Chapter 38: Teeth (3)
Everly lowered her head to carefully examine the dried toad in her hands. Its four legs were splayed out, its body covered in countless bumps, and some symbols had been painted on its back in yellow and red pigments she didn’t recognize. It looked intricate, very subtle—exactly the kind of thing one might stereotypically imagine as an evil object.
Compared to Everly, who was a half-hearted newcomer to this kind of knowledge, Old John clearly knew his stuff. He stared at the dried toad for a while, then nodded to Everly, explaining that it was a specialty from Bolivia. In the local traditional beliefs, dried toads were thought to have strong powers to ward off evil and bring blessings, serving as a medium connecting humans with the divine.
“I once had an identical charm, with exactly the same pattern. During an operation to arrest a criminal, it blocked a bullet for me—oh, don’t be so surprised, I don’t really understand how it worked either, but it did. Take it, along with her; they both seem fine.”
Everly’s sixth sense gave her no warning either.
Taking all this into account, after some hesitation, Everly rolled up the bag containing the dried toad and tucked it into her little children’s frog wallet.
After a busy day of shopping and picking out items, it wasn’t until evening that Everly and Old John slowly returned to the gas station, carrying half a pickup truck’s worth of new furniture—and a dried toad.
Having spent the whole day outside, Everly was exhausted. After washing up, she did as usual: leaning close to her vanity mirror to look at her bare upper gums, and with a heart full of anticipation for new teeth, she went back to bed and turned off the light.
…
The next morning.