Taffy and Skippy: The Story of a Girl Who Asked the Tooth Fairy for Help

Once there were twin poodles named Taffy and Skippy, who always got into trouble. They dug in the neighbors’ flower gardens, ran into traffic, and ate the mail. 

Taffy had black fur, and Skippy had white fur, and together they looked like a Dalmatian. Seven-year-old Marie Moyer put them on short leashes and kept them close to her. 

“Sit!” Marie would say to the twins, who did the exact opposite of what she said. She still loved them anyway and hoped that they would soon learn obedience. She washed their fluffy coats and gave them tasty dog food and even human food. 

Then one day, they pulled so hard on the leashes that the leather cords snapped. Since Taffy and Skippy were stronger than Marie, she couldn’t catch them. The dogs dug under the white backyard fence and ran off into downtown. 

“Oh no!” Marie cried, grabbing her red bicycle, and pedaling after her twin poodles. “Stop!” she yelled at the poodles as they almost got hit by a truck. 

She slammed on her bike brakes, only to hear police sirens from the Dog Pound van. Taffy and Skippy barked at the nasty man from the Dog Pound with the net. 

“Wait!” Marie said. “My poodles! Don’t take them! Stop! The leashes broke!”

Before Marie could stop him, the man from the Dog Pound scooped them up in his net. He threw the poodles in the back of his van, slammed the door shut, and drove off. 

“Now I have to pay the pound!” Marie said, pedaling back to her home to get her piggy bank. When Marie arrived at her house, she grabbed a hammer from her dad’s workbench. She took it into her bedroom and slammed it on the top of her piggy bank. 

The piggy bank fell apart into many pieces and out came $23.00. She shoved the money into her pocket and pedaled to the Dog Pound as fast as she could. When she got to the Dog Pound, a crooked sign hung on the wall saying: “$12.50 per Dog.”

“I need two dollars fast!” Marie said, scratching her head and wondering where to get the money. “The Tooth Fairy to the rescue!” Marie said, remembering how the Tooth Fairy brings one dollar a tooth.

She had many baby teeth in her mouth that could be loosened sooner than originally intended. When she got back to her house, she threw her bike on the driveway and ran into the bathroom. She wiggled her two front teeth as hard as she could, back-and-forth and back-and-forth. When she finally got the teeth free from her mouth, she ran to her dad and smiled. 

“What happened to your teeth?” he said, holding her face with shock. 

“I have to get Taffy and Skippy from the pound!” Marie said, showing her dad her teeth.

“Why didn’t you just ask me for the money?” the father said, staring at her toothless smile.

“Well, I thought I would ask the Tooth Fairy! He pays a dollar a tooth,” Marie said. 

“The Tooth Fairy!” the father said. “Here’s $25. Go get those crazy poodles!”

Marie looked at her front teeth in her hand and felt silly for pulling them out. 

“Thanks Dad,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “I should have asked you first. I was just going to write the Tooth Fairy a letter, explaining the problem . . .” 

“A letter! You were going to write the Tooth Fairy a letter about those dogs?” the father said. “Just put your teeth under your pillow tonight for the Tooth Fairy. I’m sure she’ll leave you two dollars. Your permanent teeth will grow in eventually . . .”

Marie ran into her bedroom and placed her teeth in her tiny Tooth Fairy pillow under her big pillow. Then she ran out the front door with her father’s money to get Taffy and Skippy from the Pound. She hoped people would understand why she was missing her front teeth when she smiled. Surely someone must have asked the Tooth Fairy for money in emergencies other than Marie.

 

Copyright 2015 Jennifer Waters

Dedicated to my mother, Darlene Waters, and her dogs Taffy and Skippy.

The Sandbox Giant: The Story of a Sister and Brother Who Wanted to Build Castles

Once there was a sister and brother named Debbie and Billy who loved to play in the sandbox their father built in the backyard. Debbie loved her brother more than anyone in the world. On most afternoons in Willow Hollow, Virginia, sunlight spilled over the grass, and the little wooden sandbox rested beneath the shade of an apple tree. The sand glimmered like tiny dunes as they built castles and sculptures with their shovels and pails.

Even if he played pranks on her and put sand in her hair, she always protected him from bullies in the neighborhood. She knew he was safe with her when they played in the sandbox together. Anytime Debbie built something that collapsed, Billy helped her rebuild it. 

One dark night, a thunderstorm came that was worse than any other thunderstorm. It shook the house, and the lights went out; there was no electricity for hours. Their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher, lit candles and placed them around the house. After blowing out the candles, the mother told the children: “We should go to sleep early tonight. The sun will show its face tomorrow.”

“I’ll try to sleep,” eight-year-old Debbie said. She crawled into bed and counted backward from one hundred. Even though her brother tried to go to sleep, he was too scared by the storm to rest. He cuddled up on the couch with his stuffed animals and a blanket. 

The storm raged outside Debbie’s window, lightning cracking again. She couldn’t stand the thunder anymore. The windows rattled. Barefoot, she ran down the hall to wake her brother on the couch. 

“Something’s not right! What should we do?” she said to Billy, who was two years younger than she was.

“What? It’s only a storm. Go back to your room,” he said, squashing his pillow into her. As lightning struck, he shook in fear and rolled over on the couch. He pulled his blanket over his head. She realized he was just as scared as she was. 

So, Debbie walked back to her room with goosebumps and climbed back into her bed. She wished the storm would end. When morning finally came, sunlight poured through her curtains. The storm was gone — the world sparkled as if nothing had happened. Like many other days, the two children headed to the sandbox with their shovels and pails.

“Where did these come from?” Debbie asked, looking at large sandy footprints in the grass. They looked enormous and strange. Each print pressed deep into the earth. “What’s all this sand doing here?”

“Oh, it was just the storm last night,” Billy said. He filled up his pail with moist sand. He sat down in the sandbox and began to build a castle. 

As Debbie was about to step into the sandbox, a fierce wind blew through the tree behind her. She wondered if it was just her imagination. The sky turned black, and thunder cracked across the heavens. The sand began to swirl and whirl, pulling Billy down. Debbie screamed. Then, the sand grew — rising taller and taller — until a towering figure of sand stood where her brother had been. Debbie stood in the grass in utter fear.  

Out of the sandbox rose a towering monster, woven from grains and wind. It roared, its face shaped like her brother’s—but hollow, wrong, not him at all. Every step left behind perfect footprints that crumbled into ordinary sand a moment later. The creature loomed high above the sandbox and knocked down the nearby apple tree. 

“What did you do with my baby brother? I want him back!” Debbie yelled.

The Sandbox Giant reached for Debbie, but she escaped his grasp by throwing a pail of water on him. For a moment, the monster bubbled, but then grew in size again. 

“Momma, come quick!” she yelled. But her mother was inside cleaning the house, unaware. Debbie threw her shovel at the monster. 

“You took what was mine!” the monster growled. “All things return to dust. You build, and I unmake what you build.”

Debbie could not believe such horrible words came from a giant that looked like her brother — but clearly wasn’t him. 

“You don’t live here! My father built this sandbox!” Debbie yelled. 

From the corner of her eye, Debbie found the garden hose in the bushes. She dove to grab the hose, hoping she could melt the Sandbox Giant with a stream of water. As she turned on the hose, the monster lunged for her and almost caught her. Before he could catch her, she sprayed the water in his face. The Sandbox Giant tried to shield himself from the stream of water, but his face started to come off, and his hands dissolved. 

“No!” the monster screamed as the sand bubbled away and his shape began to melt.

“Take that! Disappear! I want my brother back!” Debbie yelled.

“Debbie, why are you yelling?” the mother called from the kitchen window.

“Billy is missing,” Debbie yelled to her mother, still spraying the monster with water.

“Oh, he’s just hiding,” her mother said. “Come out, come out wherever you are...”

When Debbie turned back around, her brother was sitting in the sandbox, building a castle as if nothing had happened. Her hands trembled on the hose. Debbie knew what she saw.  

“What happened to you?” she said. “I always defended you from bullies, but this was the worst one ever.”

“What are you talking about?” Billy said as Debbie curled the garden hose into a pile. Debbie shook her head, knowing that she could never explain to anyone what she saw.

She hoped never to see the Sandbox Giant again. Yet on every stormy night after that, she listened for the wind and kept the garden hose nearby — just in case.

Copyright 2015 Jennifer Waters 

Tiny Tina and the Magnificent Elephant: The Story of A Very Large Grocery Bill

Everyone in the little town of Cloverfield, Indiana, said the town had a touch of magic— a place where fireflies stayed out past bedtime and the cornfields hummed lullabies in the dark. Tiny Tina never saw anything too magical herself, but that was before the circus came to town. Posters on the fence promised elephants, acrobats, and magic under a big striped tent. 

When the circus posters went up all over Cloverfield, Tiny Tina decided she had to meet an elephant. Tina could hardly think about anything else. She’d never met an elephant before—only dreamed about their curly trunks and thunderous feet. Of all the animals, she thought they would be the most fun. 

All week, posters flapped on fence posts and telephone poles—THE GRAND GOLDEN CIRCUS!—promising dancing horses and the biggest elephant in the world. Farmers stopped plowing just to read the fine print. Her mom had already bought them two tickets for Sunday night, but Tina didn’t want to wait until then to meet an elephant. 

At eight years old, Tina was three inches shorter than her classmates—and it bothered her. Sometimes, she felt so small, and she thought she needed a big friend. She decided if she had an elephant for a friend, then she would feel better about herself and not as self-conscious.

So, her plan was to befriend the largest elephant in the circus. Certainly, her mother would understand. Her mom knew that she was obsessed with elephants.

Later in the week, when the elephants arrived at the train yard, Tina’s mom made sure to tell her. It was within walking distance from the house, and Tina knew it was her big chance. She wanted to go alone though, just in case she could bring an elephant home. 

She waited until late the next night, crawled out her yellow farmhouse window, and headed for the train tracks. She insisted on having a large bedroom window so she could see the world more clearly. 

Crickets chirped like tiny violins as Tina tiptoed across the backyard. The moon hung low over the cornfields, lighting the way to the old train yard. 

As she approached the train yard, she noticed a very small opening in the broken fence. Most people wouldn’t have been small enough to fit through the opening. Not “Tiny” Tina—she was about as big as a peanut that elephants ate with their curly trunks. She slipped through the tiny opening and ran to the elephants. No one even noticed her.

As Tina approached the train car, she saw a purple tail sticking out the door. She climbed up the steps on the train car and petted the tail until the elephant woke up. She didn’t know that elephants could be purple. She thought they were only gray. It must have been circus magic.

“Come home with me!” Tina whispered to the elephant. “We could go for walks through the fields in the day, and you could lift me to pick apples from the trees.”

“Do you have a big backyard?” the elephant asked in a deep voice. 

Tina blinked. She also didn’t know elephants could talk—maybe only the magnificent ones could, like the purple one before her. 

“Yes, in fact we have a whole acre where we could play!” Tina said. “I bet you’re tired of the large crowds or standing on your head! I’m much nicer than the Circus Trainer who cracks his whip.”

The elephant roared and stamped his feet on the train car, shaking the entire train on the tracks.

“Yeah! Hooray!” Tina said, curling the elephant’s tail around her arm. “I think I will name you Charley, the Magnificent Elephant! We’ll be best friends!”

Charley smashed open the train door with his trunk and lifted Tina on his back. He stomped out of the train car onto the ground, waking up all the other animals. The purple elephant looked left and then right, and the Circus Trainer was nowhere to be seen. 

Then, the magnificent purple beast trotted down the road, but in the wrong direction.

“Where are you going?” Tina said, grabbing Charley’s flying ears. “My home is the other way!”

Abruptly, the elephant stopped and headed back toward the train. 

“The rest of the circus animals are coming with us, too!” Charley said. “I can’t leave them here, especially the other elephants.”

“Well, I’m not sure what my mom is going to say, but I guess it’s okay,” Tina said. “This is even better than seeing the circus on Sunday night!”

One by one, Charley shook loose the rest of the animals on the train, and Tina held on tight. By the end of the night, behind Charley came elephants, lions, and tigers, giraffes and kangaroos, monkeys and macaws—a parade of paws, tails, and wings! 

“I wonder how I’m going to feed all of you!” Tina said. “And I hope you behave! Don’t attack any of the neighbors, please.”

When the circus reached Tina’s house, all the animals except Charley crept quietly into the backyard. Instead, Charley slipped through Tina’s bedroom window and landed right on her bed. It crumbled and triggered a crack in the wall. Tina didn’t care. She crawled through the window and climbed on Charley’s back—he was softer than a pillow. 

Tina held her breath. Maybe she’d gone too far this time. But Charley’s purple eyes sparkled, and she knew she wouldn’t regret it.

“What’s going on in here?” Tina’s mother ran into the bedroom, gasping. “Oh my gosh! There’s a purple elephant in the room! Where did he come from? Did you roll him in paint?”

Tina was so concerned that she might get in big trouble. She had such a big heart, even if she was a small girl, and she didn’t always think things through. Then, Tina’s mother peered out the bedroom window to see the animals munching on her vegetable garden.

“Can we keep the circus animals for the week while they’re in town? Please? They really need a home with a nice family instead of their cages,” Tina said. 

She hugged her new elephant friend tightly around the neck and kissed him.

“Oh, I suppose . . . I should have never told you the circus was coming to town,” Tina’s mother sighed. “Maybe we could sell tickets for the town to visit the animals and get our money back because it’s going to be a very large grocery bill.”

Tina grinned and hugged Charley’s soft purple neck. Outside, the moon shimmered on the backyard full of circus animals. For the first time, Tiny Tina felt just the right size.

 

Copyright 2015 Jennifer Waters

Time Capsule: The Story of a Girl Who Built a Treasure Chest

Once there was a girl, who wanted to write a note to the future. When she started to put pen to paper, she knew that a note was not enough. So, she decided to make a time capsule, like a treasure chest with pirate gold. 

Instead of diamonds, she put a swatch of her braided hair in a jewelry box. The jewelry box would be her time capsule—elegant and gracious. Then she pressed a flower in her favorite book about roses and daisies. She placed the book on the bottom of the jewelry box with its shiny cover. She also put in her grandfather’s pocket watch with its golden chain.

Next to it she placed sheet music to a song that she wrote—note by note. She carefully wrapped the feather pen that she used to write the notes and fit it in the box. The feather on the pen came from the wing of an eagle that she found in its nest. Finally, she put in her favorite teddy bear named Freddie, who wore one of her socks as a shirt.

She thought someone in the future might need Freddie more than she did. Then she dug a hole in the backyard next to the swing set and buried the capsule. She wondered who would find it and what they would think of how time changed things. 

Most importantly, she hoped they liked the picture she snuck in of herself at age 14. Because the more time changed things, the more she hoped she would always be the same at heart.

 

Copyright 2015 Jennifer Waters

Field Trip: The Story of Suzie Q and the Museum Monster

Suzie Q and her fifth-grade class boarded the school bus for their annual field trip. The ugly thick green seat came up to Suzie’s nose, and she could not see beyond it. 

Anne, Suzie’s field trip partner, sat beside her, taking up most of the long seat with her book bag. So, Suzie looked out the window instead, waiting for the bus driver to pull away from the curb. Mrs. Kapp insisted the class go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She said that the best art in the world was on display, and her students must see it.

“The Museum is a crowded place! Stay with your class partner, and do not get lost!” she said. Ten-year-old Suzie looked at her class partner and shrugged, thinking she was better off alone. Anne was bossy and always acted as though she was better than everyone else. 

Suzie was sure that Anne was bound to be the one who got lost, and Suzie would be blamed. Anne never listened to class directions and always thought she was right about everything. However, she was usually wrong about most things and just wanted her way, like a bully. As the school bus parked outside the Museum, the students walked off the bus.

“Everyone must wait in line! The Museum doesn’t open until 10 o’clock sharp.” Mrs. Kapp said. “Now everyone hold hands as we wait for the doors to open and adventure to begin!”

As Suzie reached for Anne’s hand, she realized that Anne had already disappeared. 

“Oh no! Anne is gone!” Suzie cried, scratching her head underneath her woolen hat.

Mrs. Kapp threw up her hands in disgust, saying: “Can’t anyone listen to me? Is it that hard?” When the doors to the Museum finally opened, Mrs. Kapp marched the class to security. “Which way to ‘Lost and Found’? I need to find a missing student . . .”

The security guard pointed to the left, and Suzie bit her tongue, holding back nasty comments. “This is not my fault,” Suzie said. “I didn’t get lost . . . Anne just wandered off . . .”

“Of course,” Mrs. Kapp said. “If she gets eaten by the Museum Monster, it will be your fault.” When the class arrived at “Lost and Found,” a frazzled woman stepped from behind a pile of junk.

“We need to find Anne,” Suzie announced, hoping that she was safe and sound. 

“Well, if you can find her in this mess, feel free,” the woman said, wiping her brow. “I already have a few students who became separated from their teachers—they’re in the closet.”

Just in case Anne was hiding under the mound of lost things, Suzie dug through the pile. If the Museum Monster was real, Suzie did not want it to find her, simply because Anne got eaten. Everything in the mound was marked “L-O-S-T” with tags—hats, scarfs, bags, and umbrellas. 

“I always stamp the children’s foreheads L-O-S-T, so they can’t get away,” the woman said. 

“Yes, I can see that!” Mrs. Kapp said, pulling Anne from the closet by her ear. 

“L-O-S-T” was clearly stamped across Anne’s head in large blue letters. 

Mrs. Kapp bent over and spoke in Anne’s ear, so she couldn’t misunderstand the directions: “You are now F-O-U-N-D. Stay with the group. You cannot do what you want! I am in charge.”

Suzie sighed in relief, glad that the Museum Monster never found Anne by accident. For the rest of the day, Suzie pulled Anne through the Museum, telling her what to do. 

The students never met the Museum Monster and arrived safely back to their parents. Even if Anne cried like a baby, saying it was a horrible day; Suzie had fun and hoped to return soon. Besides, if Suzie ever lost her umbrella, she would know where to find it without a problem.

 

Copyright 2015 Jennifer Waters