THE NOT-SO-ORDINARY PRINCESS

written by K. Fortin
illustrated by Dean Fortune

Almost every day Princess Gabby would look into her mirror and say:

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who's the fairest of them all?"

Sometimes, Princess Gabby would visit the pond near the castle and spend the day trying to catch frogs. When she caught one (which wasn't very often), she would close her eyes, purse her lips, and kiss it!
Someday, she was sure, one of them would turn into a handsome prince. But, the only thing she ever got was a wart.

Once, when she thought no one was watching her, Princess Gabby changed into her oldest gown, snuck into the castle's kitchen, and started to sweep out the ashes in the fireplace.
Just when she thought it was time for a fairy godmother to show up, the cook found her instead and sent her out of the kitchen. When her father found out what had happened, Princess Gabby
was grounded for a week. She decided not to try that one again!

One nice summer day, Princess Gabby went for a walk in the nearby forest. Maybe, just maybe, something interesting would happen this time.
She soon reached a part of the forest that she had never been in before. There before her was a large cave. She knew it wasn't smart to go into strange places, and was turning to leave, when something came out of the cave!
Princess Gabby couldn't believe her luck! Finally, something exciting was happening. There before her stood a large, green...Dragon!

"Oh, good!" said the dragon. "Finally, something interesting happened! I get to eat my very first princess!"
"Eat!" shouted Princess Gabby. "What do you mean, eat?!" Maybe this wasn't such a fun adventure after all, she thought.
"Of course, eat," said the dragon, looking a bit startled. "I'm a dragon, you look like a princess, and I'm supposed to eat you. That's what the book says. By the way, the book also says you taste just like chicken. Is that true?"
Princess Gabby decided to set the dragon straight on a few things. "One," she said in a firm tone of voice, "I have no idea how I taste since I've never tried to eat myself. Two, I don't want to be eaten! And, three, what book are you talking about anyway?"
"Why the official dragon how-to manual, of course! Here, I'll show you." The dragon walked over to the cave entrance, reached in, and picked up a large leather-bound book. The cover was a bit singed but Princess Gabby could clearly make out the title, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Being a Dragon.
"See!" said the dragon opening the book and pointing to a page near the middle. "It says right here, in the chapter on Diet and Nutrition: Princesses are a rare treat for the lucky dragon who finds one. They are high in vitamins and minerals, and taste just like chicken." The dragon smiled at the princess.
"Well, if I were you," said Princess Gabby, "I wouldn't believe everything I read in books. Besides, like I told you, I don't want to be eaten."
The dragon tilted his head and looked at Princess Gabby sadly. "Please," he whined, "just a little bite? I promise I won't eat much."

With these words, the princess once again turned to leave and found another surprise...a knight in shining armour sitting on a white horse! Surely, this encounter would be better than the last one!
"Stand aside, fair damsel, while I vanquish this foul beast forthwith!" bellowed the knight as he waved his sword back and forth over his head.
"Umm...what was that?" asked Princess Gabby.
"I said," said the knight as he lowered his sword and pushed the faceplate of his helmet up to reveal a rather young face surrounded by bright orange hair, "move out of the way so I can kill this dragon!"
"Well," asked the princess, "why didn't you just say that in the first place?"
"Because," sighed the knight, "my book said that those are the proper words a knight uses when he comes to the rescue of a princess about to be eaten by a dragon."

Oh, no, thought the princess. Not another book!
"At least I think those are the right words." The knight reached down into a satchel hanging from the side of his saddle and pulled out a small red book. The title on the cover said, So You Want To Be a Knight.
The knight turned to the first page in the book. "Let's see..." he moved his finger down the page. "Here it is! Chapter Four: Dealing with Dragons and Damsels. It comes just before How To Avoid Witches' Spells. I haven't read that one yet." He turned to the chapter on dragons and once again ran his finger across the page as he read. "Yep, I was right. I knew I had the right words!" He looked over at Princess Gabby and said, "Now can I kill the dragon, before he eats you?!"
Princess Gabby said, "There's only one problem. He's not going to eat me."
The knight looked at the dragon. Then he turned his head and looked at the princess. "What do you mean, he's not going to eat you? He's a dragon. Of course, he is going to eat you. The book says so."
Princess Gabby sighed. Here we go again!

"Hocus Pocus and all that jazz,
May the young knight sleep like he never has.
For two hundred years he will lie in repose,
Unless you find a way to break this spell, I suppose."

"Just great!" said Princess Gabby, placing her hands on her hips and tapping her foot in irritation. "This is not the adventure I was hoping for. Oh well, I suppose it's up to us to rescue the knight here."
"Us?" cried the dragon. "What do you mean, us? I didn't say I wanted to have anything to do with witches." The dragon shook his head vigorously. "No way. I may be a dragon, but I'm not crazy!"
"Don't tell me you're scared?" said the princess. "Dragons aren't afraid of anything!"
"Where did you hear a silly thing like that?" asked the dragon. "Of course dragons can get scared."
"But," she started, "in all my books...oh."
"Exactly," said the dragon. "Now who was it that said not to believe everything you read, hmm?"
"All right," said Princess Gabby. "But, we can't just leave him here like this. I feel like I have to do something."
"Fine," said the dragon. "Go right ahead. I'm going to go back into my cave for a little nap before lunch. Nice meeting you." The dragon started to walk toward the cave.
"Wait!" called the princess. "At least help me think of ways to break the witch's spell. After all, he was just trying to rescue me from you. That makes it at least partly your fault...sort of."
"Nothing doing, Princess," said the dragon shaking his head. "There must be hundreds of ways to break a witch's spell. It would take weeks to find the right one."
"Well, then," stated Princess Gabby, "there's only one solution. I have to look up the right spell in How To Break Witches' Spells."

"Are you crazy ?!" cried the dragon. "That book is kept in the Great Witches' Tower! No one can get past the witches' guard to see it."
"Then I'll just have to think of something, won't I?" she said. "Now, the first thing is to find the tower. Do you know where it is, by any chance?"
"Of course I do," grunted the dragon. "Grandpa Dragon told me where it was so that I could avoid it. It's a thousand leagues from here, across the Endless Sea, through the Forbidden Forest, and at
the top of the highest mountain in the Kingdom of Trolls."

"Hmm," said Princess Gabby, "I don't suppose I could get there and back in time for dinner. Mother would be very upset if I didn't get home before dark."
"No," said the dragon. "I think we can safetly say that you would not get back in time for supper."
"Then how am I going to get there?" she wondered. She stood thinking for a moment, and then she looked at the dragon and smiled slyly.
"Oh, no!" said the dragon, shaking his head once again. "Whatever it is, I won't do it."
"I can't get to the tower quickly, but..." she said, "you could fly me there and back in no time!"
"I already said no, Princess. And that's final!"
"All right, be that way," she said sweetly. "But, you do realize that because the knight fell asleep in front of your cave, you are the one who has to take care of him for the next two hundred years?"
"Me?!" shouted the dragon. "But..."
"Sorry," said Princess Gabby. "Those are the rules."
"Okay, you win," snapped the dragon. "Let's go."

As soon as Princess Gabby climbed onto the dragon's back, he took off. Soaring high overhead, it seemed to take almost no time to reach the Great Witches' Tower. The dragon set down before the dark, forbidding structure, and the princess climbed down from his back.
"Now," she started, "we'll just..."
"Nope," stated the dragon. "This is as far as I go. I'll wait for you to come back out, assuming that you ever do, but I'm staying right here." With these words, he sat down on the ground and crossed his arms.
Princess Gabby raised her head, nose in the air. "Be that way then. I'll just rescue the knight myself."
She stomped to the doorway of the tower and stopped. First, she looked back over her shoulder to make sure the dragon wasn't watching her, then she slowly opened the giant wooden door and
tip-toed in. The room was large and creepy. At the end of a long hallway, light spilled out from a doorway leading into another room.
I'll try there first, thought Princess Gabby. But, as she approached the doorway, a huge, ugly troll moved to block her way!
"You will not enter!" growled the troll in a deep voice. "I have guarded the book in this room for a hundred years. The most valiant warriors have tried to defeat me. They have all failed, and so will you!"
"Well," said the princess. "You could be more polite. A few manners wouldn't hurt, you know." The troll just stood there and glared at her.
Princess Gabby knew that now would be a good time to come up with a plan. She paced back and forth in front of the troll, trying to think of one. Usually, when she had trouble thinking, it helped if she sang a song. So, as she paced, the princess began to sing a simple nonsense song. The trouble was, she couldn't sing very well. In fact, she was a terrible singer.
With each sour note, the troll cringed. The harder she thought, the louder and more off key she sang. Finally, the troll covered his ears with his hands and shrieked, "Enough! Stop! I can't take it anymore!!" The troll ran from the tower as fast as he could and never stopped until he was well out of hearing range.

"Really," huffed Princess Gabby. "I didn't think it was that bad."
With the way now clear, she passed through the doorway and went straight to a large book sitting on a table in the middle of the room. The title on the cover read, How To Break Witches' Spells. "This is it," she said to herself as
she opened the book to the index at the back.
"Let's see..." she said. "Apples...Frogs...Make-up...Here it is! Sleeping Spells. Knight rescues princess...Prince rescues princess...Princess rescues knight...That's it!" She turned to the right page in the book.
"Here we go...section 4, paragraph 2." She quickly read the correct passage. "What?!" she shouted. "This is the great solution to the spell?! Who ever came up with this one?"
"I did, as a matter of fact," said a voice from behind the princess.
Princess Gabby spun around and saw the same witch who had cast the spell on the knight standing just inside the doorway.
"But," said the princess. "No one would ever think of a solution this simple!"
"That's the whole point," said the witch patiently. "If the spell was that easy to break, what would be the fun of casting it in the first place."
"You do have a point," agreed the princess. "Are you going to let me get back to the knight and break the spell?"
"Of course," said the witch. "A deal's a deal. You defeated the troll fair and square. Although, I must admit, I never thought that could be so simple either."
"Good!" said Princess Gabby. "Then I'll just be on my way."
The witch held up her finger. "Before you go, I have a word of advice. You really should take singing lessons, you know." Then, with a puff of smoke, the witch disappeared once again.
Princess Gabby hurried outside to the dragon. "All right, I'm ready to go now," she said.
"You saw the book? You know how to wake the knight?" the dragon asked excitedly.
"Yes," she said as she climbed up onto his back once again.
"Well...aren't you going to tell me?"
"No," said the princess. "You'll see when we get back to your cave. Now, let's go."

The dragon wasn't happy about this, but he did as she said and flew straight back to the cave. When they arrived, Princess Gabby immediately went over to the knight and knelt down beside him. She gently raised his head and took off his helmet. Next, she s tood up, and still holding the helmet, walked over to an icy stream running near the cave and filled it with as much water as she could.
The princess walked back to where the knight was sleeping peacefully, gently leaned over...and splashed the water right in his face!
The knight quickly sat up and shook his head, spraying water from his hair all over the princess. "Hey, what's going on?! What did you do that for?"
Before the princess could answer, the dragon cried, "That's it?! That's what we went all that way for? What you defeated a troll for? What...what..."
"Yes," said Princess Gabby. "Admit it, you wouldn't have thought of it either, now would you?"
As the dragon continued to sputter, the princess quickly told the knight what had happened. The knight was very glad the spell was broken, and vowed to read the next chapter in his book as soon as possible. However, he soon had a troubled look on his face .
"There's one more thing," he said slowly. "According to my book, if someone rescues someone else..." He looked uncomfortable.
"Yes?" prompted Princess Gabby.
"Well...it says we're supposed to get married," he finished in a hurry.
"Married?!" cried the princess. "Now, wait a minute! We just met this morning. Don't you think we're rushing things just a little?"
The knight continued to look uncomfortable. "But, the book says..."
"Hold on," demanded Princess Gabby. "Does the book mention what happens when a princess rescues a knight, or does it just talk about when a knight rescues a princess?"
The knight thought for a moment. "You know, I think you're right. It doesn't say anything about princesses rescuing knights. It's not supposed to work that way, you know."
"In that case," said the princess, "we can do whatever we like. I, for one, would settle for us just being friends."
"You're on!" said the knight as he reached out his hand to shake with Princess Gabby.
"Wait a minute," said the dragon, coming over to them. "What about me? Without me, you never would have reached the Great Witches' Tower in time. Doesn't that count for something?"
"Of course, it does," said the princess. She took the dragon's claw and placed it on top of the hand still shaking the knight's. "We'll all three be friends from now on."
"Good," said the dragon. "You know the old dragon saying...if you can't eat 'em, join 'em!"
The three friends agreed to meet the next day in order to discover what their next adventure would be. Then, each set off for home. The dragon returned to his cave, the knight rode off on his horse, and Princess Gabby began to walk back through the forest .
Maybe, she thought. Just maybe, I'm not-so-ordinary a princess after all! And she smiled happily.

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