The Princess and Her Tooth
Once upon a time in a not-so-far-off kingdom called Manchester, there lived a princess named Kristin. Princess Kristin was well regarded within her kingdom and both her subjects and the members of the court believed her to be fair minded, honest and strong. She thought these things of herself too, not in an annoying arrogant way, but in a confident no-big-deal sort of way.
Princess Kristin was very good about doing things she was supposed to do. She always greeted her court politely, always wrote her declarations and decrees with good penmanship and always saw the dentist every six months. Princess Kristin always liked going to the dentist. Perhaps it was because she was a princess, or perhaps just because he was a pleasant man, Princess Kristin's dentist always remembered the little things they had talked about the visit before and was quick with a friendly comment and questions about her family. The entire royal family went to the same dentist, so it was always fun to have him ask how Princess Kristin's sister and brother were doing. Princess Kristin's visit was just like every other - a little uncomfortable, sure, but she knew that a princess's smile was very important.
After her visit to the dentist, Princess Kristin put the experience out of her mind and returned to the daily royal tasks required to run the kingdom. Thus it was that she was extremely surprised when word came via Royal Currier that Princess Kristin had to return to the dentist promptly because she had a cavity! Princess Kristin had never had a cavity before. She drank plenty of milk and brushed her teeth. Besides, princesses aren't supposed to have cavities. But there was no getting around it - she had one. And because Princess Kristin was very good at doing things she was supposed to, she cleared room in her busy schedule to return to the dentist to fix the problem.
In the week leading up to her next dentist appointment, Princess Kristin busied herself with her usual tasks - writing declarations in neat penmanship, meeting with the royal court to discuss the latest news from around the kingdom and monitoring the daily chores of her staff. She never forgot about the appointment but refused to let it consume her mind. When the day finally came, she arrived promptly at the dentist's office with plans for other errands after she had finished.
Princess Kristin, like all princesses, is used to having both control and understanding over every situation she is in. She is rarely not in control but when she isn't, she is always kept abreast of important developments as they happen. Unfortunately, that was not the case with her dentist appointment.
Princess Kristin sat down and the dentist immediately began explaining that the place where she had her cavity was an unfortunate one because that's where it hurts the most. That's when she closed her eyes and decided not to open them again until the dentist had finished. The only problem with this otherwise brilliant strategy was that the dentist stopped talking. Or rather, the dentist stopped talking to her and started talking to the nurse about other things that weren't Princess Kristin's teeth. Pointy objects, fuzzy gauze, cardboard, fingers, and tubes started spending varied amounts of time in her mouth.
Princess Kristin laid back with the bright dentist light shining in her eyes and her fingers clenched in her lap - trying her very hardest to be a lady, even in this most un-regal of positions. She detested having lost all control of the situation - she couldn't talk, she wasn't supposed to move her head, and no one was telling her what was going on. People were doing things to her and she didn't know what and didn't know why and couldn't stop them (because it is quite unlike a princess to interrupt a doctor, even a dentist). She was scared and for the first time in her life as a princess, she felt helpless. So she did what any princess would do: she cried. She didn't sob or weep, she didn't sniffle or shake. Those would have all been quite disruptive to the dentist. Instead she laid there with her fingers clenched and turning white, her head slightly tilted to the right for a better angle for the dentist, and the tears streamed down her cheeks. The dentist poked and dug and drilled and pasted and polished. Princess Kristin never gasped, never moved save twice, once when the dentist had pushed her lip so high she couldn't breath and a second time when the bone dust became a bit uncomfortable to inhale.
Twice while she was laying in the dentist's chair, the nurse asked her if she was ok. This proved a bit of a dilemma for Princess Kristin (not only because talking was out of the question). Princesses, as a rule, are very proud and do not care to show weakness. Yet they also seek to be extremely honest, and she couldn't feel comfortable lying to the nurse. But Princess Kristin knew that if she said she was not ok, she would interrupt the dentist. So Princess Kristin made a brief indication that she was alright, and the dentist continued.
Once the dentist had finished, the nurse told the princess she could leave. Princess Kristin said thank you to both the nurse and the dentist and walked briskly out of the office and into her chariot. We won't follow Princess Kristin into her chariot, but needless to say, she was far from her usual happy self. After regaining her composure, the princess finished her chores, returned to her castle and Duke DJ sat with her all evening and tried to cheer her up.
The next morning she awoke and returned to MOMAD (Ministry of Misinformation and Deception aka Public Relations). Her tooth looked as beautiful as always and no one could tell that anything was amiss. But Princess Kristin kept touching the tooth - there was a jagged edge that kept drawing her attention. And because Princess Kristin was very good about doing things she was supposed to do, she called the dentist and made an appointment for the next day to get her tooth fixed again.
Princess Kristin had learned a valuable lesson. While there are sometimes situations where you can't control everything you'd like to, the most important thing is to remember that you are a princess and be as brave as you possibly can. And it's always important to have a good friend around to make it all better in the end.