Happy Birthday to You (Birthday Trilogy, Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

just missed the light to cross. A truck started speeding toward
him.
    “Whoa!” Theodore
shouted as the truck driver slammed on his brakes and promptly stopped just a
few feet from his face. Theodore gasped and tried to catch his breath.
    “Watch where
you’re going, you jerk !” the driver shouted,
as he backed up a few yards, and then swerved around him.
    Theodore found a
bench to sit on at the other side of the intersection. His heart was racing,
and he could feel his head pounding. He’d only been running for fifteen
minutes, but he could tell his sixty-five-year-old heart couldn’t take all of
this arduous exercise any longer. He stood up, headed back toward the
intersection, and decided he would just walk home.
    “You’ve got a
busy week ahead,” he said to himself. “Let’s not tire yourself out, Coach.”
    This time he
made sure it was safe to cross before he started walking, and he was happy to
reach the other side of the intersection without facing a premature death.
    He allowed
himself to complete a half jog in the last mile home, and when he arrived at
his house, he had sweat stains on his forehead, his cheeks, under his armpits,
and down his back. His dog Eddie greeted him at the door, and he made his way
into the shower for a quick rinse.
    At 6:00 Theodore
made himself a light dinner—half a barbecued chicken breast with some
buttered broccoli. He sipped on some of his favorite beer—the strong and
rich Imperial Stout—and enjoyed the newest issue of Poets & Writers Magazine .  
    At 6:30 he sat
down on his couch and turned on the TV. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to watch a
movie or the local news. He decided on the news for now, and then maybe at 7:00
he’d start a movie. He wanted a comedy. Something with Will Ferrell, or Jim
Carrey maybe. He didn’t hate Ben Stiller, but he preferred Will or Jim. He saw
that something goofy with Will Ferrell was starting at 7:15 on HBO, so he
decided he’d check that one out.
    Before he
changed the channel, he noticed that the reporter on the local Channel 2 news
was saying something about babies growing at a rapid rate around Reno. But
Theodore didn’t pay much attention to it. By the time he had settled in on the
couch, his eyelids had already started shutting tight.
    By 6:45 Theodore
Welsh was asleep.
    His heart gave
out five minutes later.

 
 
    3.

 
    The house was
ominously dark when we returned a few minutes after midnight. The alarm hadn’t
been set, which agitated my dad, but everyone mostly kept to themselves as they brought all the luggage into their appropriate bedrooms.
    Kimber looked
about ready to pass out as she headed downstairs to her bedroom. My mom started
checking messages on the answering machine as my dad yawned and headed
upstairs. It had been a long day for everybody. It was time to get some sleep.
    But
not for Liesel and me. While I had assumed we’d be taking off in the morning, to wherever Liesel
thought we should go, she told me we had to leave as soon as my family headed
to bed. There was no time to rest and relax. She said we had a long drive ahead
of us, and that it was best to leave now. I was barely able to keep my eyes
open, but thankfully Liesel had gotten plenty of sleep on the plane and looked
wired enough to skip sleep for a whole week.  
    Liesel and I
left our luggage in the car, telling my mom we would bring it in in the morning.
We had to take in our cosmetic bags just so no one would suspect we were
skipping town, but we both decided it illogical to have to bring in our heavy
suitcases and then bring them right back out again a half hour later.
    As Liesel sat
down on my bed and tried calling her grandfather, I headed back upstairs. I
knew my parents would be asleep within minutes. I knew that my time with them
was limited.
    “You guys need
any help unpacking up here?” I asked, entering their bedroom. My mom was
already in bed, while I could hear my dad urinating in the bathroom. I sat down
on the end of