Daily story, September 16, 2025

She had turned the house upside down looking for a pound coin, but when she slipped in to leave it under the pillow, the tooth fairy was already there. He was peering at the tooth through an enamelled loupe, and he wore a hi-vis tabard, which she thought seemed unwise. “Sorry,” she whispered, “I thought you were pretend. I thought I was meant to do it.” He shook his head. “They don’t tell you lot anything these days, do they?” He scribbled something on his clipboard, handed her the counterfoil, and twinkled out of existence. He had left an Amazon gift card under the pillow. She swapped it for the coin.