Wednesday, September 02, 2009

The Toothfairy

I chipped a filling the other day and headed to the dentist to have it repaired. They seated me in a room I hadn't been in before. A strange figure seated on a high ledge immediately caught my attention.


I asked the dentist what it was, where it came from, and if it had a name.

"It's the Toothfairy," he told me, adding that it was a gift from a friend and that no, he had no name for it other than Toothfairy.

I told him that I was pretty sure he'd been buffaloed and that, although the Toothfairy surely climbs down from there at night, he does not fish baby teeth from beneath pillows and leave coins in exchange.

"I think he actually eats the children and leaves just the teeth behind," I said.

The life-size Toothfairy fascinated me for the duration of my visit. I could not take my eyes from him. When the dentist was finished with my repair, I snapped a few pix with my phonecam. He looked terrifying from every angle, although I could only get so close.


"It came from a place called Katherine's," said my dentist as I got ready to leave. "They're out of Akron. They make ornaments and stuff."

When I got home, I wanted to learn more about the Toothfairy and its creator. Perhaps there would be fodder for a story, particularly since they were local. I really had to dig to find Katherine's Collections. When I got there, I was unable to access most of the pages as I didn't have a "customer number." I used the contact form, explaining I was a writer and that I was fascinated with the Toothfairy. Would they be amenable to talking with me?

I am certain they got my message because my hit counter logged a handful of visits from an ISP tagged "Katherine's Collections," but they have not yet answered my query. Their merchandise is on the Internet, but they're very cagey about how they sell it, which seems to be only at big craft shows. I found Lucifer over there on the left on Pamela's Corner along with a several other dolls from Katherine's Collections.

I am unsure why a vendor would be so secretive about their merchandise. Perhaps it creates mystique. In any event, My poking around has probably earned a visit from the Toothfairy. So if I go missing one day save for a collection of teeth upon my pillow, check the dentist office.

That is all.


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7 comments:

Michael A. Miller said...

Looks as if these merchants should change the names of their shoppes to "Needful Things"..

If you want to stay on a leitmotif, "Tooth Fairy" and "Darknes Falls" are two better-than-expected macabre tooth-fairy B-movies.

Robyn said...

Are you sure the DDS isn't part of that whole "life size doll" group you wrote about??

Meagan said...

I think many small businesses are still pretty much electronically illiterate. You'd think if they have a website, they'd know how to reply to an email, but you might be surprised.

dean said...

Dean's Variant to Occam's Razor: never assume duplicity when incompetence is possible.

Nin Andrews said...

That's kind of a creepy tooth fairy. But I never did like the idea of some stranger reaching under my pillow or sheets while I slept . . .

Anonymous said...

Some folks just don't get the Internet, even when it's explained to them. I have a (20 year old -- I thought those younger folks were supposed to "get it!") relative trying to run an on-line store that requires registration before you can see what's for sale. I patiently explained to him that I would not supply personal information just to see what was for sale there any more than I would at a bricks and mortar store. If I want to buy something, I'll give the needed information. If I want to browse, I'll go elsewhere if the merchant is too nosy about who I am.

(Just posting in case someone from K's C that has a chance to get it happens to browse the comments here.)

- DJCinSB

emmapeelDallas said...

That tooth fairy looks like he wouldn't bother with the formality of having the teeth actually out of the mouth before taking them. Frigging creepy, IMHO.