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Petpet Name: Goober
Owner: juxtaposey
Pet: CCSupertek
Breed: Magaral

"...dna eht laragaM dias ot eht..."

This was not Goober's favorite part of the day. He was only on the second line of his book. The first one took him nearly three hours. He glanced up at his Aisha owner with sad eyes. "Aw Mommmm...do I have to?" CCSupertek wrinkled her nose. "I know it's hard, Goober...but you have to learn!" The Magaral pouted and went back to trying to sort out the seemingly endless sea of letters.

See, like most Magarals, Goober was cross-eyed. It was hard enough to see to walk, which is why he hopped everywhere he went. His owner didn't want him to be treated differently from the other Petpets in the house, so she was determined to teach him to read. He had to read at least five lines of a book each day. It gave him a horrible headache, but he got to go to the beach once he was done. Today was a particularly bad day, because his new book was in small print. He struggled to uncross his eyes and strained to read the next part of the sentence.

"...repeekpohs that eh detnaw a...a..."

Goober threw his head face-first into the book and let out a frustrated cry. CCSupertek let him off her lap to take a break. Goober hopped angrily around the room. "See? It's NEVER going to happen. I'm NEVER going to rea--" His words were cut off as he hopped over the book and tripped, sending both he and the book flying through the air.

CCSupertek jumped up just in time to catch the book in one hand, and Goober's feet in the other. The Magaral hung upside down, chattering crossly. His outburst continued for another moment until it ended in abrupt silence. CCSupertek looked down at Goober, who was hanging upside down looking at the book with an amazed stare. Before she could ask what was wrong, Goober said, "MOM!! I can read this!!" CCSupertek cranked her head to the side to see what her Petpet meant. The words went from clear to blurred. "I don't get what you mean, Goober" she said. "My vision is perfect, and I can't see a thing." Goober hopped to the ground and exclaimed, "That's the whole point! I can't read the way most Neopians read, because I can't SEE like most Neopians! I have to read in a way that makes everyone ELSE cross-eyed!" CCSupertek put her hands on her hips and stared sternly at Goober. "Now you listen, young Magaral. I don't want you making up these silly stories..." Goober cut her off. "Mom, I know I don't read the way you want me to. I wish I could, because I know it would make you happy. The only problem is, I'm NOT like anyone else. I'm different. I like that about myself. I wish you would, too."

Before CCSupertek could respond, Goober crawled back into her lap, and turned over on his head. With his owner holding his book in front of him, he smiled and started all over again.

"...and the Magaral said to the shopkeeper that he wanted a new book."

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