The Prince's Predicament

A Fairy Story by NIK

Once upon a time there was a young prince named Prince Gaylord.

At least, he had been born a prince. But when he was still Just a child, the wicked Fairy-Who-Like s-To-Make -Confusi on changed him into a princess. His parents, the King and Queen of Neglectland, had many sons and daughters and had ne ver really taken a close look at Gaylord, so the change went undetected for many years. When at the age of 13 it became obvious that the young prince was a princess, the only one who noticed it was his governess, Miss D'Mener, who was old, absentminded and nearsighted besides and who di smissed the whole matter by telling herself that she must have been mistaken about the child's gender when he was a baby. She told herself that she must have had him confused with his brother George, who was about the same age.

Now, since Gaylord Gay, as he was called kept very much to himself, no one else realized that he was really a boy or had been until the wicked Fairy came along. Naturally, Gay was very surprised when he discovered he had been changed, but since he was still too young at the time to realize the significance of what had happened to him, he merely accepted it with child-like simplicity and went right on acting like a boy that is to say, climbing trees, chasing small animals in the woods, and smoking cinnamon sticks secretly in the wine cellar of the Castlo.

Now, it was the custom in the Kingdom of Neglectland for young princes and princesses never to be seen in public until their fifteenth birthday, at which time they were formally presented in a grand celebration. This custom was very popular with the commoners because the King and Queen had so many children that there was sure to be a celebration each year and all the people had an extra holiday. However, Gaylord was to remember this celebrati on as tho beginning of all his troubles.

To begin with, about two months before his fifteenth birthday, every one took a sudden interest in him. A multitude