This is a continuation of The Mysteries of Flight.
The plane ride was uneventful. Dawn spent the entire ride with her face pressed to the window in awe. She made occasional comments about the shape of the clouds and the play of the light, but Liz didn’t hear them. Liz had earphones in, and was glued to the in-flight movie. Flying was so much easier now that planes had movies. They took her mind off her fear of crashing. She still had to take several deep breaths though and remind herself that the plane was not a death trap. Was a family reunion really worth the anxiety? Once they touched down, she could breathe easily again.
“So now we’re on the other side of the world,” said Dawn in amazement as they walked down the ramp.
Liz laughed, “Just the other side of the country. Come on, we need to find our luggage.”
Dawn was blown away when Liz looked at a screen and determined where their luggage was. “That’s… that’s, but how does it know?” she gasped.
“So, you know those tags we put on our luggage at the last airpot…” Liz started while wondering if she even knew the real answer. But she got something out that satisfied Dawn, and then she had to explain how the baggage carousel worked. Liz was relieved when they got out of the airport and her brother Edward and his seven year old picked them up. She didn’t have to explain things anymore. Dawn already understood cars.
“Auntie Liz! I lost a tooth! Look at it!” He waved the little white tooth at her, “The tooth fairy was supposed to come last night, but dad says she was recovering from a broken wing and couldn’t fly. But she’ll come tonight. How much do you think the tooth fairy will give me for it?”
Liz exchanged looks with Edward, “Oh, I don’t know. It’s been a long time since the tooth fairy visited me.”
They chatted about the tooth fairy during the drive to the cabin. Dawn had retreated into her usual silence. She was rather shy about meeting new people. She didn’t like admitting that she only had six years of memories. Liz thought Dawn was a little too touchy about her lost memories, but let her be. Once she warmed up to the family she’d open up. When they reached the cabin, Davey insisted on dragging Liz’s carry-on up to the room they were sharing. This was difficult, since he wouldn’t let go of this tooth. Edward eventually took over. Once the bags were in the room and the boys were out of earshot, Dawn turned to Liz.
“What’s a tooth fairy?”
Liz looked up from her suitcase in surprise, before realizing this was a very reasonable question. “It’s a kid thing. When you lose a tooth you put it under your pillow and the tooth fairy leaves money or something. My parents gave us a bag of those gold chocolate coins, which I realized later was kinda defeating the point.”
Dawn sat down on the bed deep in thought. Liz started unpacking, waiting for the deluge of questions that was sure to follow.
“Jill says fairies aren’t real. She says I’m not allowed to read anymore fairy tales until I have a firm grasp on reality.”
Liz sighed. Dawn’s social worker had a good thought going there, but there wasn’t much anyone could do about the rest of society. Until Liz had met Dawn, she hadn’t known how many unreal things she causally believed in on a regular basis. Well, this would probably be easier to explain away than the flying snakes. “And she’s right. No fairies. The tooth fairy is just a story made up for children. Like Santa Claus at Christmas.”
Dawn’s face lit up, “Oh! Jill says Santa is the mascot for Christmas. So the tooth fairy is the mascot for teeth?”
“Yes!” exclaimed Liz in relief.
“I think I get it now. Everyone just pretends the tooth fairy is real, because they think lying to kids is cute.”
Liz laughed and shook her head, “I guess that’s one way to put it.”
A sob came from the hall. Both of them turned toward the open door. There stood Davey, still clutching his tooth. He immediately turned and ran.
“Davey, wait!” Liz called out and ran after him.
Dawn followed, still puzzled. Davey’s cries brought Edward running and despite promises from every adult present that the tooth fairy really did exist and would bring him a one dollar bill - “Maybe even three!” - couldn’t console the seven year old. It wasn’t until another aunt herded a bunch of young cousins off for swimming that he calmed down at all. He was still very sad when they left, though. Dawn watched it all awkwardly and didn’t say much. Having just nearly learned about the tooth fairy, she didn’t see what all the fuss was about.
Edward glared at Liz as the kids left, “You have to fix this!”
Liz sighed, “Look Ed, I’m sorry. I should have closed the door. But when you put that dollar under his pillow, he’ll forget all about it.”
“Not after this, he won’t! I forgot two nights in a row already. He’ll never believe in the tooth fairy now.”
“Yeah, and now he’ll tell the rest of the kids too. There’s going to be a lot of unhappy children before the day’s over,” grumbled another uncle, planting himself in a chair.
“Why do they need to believe in the tooth fairy?” asked Dawn. All the adults look at her as if she’d suggested they eat the kids.
“I’ll explain it later,” sighed Liz. She turned to Edward, “You could include a note from the tooth fairy maybe, and add glitter or something to make it magical?”
The grumbling uncle suddenly jumped up, “I’ve got it! I’ve got it! Ed, get your camera! We’ll take a picture of the tooth fairy!”
“How?” asked Dawn, but everyone else was nodding.
“I’ve got pictures of butterflies I could photoshop for the wings,” mused Ed looking happier. “And if I shrink it down enough, no one will be able to tell the difference. Not a seven year old, anyways. Who’s going to be the tooth fairy?”
“Liz,” said the uncle.
Liz looked at them and then shrugged, “Okay I guess. But I don’t have a skirt.”
“I do,” said Dawn. She still didn’t get why everyone was so upset about this, but she might as well help out.
A few minutes later Liz was in the wooded backyard wearing Dawn’s jean skirt and trying to pose like a fairy. She didn’t look like a fairy. That’s how Liz’s mother fund them when she and her husband pulled up. After explaining why they were attempting a photo shoot, Liz’s mom shook her head, “That’s not going to work. Look, we passed a formal clothing rental on the way up here, why don’t you go down there and pick out something?”
Liz frowned, “A tooth fairy in an evening gown. That’s not much better.”
“No, no. Like a prom dress. Something puffy and sparkly. Get going, before the store closes.”
“I can’t afford it.”
Her mother smiled, “I can!”
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” said Liz as they piled into the car. Dawn shrugged at her and didn’t say anything.
The people at the rental store thought that dressing Liz up like a tooth fairy was an absolute ball. They went through several sparkly dresses, and had a lively debate over which one was most fairy-like. Dawn spoke up once to say she liked the green dress best, but this was dismissed as not very “toothish.” A blue knee length dress with a very puffy skirt and lots of beading was finally chosen. By the time they had a dress, Edward got a text that the kids were on the way home from swimming. So the rental folks let them take pictures out in the back parking lot.
“Your photoshop skills had better be good,” Liz told him as once again she tried to pose like a fairy. It went better this time. They returned the dress after they were done and hurried home, making a stop to pick up dinner.
Dawn didn’t speak again until they were getting ready for bed, and first she made sure the door was closed, “So, every family dresses someone up like a fairy that doesn’t exist to make sure kids… don’t think too much?”
Liz rubbed her eyes, “No. We’re the only family I know that’s done this. The dressing up part that is. The whole tooth fairy thing that everyone does… It’s just for fun. It’s fun for the kids. I loved the tooth fairy coming. Even when I was older and suspected it was just my parents. It just makes childhood happier.”
“Huh,” said Dawn, but didn’t ask anymore questions.
In the morning Davey waved the picture that his dad had “caught” of the tooth fairy and all the young cousins were suitably impressed. Childhood innocence had been preserved. Dawn stayed thoughtful and quiet. When she hadn’t said anything by lunch time, Liz took her aside.
“Is it bothering you that much?” she asked behind a closed door. “It’s not a big deal.”
Dawn gave her a look, “Do you know how hard it is to tell fact from fiction while everyone else is just lying without a second thought?”
“Kids grow out of it! They’ll look back on this and think it was so fun that their parents made photographic evidence for the tooth fairy.”
“I suppose,” said Dawn doubtfully. “So, you’ll actually tell them someday that all the adults were lying about that?”
“Yeah. I mean, they figure it out eventually.”
Dawn mulled this over for a bit and then sighed, “I’m glad I’m not a kid then. I couldn’t handle it.”
