The Waiting Room Song

The sun hit the orange buildings of Phoenix as Tooth & Moon Dental flipped its OPEN sign.

Inside, Dr. Pinkie set out tiny toothbrushes like party favors.

Dr. Hearts tested the little TV on the ceiling. “Cartoons. No screaming.”

Dr. Mikey tapped his phone. “I ordered fruit gummies. Not the sticky kind.”

The back door clicked.

Dr. Skull slipped in, black hair down his back, skull pins holding his bangs over one bright green eye. His small fangs showed when he sighed, not smiled. His bat wings twitched under his black skull T-shirt.

“Morning,” Dr. Pinkie said.

He grunted.

The front bell jingled. Four kids stepped in and stopped like someone hit pause.

Collin stared at the dental chair. Brandon backed toward the door. Will covered his mouth. Brooke whispered, “Our overbites… what if it hurts?”

Dr. Skull leaned close, voice low. “Be brave… or I’ll count your teeth myself.”

Brooke squeaked. Dr. Pinkie snapped her fingers. “Skull. Cute voice, not creepy voice.”

The Buzzing Sign

Dr. Pinkie pushed the front door open.

“Sidewalk break,” she said. “Nobody sits in a chair while shaking.”

Outside, the Phoenix heat made the parking lot shimmer. Cars hissed by.

Brooke hugged her elbows. “My mouth feels huge.”

“Count sidewalk cracks,” Dr. Pinkie said, handing her a tiny mirror. “One crack, one breath.”

Dr. Skull, the vampire tooth fairy dentist with bat wings, followed. He tried to look scary. His long black hair slid over his shoulder like a curtain.

Collin whispered, “He’s doing the creepy thing again.”

Dr. Skull flicked his wings—then froze.

His hair had looped through the bend of one wing. When he tugged, the wing jerked forward and his face pinched.

“Don’t look,” he snapped.

The OPEN sign above them buzzed and flickered.

Dr. Hearts rushed out, phone flashlight on. Dr. Mikey hurried behind him with a clean comb.

“It’s wrapped tight,” Dr. Mikey said. “We have to cut a little.”

“No,” Dr. Skull said, voice thin.

Next door, a bearded clockmaker stepped out, holding a tiny screwdriver. “Need a hand? I fix stuck things for a living.”