The Search for the Tooth Faerie: Part One

It all started innocently. I was in one of my creative moods hanging out in my guild; my pets were content, Dewdrop playing games to earn Neopoints, Strife in her room taking a beauty nap. Even the petpets were satisfied.

      Then, right when I asked for help with my creative project, I was awaiting an answer when Strife woke up and made an announcement:

     For a lost tooth, the Tooth Faerie gives you 124 Neopoints!!!

      "Congratulations, Strife!" I said, happy and pleased for one of my pets. (Maybe that means she'll buy her own plushie, at least an owner can hope, right?)

      "Pfft," Dewdrop replied.

      "You're just jealous the Tooth Faerie didn't visit you!" Strife shot back.

      "There IS no Tooth Faerie!" Dewdrop replied. "It's just something that happens to make you feel better for losing a tooth. The Tooth Faerie isn't real!"

      "How can you say such a thing?" I asked.

      "Well," Dewdrop said. "Where is she?"

      "She only comes when you loose a tooth!" Strife answered.

      "Yeah, but where is she? You can visit the Negg Faerie in the Terror Mountain Ice Caves, or Jhuidah the Island Faerie at the Cooking Pot. Where is the Tooth Faerie?"

      "Where the missing teeth are... which is EVERYWHERE in Neopia!" Strife replied. "See look," she added, taking out her Tooth Faerie collectable card. "It says 'The Tooth Faerie is a unique type of Faerie. She spends her days whizzing around Neopia giving people Neopoints when they lose their teeth.'"

      Dewdrop, however, wasn't impressed. "So why can't you visit her? Or even do a quest for her? You can do quests for Taelia, Illusen, even Jhudora! But not the Tooth Faerie!"

      "Well," Strife replied again. "I don't know about YOU, but I certainly don't plan on giving up all my teeth for quests. You want to be all gum and no teeth, then fine. Me, on the other hand, I want a beautiful smile just like hers."

      "Of course she has a beautiful smile," Dewdrop snapped back. "You can make anyone have a beautiful smile who isn't real."

      "That's enough," I finally interrupted.

      "That's right," Strife said. "If you don't want to believe in the Tooth Faerie, then keep it to yourself. I do!"

      Strife grabbed her Neopoints and left the room, then flopped down on her Tooth Faerie Bean Bag with her head down.

      Dewdrop rolled her eyes. "If you ask me, she's old enough to know better. Maybe you should have that talk with her."

      "'That talk?'" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

      "Yeah," Dewdrop replied, slightly annoyed. "The one where you tell her the Tooth Faerie isn't real."

      My eyes widened and I just stared at Dewdrop for a minute. "Where do you hear such things? I certainly never had 'that talk' with you!"

      "Please!" Dewdrop replied. "My friends told me a long time ago. The Tooth Faerie is a ploy. Strife didn't lose a tooth! If you ask me, she's still as toothy as ever! So how can she get Neopoints for a lost one?"

      Hmmm, I wondered. I had never thought of that before. Strife didn't tell me about a lost tooth, and her smile didn't seem any different, even though it was missing at the moment.

      Missing. Maybe that will work.

      "Perhaps the Tooth Faerie returned her tooth to her. Maybe Strife lost it and it wasn't time for her to lose a tooth yet, so the Tooth Faerie gave it back to her," I tried to explain, realizing how bad my explanation sounded as soon as I finished.

      Dewdrop shook her head, "Really now, you know that you are a horrible liar and that has to be one of the worse excuses for a lie I have ever heard. Like I said, it's just a ploy. That way they can show an image of the Tooth Faerie and give a couple hundred neopoints. People will think it's cute and forget about the possibility it could have been a handful of Neopoints just laying on the ground or falling from the sky. No one in Neopia is really losing his or her teeth. I've never seen a toothless smile, or even seen someone with a tooth missing. Could you imagine if every time the Tooth Faerie visited, we really did lose a tooth? A dentist would have a field day with us! Do you know of a dentist in Neopia?"

      "No," I replied slowly.

      "Well, I'm glad," Dewdrop smiled. "If you did know of a dentist and never took Strife or myself, that would knock you right off the Pet Owner of the Year Award list."

      "Very funny," I said with crossed arms.

      "I know," Dewdrop laid down on the floor. "What would you and Strife do without my humor around here?"

      "You really don't believe in the Tooth Faerie?" I asked.

      "Are you seriously telling me you do?" Dewdrop avoided the question.

      "Yes," I replied. "I believe in all the faeries, even the ones you can't see."

      I walked into the other room where Strife was. She was curled in a corner with her wings covering her face. Strife loved the faeries, and often had dreams of flying with them around Faerieland. After soaring through the sky, they would all rest on the soft clouds and enjoy a treat. Faerieland was Strife's favorite place to visit.

      And I knew for a fact Strife believed in the Tooth Faerie, even if she had not ever seen her or saw her passing in Faerieland or other places on any of our trips. Strife even drew a picture of her once, copied right off of the collectable card, but she still tried.

      I sat on the floor next to her, and lightly put my hand on her shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?"

      At first she didn't answer. "Why would Dewdrop say those things?" she sniffled. "She's been visited by the Tooth Faerie before, and none of us made a big deal about it. I think she's just jealous I got the visit when taking my nap and not her."

      "That could be true," I replied. "Dewdrop has been trying to save up for a book."

      "Exactly," Strife replied. "Now I am closer to my goal than she is. But isn't she saving up for a book on faeries? So why would she say one doesn't exists. I'm sure the book will tell her the Tooth Faerie is real!"

      I nodded, "I'm sure the book will too."

      "But what if she's right?" Strife whispered. "I haven't actually seen her, and she's so quick when she delivers the Neopoints and takes the tooth that I don't even get a chance to look at her. I just know she was here because she's left a gift, but anyone can drop Neopoints."

      "Now you don't really think that that, do you?" I said quietly. "Dewdrop and I were in the other room, and your petpet is still sound asleep. Even with all this commotion it still hasn't waken up. You heard the Neopoints being put under your pillow and that's what woke you up. We didn't do it, so who did? Are you saying some stranger come in through your window just to give you some Neopoints and then crawled back out?"

      Strife giggled a little, "That just sounds silly."

      "It sounds silly to me too," I smiled. "And if you do believe that, I'd have to put locks on your door and windows and upgrade the security system."

      Strife giggled and then rested her head on the ground again. I wasn't sure what I could say to her to make her feel better, but I hoped me being with her at least helped a little.

     "You believe in the Tooth Faerie, don't you?" she whispered.

      "Of course," I replied and gently stroked her mane. "Even though it was a long time ago, I still remember when the Tooth Faerie visited me."

      "Really?" Strife lifted her head. "Did she leave you presents too?"

      "Yes," I replied, knowing I was lucky to get a quarter, not a couple hundred Neopoints. "My mom had a special Tooth Faerie pillow we would put our teeth in for her to take them. It was a little pillow with a pocket on the front. My sister and I would put our teeth in there and in the morning, our teeth would be gone and we'd have a little present."

      Strife's smile grew bigger, "Did you ever see her?"

      "No, I'm afraid not," I sighed. "I tend to be a heavy sleeper; it would take a lot more than a present to wake me up."

      I heard some rustling in the other room. What could Dewdrop be up to now? I wondered and prepared for whatever may be waiting. It sounded like she was making a mess, though that wasn't like Dewdrop at all.

      Strife gave me a curious look, and even though she was noticeably upset with Dewdrop, we both decided to go see what all the noise was about.

      We entered together to see Dewdrop packing. "Where are you going?" Strife asked before I had a chance to.

      "We are all going, so you need to start packing as well," she stated.

      "All of us?" I asked, wondering what in Neopia had gotten into her.

      "Yes," she simply replied without giving any other details.

      "And where exactly are WE going?" I asked, though Strife had followed her orders and started packing some treats and necessities as well.

      "To settle this once and for all," Dewdrop announced. "We are going to find the Tooth Faerie!"

To be continued...