The Cake Paradox

Princess Popcorn was the most-wanted, most-loved, most-adorable baby in the kingdom. Or at least, that’s what her mother, the queen, told her. Like most babies, the little princess was chubby and bonny and smiley and windy, and she did all the things that most babies do. To the queen, she was perfect in every single way.

The princess soon grew from a baby into a toddler, and was now a child of six. She lived a privileged life, and her mother doted on her. She ate the very best food and slept in the very best bed. She had the very best servants attending to her every need, and played only the very best games with the very best friends.

But one day, quite unexpectedly, the princess complained of a tummy ache and did not want to eat the very best food or play with the very best friends any more. She just wanted to go to the very best bed and sleep. So, she did. For days.

The queen was beside herself.

And she cried.

A lot.

Princess Popcorn would not eat, and struggled to even keep water down.

The very best doctors came from miles around and said silly things like:

“It’s just a bug!”

“She’ll be on the mend soon!”

But worse still, they told the queen to:

“Stop panicking!”

Well of course, this made the queen panic even more. She was convinced that all those doctors were unfit to practise medicine and fired them all. And she was sure that Popcorn was never going to get better and would remain in bed for the rest of her life. She was so worried that she sent out a message to the entire kingdom of Paradox that whoever made…