Fairy Dust

Morticia held the tooth in the center of her palm like it was something holy.

It was so small.

So ordinary.

And somehow, it made her stomach flutter with nervous excitement.

“It came out all by itself?” her mother asked from the bathroom doorway, smiling while drying her hands on a towel.

Morticia nodded quickly, dark curls bouncing. “There was blood.”

Her mother laughed softly. “A very dramatic amount, I’m sure.”

“There was,” Morticia whispered seriously.

She looked back down at the tiny tooth. It didn’t feel like part of her anymore. It felt important now. Magical.

Because tonight was the night.

Tonight the Tooth Fairy would come, all of her friends had alreaxy lost their first tooth and told her all about the money they got or presents and trinkets.

Finally- finally it was Morticias turn,

The thought sent a shiver racing through her little body.

Outside, rain tapped gently against the bedroom window. Wind whispered through the trees beyond the glass, making shadows sway across the walls like long fingers. Morticia usually hated storms, she loved to play in fhe puddles after but the bright strikes of lightning and obscenely loud claps of thunder was very unnerving for such a small child.

Tonight, she barely noticed it all she could think of is what the fairy would look like, would she have blonde golden hair? A tiny crown atop her head? What color would her dress be?

“Can I stay awake and see her?” she asked.

Her mother crossed the room and sat beside her on the bed, smoothing the blanket over Morticia’s legs. “No fairy visits children who are awake.”

“But what if she’s pretty?” Morticia asked quietly.

Her mother grinned. “I’m sure she is.”

“What if she has wings?”

“Probably.”

“What if she—”

“Morticia,” her mother interrupted gently, “go to sleep.”

Morticia huffed dramatically before crawling beneath the covers disappointment written across her face. Her mother kissed her forehead and placed the tooth beneath the pillow carefully.

“There,” she whispered. “Now close those big eyes.”

The bedroom light clicked off.

Darkness settled around her.

For a while, Morticia only listened.

Rain.

Wind.

Claps of thunder.

The creaking old house.

Then…

Silence.

A strange kind of silence.

Not empty.

Waiting.

Her eyes slowly opened.

The room looked different somehow. Colder. Moonlight spilled silver across the floorboards, illuminating the soft pink walls and stuffed animals sitting motionless in the corner.

Morticia swallowed.

Something glittered near her bedroom door.

Her eyes widened with a nervous excited feeling that squirled inside her.

Sparkles.

Tiny glowing flecks drifted through the air like floating stars, twinkling softly as they moved across the floor.

Fairy dust.

Her heartbeat thumped wildly.

Slowly, carefully, she pushed the blanket off herself.

The old mattress creaked beneath her tiny weight, but nothing happened.

The glitter moved again.

Toward the window.

Morticia slid from the bed and followed it barefoot, shivering when the cold wood touched her feet.

The sparkles swirled lazily in front of the curtains.

Waiting.

She reached out with trembling fingers and pulled the curtain aside.

And smiled.

At first.

Because there she was.

Small.

Delicate.

Beautiful.

The fairy floated just beyond the window glass, glowing silver beneath the moonlight. Her wings shimmered translucent blue, fluttering so quickly they almost disappeared. Tiny pale hands clutched a golden coin.

The Tooth Fairy.

Morticia’s breath fogged the glass as excitement bubbled inside her chest.

“She’s real,” she whispered.

The fairy turned sharply toward her.

And smiled.

Something about the smile felt… wrong.

Too wide. Teeth too sharp. Eyes staring too blankly and just…

Too knowing.

The fairy slowly lifted one thin finger and pointed downward.

Morticia blinked.

Then looked below her window.

Her smile vanished.

Something stood in the darkness beneath the trees.

Tall.

Too tall.

At first, her childish mind couldn’t understand what she was seeing. The creature seemed built from shadows and moonlight, its body hidden beneath a long black shape that almost looked like rotting wings wrapped around itself.

Bones dangled from its body.

Animal bones.

Human bones.

Tiny little things tied together with silver string that clinked softly in the wind.

Morticia’s stomach twisted.

Its face remained hidden beneath darkness except for its eyes.

Black.

Completely black.

Watching her.

The Tooth Fairy drifted downward carefully until she perched on the creature’s shoulder.

Like she belonged to it.

Like she served it.

The creature tilted its head slowly.

The movement was unnatural. Curious.

Interested.

Morticia couldn’t breathe.

A low rumble echoed through the night.

Not thunder.

The sound came from him.

From deep inside his chest.

The creature stepped forward into the moonlight.

Long fingers curled around the tree outside her window, nails sharp and pale like carved ivory. More bones hung from its wrists, clattering softly together.

Its hollow eyes locked onto hers.

And Morticia realized something horrifying.

It wasn’t looking at her like prey.

It was looking at her like it recognized her.

The room suddenly felt freezing cold.

The fairy smiled again.

Then whispered something Morticia couldn’t hear through the glass.

The creature’s dark mouth slowly stretched into something almost human.

A grin.

Morticia screamed.

The window rattled violently.

The lights in her bedroom flickered.

And suddenly—

Nothing was there.

No fairy.

No creature.

No bones.

Only rain.

Morticia stumbled backward, crying hard now as her bedroom door burst open.

“Morticia!”

Her mother rushed inside and grabbed her immediately. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“The fairy,” Morticia sobbed. “The fairy was here—”

“I know she was, sweetheart.” Her mother tried soothing her gently. “You probably had a nightmare.”

“No!” Morticia cried harder, pointing desperately toward the window. “There was something with her—something outside—”

Her mother froze briefly.

Only for a second.

But Morticia noticed.

The expression vanished almost instantly.

“What did it look like?” her mother asked carefully.

Morticia’s tiny body trembled violently.

“The bone man.”

Silence filled the room.

The storm outside suddenly seemed louder.

Her mother slowly looked toward the window.

Then back at Morticia.

And for the first time in her entire life…

Morticia saw fear on her mother’s face.