acting lines

oh. it’s you.

oh hey… you! wow, small world

Small world.

come here often?

i’m kind of here all the time

really? that bad, huh?

this kid’s got issues. grinds his teeth in his sleep. y’know, when he can sleep. but I guess you know all about that.

it’s been years since I took out his last ones. i was surprised to learn his caramel apple phase last fall didn’t knock out the rest of his molars.

his dentist must be proud. are you..?

am i proud? you know me. all about business

i meant, are you here to finish the job?

the job? oh! well, yeah. that’s the plan.

good. I mean, cool.

yeah, right. cool.

don’t mind me.

what?

i mean … do what you gotta do. (yawns) i’ll be here all night.

this is … sorry, this is a little awkward.

awkward?

i don’t usually do this with someone else watching.

a little t-shy, are we? don’t worry. I won’t stare.

it’s not that, it’s … honestly, i rarely make the trip myself these days.

yourself?

parents are the ones who leave the money, you know. fairies secret away the teeth when they’re not looking. but this one…

this one?

this one kept this last tooth a secret. a test of faith.

ah, i see.

whether he ever believed in me or not, i feel like it’s important to give him some sort of sense of wonder. one last time. a sense that someone is watching and paying attention, if only to the coming and going of teeth from his mouth.

hmm. that’s a nice thought. although…

although what??

i’d say he already has a sense someone is watching him. if he wakes up when the effects of slumber are not quite set in sandstone, he gets an eyeful of me, myself and … I. he sees me, and he knows he’s not alone.

i’m not sure that counts.

whaddya mean? of course it counts!

does he even remember you the next day?

who’s to say he doesn’t?

even if he did, he doesn’t even have a word for what you are. not a lot of twelve year olds are boasting about their sleep paralysis demons.

listen, i don’t need him boasting about me. but mark my words, he remembers me. he probably thinks you’re just a fabrication of his parents’ making. like santa or hanukkah harry.

hanukkah harry isn’t a fabrication! he visits dozens of interfaith jewish families every year. dozens! and i already told you, that’s why i’m here.

you seriously think if he checks under his pillow tomorrow morning and his tooth is gone, he’ll think you’re real? he’ll probably just think his tooth fell under the bed. or that his parents are cheap. observant, but cheap. just admit it. you’re not like ol’ sandy. you’re not a force of super-nature. your time in this little pissant’s life in at its end.

so what? i surrender his nights to the likes of you, forevermore?

basically.

and you just wait around for the off chance he gets halfway out of a dream so you can scare him within an inch of his bedpissing little life?

now you’re getting it!

you’re awful.

and you’re washed up. skulking in here like you own the place. sentimental about an age old trade agreement you’ve all but washed your hands of.

i haven’t…

what’s that? can’t hear you.

i haven’t divested myself from anything.

oh no?

i didn’t come back here to get him to believe in me.

i thought you wanted him to have “a sense of whimsy and wonder”?

i’ve talked with sandy. he tolf me about the boy’s sleep troubles. i thought you had something to do with it, and maybe you do, but… he’s really struggling

struggling not to wet the bed, more like.

you haven’t noticed?

haven’t noticed what?

what his days are like. what he’s dealing with at school. and when he gets home.

why would i care about all that? i’m a sleep paralysis demon. he dreams. i keep watch for an opening to work my dark magic. he goes back to sleep, has his share of nightmares, mostly about me. then, i leave before the sun comes up. you think i work overtime?

i think for someone so territorial and watchful that you should at least know something about your… quarry.

doesn’t matter what you think. you’re out of your element, toothy. grab what you came for and get to flapping.

what is it with you demons that makes you so defensive, so possessive?

what is it with you fairies that makes you so entitled to what isn’t yours?

i’m not entitled!

covetous, then!

i care about him, alright? the last few teeth he lost… he didn’t have a chance to gather them and put them under his pillow. they spilled out of his mouth, onto the pavement. another kid had punched him. kicked him before anyone could come to help. he spat two loose teeth out in a bloody loogie. probably didn’t realize what he’d lost until it was too late. i’d already come and gone. no coins offered, no goods exchanged. just two teeth in my pouch. his innocence, lost.

so you’re here because … you felt guilty

i felt like he deserved better than what he got. better than what he’s gotten since.

better than a demon like me.

your words.

hmph. so he wakes up, sees his tooth is gone. what’s going to be there instead?

a note. something he can keep close to know he’s not alone.

he already knows he’s—

he’s got someone in his corner.

he—

someone who cares what happens to him during his waking hours. who no longer has anything to take, but would give him anything he needed, if he asked.

you know why we do what we do?

who? demons like you?

yea. it’s not just to scare the bejeezus out of little guys like him. it’s to keep watch over the line between the dreaming mind and the dreamer’s body. to keep dreamers like this one from hurting themselves or someone else in their sleep. there are little things we can’t stop, though. the grinding teeth. the dreams — and nightmares — themselves. that’s all sandy’s domain.

i thought you didn’t care.

i don’t! i mean … i didn’t. then sandy let me in on a little secret. his nightmares aren’t some sadistic punishment for bad behavior. they’re his mind grappling with what he’s been … you know, going through.

so you know. what he’s been dealing with.

i know enough. i know what i need to know. so i keep watch. every night. even if he doesn’t need me. i’m here. until i know he doesn’t need me.

you know, demon … you’re all bark, no bite.

what are you tryna say? i’m soft?

not soft, no. you’ve got your share of spikes. but when you get down to it, you’re toothless.

you’re seriously annoying, you know that?

i must confess, i’m not the best with people. can get tunnel vision when it comes to teeth. i tend to ignore the people they come from unless it benefits me not to.

and it benefits you to care about the boy? after all these years of keeping your distance?

i’m a professional. in my line of work, it pays to care at least a little. i’m sure it’s similar for you.

i just don’t want you to mess up what i’ve got going here.

me giving him a little wonder, a little hope? it won’t take away the nightmares. your job is secure.

i’m not worried about that. there will be other boys. adults … who probably won’t see a nightly visit from me as some sort of gift.

then what are you worried about? (puts hand on shoulder) you don’t have to explain. i’ll do what i came here to do, and i’ll leave you alone to keep watch.

wait. you can stay.

you’re sure?

if he wakes up tonight … i want him to know. that you’re in his corner.

that we both are.