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Giggle Book One
Toothless Jack
Willow Springs was a small town that sat in a valley between two mountains. Its name came from the many springs that ran from the mountains and the tall willow trees that decorated the town. Downtown had many shops and stores along Main Street. There were houses scattered about everywhere that filled up the valley. The people of Willow Springs were good, friendly people; everybody knew everyone.
One of the busiest places in Willow Springs was the little candy store nestled between the hardware and furniture stores. Everyone, especially the children, loved to come and shop at the candy store. The store was painted a cotton candy pink and its shelves were filled with all kinds of treats. The windows were dressed with displays of gum balls, bubble gum, licorice and peppermint sticks. There were also candy bars, fudge, assorted cookies and jelly beans of all colors. Inside the candy store, there was hard and soft candy, some that sizzled and some that popped. There were lollipops swirled with radiant colors, sour candy and gooey, chewy treats.
The story has been told that one day two strangers, Toothless Jack and his friend Smiley, slipped into Willow Springs. Toothless Jack was a short round man with short curly hair. His belly bounced up and down as he walked; his deep-set eyes shifted from side to side. People say he didn’t have a tooth in his head. He was a jolly old man with a long warm grin. But, he was clever and sly as a fox. Some said he was as smart as a whip and sharp as a tack. Smiley was quite different. He was tall, slinky and smiled all the time. Sometimes he would get so happy that his smile went from ear to ear; his face became all teeth.
Rumors have it that Toothless Jack traveled the countryside going from town to town and took the money that the tooth fairy had left for little children. Late at night, he slipped into their rooms, after the tooth fairy had gone, and took the money from under the children’s pillows while they slept. Their parents would check early the next morning, before the children were awake, to see if the money from the tooth fairy was still there of if Toothless Jack had come in the night and taken it.
Some say that he lost all his teeth from eating too much candy. But, others say he wore his teeth down to stubs by biting the stolen money to see if it was real; he was so greedy. Toothless Jack was a slick snake that had never been caught.
That day, Toothless Jack and Smiley stood outside the candy store and watched the children come and go.
“Good morning, children,” greeted Toothless Jack with a long grin, being careful not to smile and show his empty mouth.
“Hello, sir,” replied the children as they went in and out the store.
“Psst, T.J.,” whispered Smiley in Toothless Jack’s ear. (He called him T.J. for short.) “Surely, one of these children has just had a tooth pulled that the tooth fairy will visit tonight.”
“Shhh,” hushed T.J., “here come some more children.”
“Hey, mister, do you want a lemon drop?” yelled one little boy from the crowed.
T.J.’s mouth watered as his lips shriveled up in his mouth.
He covered his mouth and replied, “No thanks.”
Smiley spoke up and asked, “Can I have one?”
“Sure, here you are,” replied the little boy.
“Thank you,” Smiley grinned as he popped a couple of the lemon drops into his mouth. “Ooh, ooh,” yelled Smiley as his jaws locked up. “They’re sour.”
With his jaws locked tight, Smiley slipped T.J. two lemon drops into his hand he had behind his back.
Surely there is one child in this town that is ready to lose a tooth, thought T.J. T.J. and Smiley left the candy store and headed outside of town. They found a huge willow tree just on the outskirts of town. They sat under the willow tree and tried to figure out what they were going to do next. Suddenly, T.J. heard a hum and felt a peck on his shoulder. Quickly, he looked around and there stood Smiley. He had blown a giant bubble that covered his whole face. All T.J. could see were Smiley’s two ears sticking out on each side of the bubble. Inside the bubble, all he could see were his big teeth. Then all of a sudden, boom! The bubble burst and splattered all over them. As they tried to get the bubble gun out of their hair and off their faces, they burst out laughing, fell to the ground and started rolling around on the ground.
Day after day, they went and hung around the candy store. They hoped to hear a child say that the tooth fairy would be coming to see them that night. Evening after evening, they sat under the willow tree outside of town. T.J. was becoming more and more discouraged because no child had said the tooth fairy was coming.
“Smiley,” he said. “I don’t believe there’s one bad tooth in this town. I have never seen so many children with good teeth; their smiles are so beautiful.”
“Oh, be patient,” cried Smiley. “There will be one because there are too many sweets available to them. Trust me, there will be more than one with bad teeth; be patient.”
Smiley smacked his lips as he chewed his bubble gum. Every now and then he stretched his bubble gum out from his mouth with his finger.
“Oh, no, not again!” screamed T.J. as he rolled over on his side and out of the way.
Smiley just laughed and said, “Fooled you!”
Early the next morning, T.J. and Smiley stood outside the candy store. They watched and waited to hear the magic words, tooth fairy. As the day slowly passed, out of nowhere, a little girl stepped out of the store with her friends; her name was Alyson.
“How much money do you think the tooth fairy will leave you, Alyson?” questioned one of her friends.
“I don’t know,” laughed Alyson. “But, I hope it’s a lot.”
Her other friend spoke up and said; “Think of all the candy you can buy, Alyson, and we will help you eat it.”
It was sweet music to T.J.’s ears. He and Smiley eased over closer to the girls so they could hear them better.
“This is it,” whispered T.J. with excitement.
“I told you there would be one,” bragged Smiley.
“Come on, let’s follow her and see where she lives. Tonight, after the tooth fairy leaves, we will make our move,” laughed T.J.
As Alyson walked home, T.J. and Smiley followed in the distance. Her house was not too far from the candy store. T.J. and Smiley hid across the street, behind some bushes, and waited for nightfall.
While Smiley took a nap, T.J. waited patiently as he envisioned the shiny, silver coins. The day soon passed and night fell. They eagerly waited for Alyson to go to bed and for the tooth fairy to come. It wasn’t long before Alyson’s bedroom light went out.
“It won’t be long now,” smiled T.J. as he looked at his watch.
“Do you think the tooth fairy will be on time?” asked Smiley.
“Sure,” said T.J., “you can set your watch by her.”
Suddenly, there was a bright, glowing light in Alyson’s room.
“Look, Smiley,” cried T.J., “the tooth fairy is right on time. The flutter of her wings causes the flashing light; it gives her away every time.”
T.J. and Smiley anxiously sat and watched Alyson’s bedroom window. In the blink of an eye, zoom, the tooth fairy darted out the window and into the open night sky, leaving only a vanishing trail of glittering dust behind.
“Come on,” commanded T.J. “It’s time to make our move.”
They tiptoed across the street and through the yard. T.J. and Smiley eased up to the trellis beside the house; it was right under Alyson’s window. They quietly climbed up the trellis; they didn’t want to wake anyone. Finally, they reached the top of the trellis. As T.J. slowly tried to ease in the window, he got stuck.
“What is it?” whispered Smiley. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m stuck,” whispered T.J. “Give me a push.”
Smiley turned, put his back to T.J. and began to push with all his might.
“Push!” grunted T.J.
“I am!” cried Smiley.
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Suddenly, T.J. squeezed through the window and fell to the floor with a thump. Smiley lost his footing but was able to grab hold of the window sill.
“Shhh, quiet,” hushed T.J. as Smiley grabbed his hand and pulled him in through the window.
All was quiet in Alyson’s room. The only sounds you could hear were the thump, thump, thump of T.J.’s heartbeat, Smiley’s squishy shoes and the soft, gentle breathing of Alyson as she slept. T.J. and Smiley carefully eased over to her bed. Slowly, T.J. slipped his hand under her pillow and felt for the money. Smiley hummed softly in her ear so she wouldn’t wake up.
“I can’t find it,” whispered T.J. “It’s not here.”
“It has to be,” replied Smiley. “The tooth fairy never fails.”
Then, unexpectedly, Alyson slowly rolled over in bed. T.J. and Smiley froze; they were afraid to move and scared of getting caught. Fortunately, Alyson didn’t wake up. Carefully, T.J. eased his head under one side of her pillow and Smiley eased his head under the other side. T.J. reached into his pocket, took out a little bitty flashlight and shined it under the pillow. He searched frantically for the money.
“There it is,” mumbled T.J. as his eyes spotted the two shiny coins.
“Shhh,” hushed Smiley, “she is waking up.”
Carefully, Smiley slipped his big head out from under her pillow and began to hum in her ear and T.J. slipped his head out from the other side.
“Let’s go!” said T.J. as they hurried for the window.
Then, unexpectedly, Smiley stepped on a loose board in the floor. Squeak, pop and crack went the board; the noise woke little Alyson. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes.
“Mama, Mama,” she cried when she saw T.J. and Smiley at the foot of her bed.
She jumped out of bed and screamed even louder for her Mama. T.J. had to think fast, quicker than he ever had before. Then it hit him.
“Alyson, Alyson, my child, don’t be afraid. I am the tooth fairy and I’ve come to bring you money for your tooth,” T.J. said slyly as his knees knocked and sweat popped out on his forehead.
“The tooth fairy,” she said. “But, I thought the tooth fairy was tiny and had wings.”
“Actually, we are the tooth fairy’s helpers,” Smiley said. “We help her out with certain jobs.”
“You do?” she replied. “I have never heard that before.”
“That’s right,” replied T.J. “Look what I have for you, Alyson, one shiny quarter.”
“Just one,” said Alyson as she smiled and showed him where her tooth used to be.
“What about two?” T.J. replied as he bit the coin.
“Well, I don’t know,” she said. “What about three? It did hurt a lot when I got it pulled.”
“Three!” replied old stingy T.J. as he sucked in his mouth and puckered his lips. T.J. eased his hand down into his pocket to get another quarter. “Here you are little girl, three shiny quarters,” said T.J. with a quivering lip.
“But, I want four quarters for my tooth,” she said. “I think it’s worth it; it was such a fine tooth, you know.”
“Four quarters!” yelled T.J. as his face turned a fiery red.
“Are you sure you are the tooth fairy’s helper?” questioned Alyson.
Smiley yelled over to T.J., “Give it to her so we can get out of here!”
With his eyes bugged out, T.J. quietly turned to Smiley and said, “Let me borrow a quarter.”
Smiley reluctantly dug down into his pocket, pulled out a quarter and flipped it to Alyson.
“Tight wad!” Smiley yelled to T.J.
As Alyson counted her money, T.J. and Smiley swiftly moved to the window.
“Are you sure you are not telling me a story?” she asked as Smiley poked, pushed and nudged T.J. out the window.
“Oh, no, little girl,” pleaded an out of breath Smiley as he tried to get T.J. through the window and to keep them from going to jail.
“You weren’t, by any chance, trying to take my money were you?” she asked.
Smiley took a deep breath and swallowed hard as he struggled to reach into his pocket. As he dug deep into his pocket, he accidentally dropped some coins on the floor.
“Here, little girl, here’s another quarter for being such a good sport. Just keep it all.”
As T.J. squeezed through the window and slipped down the trellis, Smiley followed close behind. They both said goodnight to Alyson, the five shiny quarters and some odd change. Alyson had outsmarted them. Instead of them getting her money, she got theirs. Toothless Jack and Smiley with their smooth talk, quick thinking and sly, wise ways were able to get out of Alyson’s room without waking her parents. They hurried down the road and headed to another town.