That night when Ginger went to bed she thought not of the big lizard but of about the "dragon" she'd pictured when Gilligan ran to her. Dragons of legend made for good movies. She started thinking of films with dragons in them even long after she'd heard Mary Ann start her nightly snoring. (Ignoring distractions was good acting practice.)
In the throne room was the king. Small in stature his face showed the cunning of the almost forty years he'd been outwitting his enemies.
Beside him was his queen, a charming grandmotherly lass. Near her sat their daughter, a glamourous red haired princess.
A young brunette lass who'd been a courtier since age 12 announced "The Royal Alchemist."
A scholarly fellow strode in. "Your majesties. Following clues in ancient manuscripts I have mixed Jasmine, arsenic, acid, certain mushrooms and cinnamon into an infallible dragon poison and scented it with lavender.
The Queen approved "Oh, lavender. What a marvelous touch."
The King asked "Why lavender?"
The Alchemist explained "To mask the scent so the dragon doesn't detect the poison."
Everyone nods.
The alchemist continued "Next problem. The delivery system."
When the king saw that the queen looked puzzled he explained "He means how to get the dragon to eat the poison."
The Queen said "Yes. That is a tricky one."
A bell rang. Princess Ginger walked over and waited for the dumbwaiter [a primitive elevator system] to be hauled up. Then she took a rolled up sheet of paper from it. She unrolled it and read aloud "The dragon has appeared at East Ham. He demands to fight our best champion or…" She paused then gulped and continued "to eat a princess of the realm. One or the other is due at dawn or the village will be destroyed with all inhabitants."
The King spoke "Send for my best knights."
The Queen said "But my dear they're all overseas at the war. They couldn't possibly get back till next week."
"Send for my wizards then."
"They're with the knights."
Princess Ginger stood up. She looked scared then resolved. In a voice of determination tinged with sadness she said "Very well. What must be must be."
The queen said "Princess Ginger Plantaganet you will do no such thing!"
The king added "I absolutely forbid it!"
Princess Ginger said "Even if you would trade my life for one whole village" she paused in a moment of weakness then continued "How would that solve anything? The dragon would still be out there. Alchemist is your poison in cloth bags?" When he nodded she continued. "Put it in a carriage with four fast horses. Put some leather belts in there as well." She turned to the courtier "We will get my late Aunt Cecile's underclothes from her wardrobe. Also her wedding dress. She wore a larger size then me so I can strap the poison to my skin underneath."
The courtier said "Highness let me go in your stead!"
Princess Ginger embraced her "Your zeal is touching. But dragons can sense royal blood."
At dawn Princess Ginger, clothed in an overly large white dress and veil got out of the carriage. It sped off. Ginger removed the veil and announced "Sir Dragon! I am Princess Ginger!"
She did not run when the enormous head approached her. Though her knees buckled and her right hand went up to shield her eyes. The dragon mouth opened and engulfed her.
"Cut!" The film's director, a white haired man who looked like he'd munched too many cold cuts between takes, appeared ecstatic "Ginger that was brilliant! And captured on camera too." He turned to look at his cameraman.
A young small fellow was on the ground with the camera on top of him. "I fell boss."
"Did you get the shot before you fell?"
"I don't know. I think so."
"You think so!" The director went over and hit the cameraman with his hat. "By the time we reset this dragon prop we'll have lost the dawn. It'll be daylight."
"Can we reshoot it in daylight?"
"And ruin the dawn motif I'm trying to establish through the film! Run that over to processing. We'll see what we've got."
Later a group of them gathered to watch the footage. (Even actors not in the scene wanted to see the special effect.) Turned out the shot wasn't ruined, the cameraman fell while the director was yelling "Cut!"
The actor who played the alchemist came over. "I feel lousy about losing you after only a week Ginger."
She shrugged. "I'll miss you Roy. But they shot my scenes first because Monday I move over to a key role in one of the company's other films."
"Oh. Millions of men, including me, look forward to seeing you in that."
The cameraman asked "So what movie is that going to be?"
"The Fullback's Big Sister."
"Oh. Who do you play?"
"The fullback's big sister."
"No I mean who do you play?"
She decided to cut through his confusion. "I play Linda. Her brother is on the football team. She's been looking out for him since their parents died."
The cameraman nodded.
Ginger continued "I'm too young to play a mother. But with the right make up and mature acting I can stretch to playing a 24, 25 year old woman. Even one who's her brother's guardian. Can you picture that?"
The camera man nodded. In the background five other people gave each other sarcastic looks while Ginger walked off humming a very inaccurate rendition of Notre Dame Fight song.
When Ginger woke up she told no one of her dreams. She never did. She had the dreams of a star. Why make the common folk feel bad that they didn't?