Summary- What if all your favorite fairy tale villains were mentally unstable? What if they needed therapy for all of those deep-seated issues? Meet Dr. Nick, Fairy Tale Psychologist.
Dr. Nick- Do you really think she came up with the fairy tales? Because if you do, maybe you should be seeing me instead of my usual patients.
Chapter 1- Jack
"Hello, Jack," greets the doctor as a boy, about sixteen, walks in the door. His escorting officer takes his post outside the door frame.
"Hello, Dr. Nick."
"Now, would you like to talk about why you're here?"
"I don't know why I'm here, Dr. Nick," says Jack, confused.
"Are you sure? It may have something to do with your kleptomania."
"What's kleptomania?"
"It's when you have a problem with thievery; it's when you can't control yourself and steal other people's possessions," Dr. Nick explains.
"I do not have kleptomania."
"Then how do you explain the breaking and entering into Mr. Bonebreaker's home?" asks Dr. Nick, referring to the giant who had suffered major injuries while chasing Jack down the beanstalk.
"Er, it wasn't me," Jack denies.
Consulting his notes, the doctor asks calmly, "Are you sure? Wasn't that your face on the video tape?"
"Um…"
Still calm, and looking over his glasses at Jack, Dr. Nick asks, "And wasn't it you that Mr. Bonebreaker identified as the culprit?"
"Er…" Jack is sweating as he tries to think of an answer.
"And wasn't it you who was reported as climbing down from an illegal beanstalk leading to Mr. Bonebreaker's home?"
"Uh…"
"And weren't the stolen items found in your home?"
Not able to take it any more, Jack stands and exclaims, "All right! All right! I admit it! It was me! It was ME!"
"I know, Jack. That's why you're in therapy. And do you admit you have a problem?" asks the still-calm Dr. Nick.
"No, I do NOT have kleptomania!" Jack's voice is vehement as he denies his problem.
"Then why do you have my tape dispenser?" asks Dr. Nick, looking at the object in Jack's hands.
Sitting down by now, the boy denies, "I don't! This is my tape dispenser!"
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"Then why is my name stamped on the bottom?"
"Um…" Jack flounders for an answer.
"And isn't that my watch on your arm? You know, the gold one with my name engraved on it. It's right next to the other five watches on your arm." It really was a nice watch.
"Oh, this one? I must have mistaken it for mine," Jack laughs nervously and hands the watch back.
"Right. Jack, why did you take my stapler?"
"Er, I, uh, needed to staple something, yeah, staple something!"
"Like what? You don't have any papers with you. No, wait, you have my notebook with you. May I have that back, please? I need it to take notes of our session." Dr. Nick wonders how Jack had taken the notebook when it had been in his hands during the entire session.
"Oh, here you go." Jack hands the notebook back to the doctor, who then writes down his observation.
"Thank you, now back to the issue with the stapler?"
Awkward silence.
Jack's voice is defeated as he finally admits, "Okay, so maybe I do have kleptomania. What am I supposed to do about it?"
Dr. Nick is exalting inside as he tells him, "Well, the first step is to admit you have a problem, which you've already done. Now for the second step, I want you to tell me about the first time you stole something."
"I think it was when I was five years old. Another kid in the village had a new ball and he was bragging about it. I asked my mommy for one but she had said no because we couldn't afford it," Jack's voice is bitter as he says that last part. The good doctor takes note of this in his recovered notebook.
"So you took the ball?"
"Yes, I took the ball," Jack confirms.
"And how did you feel about that?"
"I felt exhilarated! It was so fun to play with. I just covered the ball with some paint and no one was the wiser," the boy's voice is proud as he informs the psychologist of his feat.
"Do you remember feeling bad about taking the ball?" asks, Dr. Nick, taking down some more notes.
Voice wistful, Jack says, "A little, but that was overshadowed by the fun I had."
"What happened to the other little boy?"
"I think he's training to go into law enforcement. Why?" asks Jack, puzzled.
More note-taking. "I was just curious. So you started out stealing things you needed or thought you wanted?"
"Yes."
"How often did you steal things?"
"At first, it was only occasionally. Then it became a few times a month. Soon it was a few times a week. Now, I think it's a few times a day."
"I see." Yet more note-taking. "It seems to me that your problem progressed as you took more and more items. Eventually, your wants became nonexistent and it became a habit. Now you can't help it."
"Well, what should I do?"
"I'll tell your parole officer to isolate you in a room with the things nailed down. Eventually, when you see that it is no longer possible to steal something, I think you'll stop," muses Dr. Nick.
"If you think that's best, Dr. Nick," Jack's voice is earnest.
"I do. I'd go with the hypnotherapy, but I don't really believe in that stuff."
"Okay, Dr. Nick. So I'll see you later?"
"I'll check back in a week to see how you're doing."
Giving a small wave, Jack turns around and says, "Bye!"
"Goodbye, but before you go, do you mind putting back my things? And my watch, please?" Dr. Nick asks, wondering how Jack had gotten it this time.
"Oops, sorry," Jack apologizes sheepishly.
"No, problem."
AN- There will be 10 chapters total unless I think of more. I already have who I'm going to have Dr. Nick talk to. The story's been bouncing around in my head for a while and I finally thought I'd expand on it since I have this week off. It's also in honor of NaNoWriMo even though I don't really plan to write a novel. Review if you want to.