The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker Read Free

it.”
    â€œAt least you work the same hours as Walker.”
    â€œThat’s probably the only good thing about this job,” said Cory. “The job itself is next to useless. I collect teeth! What good is that doing anyone? Sure, witches used them in potions years ago, and some fairies made jewelry out of them, but hardly anyone needs them anymore. The only thing I want to do is help people and I’m sure not doing that now! Can you think of a more useless job than being a tooth fairy? And as far as jobs go, I make less than you do and I work longer hours and I have to go to the human world to do it. At least you get to stay in the land of the fey and work normal hours and have a job that means something.”
    â€œBeing a tooth fairy is one of the few jobs that lets you visit the human world,” said Daisy. “I know a lot of fairies who would love to see it.”
    â€œThen let them! The human world is dirty and smelly and dangerous. I have to constantly hide so I don’t frighten the children or let the adults know that we exist. The animals there have no experience with fairies so they don’t respect us and half of them want to eat us.I’d much rather stay in the land of the fey, where I don’t have to hide and I can actually talk to people.”
    â€œI like humans,” said Daisy. “One of my favorite old boyfriends was a human. He wasn’t one of those newcomers that a crazy wizard brought over illegally either. His ancestors came when the old fairy queen first lured humans to our world. Humans multiply like mosquitoes in a witch’s swamp and now they’re one of the biggest minorities around. Most of them are nice enough, but I can’t imagine living in a world where there was only one species. Think about it—humans are all pretty much alike with the same number of limbs and heads and digestive systems. Here you have fairies and dwarves and elves and gnomes and ogres and satyrs.”
    â€œI know!” Cory replied. “I like variety, but the work of a tooth fairy is pretty much the same from one day to the next. All we do is collect human teeth!”
    â€œIf you hate it so much, why don’t you quit? There are a lot of other things you could be doing.”
    â€œThat’s a good question, and I’ve been wondering it myself a lot lately,” said Cory. “If I had a cobblestone for every time I was close to quitting I could pave the road from my house to yours. Say, if I quit and I was no longer working nights, I wouldn’t have to sleep during the day and could start doing things with my friends. I’ve been dying to go swimming in the lake. Would you gowith me on your next day off? Or we could go bowling at Thunder Alley or—”
    Daisy shook her head. “I already told Nimzy that I’d come watch him race on my next day off.”
    â€œWho is Nimzy?” Cory asked.
    â€œNimzy Crod is my new boyfriend. I’m sure I told you about him. He races solar cycles on the semi-amateur circuit. He’s the best racer there is; he told me so himself. One of these days he’s going to start winning. I just know it!”
    â€œI thought you were seeing Zigfreed,” said Cory. “What happened to him?”
    â€œI caught him looking in the mirror one time too many. Never date a boy who is prettier than you are and won’t let you forget it.”
    Cory sighed. Daisy went through boyfriends faster than some flower fairies changed their gowns. If only Cory could have a vision that would show her the right person for Daisy.
    A lot of Cory’s classmates had come into their powers and abilities when they were in Junior Fey School. Flower fairies were suddenly able to make flowers grow, goblin children could speak in any language, and brownies conveyed magic into the things they made with their hands. When Cory was in Junior Fey School, she started having blurry visions of couples. Occasionally,