The Toothless Fairy - Dr Tim Jordan

The world is filled with candy and sweets, especially at certain times of the year. For one, lonely fairy, sweets become her refuge and she hides her face and toothless grin, sad to not have one friend. But, she is a generous and sweet-loving fairy. Her greatest fear is that her face is full of warts and her nub of a nose will be cause for rejection. She watches the children have fun in the streets of summer and she wishes that she could befriend them, but she is too afraid to make the first approach. What if they are scared? What if they don't like her? On one day, as Autumn begins she looks down at the children and they are dressed in scary outfits--they look like ghouls and ghosts, witches and warlocks, and even fairies. She is baffled and surprised that the children are not scared of each other and of their selves. She thought that looking scary meant that no one would want to be her friend. She has a realization--perhaps being scary is not all that bad. So a wistful plan is formed--the Toothless Fairy decides that she will finally conquer her fear of approaching a potential friend by using her fairy magic. She knows that kids receive candy on Halloween, and that often times they do not eat it all. So her plan becomes to give a gift in return for a child's candy, and she knows that if the child accepts her trade, she would never be scared of making friends again. So on Halloween night, the fairy musters all the courage she can and she flies into the home of a sleeping girl. The girl wakes and they are both scared. But when the fairy creates a magical new clarinet for the girl, the girl sees her face for the first time and is not scared. Instead the girl is filled with boisterous merriment and awe. The two quickly become friends while the girl plays her clarinet and the Fairy gobbles up her candy. After a night of fun and friendship, the girl falls asleep and the Toothless Fairy leaves a note in her jacket pocket. The note declares that a tradition has begun--that every year the Toothless Fairy will come to kid's houses--those with a profusion of candy--and she will trade them candy for a magical gift, and of course, a lifelong friendship.