You 've just lost your last baby tooth . Upon closer examination you notice there is a tiny blinking microchip embedded inside . [ WP ]

We were playing baseball down at the little league park when it happened. Johnny threw a knuckleball, must have been going fifty miles an hour. Yeah, Johnny has a good arm, but he can be a real jerk sometimes. I swear he was aiming right for my face. He was just mad that I wanted to be pitcher. Thing about Johnny is he gets even madder if you just let him have his way. So I guess that this was his way of getting back at me. 
 
 My Dad says you just ca n't please some people, and the important thing is never to let yourself get down to their level. Dad makes some really stupid jokes sometimes, but he's pretty smart all in all. That's why I went to him when it happened. I knew *he* would know what it meant. 
 
 Anyway, I'm going too far ahead. It all started at the baseball field. Johnny's pitch whacked me right in the mouth. I saw stars, just like they say you do -- I've been pegged before, but not in the head, so I never knew that could really happen. When everything got clear again I tasted something like the way pennies smell, and I spit out a little bit of blood. And a tooth. 
 
 All the other guys had come running over at this point, they saw I was pegged pretty bad. Johnny was already right next to me when I spit the tooth out. 
 
 `` HAH! Mark just lost his widdle baby tooth. Who ever heard of a seventh grader with a baby tooth?! Are you gon na cwy, widdle baby Mark? Are you gon na give it to the *tooth fairy? **'' 
 
 He started laughing and some of the other guys joined in. The ones who were afraid he might be a jerk to them instead next. Just like Johnny to start ragging on me without even saying sorry. 
 
 `` It's not a baby tooth, *asshole, *'' I said, flawlessly working in the cussword. I even managed to stop myself from looking around for adults when I said it, so, all in all, I thought it was a pretty smooth line. I continued, `` it's my replacement tooth I got from my one cavity, I think.'' 
 
 `` Baby tooth, baby tooth!'' Mark tried to start a chant, but it fell flat before he could. My friend Rocco, one of the ones who had n't been laughing with Mark, was the first to notice something strange about the tooth held in my outstretched hand. 
 
 `` Holy shit,'' Rocco said softly, and I got ta say, his cussin' sounded a hell of a lot more professional than my own, `` it's *blinking. *'' 
 
 I looked down. Some of the other guys were exclaiming softly now. And they saw what me and Rocco saw. My tooth was letting out little flashes of red light in one second intervals. 
 
 `` Wha...'' was the only thing I could get out. 
 
 `` No way you're giving that thing to the tooth fairy for two bucks,'' Rocco noted sagely. 
 
 `` Why the hell is your tooth blinking?'' Johnny demanded, `` You... You blink-tooth freak!'' 
 
 Despite his continuing insults, curiosity was painted all over Johnny's face. He continued: 
 
 `` Give it here, I wan na see it!'' 
 
 A chorus started. 
 
 `` No, me --'' 
 
 `` -- over here first --'' 
 
 `` -- I wan na see Mark's freak tooth!'' 
 
 I did n't know what to do. I was n't gon na give these guys my tooth, of course. I had to get to someone who knew why it was blinking. Dad. He knows *everything. * 
 
 I ran through the streets, and the guys chased after me. They were all just dying to get their hands on my blinking tooth. Still, I was the fastest guy in our group of friends, and I made it home and slammed the door behind me. Most of them gave up, anyway, when we got to my street. 
 
 My Dad was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the paper like some 1950s TV Dad. That's my Dad, always there when you need him. And a lot of the other times too, whether you like it or not. I knew he'd have answers, and I was n't disappointed. 
 
 `` Dad, my tooth got knocked out at the field...'' 
 
 `` Oh god,'' my Dad set down the paper, `` which one?'' 
 
 `` The implant.'' 
 
 My dad winced visibly. 
 
 `` That's gon na cost quite a bit to replace. Let's see it.'' 
 
 I handed over my blinking tooth, explaining more about what had happened. 
 
 `` That's the thing, Dad, something weird happened when it got knocked out. It started... Blinking... Or something. Is something wrong with me?'' 
 
 At this point, my voice was quavering, but Dad just chuckled. 
 
 `` Oh, no, son, or at least nothing that would be indicated by this tooth blinking. No, this happened with old Mr. Madison's implant too after his third wife slapped him across the face and knocked it out. It just means that your iTooth is n't connected to any roots, and we already knew *that* was the case.''
