The first of Dragon Little’s teeth to feel like it’s about to fall out was still in her mouth, still “shaky”, as she put it. 

“Look, Dad, look.” 

She and Dragon Father were hiding behind barrels of rum on a dock, waiting for the pirates to arrive. 

“What?” 

She moved her shaky tooth to one side of her mouth. The tooth was now completely horizontal. 

“Yai yai yai! Don’t show that to me!” Dragon Father shivered. “That’s--I can’t take that!” 

“Look. It works to the other side!” And she moved the tooth completely to the other side. 

“Aaaaaaah! Noooooo!”

“See?” 

He took a few deep breaths and put on a forced smile. “That is greeaaaat! Looks great, Joy!” 

“When’s the tooth going to come out, Dad? I want to plant it on Tooth Island and have adventures with the Tooth Fairy.” 

“Huh? Oh, yeah!” He’d obviously forgotten, then recalled, the tale he told her about the Tooth Fairy. “It’s gonna come out when it’s gonna come out. We have to wait for it.” 

“I’m going to pull it out!” 

“No no no no no!” 

“It’s almost out! I’m going to pull it out!” 

“Joy, please…” he was visibly forcing his body to appear relaxed. “Teeth that get pulled out can’t get planted on Tooth Island.”

Dragon Little frowned. “Okay.” 

She sighed. And soon their adventure would continue. 

—Told by The Red Dragon