“No one is absent today,” Miss Nell commented as she finished taking attendance. “Okay, Aleisha, you may take this to the office. Please pick a friend to walk with you,” she instructed. Aleisha had the job of being mail carrier for the week and one of the duties was to walk the attendance sheet to the office. No one even bothered to raise their hand; everyone was certain that she would choose Miranda. They were right. Aleisha said, “I pick Miranda.” As the two girls headed out of the classroom, they immediately started to discuss important things. Miranda said, “Look, I have a loose tooth!” Aleisha responded by saying, “No fair, you always get things before me. Wow, it really is loose. When will it fall out?” “I don’t know,” Miranda answered. “My mom said if I wiggle it, it will come out sooner but I don’t want to.” “Why not?” Aleisha wanted to know. “It feels weird plus I’m scared of it bleeding,” Miranda told her. “Yuck, I don’t like blood either,” Aleisha said. The girls arrived at the office, handed in the attendance sheet and carried the mail for Miss Nell back to the classroom.

Katie was the next person to see that Miranda had a loose tooth. Miranda said, “Katie, look,” as she pushed her tooth out with her tongue. Katie gave a little shriek and said, “Gross! I hope it’s a long time until my teeth fall out! I think the whole idea of teeth falling out of your mouth is disgusting!” Jerome, who had just joined them said, “At least, if you lose your tooth at school, you get a Tooth Fairy box.” Both Katie and Miranda asked, “What’s a Tooth Fairy box?” “If you lose your tooth at school,” Jerome informed them, “You get to go to the nurse’s room. She gives you a small plastic box. You put your tooth in it to keep it safe.” “I guess you do know a lot,” Katie told him. Then she asked, “What’s the Tooth Fairy?” Jerome laughed, “Katie, you’re so funny.” Then he realized that she was being serious and he said, “The Tooth Fairy is like Santa Claus. At night, when you’re asleep, she comes into your room, takes the tooth out from under your pillow and leaves a present behind.” “You mean I get a present when my tooth falls out?” asked Miranda. She was shocked to discover that there was an occasion where gifts were given and she had never heard of it before. Jerome said, “Yep, as long as you put your tooth under your pillow.”

At snack time, as they were eating pretzels, Aleisha asked, “Did you lose your tooth yet?” “No,” Miranda answered as she bit into a large hard pretzel, “But I think I’ll wiggle it tonight. I really want a present!” “What about the blood?” Aleisha reminded her. Miranda shrugged and stated, “I’ll just keep my eyes closed.” A little while later as they were packing up their backpacks, Aleisha cried, “Miranda your tooth is gone!” Miranda shouted, “No it isn’t!” Miss Nell came over and Miranda explained that Aleisha, her very best friend, was being mean to her. She said, “Aleisha is teasing me. She said that my tooth is gone.” Miss Nell said, “Actually, it is gone. Did you pull it out?” Miranda shook her head, “No, I didn’t.” “It must have come out while you were eating pretzels,” Miss Nell concluded. She led Miranda over to the mirror above the sink and said, “Open your mouth.” Miranda did as she was asked and was shocked to see an empty space in her mouth. Miss Nell expected her to be happy but instead, Miranda started to cry. She said, “Now I won’t get a Tooth Fairy box or a present!” Miss Nell tried to comfort her. She told her that even though she wouldn’t be getting a box; she was certain that the Tooth Fairy would still bring her something. Miranda stopped crying long enough to ask, “Where’s my tooth?” “You probably swallowed it,” Miss Nell informed her. “Will I get sick?” Miranda wanted to know. “No, you’ll be just fine.” Miss Nell assured her.

The first thing Miranda said to her mom when she saw her was, “Mommy, I lost my tooth!” Then she opened her mouth for inspection. Her mom said, “How exciting! Let me see it!” “You already did,” Miranda told her. Her mom laughed, “No, silly, your tooth. I want to see your tooth!” “Oh, I lost it,” Miranda answered. It took a few seconds for her mom to understand what she meant. Her mom then laughed and said, “You mean you literally lost your tooth!” Instead of laughing Miranda was serious and asked, “Do you think the Tooth Fairy will bring a present even though I don’t have my tooth to put under my pillow?” Miranda’s mom tried her best to be serious as she confidently answered, “I’m sure she will.” The next morning when Miranda woke up, she jumped up and looked under her pillow. Her mom was right! The Tooth Fairy had come!