Clank Makes Pancakes

Chef Bianca ran a small breakfast cafe, and she had just bought a robot helper. It was silver, with long bendy arms, and it was called Clank.

"Clank," she said on the first morning, "make pancakes."

Clank's lights blinked. "I do not know how to make pancakes," it said. "Please give me instructions."

Bianca's nephew Theo, who was nine, was sitting at the counter. "Robots need every step," he said. "My coding club teacher says computers only do exactly what you tell them."

"Easy," said Bianca. "Clank, put the flour in the bowl."

Clank picked up the whole bag of flour and put it in the bowl. Unopened.

Theo giggled. "You didn't say open the bag."

"Fine," said Bianca. "Clank, open the bag of flour, then pour two cups of flour into the bowl."

Clank tore the bag open, picked up two cups from the shelf, and poured the flour into the bowl. Then it carefully poured the two cups into the bowl as well. Clunk, clunk.

Theo was laughing so hard he nearly fell off his stool. "It poured the cups in too!"

Bianca fished the cups out. "This is harder than I thought," she said.

"Let's write it down first," said Theo. "Like a program. One clear step at a time." He grabbed a napkin and a pen.

Together they wrote: Step one: Open the bag of flour. Step two: Use a measuring cup to scoop flour. Step three: Pour the flour from the cup into the bowl. Step four: Do steps two and three two times. Step five: Crack one egg on the edge of the bowl. Step six: Let the inside of the egg fall into the bowl. Step seven: Put the shell in the bin.

"Step seven is important," said Theo. "Otherwise it might put the shell in too."

They went on: add milk, stir until there are no lumps, heat the pan, pour in a little batter.

Clank followed every step perfectly. The batter was smooth. The pan sizzled. The first pancake bubbled up beautifully.

"Now," said Bianca, "flip the pancake."

Clank flipped it. Very, very hard. The pancake sailed up into the air and stuck to the ceiling.

There was a long silence. Everyone looked up. The pancake looked down.

"I think," said Theo, "you need to say how high."

They added a new step: Flip the pancake gently, just high enough to turn it over. Clank flipped the next pancake perfectly. And the next. And the next. Soon there was a tall, golden stack.

That morning, the cafe served the best pancakes in town. Theo got the first stack. Bianca added a new sign on the wall, next to the menu: Clank's Rules. Be clear. Be exact. Say how high.

And the pancake on the ceiling? It stayed there until lunchtime, when it finally fell, plop, onto Bianca's head.

⭐ The End ⭐