*The usual disclaimers apply. Special thanks to Jan for the title suggestion and to Jan, Cheryl and Lynda for the brainstorming. Enjoy :) *
…And the Wheels Turn—Part Three
4247 Maplewood Dr.
Saturday, December 17, 1994
1:35 PM
“Lee!” Amanda called out as she and Dotty came through the front door, shopping bags in hand. “The boys just pulled up and we probably need to help them unpack, and did you know that Jenna left her bike in the drive—sweetheart?”
No reply. Was anyone here? At that moment Lee came in from the kitchen, popsicle in hand.
“Amanda,” he said. “Jenna’s just upstairs changing her clothes—she had a little accident.”
“A little accident?” Amanda repeated. “What kind of accident?” Her eyes focused on the dark stains on her husband’s sweatshirt—stains that looked like blood— “Lee, what happened?”
“Mommy!” Jenna bounded downstairs. “You’re home!”
“Hey, sweetheart.” Bending down Amanda scooped her daughter up into her arms. “What on earth happened to you?” She asked as she looked at Jenna’s swollen mouth.
“Well she was just—” Lee started to explain when Jenna chimed in.
“I was riding my bike without training wheels and I fell down,” she said. “And my loose tooth fell out and it cut my lip inside and it was bleeding but I didn’t need a band-aid but Daddy says I can have a popsicle and then we can look for my tooth so the tooth fairy will come and we don’t need to write a letter.”
“I would say that’s basically it in a nutshell,” Dotty remarked drily.
“Oh sweetheart,” Amanda laughed as she hugged her daughter. “Here—let’s help your brothers unpack –”
“Phillip and Jamie are here?”
“Yes they are,” Amanda said. “We’ll help them first and then we can look for your tooth, okay?”
Jenna grinned. “Okay.”
SMK SMK SMK SMK
“Let me see,” Jamie said. Jenna opened her mouth.
“Wow,” he said. “That’s a pretty big gap.”
“Yeah,” Phillip added as he hefted a box from the back of the van. “You should tell Santa that all you want for Christmas is your two front teeth.”
That seemed like a funny thing to tell Santa, Jenna thought. Shouldn’t you tell the tooth fairy? She was about to ask when she spotted the wrapped presents inside one box.
So many of them—Jenna picked up a rectangle shaped box with her name on it. What was it? A video game? A Barbie Doll? She put the wrapped box to her ear and shook it, listening as it rattled. She couldn’t tell what it was.
But maybe –maybe if she just unwrapped this little corner here—just so she could take a little look—that wouldn’t hurt anything, would it?
“Jenna—” Leaning over Jamie plucked the present from her hand. “You know you don’t get to open this before Christmas.”
“But I wasn’t going to open it,” Jenna protested. “I was just listening.”
“Nice try, munchkin.” Phillip said. “But Jamie and I used to be expert ‘listeners’ so we know all the tricks.”
“Especially Phillip,” Jamie added. Phillip made a face at his brother and Jenna giggled.
“Come on,” Jamie lifted the box. “We’ll get this inside and then we’ll look for your tooth.”
SMK SMK SMK SMK
“Is this it, Daddy?” Jenna asked.
Lee looked at the tiny pebble in his daughter’s palm. “Afraid not, munchkin,” he said gently. “’That’s a rock—your tooth is lot smaller than that.”
“Oh,” Jenna’s face fell. “I thought it was.”
“Don’t worry,” Lee patted her shoulder. “We’ll keep looking for it.”
“Yeah, but we’ve been looking for a while,” Phillip said. “Jenna are you sure you fell over here?”
Jenna nodded. “I’m sure.”
“And you’re sure you didn’t swallow it?” Jamie asked.
“No, I didn’t.” Jenna insisted. “It fell out—we got to find it.”
Swallowed it—that was something Lee hadn’t thought about. Jenna had fallen pretty hard, he thought—maybe in all the excitement—he and Amanda exchanged a glance. “Jenna are you really sure?”
Jenna nodded emphatically. “I’m sure.”
“Like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Phillip muttered.
It was beginning to look that way. Lee let out a sigh as he scanned the ground. That tooth could’ve gone anywhere, he thought. In the grass—there was just no telling. He wanted to find this, he really did, but after over an hour of searching it was beginning to look more and more hopeless.
“What about this?” Jenna asked, holding out her hand again. “It’s littler.”
“No, that’s still a pebble,” he replied.
“Jenna, look for something that’s not round,” Dotty said. “Your tooth will look like a small rectangle or square.”
“Okay, Grandma—I’ll go and look some more.” Jenna said.
“You know, sweetheart,” Amanda said. “Even if we don’t find your tooth it’ll still be okay. The tooth fairy will understand, really.”
“Yeah,” Lee added. “We could still write her a letter.”
“But she might think I’m lying,” Jenna’s voice rose. “I got to show her, Mommy. What about the castle?”
The castle? Lee wondered. What on earth did she mean?
“Jenna, listen,” Amanda put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “The tooth fairy will know, she just does. And if she needs your tooth for the castle she can find it—I promise.”
A tooth castle—Lee shook his head reflexively. The things kids came up with sometimes—
“Because she’s magic,’’ Jenna said. “Right, Mommy?”
“That’s right.” Amanda hugged Jenna. “What do you say we go inside, I’ll make you some hot chocolate with marshmallows and then you can help us decorate the tree. Okay? ”
Jenna paused, biting her lip. “I can help put ormanents on?”
“Ormanents?” Jamie repeated, raising his eyebrows. Phillip elbowed him.
“Yes, you can put on all the ormanents you want,” Amanda said.
“Well—okay,” Jenna said.
“I found it,” Dotty exclaimed as she rose to her feet, holding up the object. “It was right over in the grass—it must have rolled a little when it fell—here you go, Jenna—hold it tight, now.”
“I will, thank you.” Jenna wrapped her hand around it. “Now the tooth fairy won’t have to look.”
“That’s right,” Lee told her. “Don’t forget to put it in your box tonight”
“I won’t, Daddy,” Jenna replied.
“What do you want the tooth fairy to bring you?” Phillip asked Jenna as they walked back towards the house. “Some money?”
“Maybe,” Jenna said. “Or maybe she’ll let me open a present.”
The End