Toothpox

Prompt: No one has prepared for a world in which teeth were abundant

Her pillow was a bit rocky, so much so she couldn’t sleep. Tossing and turning Claire grew frustrated and jumped out of bed and began pacing her room, muttering to herself.

If her calculations were correct, tomorrow would be a giant payday, she just had to convince her overeager mind to calm down.

She licked her lips, rubbing her hands together like she’d seen in old films like some sort of greed-driven megalomaniac. She coughed slightly and another tooth fell out.

The toothpox had run through her school, and she knew that the tooth fairy was going to pay up. Due to inflation, a tooth had a going rate of $5/tooth, and with the scheme she cooked up with her friends, they were yanking teeth out left and right from friends like regular dentists.

She collected 107 before she realized she had to find some quiet way of transporting these mouth stones.

The virus had run amok among her 3rd grade class and just like sharks, the kids needed to lose their teeth or else suffer the consequences. Orthodontists didn’t know what to do with them. Headgear was nonexistant and everyone had a lisp.

She carried the 107 teeth home in her backpack, pockets and wherever she could stash these mouth jewels. Her mom wondered why she immediately sped upstairs to hide her treasure.

Tonight was the time that the tooth fairy would return with money aplenty. About $535 if her multiplication was correct (and she had checked and double-checked her math). If that dumb fairy didn’t pay up, she’d have hell to pay. Her friends were all expecting their cut. She bet all of her own teeth on the money she was going to receive.

She took a few deep breaths. Let’s think of a plan B. If that dumb fairy never shows, then she’ll have to do something with all these canines. She’d have to make necklaces or charms or potentially turn them into bracelets or maybe even bedazzle notebooks with some superglue.

Finally tired from the anxiety and stress of the big score, Claire settled down into a restless sleep, dreaming of all her teeth falling out.

She awoke with a start, quickly checking under her pillow. The big pillowcase filled with tonsils was gone and in its place was a note that merely read: IOU.

Turns out that she was going to have to grow some more teeth at school today.