John: Mom!
John's Mother: John! Why did you ...
John's Mother: Are you ...?
Tooth Fairy: Nice to meet you, ma'am.
Tooth Fairy: You may call me Tooth Fairy.
The new car was still marvelous ... How could a child who looked and really was malnourished ever damage it? From the motel to Mare Town, it took only three minutes driving, and it didn't even need to be at full power.
Despite the name, it's a stretch to call this place a town.
John's Mother: Hiss ... cough ... John, help me up ...
Tooth Fairy: No, don't bother ... just lie down, ma'am.
A few families scattered in the wilderness. The cracks in the wooden doors were once filled with layers of sand and gravel, and turned into a board of pinkish yellow.
On the way here, John told me about how the family was stricken with poverty. Indeed, it's not difficult to tell from his figure.
John: Mom! Look, my tooth fell out!
But the reality was still much worse than I thought.
John: You sit here, next to Mom!
The house was not bigger than the stables I had seen. Lights were the only eletrical equipment. Time seemed to cease here.
John's mother was lying on the only furniture in the room, like a solitary raisin on a plate.
John's Mother: If John did anything wrong, I am very sorry ...
Tooth Fairy: No, ma'am. I should be the one to apologize ...
John: Ms. Tooth Fairy is a doctor. She's also an arcanist, just like Grandma Susie!
John: There're a lot of flying grannies in her jar ...
John's Mother: John.
John: Okay, Mom ...
John: I'll go get some water!
Tooth Fairy: If you don't mind, please allow me to do a few simple checks for you.
Tooth Fairy: Please don't worry ... I am an arcanist, and also a medical student.
John's Mother: You ... cough ...
John's Mother: Okay. cough ... Good, good ...
Tooth Fairy: If you feel painful, please do not hold back.
John's Mother: ...
Disease is cruel.
It takes the unfortunate by the throat without distinction of any kind, and gradually squeezes the necks of the weak.
John's Mother: Uh ... ah ah ... it hurts ... ah ah ...
Then the pain was there to deprive them of the dignity ... making their decease more naked than their birth.
Tooth Fairy: Ma'am, please close your eyes, and open your mouth.
No need for more professional instruments. The shape of death is clearly palpable in the horrible surroundings and through her descriptions. For the incurable diseases, death is never the most frightening part.
Tooth Fairy: John ...
Tooth Fairy: Come here. Hold your mother.
The boy was swift and experienced. His behavior revealed a sense of indifference that he himself barely knew.
... Children were not supposed to be more of an expert of these than toffee.
During the whole day there, almost all the tooth fairies I brought were consumed.
Tooth Fairy: Your mother is sleeping for now.
John: Well ...
John: It's not just today ... She suffers like this every day.
John: In the evening, especially late at night.
Tooth Fairy: ... I'm sorry.
John: Is it that nothing you can do either?
Tooth Fairy: John, doctors aren't omnipotent.
Tooth Fairy: ... Nor are those little things with wings.
Tooth Fairy: No delay, adequate dosage, and no complications ... All the three are equally important.
Tooth Fairy: I think your mother probably knows about her illness better than me ... and she knows you better.
Tooth Fairy: That's why she allowed me to do the checks for her.
John: ...
The sunset glow tinted the sky with a pinkish hue that matched the color of the rock. The temperature varied greatly in Texas and was often difficult to adapt to. The heat of the day had long faded. The breeze with silver sand even felt a little chilly.
John: Can you wait for me here?
Tooth Fairy: No problem. I will sit here until the sun goes down.
The boy returned much faster than I thought.
John: This is for you.
Tooth Fairy: This is ...?
John: I traded two packs of Toto's hair for it from Grandma Susie. She said it was the tooth of a rare beast. And she also said ... if you prayed to it devoutly, all requests would be granted.
John: I prayed to it every night for my Mom to get better ...
John: But it must be because I caught the beetles twice and didn't pray ... so it didn't work.
Tooth Fairy: Well ...
Tooth Fairy: This is a Ropen's tooth.
John: A Ropen's tooth ...?
Tooth Fairy: It's indeed very rare. Ropen is a type of pterodactyl that inhabits the rocks of Umboi Island, with a long beak and sharp claws.
John: Whoa ...
Tooth Fairy: They also have huge wings, and will glow like phosphorescence at night ...
The Ropen's tooth that the boy held possessed a rough enamel and an abnormal size. Apparently it's an artificial toy.
However, even if this is real, it's impossible that all requests would be granted. It's probably just a psychological comfort to a child given by a kind senior.
John: Have a safe trip, Ms. Tooth Fairy!
I saw the boy's figure in the rearview mirror getting smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared into the exhaust.
That fake Ropen's tooth is still a treasure among my collections.
Even for a while after that, it was worth more than anything else.
