Princess Madison & the Magic Toothbrush

Okay, so tonight before bed, Madison was having a hard time letting go. Sometimes she gets like this where she doesn't want us to leave the room. She wants Mommy or Daddy to linger just a little bit longer.

So Daddy did linger a bit longer, and this time he thought he'd make up a bedtime story for her, right off the top of his head. Yes, this was all completely spontaneous. And Daddy got help from Madison along the way: for example, what color dress do you wear? Madison: yellow! What did Sir Brock hand you? Yellow shoes. Daddy worked Madison's additions into the story, and by the end of it, we were both smiling and laughing. It was a fun little exercise, again completely spontaneous. Had no idea what I was saying. Made it up as I was going along.

Still, I thought it was rather fun, so I wrote it down afterwards. Thinking that this was my first "bedtime story," I felt like I'd better record it as well for posterity! The other benefit is that maybe I can tell the story again later on. ANYWAY, without any further explanations or disclaimers, I proudly present to you the short story of "Princess Madison and the Magic Toothbrush."

PRINCESS MADISON

& THE MAGIC TOOTHBRUSH

Once upon a time there was a Princess. Her name was Madison. She lived in a castle, far, far away – at the top of a large tower. She had a beautiful smile, but there was a secret behind the smile: she had a magic toothbrush that she carried everywhere! This kept her smile perfect all the time.

One morning after freshening up, she had come down to eat breakfast with the other princesses that were visiting – she had worn a beautiful yellow gown and joined the others for a big breakfast at the long table in the dining area.

Sir Brock and Sir Josh met her there along the way, each with nice things to say about Princess Madison. Sir Josh handed her a single rose, and told her it was nowhere near as lovely as Princess Madison was. Sir Brock had handed her a new set of yellow shoes, which he just bought from the Children’s Place. She tried them on immediately: they certainly looked lovely on her.

Unfortunately, someone came to breakfast who wasn’t invited: it was the Evil Witch! She was highly upset about not getting an invitation, and did something rather naughty. She grabbed Princess Madison and with a loud poof, the two had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Fortunately, Sir Brock and Sir Josh knew exactly where the Evil Witch would take Princess Madison. At that very moment, the Evil Witch had put Princess Madison in the Cave of Wonders, which was guarded by a fierce winged dragon, who seemed somewhat cranky about something. The Evil Witch laughed maniacally at Princess Madison’s dilemma – and then left to go tend to some other evil business. Princess Madison was trapped in that cave!

Sir Brock and Sir Josh rode to the cave as fast as their horses could carry them, and there they encountered the dragon. Bravely, they approached the large scaly beast, who snarled at them. The dragon was angered! He breathed fire upon the two lads, who just in the nick of time raised their shields to avoid getting cooked!

The winged dragon stomped over to the two brave warriors and was about to eat them – but then had a strange look about him. Instead of eating them, he roared in pain. You see, he could not eat them because he had a very severe toothache.

Just then, Princess Madison came out of the cave that she was being held in. She saw the fierce-looking dragon nearby Sir Josh and Sir Brock.

“What is wrong, dragon?” she asked.

“I have a toothache and it is perfectly dreadful,” the dragon replied.

Just then, an idea occurred to Princess Madison.

“I know just what to do,” she told the dragon. “And if I can help, do you promise to let these two valiant men go free?”

“Yes,” the dragon moaned. “Not only that, but I shall let you go free as well!”

Just then, Princess Madison pulled out her magic toothbrush. She would miss it very much, but she knew the right thing to do was to hand it to the dragon.

“Here, dragon,” she said. “Take this magic toothbrush, and scrub away at your teeth. Your toothache will be gone!”

“It had better,” the dragon warned her. “Otherwise, I’ll stomp on Sir Brock and Sir Josh until they are filthy mush!”

And with that, the dragon loudly marched himself into the cave, presumably to a bathroom within.

“Don’t forget to floss!” Princess Madison called out afterwards.

Sir Brock and Sir Josh suggested making a run for it at this point, but Princess Madison was confident in her prediction. And indeed, moments later the dragon came out with a beaming smile. His toothache was gone!

“You have saved me!” the dragon smiled. His teeth were white and beautiful, but they made Sir Josh and Sir Brock somewhat nervous, to be perfectly frank.

The dragon continued: “You have saved my teeth, so therefore I shall let you all go!”

Princess Madison was pleased, as were the other two. Yet, she had an idea.

“Dear dragon,” she said. “I have helped you this day, but there is one thing that I myself have always wanted to do.”

“What is that?” the dragon replied.

“Ride upon the back of a dragon,” she told him.

And with that, he bowed low so that she could hop upon him. And as soon as she was on board, the dragon began to take off, soaring into the air. Flying high upon the dragon, she waved goodbye to Sir Josh and Sir Brock, who were already galloping back to the castle.

Meanwhile back at that castle, the visiting princesses were worried and waiting for any hopeful sign at all. When they saw a dragon fast approaching from the sky, it certainly did not look good for them. Yet, upon the back of this dragon they saw a figure, who called out to them, “Hello Princesses! Is it too late to enjoy breakfast at the table with you?”

The other princesses laughed at this, and watched as the dragon landed in front of them in the courtyard. Princess Madison hopped off and hugged each Princess, just as Sir Josh and Sir Brock were arriving on their horses.

“But what of the witch?” one princess asked.

“We’ll meet again another time,” Princess Madison told them. “Right now, I’m hungry for breakfast – and some delicious fruit cup.” For Princess Madison loves her fruit cup.

“But what of this smiling dragon here?” Sir Brock asked.

“Brave Sir Brock,” Princess Madison grinned. “We are keeping him here in the castle as our pet. That cave was much too yucky!”

And so it came to pass that the dragon stayed with the Princess in her castle as a pet. She named him Snowball, and the two had an absolutely wonderful time flying about the kingdom.

Everyone lived happily ever after, that is until the Evil Witch returned. But that… is a story for another time.

THE END