The Tooth Fairy

By M J White

HIGHLY COMMENDED in March Competition

I’m forty years old and hiding in a cupboard. I must be mad…What am I doing?

Ever since I was a child, I’ve believed in the tooth fairy. Even as an adult, I still place a lost tooth under my pillow to find it has vanished in the morning, and I believe now more than ever—the tooth fairy is real.

My daughter lost her first tooth today, and through the crack in the cupboard door, I can see her bedsheets slowly rising and falling. The light in the hallway casts a long shadow across the room, slicing it in half. Then I hear a tapping sound. A clink, clink, like the chattering of teeth coming up the stairs, and then the sound of something scraping along the wooden floor. I freeze. The room suddenly feels cold, and a stench crawls in, like the rotten breath of a rabid animal. Something is the room now. It stays in the shadowed half, dragging its weight slumbenly towards my daughter’s bed.

The figure is humanoid, its body glistens white. It enters the light, a body made of human teeth. I feel sick. Every inch is an enamel nightmare. It’s hideous. I fling open the door, and the creature turns on me. It has no eyes, no nose, and a huge tongue made up of more teeth that flicks out from a mouth hole. ‘God, what are you?’ It holds up a teeth-studded hand, and an invisible power pulls me forward. I try to resist, but it’s too strong. A toothy arm wraps around my waist. His hand of tiny, white shields hovers over my face. I can feel my teeth being sucked out from my gums, one by one they go, pop, pop, pop.

Judge’s Comments: Visceral descriptions and a truly chilling image. The choice of subject and approach felt like an innovative choice.

Please click the link to view the piece of art that inspired the piece –

A life sized sculpture made entirely of human teeth : r/pics