Animaniacs and Wakko's Wish belong to Warner Bros., not me.

Warnerstock was a happy, peaceful little country, until its king, William the Good, lost his life under very suspicious circumstances. As soldiers of Warnerstock's neighbour Ticktockia attacked the royal castle, the widowed Queen Angelina and her three small children, Prince Yakko, Prince Wakko, and Princess Dot, hid in the tallest tower. The children were only seven, four, and two, respectively, and didn't really understand the seriousness of what was happening.

Yakko and Wakko were using their tails like springs, bouncing up and down and shouting "Boingy, boingy, boingy!"

Angelina put down the sleeping Dot and grabbed Yakko with her left hand and Wakko with her right.

"Boys, no!" the queen half-pleaded, half-sobbed. "Be quiet!"

The boys stared quizzically at their mother. "Why, Mommy?" Yakko asked.

Angelina had been afraid that this would happen. "Because we're in danger, and we can't let anyone know that we're here."

"Why are we in danger?" asked Yakko.

"There are bad people in the castle."

"Why?"

"They want to take over the country."

"Why?"

There were tears in Queen Angelina's dark eyes. "Yakko Warner, for once in your life, please stop talking!"

She immediately regretted saying this when Yakko burst into tears. Angelina reached out a white-gloved hand to wipe some of the tears off her son's cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Yakko. I didn't mean to snap at you; Mommy's just scared."

"I scared too, Mommy," Wakko whispered. "And hungry. Where's Dadoo?"

Dot's cries saved Angelina from having to explain this to Wakko for the umpteenth time. She picked up Dot and rubbed noses with her.

"Want to hear your special story, my little cutie?"

Dot beamed. "Story!"

Yakko and Wakko cuddled up to their mother as she softly began the (somewhat ficitionalized) story of Dot's birth.

"Once upon a time, a brave knight married a beautiful princess and they had two sons." Angelina patted Yakko and Wakko's heads. "But they wanted a daughter too"-she adjusted the flower in Dot's ears- "and so they planted a garden all over the kingdom, and on the first day of spring, every flower in that garden bloomed. Out of the prettiest flower came..."

"Me!" Dot cooed.

"So Daddy and I took you home, and every night at bedtime, we'd come in and say, 'Who's the cutest girl?' "

"I am!" said Dot proudly.

"We'd ask, 'How'd you ever get so cute?' "

"I was born that way!"

Angelina tweaked her daughter's nose. "Daddy and I would say, 'Tell us your name, young lady!' "

"Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Third! But you can call me Dot!"

Queen Angelina struggled to keep her composure as she remembered those happier times. "We'd ask, 'Can we call you Dottie?' "

"No," Dot said primly. "Just Dot. Call me Dottie and you die!"

That was a very real possibility right now, but Angelina knew she had to finish what she started. "Daddy and I would laugh and laugh, and tickle you!" She resisted doing that, fearing that someone might hear the giggling. "You'd fall asleep with a great big smile in your heart."

Dot yawned. "I like that story."

"Us too!" said Yakko and Wakko. Angelina cradled all three of her children closer in her arms, and the four of them fell asleep.

When Queen Angelina woke up, the sounds of fighting had stopped. Was it safe now? She gingerly moved the sleeping children off her lap and tiptoed to the door. As quiet as Angelina tried to be, she still woke up Yakko.

"Where are you going, Mommy?"

"I'm going to see if the bad people have gone away. Stay here and watch your siblings."

"But Mommy-"

Angelina kissed Yakko's cheek. "Don't be scared, Yakko. Mommy loves you, and she won't be gone for long."

Queen Angelina softly closed the door as she left. She did not come back.