Dr Purplelip

• Tim Pearson, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2009

Dr Purplelip
By Tim Pearson

“But why?” whined Gus to his patient mother. “I went to the dentist two weeks ago, why do I need to go again?”
“You need a filling love”, Mrs Webster explained to her impossible son. “The last appointment was merely a check-up.”

She backed into the last free space, dragged her son up the flight of stairs and into the waiting room, where a pile of books were awaiting them. Gus enjoyed reading; well actually, he enjoyed having his mum read to him. Little Gus was 10 years old, and he could read perfectly well for himself, but for some reason he preferred his mother’s intriguing voice.

15 minutes past before the young, attractive dentist assistant called for an Angus Webster, by which time Gus was already kicking the seat in front of him. Mrs Webster accompanied Gus into the dental chair, and even she found the smell of the room un-nerving. After he explained the importance of the procedure, the dentist finally started attaching the filling. He went through the tedious task of explaining the need for the filling, but little Gus still found himself asking the dentist what each utensil was for.
“What’s that do?” he would ask, edging away from the hook shaped tool. “And what’s that used for?” pointing at the drill. The dentist was clearly getting frustrated with the irritating child.

The young assistant leaned across Gus to hand the dentist the cleaning device, and as she did so, little Gus was able to see through the beautiful lady’s light blue shirt, which had come undone at the top couple of buttons- Gus seemed to fall asleep instantly, with a daze set on his face, as Mrs Webster stifled a laugh.

“Arghhh, ma toof!” Gus awoke, blinking his eyes. He shuffled down to the kitchen to find his mum sitting on a stool, scanning the TV guide. She looked up, her expression changed, her jaw dropped.
“Oh my gosh! Sweetheart, what happened?”
“What you mean, mum? My tooth hurts a little, but my lip’s fine. Why, what’s wrong with it?”
Gus picked up his mother’s makeup mirror, lying on the coffee table, and slowly lifted it to his face.
“Eww, what’s that?” he gasped, poking at his now purple lip. “It looks … it looks … kinda cool!” he ended.
“Quick, get in the car. Lets get back to Dr Purplelip.”
Gus grabbed his jacket and headed into the garage.
“I was wondering why you’d been asleep for so long, Gus”, she continued. “I thought it was simply due to your introduction to the female body!”
“Oh, mum! They were amazing, weren’t they?”

“I’m so sorry Mrs Webster, I forgot to mention the side effects”, Dr Purplelip announced. “For about 18 hours, young Gus will have this purple lip. It’s unknown as to why this happens with my patients, but presumably it has something to do with my name”, he continued. With a disturbing grin, “Until next time…”