Dory Fantasmagory: Head in the Clouds Page 3

  The tooth fairy looks uncertain. But then . . . her eyes begin to sparkle. And very slowly a smile spreads across her face. And her smile is GIGANTIC.

  I feel my mom’s fingers dig deeper into my arm. Then she grabs my hand and rushes us to the checkout line. Luke and Violet unload the cart faster than usual.

  The tooth fairy is on the checkout line near us. When it’s time for her to pay, she takes out a HUGE stack of one-dollar bills from her purse! And guess what she does when she sees me watching? She winks at me!!!

  On the car ride home, I tell everybody, “I saw the tooth fairy at the grocery store.”

  “So that’s what that was about,” grumbles my mom.

  “And she’s definitely not going to give me eggs.”

  “Huh? Why would she give you eggs?”

  “Ask Luke and Violet,” I say.

  “Um . . . we have no idea what she is talking about . . . as usual,” says Violet.

  “And look! She gave me a dollar!” I say.

  “Where’d you get that?” asks my mom.

  “I just told you! The tooth fairy!” I say, and wiggle my tooth with my tongue. It’s so loose, it bends all the way back and forth.

  CHAPTER 6

  The Bulldog

  “Guess what? I saw the tooth fairy at the grocery store!” I tell Rosabelle and George the next morning.

  “She’s all better?” asks Rosabelle.

  “Yup, she’s perfectly healthy and nice!”

  “Really?” says George. “One time when I had a very high fever, I saw the Easter Bunny when we went through a car wash, but it wasn’t the whole Easter Bunny, it was just a floating bunny head and—”

  “Uh-oh,” I say. “Look up!”

  “Why is Mrs. Gobble Gracker wearing my dress-up clothes?” asks Rosabelle. “Those are my wings! That’s my tutu! And my crown!”

  “Look! She’s got the tooth fairy’s purse!” I say. “How did she get it?”

  “I am the one and only tooth fairy now!” calls Mrs. Gobble Gracker. “The old tooth fairy is OUT! I captured her on her way home from the grocery store. She’s a really slow driver.”

  Suddenly, this is a very big problem.

  “Give me back my tutu!” yells Rosabelle.

  “See you when you lose that tooth, Rascal! Sweet dreams!” yells Mrs. Gobble Gracker.

  When we are safely inside, George says, “Whatever you do, don’t wiggle your tooth.”

  “Let me see it,” says Rosabelle. When I open my mouth she screams, “Rascal! Your tooth is hanging on by one string!”

  “Don’t eat anything or it will fall out!” says George.

  “And Mrs. Gobble Gracker will come to your room in the middle of the night!” says Rosabelle. “And steal your tooth!”

  “And she definitely won’t leave you any money,” says George.

  “I promise I won’t eat,” I tell them.

  * * *

  • • •

  At morning meeting, my teacher takes the attendance. But Charlie, the attendance monitor, is absent. The teacher is going to pick a substitute attendance monitor. All my life, I have wanted to be the substitute attendance monitor (because I know she wouldn’t pick me as the real attendance monitor).

  “How about Dory?”

  I skip down the hallway.

  But when I get to the office . . .

  “Ridley! What are you doing here?” Ridley is Rosabelle’s little brother.

  “What are YOU doing here?” he asks.

  “I’M the substitute attendance monitor.”

  “Well, I’m Batman. Want some candy?”

  “You have candy?”

  “Uh-huh. Gumdrops. I found them in my car seat.” Ridley takes one out of his pocket.

  “Why is it slimy?” I ask him.

  “From the frog,” he says.

  I don’t know what that means, but candy is candy. So I wipe off the slime with my shirt and take a bite.

  I imagine I’m in the Gumdrop Mountains. . . .

  Until I realize what happened when I took that bite. . . .

  “Mrs. Gobble Gracker is coming!” I gasp. Then I run back to my classroom.

  “Congratulations!” says my teacher. “Everybody, this is a such special moment, Dory just lost her first tooth.”

  “OH NO!” shrieks Rosabelle, and then quickly covers her mouth. The teacher gives Rosabelle a strange look. “Excuse me,” says Rosabelle, embarrassed.

  The teacher tells me to get a drink from the water fountain. When I come back, she gives me a yellow plastic necklace shaped like a tooth. My tooth rattles around inside.

  Then it’s time to line up for gym.

  “You need to be prepared for tonight,” whispers Rosabelle.

  “Make a trap for Mrs. Gobble Gracker,” says George.

  “And whatever you do, don’t fall asleep!” says Rosabelle.

  On the way home from school, I keep my mouth closed because I don’t want Luke and Violet to notice that I lost a tooth. Just in case they start talking about omelets again. My tooth necklace is hidden safely in my pocket.

  “Why isn’t Dory talking?” asks Luke.

  “I don’t know, but it’s totally freaking me out,” says Violet

  “Maybe she’s dying,” says Luke.

  When I get home, I hide my tooth in my piggy bank.

  Then I think about how to cover up my gap. I have an idea. “Have you seen my old vampire teeth from Halloween?” I ask Mary.

  “No,” she says. But I can tell when she’s lying. So I look under the bed.

  The thing is, if you put vampire teeth in your mouth upside down, they’re not vampire teeth anymore. They’re bulldog teeth!

  Then I gather a few supplies from around the house to make the trap for Mrs. Gobble Gracker. For some reason, no one notices when I take the toaster.

  That night at dinner . . .

  My mom sends me upstairs for time-out.

  “Okay,” I say. “But can I take the empty pizza box with me?”

  “TAKE THE BOX!!” my mom yells at the top of her lungs. I don’t know why.

  At bedtime, my dad tucks me in. I’m lucky that it’s my dad and not my mom because he doesn’t notice I’m still wearing my bulldog teeth.

  When he’s gone, I sneak out of bed, grab my flashlight, and get my tooth out of my piggy bank. Then Mary and I set up the trap.

  Setting up a trap takes a long time.

  When we are done, we lie down on my sleeping bag. We try really hard to stay awake, but . . .

  This is what was supposed to happen:

  Mrs. Gobble Gracker tries to steal my tooth. But when she pulls on the string, toothpaste squirts into her eyes.

  With toothpaste in her eyes, she trips on the dresser drawer on the floor.

  When the drawer moves, it knocks off the bucket and the horsey from my dresser.

  When the horsey falls, the toaster swings through the air and hits Mrs. Gobble Gracker in the head.

  Mrs. Gobble Gracker falls into the box of LEGOs. When the LEGO box falls, my mattress crashes down from the ceiling and squashes her.

  CHAPTER 7

  Lost and Found

  The next morning, I come downstairs crying. “Mrs. Gobble Gracker took my tooth last night. It’s gone!”

  “Did she take the toaster, too?” asks my dad.

  “What? Rascal, your tooth fell out?” asks my mom. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “I tried to squash her with my mattress! But she’s so sneaky, she got my tooth without setting off the trap!” I say, wiping my tears.

  “Hey, Dad, can we have omelets for breakfast?” asks Luke. Then he smiles and winks at me.

  “Don’t worry,” says my mom. “I’m sure we will find your tooth. It’s probably in
your room somewhere. So this would be a good day to clean your room.”

  “You don’t want me to go to school?” I ask.

  “It’s Saturday,” she says.

  How does my mom always know when it’s Saturday?

  * * *

  • • •

  My mom helps me clean up the trap, but we still don’t find the tooth.

  I ask her if we can move to a new house so Mrs. Gobble Gracker can’t find me.

  “Not today,” she says, “Melody is coming over.”

  “Melody! Again! Why?!” I say.

  “Because I want to give her that beautiful coat of yours. It’s such a shame no one is wearing it, and I think it would be perfect for her.”

  “The bunchy coat?” I ask.

  Ding-dong.

  “Great! She’s here already,” says my mom.

  When Melody tries on the coat, my mom gets very excited. “Oh! It’s just adorable on you! I can’t stand it!”

  Melody does lots of smiley twirls.

  “You look like a little snow queen,” says my mom, hugging her. Hey! She never said that to me.

  Melody does not want to take the coat off.

  “Want to play Candy Land again, Rascal? The kind we played last time, remember? Without the board?” asks Melody. “Because look! I can be Queen Frostine! Queen of Frosting! And you can wear your goggles, like last time!”

  “Okay! Sure,” I say. “But first let’s go on an adventure to get my tooth back.”

  “Back from where?” asks Melody.

  “Mrs. Gobble Gracker took it,” I say, putting on my goggles. “And she’s up in the clouds, she thinks she’s the tooth fairy.”

  “I’m not playing that,” says Melody. “Definitely not. That’s way too scary!”

  “Are you sure?” I ask her. “Because we could get ALL the pillows in the house and put them on my bed. You know, for clouds. I promise it won’t be scary . . . it will be soft and fluffy!”

  “How about I organize your sock drawer instead?” Melody asks.

  “Oh, fine.”

  I gather every pillow from around the house and stack them on my bed.

  It’s the tooth fairy! And she’s saying a lot of really bad words. She thinks I’m Mrs. Gobble Gracker. Eeeek!

  “Excuse me! Excuse me!” I say. “This isn’t Mrs. Gobble Gracker! She must have lost your purse. And I found it! This is Dory . . . remember me? The really good kid from the grocery store! Where are you? . . . Locked in the top tower of the tooth castle? . . . The key is in this bag? Let me look for it. . . .”

  The tooth fairy’s purse is a mess. And of course, it’s full of teeth.

  At the bottom of her purse, I find the key. “I found it! Okay! I’m on my way!”

  I run across a path of clouds to the tooth castle.

  I climb the stairs to the top tower and unlock the door.

  “What took you so long? There are kids waiting for me all over the world,” says the tooth fairy.

  “And it’s soooo hot in here,” she says grabbing the purse from me. Even though she’s a little grouchy, I love her so much.

  “The first rule of being a tooth fairy is hold on to your purse! Mrs. Gobble Gracker sure has a lot to learn,” says the tooth fairy.

  “How are we going to stop her?” I ask.

  “Give me a minute,” she says. “I’ll make her a present.”

  “A present?” I say.

  “Trust me,” she says, and gives me a wink.

  * * *

  • • •

  Just then Melody walks up the tower stairs.

  “Queen Frostine! What are you doing here?”

  “What a beautiful coat!” says the tooth fairy.

  “Look! I found your tooth!” says Melody. “It was in your sock drawer.”

  “Sock drawer? How did it get there?”

  “And here’s a bunch of socks with no match! What should I do with them?” asks Melody.

  “Can you just hold on to those?” I ask.

  “Okay, but can we play Candy Land now?” she asks.

  “One second,” I say. “I’m almost done here.”

  “All set!” says the tooth fairy putting on her wings. “I have to make a quick call to my husband before I go,” she says. “Just so he knows I’m safe.”

  “Okay, here’s the present for Mrs. Gobble Gracker,” says the tooth fairy, handing it to us.

  “Dory, put that tooth under your pillow tonight!” she says as we follow her downstairs.

  “Nighty-night,” she says, and flies away.

  Mrs. Gobble Gracker lands her plane right outside the castle.

  “We have a present for you,” I say.

  “A present! For me?” she asks. She opens the box.

  That night, I put my tooth under my pillow. I’m so tired from my adventure that I fall asleep right away.

  In the morning when I wake up, I check under my pillow. My tooth is gone. And there’s a dollar. And a lollipop.

  Before I jump out of bed and tell my family the good news, I think of the Lollipop Forest.

  One lick and I’m gone.

  Abby Hanlon (www.abbyhanlon.com) is a former teacher. Inspired by her students’ storytelling, she began to write her own stories for children, and taught herself to draw. She is the author of Ralph Tells a Story and the Dory Fantasmagory series. The first, Dory Fantasmagory, was an ALA Notable Book, a Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Parent’s Magazine Best Book, and a Golden Kite Honor Book. The second, The Real True Friend, won a Cybil Award, and the third, Dory Dory Black Sheep, was an ALA Notable Book. Abby lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and their two children.

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