"Marmaduke was a purple turtle. He wasn't just an ordainary turtle. Marmaduke liked to eat socks, not just any socks. He liked dirty smelly socks. The kind he always found laying on bedroom floors.

He loved Andrew's bedroom. Andrew never hung anything up. Andrew never put ANYTHING AWAY. His Pyjamas were hanging on the door knob. Papers and crayons were scattered all over the floor. His cars and trucks were on the bed, under the bed, and everywhere you looked!

So Marmaduke waddled over; in corners, behind doors and under the bed. He ate blue socks, red socks, striped socks, a green sock and Andrew's gym socks. He burped loudly!

When Andrew got ready for school one day he couldn't find any socks. There were none on the floor, and of course none in the drawer. None behind the door or under the bed. So he went to school with just his shoes on.

His feet got REALLY cold!

When he got home from school his mother was waiting for him. She looked really angry, so Andrew decieded not to tell her about his missing socks.

""Andrew, I want you to clean your room up right now, it is an absolute mess,"" she said.

Andrew really meant to do it, but when he looked under the bed he found part of the castle he had been playing with the day before. He found his knights and horses behind the door and under his pillow. He forgot to clean his room!

Marmaduke was getting bigger and bigger! There were no socks to eat on the floor and he was getting hungry. He waddled all over the room to see what he could eat next.

The next day Andrew came home to get his football and his cap so he could play ball with his friends. He looked all over for his football hat, but only the brim with the 49'ers emblem was left. His colouring book and his crayons dissapeared next. He couldn't find his comic books either. Since Marmaduke was so big he couldn't get out of the door, he was eating everything in sight!

Finally Andrew decided to clean up his room. He hung up all his clothes in the closet. He put all his books in the bookcase. He put his toys away in boxes. He even made his bed!

Marmaduke had nothing else to eat and kept getting smaller and smaller. Finally he was so small he could get out of Andrew's room, so he wandered outside in the garden where there were lots of plants and bugs to eat.

Marmaduke was VERY HAPPY. And Andrew's room stayed neat and clean ever after.

"