The boy is reading a new book a series about Nicholas Flamel
“We’ll get it from the library,” I said. He was amenable. It’s nowhere, though, in our entire library system. “You have to pay for it,” I said. He was amenable. He counted out his money. He had $22. The book is $30.56. Finally I gave up. I said, “Why don’t you write a letter to the Book Fairy and ask for it?” He was amenable.
As I’ve mentioned before here, the Book Fairy is a fairy who appears totally at random, leaving a book under the the kids’ pillows. There’s no rhyme or reason when she’ll show up. Or what she’ll bring. But the kids do know that I communicate with her to let her know what we’re up to, so she can bring books related to what we’re doing. Before we go on vacation, the Book Fairy, for example, always knows to bring books about the place we’re visiting. At one point, the boy felt fairly sure the Book Fairy originated in the house–and there were even rumors that the boy had located the Book Fairy’s stash of books–but when he learned that the Book Fairy (or any fairy for that matter) doesn’t visit those who don’t believe in her, he got with the program.
So, the boy wrote the Book Fairy a letter (I kept his spelling and punctuation):
Dear Ms. Book Fairy,
thank you so much for the books! I have a couple of questens for you. My first questen is are you married? if so what is husband’s name? And my second questen is where do you get your books from? The reason I am writeing this letter is that there is a book that I want but I can’t get with my allowance The book is called “the book of Abraham the mage” (commenly known as the codex). Thank you!
Scencerally,
The boy
Magically, two nights later (it is just a coincidence that Amazon Prime takes two days to ship), the book appeared under his pillow.
The next morning, I said to him, “I saw the Book Fairy last night. Did she stop by?”
The boy said, “Yeah,” although I didn’t have to ask, as his nose was buried in the book.
I said, “It was odd, she had a message for you.”
The boy said, “Oh?”
“She said to tell you she is married.”
“Really?” The boy perked up and looked up from his book. “Who is she married to?”
“The Tooth Fairy,” I said.
“How is that possible? The Book Fairy is a woman and so is the Tooth Fairy.”
“Yes,” I said. “So. What’s wrong with that?”
He looked at me, rolled his eyes in a “my mom is a moron” kind of way, and said, “Nothing,” and went right back to his book.
Then, this past Friday, the girl came home from school with a new hole in her mouth. “I lost my tooth!” she said happily at pickup. Around her neck was a tooth-shaped box that held her tooth. She wore it all day and proudly showed everyone the way it rattled with her tooth inside. That night, as we came home, all of a sudden I heard a squeal.
“Mommy! Mommy! My tooth box opened up and my tooth fell down the grate!” I peeked down the heating grate and couldn’t find the tooth, although, granted, it was dusty down there and I didn’t look very hard. We agreed she’d leave the Tooth Fairy a note instead. Yet, that night, the Tooth Fairy was able to dig down into the vent and retrieve the tooth. She put the tooth back in the tooth box and left a note telling the girl that she should try again the next night with the tooth. The girl was very excited her tooth was found and she placed it under her pillow.
This morning the girl came eagerly out of her room and she announced, “Guess what the tooth fairy left me!”
Uh… uh oh. The Tooth Fairy? The Tooth Fairy has been very busy and tired and it’s just possible…
“She left me my tooth! The Tooth Fairy didn’t come!”
“She didn’t?” I said. “Well, she’ll probably come tonight.”
“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” the girl said pragmatically.
But the boy wasn’t letting go so easily. “Oh really?” he said, with a gleam. “The Tooth Fairy forgot to come?” He pins me with a hard stare. “How did that Tooth Fairy just forget to come? Hmmm? Anyone know? I wonder how the Tooth Fairy could just forget to come!” He looks at me, blinking his eyes innocently, with a sh*t-eating grin on his face.
Sometimes that boy is a little too clever for his own good. And we’ll see what the Tooth Fairy brings him next time. Is it just Santa or can the Tooth Fairy deliver a lump of coal as well?
