[ WP ] Everyone except for your psychiatrist thinks you 're crazy . You lie down to have another productive session with Doctor Marshmallow McSnugglesworth PsyD .

`` Evening, Dr. Marshmallow McSnugglesworth.'' 
 
 
 Dr. Marshmallow McSnugglesworth did n't respond. That was ok. He was the strong, silent type. 
 
 
 `` Thanks for always listening to me.'' I clutched the stuffed hippopotamus tight. `` Nobody listens to you when you're eight.'' 
 
 
 Dr. Marshmallow McSnugglesworth, as he let me call him, looked at me with his deep, piercing eyes. One of them was a button, and the other used to be a button. I was going to learn to sew. It really bothered me that he could n't see. 
 
 
 `` Hold on, let me get a drink.'' I stood up and trudged to the door, being careful to step right-left-right-left. I clicked the light switch off, then on, then off ( if I do n't do that it bothers me for the rest of the day ) and opened the door. 
 
 
 The floor of the hallways is tile. That's important. If it were carpet I could have walked however I like. But with tiles I have to walk like a knight moves in chess. I also have to avoid any tiles where there's too much dirt, or otherwise it's wrong. There's a hard corner I have to turn where I have to put one foot under a table to keep the pattern going. Mother says it's a special quirk. 
 
 
 I got a glass and held it under the sink. I turned the sink on, off, on and filled up the water. I do n't like filling it up with the sink, but we're out of the good water. After it was filled halfway, I turned the sink off, on, off and knight-walked back to my bedroom. 
 
 
 Dr. Marshmallow McSnugglesworth was waiting for me. He always does. I flopped down on the bed and patted his hippo head. 
 
 
 `` Thanks for listening,'' I told him. `` Nobody listens to you when you're *special*.'' 
 
 
 In fact, I have a theory about being special. People do n't understand my `` quirks'' like the tile walking, that's a given. But yesterday in class I wrote a paper about Dr. Marshmallow McSnugglesworth. My thesis was that everybody needs a Dr. Marshmallow McSnugglesworth because he always listens to you. People will betray you and ignore you, but Dr. Marshmallow McSnugglesworth will never do any of that. 
 
 
 In fact, I know everyone needs a Dr. Marshmallow McSnugglesworth. Nobody listens to you when you're different. 
 
 

