a last first

The Tooth Fairy did visit. She left a dollar, and Short One was very excited. Then he told his mama that he wanted his tooth back. The mama said she thought the Tooth Fairy would understand, it being his first lost tooth and all -- maybe he could leave a note under his pillow that night.

So the Short One set about making a lovely card with a big, bloody tooth on the front, a picture inside of a little guy apparently putting something under a pillow, plus more pictures of relevant objects such as a toothbrush, a pillow, another tooth and a dollar bill floating around. The note read, "Dear Tooth Fery mae I have my tooth back? I wood like that."

That night, the Tooth Fairy left a note saying she was sorry, but she had already planted his tooth in her garden, where it would turn into a beautiful flower the next spring, and she would think of him when she saw it, and would he accept in exchange this special stone from her garden? Folded into the note was a small, smooth, flat, white stone.

(I hope my washing machine is okay. Something that small wouldn't ... would it?)

When he told me about the Tooth Fairy's response, I asked him how he felt about it. "I like it," he said, rubbing the stone, then rumpled his brow. "But it looks familiar."

My birthday card from him this year was a marine wonderland, with a happy whale and some fierce piranhas. The note on back:
Happy Birthda
y! I luve you. I
hoop you have
a good day?