Elle Vampa

One day the Princess exaggerated.

She had been feeling poorly, and hoped her Doctor could prescribe her a medicine.

But every time she’d rung his doorbell, his wife had had refused to let her in:

“What is your illness?” the Doctor’s Wife asked the first time.
“I cough and my throat is sore.”
“You are not sick enough. Please leave.”

“What is your illness?” the Doctor’s Wife asked the second time.
“I am tired, no matter how much I sleep.”
“You are not sick enough. Please leave.”

“What is your illness?” the Doctor’s Wife asked the third time.
“I feel lightheaded and out of breath.”
“You are not sick enough. Please leave.”

“What is your illness?” the Doctor’s Wife asked the fourth time.
“I sneeze all day and my eyes water.”
“You are not sick enough. Please leave.”

After these rejections, the Princess got frustrated. She felt horrible, yet it seemed nearly impossible to see the Doctor about it.

What could she do?

The Princess mulled this over for a day or two and then decided to write a letter to the Doctor, one a pigeon could deliver in order to bypass the Doctor’s Wife.

But just in case this unfriendly acquaintance would intercept the air mail, the Princess decided she would exaggerate her ailments.

And so the coughing turned into an inflamed throat. The tiredness turned into exhaustion. The light-headedness turned into breathing problems. And the sneezing turned into heart cramps.

Within a day after sending her letter, the Princess received a reply from the Doctor’s Wife. Her note read: “You seem very sick, please come see the Doctor as soon as possible!”

The Princess grinned. Her trick had worked!

She got on her horse and made her way over to the Doctor as quickly as possible. Once there, she needn’t even ring his doorbell for he was awaiting her.

“Dear Princess!” the Doctor shouted when he saw her, “You shouldn’t be riding!”

He ushered her off her horse and onto his carriage. When she turned to him in surprise to ask what was going on, he answered he was taking her to the hospital.

“I fear whatever ails you, I cannot cure. I need advice and I want a specialist to check on you.”

“Can’t you just give me some… medicine?” the Princess pleaded.

But the Doctor shook his head vehemently and rushed even more speed out of his horses.

“I need to know for certain what is making you sick before I can even begin to think of a treatment.”

The Princess felt a little light headed. She coughed, sneezed and after an exhausting day at the hospital, she fell asleep on the ride home.

The Doctor was relieved, however. Every specialist he’d spoken to had reassured him the Princess was to be fine. She just needed a lot of rest and some medicine.

As it turned out, she had not been sick enough to be rushed to the hospital.

But hey, sometimes you just couldn’t tell…