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     Once upon a time, there was a turtle named Joop. (All stories are supposed to start this way. It's in the Rules.) Joop was a good turtle, but was about to have a bad day. He doesn't know this yet, of course, as he's still asleep. And even when he wakes up, it'll take a while for him to figure out that he's having a bad day.

     And so Joop woke up. He was a bit sorry to wake, as he was having a wonderful dream about a particularly cute girl turtle named Anais that he knew. Of course, the dream also had talking cabbages, stairs that he just couldn't seem to climb, and the table that walked on its legs, dreams being what they are. Since the talking cabbages were about to attack him and make him into turtle soup, its a good thing that he got up when he did.

     Joop yawned wide and did all the things one does when one is all warm and toasty and doesn't want to get out of bed. He went back under the covers and tried to go back to sleep (Not aware that the talking cabbages were waiting for him.) But he stretched, and yawned again, and realized that he was awake and that the day had started. He got up and put on his shell, which he kept on a rack while he slept. Still a bit sleepy, he didn't notice anything wrong and started to get ready for his morning bath.

     It wasn't until he looked in the mirror that something seemed strange. Very strange. And something didn't feel right. It felt as though his shell had shrunk and was two sizes too small. But then it hit him! He had it on backwards! This was the just the first sign that Joop's day was not going to a be a good one.

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