Today was a hard and long day. I slumped down on my bed, exhausted. Even after having a tiresome day at school, mum made me do a few chores at home.

I had always dreamed of being a princess, surrounded by servants to do my homework, chores and everything I had to do myself. One day I learnt a very valuable lesson.

On a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, when I was going out, my mum gave me money to buy my favourite ice cream on the way back home. When I made my way to the ice cream parlour, I saw a figure wearing a cloak, sitting on the only vacant table.

I asked if I could sit there, and she politely replied in the affirmative. I looked at her face closely and realised she looked somewhat familiar. We talked for a while, eating the tastiest ice cream in town. Then the girl started showing boredom, so I asked if we could play and challenged her to race with me to the post office.

I ran as fast I could go, but it seemed that the girl had a motor installed inside her — she was running so fast that she became a blurry vision and disappeared from sight! Finally, I reached the post office, panting.

“Well, congrats on winning!” I said to her, but as I looked up, my eyes popped out. The girl’s hood had fallen back and it revealed the face of Princess Carolina!

I gaped at her, then started to make a hasty bow, but she caught me and hurled us inside the nearest telephone booth.

“Please, don’t exclaim!” she pleaded in a whisper.

“Why?” I questioned out loud.

“I was wearing a cloak to hide my identity because whenever I go to town, photographers and journalists........

© Dawn Young Magazine