Natboff! One Million Years of Stupidity. Andy Stanton

were snatched up by the Gypsy King on

      the day you were born and we have spent the

      last eleven years in his power.’

      ‘How come I didn’t see you in little glass

      beads dangling from the chain around his neck?’

      said Princess Snowflake. ‘Like Gooseberry was?’

      ‘He turned us into, like, sort of, these kind

      of little red stones, well, not exactly stones,

      but kind of like stones, which he kept in his

      shirt pocket,’ said Princess Snowflake’s father.

      ‘I don’t know why, he must have one system

      for turning dogs into things and another system

      for dealing with people. Anyway, it’s probably

      not that important, or not something we need

      to spend time worrying about right now. We’re

      back at last!’

      ‘Thank you for looking after our daughter

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      while we were away,’ said Princess Snowflake’s mother to the witches. ‘I hope she wasn’t any trouble.’

      ‘She had her moments,’ said Cobwep. But she said it with a smile.

      ‘How lucky I am to have witches and parents and the prettiest little dog in the world!’ cried Princess Snowflake. ‘But best of all, I have learnt about friendship and accepting help from people.’

      And Gooseberry barked three times: once for happiness to see his mistress again, once for joy to feel her arms around him again and once because it was a fairy tale and as you know, things always happen in threes in fairy tales. On Gooseberry’s third bark, the Realm of the Gypsy King was gone and there they all were, back in the gardens of the Winter Palace, with

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      the snow falling all around and the birds singing and Chomley the hedgehog snuffling for treats like always.

      A deer bounded by with a big ‘D’ painted on its side. Then another one with ‘A’. Then another, with ‘N’. Then another, with ‘G’. Then another, with ‘E’. And then one more, with ‘R’ painted on its side.

      ‘Oh, how wonderful,’ laughed Princess Snowflake, clapping her hands together, one, two, three! ‘It’s those lovely deer again! Daniel and Arthur and Neil and Georgina and Eleanor and my favourite, Rum-Pum-Pum!’

      And Princess Snowflake was right. That’s exactly what those letters stood for. And when she grew up, Princess Snowflake married Rum-Pum-Pum, because it was the Age of Fairy Tales and you could do what you like back then, it

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      was absolutely fine to marry a deer if you felt like it. Or a field, you could even marry a field if you fancied. And her parents moved back into the Winter Palace and Gooseberry became

      their butler, though he did charge quite a high price for his services.

      In time, Princess Snowflake grew tired of the gardens and she rode Rum-Pum-Pum far and wide and together they had many more adventures and defeated all sorts of horrors, including the Flipsy King (who was a sort of evil

      pancake-making guy), the Chipsy King (who was like this nasty dude who owned a kebab shop

      but the portions were really small and he used to charge way too much for sachets of ketchup) and

      the Pipsy King (who was a sort of cross between a man and an apple and when you went near him he’d spit apple pips at you and if one hit you you

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      would turn into an apple yourself but Princess Snowflake and Rum-Pum-Pum defeated him by

      saying, ‘Hey, look over there, there’s something really interesting!’ and when the Pipsy King looked over there they quickly rushed up to him and Rum-Pum-Pum kicked him to death with his hooves). And Princess Snowflake and Rum-Pum-Pum had lots of children together, some were humans and some were deers, and some were humans but with just the legs of a deer, and one of them was a Smurf.

      And they all lived happily ever after.

      THE END

      561 AD

      The Story of Old King Thunderbelly and the Wall of Lamonic Bibber

      N

      ow, all this happened way back in the Dark Ages, when people still thought that the world was flat, not like today when we

      know it’s a sort of giant shiny cube.

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      In those distant, ignorant times, the

      whole of England was ruled over by Old King

      Thunderbelly, who lived in a grand castle in the

      middle of Lamonic Bibber.

      One day, Old King Thunderbelly was

      strolling in the castle courtyards, which were

      not as magnificent as you might think. They

      were just all right. The best bit was a Swingball,

      but even that wasn’t brilliant because it kept

      tipping over if you whacked the ball too hard.

      ‘I am so crafty,’ said Old King Thunderbelly as he strolled around the courtyards. ‘For a start, I’m the king of the whole of England. And for another start, I can outwit anyone who crosses my path.’

      But at that moment a crow crossed Old

      King Thunderbelly’s path.

      ‘Oho,’ said the crow. ‘So you think you can

      outwit anyone, is that what I heard you say, you

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      arrogant king?’

      ‘Yes,’ said Old King Thunderbelly. ‘Why,

      have you got a challenge for me?’

      ‘I certainly have,’ remarked the crow. ‘I bet you can’t keep me out

      of Lamonic Bibber.’

      ‘I bet I can,’ said Old King

      Thunderbelly.

      ‘I bet you can’t,’ said the crow.

      ‘I bet I can,’ said Old King Thunderbelly.

      ‘No, seriously, I bet you can’t,’ said the crow.

      ‘I really actually think I

      can,’ said Old King Thunderbelly.

      ‘I bet you can’t,’ said the crow.

      ‘I bet I can,’ said Old King Thunderbelly.

      ‘Listen,’ said the crow, ‘I honestly bet you can’t.’

      ‘No, you listen, you idiot,’ said Old King Thunderbelly. ‘I bet I can.’

      ‘I bet you can’t,’ said the crow.

      ‘I bet I can,’ said Old King Thunderbelly.

      Well, this argument went on for a day and a night and it was the most boring day and night either of them had ever spent, until eventually the crow said, ‘OK, then, king-features. Prove it. I will walk ten miles out of town and then I will try to get back in.

      And just you see if you can stop me.’

      ‘All right, I will,’ said Old King Thunderbelly.

      So