Curby Read Online Free PDF Page A

loudly along with black smoke billowing behind from its monstrous sized rocket engines.
    The thrill Curby felt when he was lifted to the high platform of the cab exceeded anything he could have ever imagined. He was so high up, he could see the top of the parked cars and all the way down the street to the next block.
    Sharing the seat, Nick shut the door. He looked at his son with a thrill of his own. An only child himself, it took him back to his early days when his own Dad brought him along in his taxi cab while he picked up passengers in Manhattan.
    “To the moon,” Curby yelled, soaring his hand through the air like a space ship. “Vroom!”
    The engine started. It startled him when it did, because the sound was louder than he had expected. Below, and somewhere in the deepest bowels of the imagined space ship, steel brushes engaged and spun on their axles. Inside the hopper, hard rubber flights circled on rollers, shaking the mighty ship to its very core.Out front, water sprayed into dark, empty space like the Star Ship Enterprise’s energy shield, from both Nick and Curby’s favorite movie. It was followed by the street sweeper lurching forward.
    “Wow!” Curby yelled.
    The boy, all aglow, stretched to look over the top of the dash. A Bridge Commander himself, Captain Curby ordered the mission to commence. “To space land!”
    Nick shouted after him. “To infinity and beyond!”
    Captain Curby put an arm around his first assistant and patted him on the back. “You’re a good pilot, Dad.”
    “Thanks, Captain. I had a lot of practice. Are you ready to go around Pluto?”
    The boy shook his head vigorously, too flushed to say anything else.
    Nick took the tight corner around the gutter drain, a little faster than usual.
    A thrilling feeling quivered inside Curby. “This is so-o-o awsome Dad. Can we do that again?”
    Nick checked behind the sweeper at the empty street. “Watch this!”
    It was amazing. The entire sweeper was able to turn in a tight circle right in the middle of the street. Nick hit the brake and then spun the sweeper around in the opposite direction.
    His son was left bug eyed. “Oh, wow! Neato! Dad.”
    “Pretty cool, huh?”
    Back at the curb, Nick lined up the brushes at the edge and continued on the route. When they reached the middle of the block, an official car pulled in front of them and parked.
    “Oh, no! The boss!”
    A Sanitation Foreman got out and stood in front of the door. “What the hell was that, Santinelli?”
    “What was what?”
    “That barnstorming back there in the middle of the street.”
    “Oh, that. I was trying to sweep up some papers.”
    The foreman stepped back, his neck stretching as he tried to look beyond Nick who was doing all he could to block his view.
    “Hey! Is that a kid in there?”
    “Aw, come on Ted. It’s his birthday.”
    “Birthday or not, you know you’re not supposed to ride around with passengers.”
    “Yeah, I know, but…”
    “But nothing, Santinelli. Take him home. I’ll see you when you get back to the garage at the end of the shift.”
    “You’re not going to write me up are you?”
    “Not if you get him home right away and get back to your route. And I want it finished, no excuses.”
    “No problem, Ted, thanks.”
    The foreman folded his arms and nodded. “He’s a cute little guy, ain’t he? Happy Birthday.”

    After work, Nick found the door to his apartment wide open. Inside, there was no sign of Sandy…or Curby. He rechecked the door. Pinned to it was a hand written note he had missed.

    Seated in the emergency room, Jaime, his neighbor, waved for his attention. In her lap was Curby. Nick anxiously sat next to her and immediately picked up his son.
    “How long has she been in there?”
    “A couple of hours. Oh, Nick, she…”
    Not wanting to upset the boy, she leaned forward and silently mouthed the rest. “She can’t breathe. They have her on a respirator.”
    “How long did they say she had to be on it?