Once upon a time there lived a beautiful Princess called Rose. Every day she sat in her castle with her mother and sewed, and danced, and sang, and did all the things that she was expected to do.
The Princess had a friend, called Prince Michael. Prince Michael was a fine young man, and Princess Rose's mother, Queen Jacqueline wanted her daughter to marry him. Princess Rose was fond of the Prince, and they spent much of their time together.
But one fateful day, there came a loud splash in the moat by the castle. Princess Rose rushed out at once to find out what the commotion was. Climbing out of the moat, was a man, dressed in black leather. He looked at her and grinned.
The Princess looked shocked, but not as shocked as she was when an enormous dragon came swooping over the castle walls, breathing fire as it went. The strange man took hold of her hand, and simply said,
"RUN!" And she did. She ran and ran, and never let go of his hand until she was safely headed towards the gatehouse. He pushed her towards the door, somewhat less than gracefully, and turned back towards the dragon. He suddenly turned back towards the Princess, making her jump in surprise.
"By the way, what's your name?" he asked her.
"Rose" she answered, still shocked.
"Nice to meet you Rose. I'm the Doctor. Run for your life!!" He replied, with the same manic grin on his face.
A few minutes later, when she was certain that the coast was clear, Princess Rose went back to the castle, looking for the man who had burst into her life, but there was no sign that he had been there, apart from a puddle where he had dripped water, and a scorch mark on the lawn where the dragon had tried to attack them both. She looked around, dismayed, before heading back into the castle.
Over the next few days, she couldn't get the Doctor out of her head. Every time she closed her eyes, he was there, grinning at her, ready to fight the dragon to protect her. One day, she was sitting on the lawn reading poetry, when suddenly the Doctor came running over to her. He bowed deeply, before helping her to her feet.
"Princess," he said. "I haven't stopped thinking about you since I saw you last, and I don't think I will ever be able to." Princess Rose's gaze dropped to the floor, before she raised her head and looked deep into his eyes.
"Take me away with you?" she suggested. He picked her up and swung her around and they laughed together. They ran away into his magical machine, and they all lived happily ever after. Apart from Prince Michael who didn't get to marry Princess Rose, but no one likes him anyway so that's not important.
