Ordinariness

Once upon a time, there was a princess, or maybe an ordinary girl, who lived in an underground palace guarded by a fierce dragon. Mostly, the ordinary girl was happy. She had shelter, and food, and entertainment, and even some luxury. The only thing that bothered her once in a while was that she couldnt' get out and see the world. Not only did the dragon keep people out of the underground palace, but it also kept her in. But since the ordinary girl was never bored, she didn't think about it much. SO, the ordinary girl lived on happily under the world with her dragon.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to her, the world was moving on around her. The ordinary girl's family were very worried about the fact that they could no longer see their daughter. Thus, they issued a decree. They let it be known that whoever could slay the dragon and free their daughter from her underground prison would be well rewarded. The hope being, of course, that a prince or duke or someone equally important would complete the task. I.E. not an ordinary boy.
And so, noble after noble was incinerated byt the dragon (because after all, intelligence is not a condition of one's nobility), and still the princess (ordinary girl) remained imprisoned. The nobles became discouraged (not too mention dis-inclined to become incinerated), so the girl's father was forced to up the ante. To whom ever succeeded, he would award the daughter's hand in marriage. The efforts were renewed at this, and the nobles' ranks dwindled, which discouraged the king (ordinary father) in his turn.
While this was going on, a very ordinary young man was on his way to a very ordinary destination (his grandmother's house) through a dragon infested forest. He had heard the story of the girl underground, but being ordinary, he did not feel compelled to concern himself with her. Likewise, dragons did nto feel compelled to concern themselves with him because of his being ordinary, so he was safe from them as well. Unfortunately, he happened to walk over a weak spot in the forest floor, and fell through right into the ordinary girl's sitting room.
"Oh dear," she said. "Now the dragon's going to have to incinerate you, and I just redid these cushions."
"On the contrary," replied the dragon. "Look, he wears no armour, no horse, where is the challenge in that? Not to mention the fact that I've been trying to increase my intake of fibre."
"Well that's a relief," she said, and the young man was inclined to agree with her.
"Now," she said. "What do you suppose I should do with you?"
"I haven't the faintest idea," said the ordinary young man, looking puzzled. "After all, I'm just ordinary."
"That's good," she said smiling. "I'm an ordinary girl myself."
"Well," he said thoughtfully. "I suppose I could marry you and take you home to your family."
The ordinary girl made a face.
"No, I don't particularly want to marry you, and besides, if I went back to my family I'd have to be a princess, and I'd much rather stay an ordinary girl."
"Fair enough," he said. "Shall I tell your parents that then?"
"Yes please," she said. "It was very nice to have met you."
And so he left, and conveyed his message. Then he regaled his grandmother with the tale.