Dragon Little was five years old, when she stepped out of her cabin, shortly after being woken up, went to Dragon Father and said, “Dad, something’s wrong with my tooth.”
“Huh?” He turned around. It was one of his calmer mornings, where he would just lean on railing and look at the horizon silently.
“Look,” she opened her mouth and showed him one of her front teeth. “This one.”
“Does it hurt?”
“It’s just weird. It’s shaky.”
“Shaky?”
“See,” she touched it. “It moves when I touch it. It’s shaky.”
Dragon Father straightened and laughed. “High five, Joy, you’re growing up!” he offered his hand high, and Joy jumped to slap it.
“What happened to the tooth?”
“It’s something that happens to everybody. When you grow up, your grown-up teeth want to come out, and your baby teeth fall out.”
“I have grown-up teeth inside my mouth?”
“Uh-huh,” he laughed. “That’s so great!”
“They’re pushing my teeth?”
“No, no, not like that. It’s just…”
Dragon Little began to cry. “What’s happening to my teeth?”
“Okay, okay, hold on,” he sat down next to her. “Come here. Look at my mouth. See, when I was kid, this tooth fell out, and this new tooth grew in its place. And then this one. And this one. And I’ve got all new and great teeth instead. See!” he showed her all his teeth. “It’s great! It happens to everybody!”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“So… my tooth is going to fall out?” There were tears in her eyes again.
“Over time. Sure. And you know what? A fallen tooth leads to an adventure!”
“Really?” Her eyes shone now and the fear was gone.
“Sure. When a tooth falls out, we take it in our hands, and we plant it like a tree on Tooth Island.”
“Yeah?”
“And then, then the tooth grows and grows into a giant tooth tree, and the tooth tree is a secret path to the land of the Tooth Fairy. And then we have an adventure with the Tooth Fairy. Every time one of your teeth falls out. Doesn’t it sound great?”
“Yeah! Yeah!”
He laughed again. “I can’t wait to see half your teeth missing!”
The tears returned, “Whaaaaat?”
—Told by The Red Dragon