Over the school summer holidays this year we have enjoyed the residential company of two of our granddaughters, Emilie (age 10) and Lottie (age 8).  They live in France and although we visit them regularly, they also enjoy spending time with us in England. During their recent stay, we took them to a local zoo.  All through the day, Emilie was fiddling with a loose tooth and, finally, she managed to pull it out just as we returned to the car park.

Emilie and her tooth

I quizzed her about the customs of the French Tooth Fairy.  The conversation went a bit like this.

Me: Does the Tooth Fairy still come to your house in France?

Emilie: Yes.

Me: Oh, she might not come to us tonight because you’re not at home.

Emilie, quick as a flash: Yes she will.  She knows where I am.

Me: Okay.  How much money does she leave you these days?

Emilie: Two euros.

Me: Hmm.  Well, because you are in England, she’ll probably leave you English money.  Is that okay?

Emilie: No.  She left me euros last time I was here and lost a tooth.

Me, smacking my forehead in an “I remember” gesture: Oh, yes, you’re right.  We’ll have to see what happens.

As luck would have it, the Tooth Fairy did have a €2 coin and did deliver it under the pillow in exchange for the tooth when Emilie was asleep.

The following morning when Emilie woke up I went into her bedroom and asked if the Tooth Fairy had visited during the night.  Here’s what happened.

Me: Good morning Emilie.  Any luck with the Tooth Fairy?

Emilie, big smile: Yes!  And it’s in euros.

Me: Show me.

Emilie, ferreting under her pillow and finding the coin, even bigger smile: See?  Two euros.

Me: Great.  These Tooth Fairies are pretty clever.

At this point, Lottie, the younger sister interjected:

Lottie, vehemently: But there was no fairy dust!

Me, startled: What?  What is fairy dust?

Lottie: it’s very small stars and things the fairy leaves behind when she flutters her wings.  There should be some fairy dust under the pillow as well as the money.

Me, now truly startled: Oh, maybe the fairy didn’t flutter her wings.

Lottie: Yes, she does.  Come and I’ll show you what fairy dust looks like.

With that, Lottie jumped out of bed and took me into the spare bedroom wherein resides my laptop.  She searched around on the carpet and then…

Lottie, triumphantly holding up something on the end of her finger: See?  Here’s a bit of fairy dust.

Sure enough, there was a small silver star on the end of her finger. Here it is:

Lottie’s piece of fairy dust

Now, what I want to know is this: how did fairies get into my laptop room and are they still there; how did Lottie know where to look; since when did French Tooth Fairies start shedding bits of wing when delivering tooth money; and how the hell am I going to explain this away when asked?

I’m wondering whether I should re-examine my non-belief in God given that I now believe in fairies!

(^_^)