Nick was six years old, and he had a stuffed fox named Ginger. Ginger had a fluffy tail and one ear that was a little shorter than the other.
One Monday at breakfast, Nick felt something strange in his mouth. One of his bottom teeth was wiggling, like a loose door. “Dad! My mouth is breaking!”
Dad smiled. “Nothing's breaking. It's a baby tooth that's ready to go.” “Why does it want to go?” Nick asked. “Because there's a new one coming in underneath, bigger and stronger.”
Nick wasn't so sure. What if it hurt when it came out? From that day on, he wouldn't let anyone look at his tooth. At school, he covered his mouth when he laughed.
At snack time, he pushed his apple away. “I'm not hungry today,” he said. His sister Maddie squinted at him. “You talk funny. Like a duck in a hurry.” “I do not talk funny,” Nick said, barely opening his mouth. That sounded even funnier.
One afternoon, he sat in front of the bathroom mirror, with Ginger on the sink. He opened his mouth and pushed the tooth with his tongue, very slowly. The tooth wiggled. Forward, back. And it didn't hurt.
“Ginger,” he whispered, “maybe it's not such a big deal.” He thought about his friend Sam, who already had a gap and could whistle through it. He thought about the new tooth, big and strong, waiting for its turn.
And then he made up his mind. “Today's the day.”
He went to the kitchen and picked the reddest apple in the fruit bowl. Dad and Maddie stopped talking and stared at him with wide eyes. Nick took a deep breath, opened his mouth wide and bit down. Crunch!
Something small and white was stuck in the apple. It was his tooth. Nick touched the gap with his tongue. It tickled, that was all. “It didn't hurt!” he shouted. “Not even a little!”
Maddie clapped. “Now you'll whistle like Sam.” Dad gave him a big bear hug, and they put the tooth in a tiny wooden box.
That night, Nick slipped the box under his pillow. “It's for the Tooth Fairy,” he told Ginger. “She's got work to do tonight.” He tried whistling through the gap. Out came a funny little puff of air.
Ginger, with her short ear, seemed to be smiling. Nick snuggled up next to her and touched the gap one more time. Little by little, his eyes closed.
Goodnight, Nick…
