents gasped. It was the fairy!

“No-impossible!” Stammered the man, face turned ghostly white. “We all thought you died years ago!”

The fairy smiled, rows and rows of sharp predacious teeth catching the light. “You may have grown old in my absence my dear, but I assure you the same does not apply to beings like me.” She pulled back her robe, revealing a belt. Attached to said belt were a great many jars containing...teeth. She chuckled, the revulsion the two adults displayed was too delicious. “Does this bother you?” she said. A smile crept its way across her mouth, stopping before it could reach her bright silver eyes. “It shouldn’t. After all, you did the same thing many years ago. In fact, I should thank you for giving me my brilliant idea!”
In the pause wherein the fairy cackled, the man spoke up, finally finding the words in his mounting terror. “W-what idea?” he said.
The fairy swept a dainty-albeit bloodsoaked- hand to the man’s children, who lay on their beds faint from blood loss. “This!” she chirped, beaming proudly. “I finally decided that simply taking teeth and giving my money wasn’t enough for me anymore, so I said...well..” She crossed over to the unconscious children and covered their ears. “Screw it.” she giggled, stepping away from the beds. “And now here I am! Here to exact my revenge on all mankind because someone-” she looked pointedly at the man. “tried to trick me!”
“Can’t you just..forgive and forget?” The man stammered, knees weak with fear. The fairy tutted at the man, as if he were still a child. “If I did that, then all my hard work and planning would be for nothing!”
“What planning?” The parents asked, not truly wanting to hear the answer. The fairy only giggled and said, “You’ll see!” before climbing out the window into the harsh winter’s night.

The next few nights passed without incident, which only proved to increase the trepidation in all the people involved in the tricks played on the fairy long ago. People began boarding up windows at night, barricading doors, and some even began to fashion weapons out of household items even though things like guns were most certainly invented by this point.
In any case, the people grew restless. The children didn’t understand what there was to be afraid of. After all, why should the nice fairy who gives gifts be feared? All their questions would soon be answered on the very last night of the month after everyone was asleep.

Once night fell and the moon was at its highest peak, a child snuck out of bed and out of the house to see where the fairy had gone. After all, he had lost a tooth that week and the fairy was nowhere to be seen. He wanted his silver coin!
The boy made his way down to the woods at the edge of his town and peered through the trees. Seeing nothing, he ventured further into the forest. He stepped quietly so as not to startle the fairy once he found her.
He walked for quite some time when he finally heard a very strange noise. It sounded almost like a song to the boy, and so he went towards it and then he saw what was making the noise.

Through a small break in the trees the boy could make out the fairy, who was standing at the edge of a dark lake chanting a very odd song. The boy listened and couldn’t figure out if he’d heard the tune before, and so he decided to walk closer to get a better look.

All around the fairy lay in the sand small piles of teeth in evenly spaced rows. The fairy stood facing away from the boy, arms reaching towards the heavens as she chanted words from a dead language. Her hair, once a bright white, was now a deep black. Her gown, which had once glowed with the twinkle of a thousand stars, now hung low and scarcely shone. As the boy looked he noticed her skirts were spattered with a weird red stain almost like cherries but darker.
The boy grew more confused as the piles of teeth began rolling towards the center of the lake, as if pulled by an invisible string. Once all the teeth had been submerged, all was quiet. After a few moments, the boy called out to the fairy to ask what was happening. The fairy made no response or any indication that she heard the child. The boy drew nearer, venturing so far as to yank on the skirt of the woman’s gown. Withdrawing his hand, the boy looked to see that some of the red came away in his hand, bringing with it a strange coppery smell.
Suddenly, the lake began to bubble, slowly at first and then more intensely. A combination of fear and curiosity rose in the boy, each battling for prominence in his mind. He yanked on the fairy’s gown once more, and looked up at her as he did so.
Almost immediately, the fairy’s head snapped around to face him. Her eyes were now completely black, the silver that had twinkled there before now swallowed whole by darkness and replaced with a blood red glow which pierced the boy’s soul. The boy fell back, scrambling away from the fairy and the lake but not quite leaving to the comfort of his bed. He felt as if he needed to stay, if only to witness these events.
The bubbling in the lake stopped as a giant mass rose from the depths. If one were to ask the boy later what he saw, he could not describe it to you properly enough to display its wickedness. If he were to try his very best, he might say that what he was looking at was something like a tower of bones, like a wave of sorts or even a wall. In any case, a solid mass of bone and teeth towered over him, dripping with a mysterious black inky substance which appeared to writhe between the cracks of human remains.

Frozen in fear, the boy could only watch as the fairy led the mass over the land, destroying everything in its path.
When at last they’d reached the town, the townspeople had all left their homes to gawk at the sight before them, unsure of what to make of it. In the confusion, the fairy spoke. Her voice was no longer light and airy, but deep and demonic, as if it were made of thousands of voices speaking at once. “YOUR TIME OF RECKONING HAS COME AT LAST, PUNY MORTALS.” the voice rumbled. “THE LIVES OF ALL WHO INHABIT THIS LAND SHALL END THIS DAY BY MY TERRIBLE MIGHT. AS YOU DRAW YOUR FINAL BREATH, REMEMBER ALL YOU HAVE DONE TO FORSAKE ME, AND LET YOUR LAST THOUGHTS BE OF REGRET AND SHAME FOR YOUR ACTIONS.”

With that, the mass rose up and engulfed the fairy, turning her into her true form. Her delicate skin was now weathered and grey, her hair floated in a halo around her head, adorned by a wreath of teeth. Her gown, although still dirty, now had its own bone accents. Her wings, once dainty, now were tipped with the canines of children along each edge. She floated there for a moment, drinking in the looks of horror her true form gave the people. Then, the carnage began.

Thus ends the tale of the Tooth Fairy. You’ve brushed your teeth recently, right?