This story was written for a competition. Here are the guidelines I had to write to:

1) The story should be centered around a visit to the dentist’s office.

2) At least one of the following must occur:

a) an argument over the price
b) screaming from pain
c) a new dental experiment
d) the wrong tooth pulled

3) The story cannot be a dream.

4) The word “crazy” must be used at least three times, but never twice in the same paragraph.

5) Word count: 600-800 words

She sat there, in the waiting room ...... waiting. She'd arrived early to get her fix of celebrity gossip. A glance at the clock told her she still had another ten minutes.

'Oh good, I'll get through this 'Hello' mag.'

As she finished reading about the latest, crazy, antics of the Rock Chic, she heard a deep, sexy voice call her name.

'Delphinia Lovelady.'

She cringed at hearing her full name. She hated it. Pasting a smile on her face she looked in the direction of the voice and saw the most perfect male specimen looking across at an elderly lady in the corner.

Dee stood and put the magazine back on the table. If her parents had still been alive, she'd have killed them herself for giving her such a hideous, old woman's name. Instead, they'd left her orphaned at the age of ten with no family and no one to turn to when she'd been teased mercilessly about her name. As an adult, she'd moved to the north of England where there were at least a few more people with her surname.

The most perfect male specimen looked across at her.

'Delphinia?'

'Dee,' she said through gritted teeth.

He looked puzzled, then shrugged his shoulders. 'I could have sworn I was expecting an older person.'

'Yeah, so does everyone. Can we get on please?'

He laughed behind her. 'I guess with a name like that, there can only be one of you!'

Dee scowled at him as she settled into the chair.

The most perfect male specimen was still puzzled though. 'How come, a beautiful, healthy looking young woman has gum disease?'

'I'm Matthew by the way. I've just taken over this dental practice. I'm really excited to have a look at your mouth today. This is the first one I'll have seen.'

Dee looked at him in shock. Had she entered some kind of parallel universe? She looked round the room. It looked the same as usual. He was dressed as she expected a dentist to be dressed. No-one at reception had looked at him funny. How could she be his first? Panic started to set in.

'Er, I think I'll come ba...' Matthew stilled her.

'Okay, let's have a look then at how well your gums are repairing themselves. How come you're on this experimental programme? I thought the trials for this revolutionary treatment to reverse the effects of gum disease just included people over sixty. I could have sworn the information I received about you showed you to be in your seventies. Oh well, there must be an admin error.'

Dee tried to speak but his instruments in her mouth made that impossible. He wiggled each tooth, then pricked and prodded her gums.

'Aaargh, aaaargh. Aaaaargh.' Her screaming pierced the air, drowning out the noise from the radio. She pushed his hand out of the way and sat up.

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE CRAZY!' she screeched at him.

Matthew looked at her, puzzled again. 'I'm checking the gum line. They told you what that would involve didn't they? It is painful but your record doesn't indicate pain averse.'

'My God, this is a nightmare! Who are you? Why are you doing this? I'm here for a routine check up.'

'You've had gum replacement treatment. Your diseased gums were injected with liquid gum from cows. It's incredibly revolutionary and very brave of you to sign up for it. You wouldn't know from your gums that it had been done. Amazing. Absolutely amazing!'

Dee pulled the bib away from her neck and stood up.

'You're crazy! Of course you wouldn't know from my gums. I HAVEN'T HAD ANY TREATMENT!' She'd started screaming again. Her heart was thumping. 'What was going on here?'

'Did you call my name dear? I'm a little deaf now, you know.'

Matthew and Dee both turned to the voice in the doorway.

Matthew gaped. 'Delphinia Loveday?'

'Yes dear. That's me.'

Matthew burst out laughing. 'Oh I'm sorry.' His laugh became hysterical.

Tears streamed down his face as he doubled over and held his sides.

He wiped his face and turned to Dee. 'I'm sorry.' Another burst of laughter escaped.

'Oh God, what must you have thought? I said you were my first!'

Matthew collapsed again. It was just too funny, and the look on the two women's faces was priceless.

'Look at you both. You've got the same look on your faces.'

That comment sobered him up and he stared from one to the other.

'Are you related? You could be her granddaughter. You've got the same eyes.'

'Oh my! It can't be. My Henry died. His little girl........ No-one knew what happened to her.' Tears filled the old lady's eyes.

'My dear. Is it really you? After all this time?'