The Tooth Fairy’s Inspirational Victory
The Great Tooth Revolt and Aftermath
The heartbreaking story of the trauma suffered by the Tooth Fairy as the result of the Great Tooth Revolt and her amazing triumphant comeback.
“Are you certain that no one can find me here?” Gwendolyn asks again, sounding fearful.
“I have treated others who were in similar predicaments and have had magical wards put up to prevent anyone from discovering where I hold sessions.”
Gwendolyn, also known as the Tooth Fairy, sits uneasily in an overstuffed armchair. She’s come to see me because of severe anxiety symptoms related to recent events that had caused her to go into hiding.
“Why don’t you tell me in your own words why you are here”.
“You’ve probably seen the news about it. This new generation of kids, I don’t know what to say about them. It’s not like no kid has ever tried negotiating. There’s always a few who think they can strike a deal.
But the problem is that parents seem to think they need to supplement what I leave. One kid who gets ten dollars tells his classmates many of whom only got the single dollar I left. Then other parents hear about that and try to one-up the ten dollars by leaving their kids twenty dollars. Other parents add toys, a new swing set, trips to the zoo or aquarium, days staying home from school, or visits to Disney World.
It’s gotten totally out of hand. I even heard of one case where the parents got the kid someone to do their homework for them for a month!”
“That is really remarkable. When I was a child, I was always thrilled to get the silver dollar. I still have some of them. Forgive me for asking, but I never have fully understood how fae age. Would that have been you who left my coins?”
“No, that would have been my Aunt. I’ve only been doing this for a short time, about 10 years of so. We serve for 100 years, then we can do whatever we want to. I don’t know what they’ll do now. They may get rid of the whole institution altogether after this fiasco.”
“I hope not, but I’d understand it if they felt the need to do so. Do thank your Aunt for me, when you get the chance, please. I know we are all ungrateful things when we’re children. You were telling me about how parents started adding to what you left?”
“Right. Only after a while, parents figured they shouldn’t have to leave anything, but still wanted their children to get absurd rewards for their teeth. Some families got together and signed a petition.
I suppose they figured if a number of people wanted it, then I’d have to give in. I don’t know where they thought the money for all these teeth came from but it’s not as if there’s an endless supply. The silver dollars are kept in the Royal Treasury and each year there appear exactly the right number for the teeth that will be lost.
The parents tried to take me to court. But you can’t take the fae to a human court so that just made them angrier. They joined together and came for me and the money. They stole the entire amount that was left for this year’s teeth, set fire to the castle, and tried to capture me. I barely escaped and was badly burned in the process. They put a price on my head, forcing me into hiding.
Since then, I’ve had horrible nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, I hate being anywhere where I don’t have a clear escape path. I can’t stay in any one place for too long for fear they’ll find out where I am. I startle at the least little noise and am constantly scanning my surroundings for danger. Fire of any kind terrifies me. I almost attacked a man who lit a cigarette the other day and was lucky no one recognized me.
I have no idea what I’m going to do for money. Even though the King and Queen say I don’t have to replace the money stolen I still feel that I should. Those rotten kids didn’t care if they ruined it for everyone. They just thought they were entitled to whatever they could get. Their parents dared to call it a sellers economy if you can believe that. Do they really think I need their teeth? Most of them are already rotten anyway.”
“I can’t imagine how hard this has been for you. You were just doing your job and didn’t deserve to be attacked because of it.
We’ll work on alleviating your symptoms in our sessions and process your thoughts and emotions regarding the whole situation. I know right now you’re fearful of trusting others, but ideally eventually we’ll hopefully get you into group therapy.”
“Oh, I don’t think so! That would be too risky. Not just for me, but for others in the group as well.”
“I know that’s how you feel right now, but there are others in similar situations to you. There are several former Hogswort students who still suffer from PTSD symptoms this long after Voldermort’s death who fear that perhaps he’ll find a way to return. There are also some of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys are still having difficulty coping with being captured by Captain Hook. And there are others as well.
But that’s not for now. We’ll meet one on one to begin with and re-evaluate down the road.”
“In the meantime, it’s important to do something practical. How about your financial circumstance. Do you have any idea of how you might manage to earn some to get by on?”
“Well, I’m looking into freelance writing. Writing was always my true love. But the King and Queen had decreed that I was to serve as Tooth Fairy when my aunt retired. Now, that’s obviously no longer possible so I think I’d like to try writing and see if I’m any good at it.”
For the first time since she came in, Gwendolyn looks somewhat animated. “What kinds of things do you think you’d like to write?”
“I’ve always had an interest in health. I actually thought for a while I’d go to med school. Maybe something related to being a Tooth Fairy. I’ve heard about a couple of online platforms that I can get started with.”
“Oh really? What are those?”
“One’s called Medium and it’s a blogging platform that you can earn some money on. Another one is called Fiverr. You can list your services and people who are interested contact you through the site.
“There’s also crowdfunding,” I suggest.
“I’ve heard of that but it just seems too much like asking people to just give me money. It doesn’t seem right.”
“You can also attach gifts to those who fund you.”
I can tell she still isn’t impressed with the option.
“Well, anyway, it sounds like, despite your trauma, that you’ve begun to plan for your future. That’s an impressive first step.”
“I’m just afraid that I’ll try to start something up and then because of the rest of it, I’ll fail. There are days I can’t seem to get out of bed, and other days I’m so afraid I feel I have to run, to escape. I just fly and fly and fly with no idea where I’m going.”
“And we’ll work on all that. There are a lot of treatment options that we can try. There’s also medication but I don’t know how it would work on a fae since your physiology is slightly different from ours.”
“Oh, we don’t use human medicine. There are too many problems with it, even when humans take it. We use natural remedies. I’ve been drinking a tea made from lemon balm, valerian root and chamomile which helps a little as long as my panic isn’t through the roof. When it gets too high though nothing seems to help.”
“Keep using whatever natural strategies you can for the anxiety. If you haven’t already, you should try an exercise regimen.
Also, keep moving forward on your writing goals. That will help keep your mind from fixating on what you went through. Plus, the more progress you can make with that the more control you’ll feel you have over your life.”
“Okay. I can do that.”
“Good. I’m afraid our times up for today. I think for now we should see each other several times a week until your symptoms start to subside. What do you think about starting with three times a week? Would that be too much for you?”
She hesitates.
“It’s just that I don’t have much money. Until I can find a way to earn some more I don’t see how I can afford more than once a week.”
“Don’t worry about that. The King and Queen contacted me and said they intend to pay for whatever you need. I know they are also trying to find a way to make things safe for you again by discouraging any of my kind from going after you.”
I can see she has tears in her eyes and offer her the box off tissues.
“I knew the King and Queen were very distressed by what happened . . . “
I can see she is overcome and wait for her to compose herself.
“I’d very much like to see you three times a week, if you’re available.”
“I’m What’s your schedule like? Would Tuesday work?”
We set the next appointment.
3 Years Later
Former Tooth Fairy Turned Children’s Dentist Given Award For Best Health Blog of the Year
Dr. Gwen, formerly known only as the Tooth Fairy now world famous pediatric dentist, has been given the award for the best health blog of the year. It will be remembered, that Dr. Gwen’s career as the Tooth Fairy ended in near disaster after a group of families stole the entire children’s tooth fund and attempted to capture her, resulting in her going into hiding for almost two years.
While in hiding, Dr. Gwen started her blog under the pseudonym, “G. A. Nonymy” which has become extremely popular and now receives more than a million hits a month.
She also completed her dental degree online and became licensed during her time in hiding although she said, “I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to use it, but I wanted to stay positive and be able to start practicing right away if it was ever safe to come out of hiding.”
The Great Tooth Revolt, as it has come to be called, almost resulted in war between the fae and humans until the fae King and Queen agreed to allow a team of their people join agents from the FBI and CIA on a task force aimed at bringing those who took part in the revolt to justice.
Now that all the responsible parties have been apprehended, negotiations are said to soon be concluding with the signing of a treaty which will set out the conditions for the designation of a new Tooth Fairy. Since the revolt there has been no Tooth Fairy as the fae monarchy believe it’s too dangerous to appoint a new one. It is expected that the agreement will include the exact amount paid per tooth with severe penalties for anyone found to be attempting to negotiate a higher price or planning any kind of extortion or violence to obtain more money.
When asked whether she’d consider returning to her former position, Dr. Gwen replied, “No, that part of my life is over. The King and Queen approached me about it but they understood when I said I prefer to continue pursuing my career as a dentist and writer.”
As for what’s next, Dr. Gwen said, “I’m plenty busy with my dental practice and my blog. But I have been considering starting a new parenting blog for a while now.”
Although she wasn’t willing to give out the particulars of the new blog, she did say, “I’ve seen so many parents who won’t discipline their children and who let them have whatever they want. This leads to very entitled children who believe they deserve whatever they want and if it’s not given willingly that they have the right to take it.. Parents need to understand that it is their responsibility to raise good future citizens of the world. I’d like to help parents learn how to do that.”
You can contact Dr. Gwen to make dental appointments for your child through the Fairy Human Interactive Council.
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