Princess Kate was a thoroughly irritating young lady. If she was asked to do something, she would say she’d do it ‘sometime’. If there was an urgent task to be done, she’d say she’ll do it ‘someday’. Everyone in the palace called her Princess Sometime! But of course, they only whispered it.
The Queen, however, got to know what everyone said of the Princess. She was very fond of her daughter, but she had to set this right.
“We can’t let everyone to make fun of her for her silly behaviour,” she told the King, “After all, she is the princess of the palace.”
“Er… yes, dear,” said the King, who generally agreed with his wife and his daughter to maintain peace and good atmosphere in the palace.
The Queen called a meeting of all the ladies-in-waiting and attendants. Everyone was a little worried about why the Queen wished to meet them.
“We are going to start a campaign!” announced the Queen. Everyone looked at each other. Surely, that was the King’s business.
“The Princess postpones everything. She must be taught to do things promptly and on time!”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. So that was it! The plan was laid by the Queen and all the people agreed to follow it enthusiastically.
The next day, the campaign began. When the Princess was hungry, the cook said she would serve her ‘sometime’. When she wished to ride, the stable master said he’d bring the horse around ‘sometime’. The carriage would come ‘sometime’ to take her out. They’d go shopping ‘someday’. Her friends might visit ‘someday’. The princess was getting steadily more angry. “What do you mean, ‘sometime’? I want it NOW!” she screamed at the top of her voice.
But none paid any attention. It gradually dawned on Kate by the end of the week that this was what she herself had been doing always. How awful!
The change was slow, but soon everyone in the palace began to notice that Princess Kate had begun to do things on time. She arrived at the table on time. She did not keep her tutor or her carriage waiting. She was in time for trying on the dresses when the tailors arrived. She was polite with the maids and the attendants and didn’t keep them waiting either.
“The campaign has succeeded!” announced the Queen. “Er… yes, dear!” said the King, his eyes twinkling.
