To adult readers directional movement seems natural, because adults have mastered this aspect of the reading process, and it is quite automatic. For some children, directional behavior can be very complex. Such was the case for one bright little boy ("Chance") the author/educator served in Reading Recovery. This article tells the story of how noticing Chance's difficulties, and doing something about his confusions with directional movement in reading increased his "chances" to learn to read. Quoting Marie Clay's statement that learning about words and letters is "nonsense if you do not happen to be looking at the print in the appropriate direction" (Clay, 1993) and using it as a guide, the paper relates that the educator identified her job as that of helping Chance to organize his behavior in reading and attend to print in an orderly manner (following seven directional rules). It follows Chance's steady progress until his reading reaches the 50th percentile, and his report said: "No ability-achievement discrepancy scores were significant." The article includes a section on implications for classroom teachers. Contains an epilogue about Chance. (NKA)