The Difference Between Real and Pretend

Prologue

Tooth ducks into the nearest, open window of a townhouse. I follow her silently.

We hover midair in a young girls room. Pink unicorns are plastered among her walls.

Tooth raises a finger to her lips, indicating me to be silent. Pssh, like I wasn't already being quiet.

Tooth slips her hand under the girls pillow, and pulls out her tooth. In place, she slips some coins under the pillow.

She glances at the tooth in her hands, a smile lighting up on her face. I wrinkle my nose. The way she looks at teeth is weird. I mean, they're teeth. They were just inside a kids mouth. Ew.

I land on the floor, and immediately jerk my foot away from something sharp. I squint, and pick up the sharp thing I stepped on. It's a doll. A weird doll. I'm accustomed to seeing blonde Barbies, or those creepy dolls with button eyes in girls rooms. Seriously. Those button eyed dolls look like something out of a horror movie.

This doll has wild, unbrushed red hair, a green dress, and a bow and arrow in its hand. I glare at the doll. The thing hurt my foot!

Tooth notices the doll in my hand, and squeals softly, "Aw, this girl loves the Princess too!"

"It's a doll, Tooth," I argue, tossing the doll to the floor.

"Don't you ever come to Scotland?" Tooth asks me, flying out of the girls room. I fly after her. Soon, we're back above the clouds.

"Not really. Accents give me headaches."

"You're mean," Tooth laughs. "But come on. You can't tell me that you don't know one of Scotland's most famous legends!"

"I told you I don't come to Scotland often," I sigh, a little annoyed.

"Well you should! Anyways, there's this legend in Scotland that dates back centuries ago. Now that I think about it, it might've been around the time you became a winter spirit. Anyways, the Princess of Scotland accidentally turned her mom, the Queen, into a bear, and-"

"A bear?" I interrupt, sniggering. "Sounds very possible. And how does one 'accidentally' turn their mom into a bear?"

"Oh, shut up, Jack! That's why it's called a legend. A myth. So, the Princess realized her mistake, and found a way to change the Queen back before she stayed a bear permanently. Both of them nearly died too. You can ask anyone! It's the story of the Princess and the Bear. It's one of my favourites!"

"Riiiiiiight..." I snicker. "My favourite legend is the one about the dancing ballerina and the unicorn."

"There's no... Jack!" Tooth snaps. "It's just a story!"

"Clearly. I'm going to Burgess then. Don't want to hear anymore girlish stories." I smirk. Tooth rolls her eyes.

"Fine. If you're going to be mean, I don't want your company!" Tooth says crossly, and zooms away. Crap. Didn't mean to actually hurt her feelings. 

Oh well. I'll apologize later. I fly downwards, until my bare feet touch the ground. I never actually come to Scotland, so I might as well take a look around.

The streets are paved with cobblestone. I walk down them, until I arrive at what looks like a flea market. All the stalls are obviously closed for the night, except for one. I walk closer to it, curious who would be crazy enough to run a stall in the dead of night with nobody around.

An old, short, skinny lady stands in a stall, surrounded by carvings of bears. She hums away as she carves another small, statue of, surprise, another bear. Her earlobes sag down with giant earrings, her white hair sticking every which way. She wears the oddest assortment of clothing. It looks like a bunch of rags down together to make a dress.