One Hundred and Twenty Loose Teeth.

Art: Calli Soules Story:John Rickey

Milt wanted a bike. Not a normal bike, one with turbo power, mag wheels and laser jets. He had only one problem. It cost a hundred and twenty dollars!

He looked in his piggybank.
"Bummer!" There was only five cents!

He looked under his bed.
"PU!" There was only two cents and one moldy banana.

He emptied his pockets.
"Yuck!" There was only one cent and three squashed worms.
Milt shook his head, "I have only seven cents, one moldy banana and three squashed worms!
I need more money!"

First he went to his very busy mother.
"Would you have a teeny weeny, nothing to it job, I might do . . . for money?"
"Well . . . " said his mother, "There is a teeny weeny, nothing to it job, you might do."
"Oh yes, yes yes!" smiled Milt with big round eyes, "What is it?"
"You could . . . clean the kitchen, vacuum the rug, wash the car, scrub the floor and paint the house."
"Oooooooo!" sighed Milt. "No thanks!"

Next, he hit on his dad, who was busy splitting logs.
"Would you have a teeny weeny, nothing to it, job I might do . . . for money?"
Scratching his head and out of breath, his dad wheezed, "Well, there is a teeny weeny, nothing to it job, you might do."
Milt perked up, "Oh yes, yes, yes! What is it?"
"Pile some wood."
"How many pieces?" asked Milt.
"Oh, about 5,257,128."
"Ooooo!" sighed Milt. "No thanks!"

Giving up ever finding a way to earn money, Milt walked sadly to school where he met Henry,his best bud.
"Why the sad face?" asked Henry. "Did you blow up the dog house?"
"Nope!"
"Did you eat spider stew?"
"Nope!"
"Well, what is it?"
"I need 120 bucks to buy a bike," said Milt despondently.
"Oh, is that all" laughed Henry. "That's simple! Put a tooth under your pillow at night and the toothfairy 'll leave you a buck."
"But I need 120 bucks!" yelled Milt. "Then put 120 teeth under your pillow!" explained Henry.

"Wow!" smiled Milt. "I like this toothfairy!"
But thinking for a moment, he wondered, "Where am I going to get 120 teeth? I don't even have one loose tooth! I don't even know how to pull a tooth out!"
"I don't know," bumbled Henry. "But your dad will. He's probably lost tons of teeth."

Milt rushed home. "Dad, how do I pull a tooth out? Better still, how do I pull 120 teeth out?"
"Simple!" bragged his dad. "Tie all your teeth to a door, slam the door, and presto, out comes your teeth!"
"Hmmm!" said Milt raising his eyebrows. "Good idea!"
Milt tied his teeth to a door, then slammed it hard.

But the door slammed off the wall!
Milt's sister turned the corner just in time to see what happened. She laughed, then teased, "if you really want to lose some teeth, pick a fight with Boom Boom Puddlegut." He'll sure punch your teeth out!
Although Milt couldn't stand his sister, he knew she was probably right.

The next day, ready to start a fight, Milt found Boom Boom in the school yard.
He thought of some nasty entangling words, . . . cleared his throat, . . . made a big smile showing all his teeth, then shouted, "Boom Boom, you have purple spotted underwear, smelly socks and you ... pick... your... nose!" Boom Boom's eye's burned like fire. His ears steamed. His muscles bulged.
He clenched his fists, took aim, and . . .

. . . missed, giving Milt a black eye!
. . . and a fast trip to the principal's office, better known as 'The black hole of Principal Elliot T. McGumrot!'

Trembling outside the tall ominous door, Milt wondered, "Will I be suspended? Will I be thrown in jail? Will I be on death row?"
Milt burst into a flood of tears.
Everyone felt sorry for Milt.(Even Principal McGumrot)

Finally the big door creaked open. "Step this way," called Principal McGumrot.


First he yelled.

Then he stomped his feet.

Then he banged his fists on the table shouting, "I'm not putting up with this!"
Slamming the door, he walked out of the room and whispered to his secretary, "quick get each class to send any loose teeth to the office."
Students lined up eagerly, wiggling, jiggling and yanking out teeth.

Milt's stomach churned as old Gumrot returned to his office . . . with a box!
"What's in the box?" wondered Milt. "Was it a tarantula? Was it a barbed wire strap? Was it a fold out electric chair?"
Gumrot bent down and looked him straight in the eye. "It seems there's only one thing I can do."
"W..W.. What's that?" stuttered Milt.
"Give you this box," replied Gumrot with a funny twinkle in his eye."
"Give me this box?" echoed Milt.
"Yes!" repeated old Gumrot. "Give you this box."
Puzzled, Milt carefully took the box and opened it slowly.

A big smile beamed across his face. He'd never seen so many teeth.
He hugged the principal! He hugged the students! He yelled, "Yeah hoo!" And bolted out the door.

The second he got home, he donned his striped pajamas, jumped into bed and piled the teeth under his pillow. Although it made his pillow lumpy, Milt quickly fell asleep dreaming about mag wheels, laser jets and speed bikes.

Early next morning, a blast shook the neighbourhood. Everyone rushed outside, their jaws dropping in amazement.
Rocket burns singed the air . . tire burns gouged their lawns . . and something whizzed by.
"What happened?" everyone wondered. Thinking for a moment, they all looked at Milt's parents, "Where's Milt?"

Suddenly something zoomed again past the house.
"If that's Milt, he can fix my lawn!" yelled a neighbour.
If that's Milt, he can clear away this smoke," shouted another.
"If that's Milt, ... He's in trouble!" warned his parents. No one could be sure. It moved too fast. If it was Milt, no one could see him, . . at least not clearly.
But if you looked carefully and moved your eyes quickly, you might see a speeding blur of striped pajamas, mag wheels, laser jets . . and someone yelling, "Yeah hoo!", with a great big smile!
The End
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