Franklin Goes to the Hospital, Franklin and the Tooth Fairy, and Finders Keepers for Franklin: Three Classic Franklin Stories (4 page)

Waiting for the school bus, Bear put his paw in his mouth and wiggled a tooth back and forth. It jiggled and wiggled and then, with a tug, it came out.

“Look at this!” said Bear. “I lost my first tooth.”

Franklin was startled. There was even a little blood on the tooth. “That’s terrible. How are you going to tell your mother?”

Bear laughed.

“My teeth are supposed to fall out,” said Bear.  “It makes room for my grown-up teeth.”

Franklin ran his tongue around his gums. They were smooth and firm … and completely toothless.

“I don’t have any teeth,” said Franklin.

It was Bear’s turn to be surprised.

Franklin’s friends shook their heads sadly. “Too bad,” they said.

Franklin wondered why. He had never needed teeth before.

Bear wrapped his tooth in a bit of tissue and put it in his backpack. “I need to keep this safe,” he said.

All the way to school, Franklin wondered why Bear wanted to keep his old tooth. Especially if he was going to get a brand-new grown-up tooth. Now
that
was exciting.

“Why do you want to keep your tooth?” asked Franklin. “Won’t you get a big one soon?”

All his friends looked at him with amazement.

“Don’t you know about the tooth fairy?” asked Fox.

Franklin shook his head.

“At night, before you go to sleep, you put your baby tooth under your pillow. Then the tooth fairy comes and takes the tooth away,” explained Fox.

“But that’s stealing,” said Franklin. “Besides, what does the tooth fairy do with all those teeth?”

There was a long pause.

Bear scratched his head. Fox swished his tail, and Rabbit twitched.

“I don’t know,” said Bear, “but she always leaves something behind.”

“One of her own teeth?” asked Franklin.

Everybody laughed.

“Oh, Franklin!” said Fox. “The tooth fairy leaves a present.”

Franklin wondered what kind of present a tooth fairy would leave.

“I hope I get some money,” said Bear.

“When I lost my first tooth, I got a new book,” said Raccoon.

“I got crayons,” Fox said.

Franklin rubbed his gums. He wished he had a tooth to leave for the tooth fairy. He wanted a present, too.