And almost every evening, Small Paul, Momma Mall and Tall Paul would have a GOOD FOR YOU TOFU for dessert or perhaps a Far Frozen Ice, which was a yogurt ice cream in the shape of an icicle. Who ever heard of an icicle which dripped delicious caramel into your mouth?
Since he had started eating GOOD FOR YOU TOFU and stopped eating fudge and eggplant, Small Paul was always well. Of course, you and I know that it was not the eggplant that had been making Small Paul sick. Then again does it matter if mother does not know everything? Strangely though, Small Paul never missed the taste of fudge. Although, he used to love fudge he never missed it now that he could not have it.
Soon however, Small Paul began to notice something that was even stranger than not missing fudge.
He gradually began to develop a desire for eggplant. At first it was just a tiny liking. Then it got a bit stronger. Pretty soon, every time his mother put a deep delicious dish of baked eggplant and tomato covered with gooey cheese upon the table he just about went crazy. Of course, the baked eggplant covered with gooey cheese was only for Momma Mall and Tall Paul. Small Paul had developed a craving for eggplant but of course he could not have any. He could not even ask for any. His mother would have said. 'Of course you can't have any. Eggplant is not good for you. ‘What is wrong with me? Small Paul asked himself. Am I becoming weird?’
One evening, he was in a difficult mood that children get into on occasion. He decided to be really really exasperating and ask for a helping of eggplant. Sure enough, his mother gave him the answer that in times past he had long desired. Now that she was actually saying it, he did not want to hear a word of it. 'Eggplant is not good for you. You know that you are not allowed to eat it.'
Really! Mothers can be most inconsistent thought Small Paul. He remembered a time, not that long ago when his mother had insisted that he eat his eggplant, every little bit. Small Paul was delighted though to notice the puzzled frown on her forehead as she told him that he could not have any. It is always fun to keep parents guessing, thought Small Paul. That frown on his mother's face almost made up for the fact that he was not going to be allowed to enjoy any of the delicious eggplant that his mother had just set steaming upon the table.
As the days passed, the problem got worse. Pretty soon, he imagined that he could not sleep at night because he wanted eggplant. He used to dream about eating eggplant. He used to imagine what it would be like to enjoy just a nibble of delicious eggplant with gooey cheese on top. Isn't it strange he thought to himself. 'When you have to eat something you do not want to eat, you hate it. When you cannot have that thing you now want it. You now want it, even though it is the very thing that you used to hate. For some reason you now just have to have it.' Small Paul did not know what to do about his craving for eggplant so he decided to consult Dr. Allergy. He looked his number up in the yellow pages under Physicians and Surgeons and waited for his mother to go down to the basement to do a load of wash. He then dialed.
"Hello, Dr. Allergy? This is Small Paul," said Small Paul, "Fudge and Eggplant Paul."
"Oh, yes," said Dr. Allergy. "Fudge and Eggplant, Paul."
Dr. Allergy remembered his patients by their allergies, both real and contrived. He sometimes forgot their names entirely but he never forgot their allergies.
"How are you, Fudge and Eggplant Paul? I hope you are well."
"Yes, I am well," said Small Paul. "It is just that I am not happy. I am not happy at all."
"I am sorry to hear that, Small Paul. I am sorry to hear that you are not happy at all. How can I help make you happy?"