A Hint Of Sparkle

By Jacqui Cooper

Illustration: Shutterstock

The tooth fairy’s notes said all the things Dan had never been able say outright to his little girl…

Ava Ashton was six years old when Sparkle the fairy came into her life.

Up until then it had just been Ava and her daddy living in the house, as her mummy died when Ava was little.

Sometimes Ava missed having a mummy like all her friends. But her daddy was the nicest, kindest daddy in the whole world.

He didn’t say much, which was good, as Ava liked to talk. A lot.

“Madelyn says I shouldn’t be friends with Ellie any more because Ellie doesn’t have nice shoes,” Ava told her father, over tea one night. Egg and chips, her favourite.

She had a wobbly tooth so, while she stuffed chips into her mouth with one hand, she used the other to constantly check the tooth. She had it on good authority that when it eventually came out, it would be worth money.

“You’ve been friends with Ellie for a long time,” her daddy reminded her gently.

Which was true. Ellie’s mummy had been Ava’s mummy’s best friend.

For a while Ava had fantasised about her daddy marrying Ellie’s mummy so Ellie could be her sister. Then Daddy pointed out that Ellie’s mummy already had a husband so her hopes were dashed.

“I know Ellie’s my friend but Madelyn says shoes are important and girls with nice shoes should stick together.”

She looked at her own glorious red patent shoes.

Daddy had thought black was more appropriate but Ava had persuaded him red was better. The teachers at school didn’t say anything because as she’d heard them whisper, “The poor man was doing his best.”

Before Daddy could say anything, Ava’s tooth dropped onto the plate with a ping and bounced onto the floor.

By the time they found it, the conversation had moved on to an old favourite: whether or not Ava could have a puppy. The answer was no.

Later, as Daddy tucked her up in bed, Ava had some questions.

“How will the tooth fairy get in? You always lock the front door.”

“Don’t worry,” Daddy assured her. “Fairies are very clever. And very small. Plus they can fly, remember.”

He smoothed her hair back and Ava smiled sleepily.

“Maybe it’ll get in through the letterbox?”

“Maybe it will. Now go to sleep.”

In the morning, Ava put her hand under her pillow. Fifty pence! She shrieked with excitement!

But wait. There was something else there too. She drew out a piece of paper with tiny writing in glitter pen.

She ran to Daddy to show him. He smoothed the paper.

“It’s from the tooth fairy,” he said solemnly. “It says, Thank you for the tooth, which will look lovely in my collection. And just remember, Ava, real friends are never unkind. Always choose real friends. Love, Sparkle, the tooth fairy.”

Sparkle! The perfect name for a fairy. Ava could barely contain her excitement as she raced to school to tell Ellie and Madelyn.

Ellie was just as excited as she was but Madelyn was sneering.

“Only fifty pence? I got two pounds when I lost a tooth! And Sparkle is a silly name anyway.”

After that Ava wasn’t really friends with Madelyn any more, but that was OK. She had Ellie as a friend who never said unkind things.

And she had Sparkle.

Over the years, whenever Ava lost another tooth, Sparkle always left a cheery note along with the money – usually advice about brushing her teeth or the wisdom of eating more broccoli.

Ava kept each and every one of the notes in a her special little musical box with a dancing ballerina that used to belong to her mummy.

Sometimes Sparkle left notes at other times. Like when Ava continued pestering for a puppy and Daddy said no because he was out at work all day.

Sparkle suggested she ask for a kitten instead and when she did, Daddy just happened to know someone with kittens and Ava was allowed to choose one.

When Ava’s baby teeth were just a memory, Sparkle was the one to persuade her to wear the ugly braces the dentist recommended.

After all, who could argue with a tooth fairy about teeth? Ava wore the braces and her teeth grew in just perfect.

Ava wasn’t sure what age she was when she realised there was no such thing as a tooth fairy.

She knew who was writing the notes, but reasoned that it wasn’t fair to spoil Daddy’s fun.

Plus, the notes were oddly comforting. Her father wasn’t the most demonstrative man in the world but those notes always felt filled with love as well as wisdom.

The years passed and Ava was happy. Of course life wasn’t all plain sailing. There was the time when teenage Ava and her father had a massive row.

It was about a boy, of course. Her dad considered fourteen far too young for a serious relationship.

Besides, Kyle, the object of Ava’s affection, had a ring through his lip which didn’t go down well.

Her father was clearly too old to remember what it was like to be in love and Ava told him so, storming up to her room, refusing to come out even for apple pie and ice cream.

Later she heard her father whispering on the phone, which was rare as he didn’t really have any friends. But, nosy as she was, Ava cuddled Tina the cat and still refused to come out.

The next morning, for the first time in ages, she found a note from Sparkle…

Invite the boy to tea. Convince your father he’s got him all wrong.

Ava had promptly done just that and while her dad had looked a bit glowery, at least he’d been civil.

And when Kyle eventually broke Ava’s heart, neither her dad, nor Sparkle, said I told you so.

When it came to Ava choosing universities, Sparkle came through once again.

Ava had been leaning towards a uni close to home even though it didn’t offer the course she wanted, but she worried about how her dad would cope without her if she went further afield.

How could she abandon him with only the now elderly cat for company?

For once in her life she didn’t even discuss it, just made the adult choice. But that night Sparkle left a note…

This is your future. Choose the course you really want. Your dad will be fine.

So she’d gone to uni three hundred miles away.

Eventually even uni was over. Her father had come to her graduation, awkward and shy among her uni friends.

“I’m so proud of you, love,” he mumbled, his eyes full of tears. “Your mother would be too.”

Ava had a new job to start in the city. She would be sharing a flat with some friends and had come home to pack the last of her stuff.

She and her father were in the kitchen, and she was telling him all about her new job.

“I’ll still have to gain a few more qualifications but they’re going to pay me while I’m training,” she said happily, noticing a cake tin sitting on the counter. “Ooh. Scones. Don’t tell me you’ve taken up baking. OMG these are lush!”

Her father didn’t answer immediately and she glanced at him.

Wait…Was he blushing?

“Dad?”
“I… er, no. A friend made them.” He cleared his throat. “Actually, do you remember your friend Ellie from school?”

“Of course.” They’d moved away when she was twelve.

“Well her mum’s divorced now and recently moved back. We bumped into each other at the supermarket.”

“Wow. I haven’t seen Ellie in years. I’ll have to look her up,” Ava enthused.

“The thing is, love…”

Ava’s phone rang.

“Oh. It’s my new boss. I need to take this, Dad,” she said grabbing her scone and hurrying off and whatever her father had been about to say was lost.

Later that day Ava was washing the dishes when she spotted a vase on the windowsill. A new vase.

It was empty, though when she picked it up she saw a slightly dark ring at the bottom as if it had recently held flowers and been quickly rinsed.

Odd. She’d never known her father to buy flowers.

After that she noticed other changes in the house. That rug was new. And that throw.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. In all the years Ava had lived here, her dad had never replaced anything until forced to do so. Now so many changes at once? What was going on?

Systematically she went round the house. Upstairs in the bathroom her gaze landed on a half-burned candle buried on the shelf amid the shower gel and shampoo. How could she have missed it before?

Not just any candle, either, she realised when she examined it – a scented candle from a very exclusive shop.

Ava plonked herself down on the edge of the bath in shock.

It was unlikely that any man – never mind her dad – would have had a candle-lit bath on his own.

Which meant…

She gulped. Did her dad have a girlfriend? If so, why hadn’t he said anything?

Wait… had he? Hadn’t he mentioned Ellie’s mum? Or at least, tried to.

But her dad? With a girlfriend? It was hard to wrap her head around it.

He wasn’t that old – late forties – but he’d never shown any interest in romance up till now.

Or had Ava been too focused on her own life to notice? And too busy talking to listen?

Should she say something?

No. He was entitled to his privacy. He’d tell her when he was ready.

When she left the next day she hugged him tight.

Her dad looked surprised.

“What’s all this? I’ll be seeing you on Saturday when I bring the rest of your stuff.”

“I know. I love you, Daddy.”

He stroked her hair. “You haven’t called me that in years. Are you sure you’re OK, love?”

“I’m fine. See you Saturday.”

After she’d gone, Dan Ashton tidied up. As always the house felt too quiet after one of Ava’s visits, but today he wasn’t as despondent as usual.

A new message on his phone about a lunch date today brought a smile – and a quickening of his heart that he hadn’t felt in ever such a long time.
Should he have said something to Ava about the surprise turn his life had taken recently?

Maybe. But he’d never found it easy talking about emotions and stuff.

Raising a daughter on his own, he’d often needed help on that score. Sometimes from Susie – Ava’s mother’s best friend who had recently come back into his life – and at other times from Sparkle the fairy.

He smiled remembering how he’d sat at the kitchen table labouring over those notes, having the fairy say the things he’d been unable to say to his little girl.

He glanced at the clock.

Just enough time to do a load of washing before he had to leave to meet Susie. He loaded Ava’s bedclothes into the machine, and since it wasn’t full, decided to add his own.

There, under his pillow he found a note written in glitter pen…

All Ava wants for you is to be happy. Plus, remember, she always wanted Ellie as a sister.

No pressure, then!

It was signed, Sparkle.

Dan grinned. And he was still smiling when he headed out for his date.