A Prince by Any Other Name

Once upon a time, not too long ago but not yesterday either, there lived a beautiful girl named Betty. From the time she was very little she dreamed of marrying a Prince and living happily ever after in a great castle. She even let her hair grow long and tried letting it hang out the window so that if her Prince came he could climb it and rescue her. The problem, of course, is she had nothing to be rescued from. She had great parents, a friendly dog, and everything anybody really needed. But she didn’t have a Prince. When she saw the wedding of Prince Benjamin and Princess Marigold on television she thought it was the greatest thing ever. Now she dreamed of being married by an archbishop and riding in a golden coach.

When she turned twenty five her mother said she should either marry somebody and move out or get a job. She couldn’t spend her life laying around the house wishing for a Prince. She  went to work in the local greasy spoon which just happened to be called “ The Greasy Spoon”. All day she served coffee and meals and dreamed that her Prince would walk through the door and take her away from the afternoon chicken special. But he never came. Instead one day a funny looking man in a green suit with shoes that curled up on the end came in an ordered the breakfast special which consisted of two eggs, two pieces of toast, two sausages, two pancakes, and hash brown potatoes for $3.00. Orange juice and coffee were extra. When he had finished eating he called her to the table and said that he was a little short on cash right now and couldn’t pay for the meal. This meant there would be no tip and there would be a hassle with the manager who expects her to spot and weed out deadbeats. She just didn’t feel like fighting so she gave the guy a $5.00 bill and told him to get a cup of coffee as well. Suddenly she found herself standing in the middle of a glowing circle and the little man explained that he was an elf and because she had been nice to him she could have one wish. Now Betty had read many fairy tales and she knew that elf wishes were dangerous and never seemed to work out but she was sure that she could ask it in such a way that it could not backfire. So she said “ I want to marry a real Prince. Not somebody who calls himself