The Birthday Party of No Return! Read Online Free PDF

room.
    â€œNo! Arfy — come back!” I wailed. “It isn’t a dog toy! Oh, nooooo. Come back with that!”

I chased him down the back hall. He ran into my parents’ room and tried to jump on their bed.
    But I tackled him around his middle and wrestled him to the floor. I made a grab for the vulture claw, and it slid easily out from between his teeth.
    He snapped at it. But I swung it out of his reach and rolled away from him. “Not a toy!” I shouted. “Not a toy.”
    Arfy made a whimpering sound. He stared up at the claw.
    I studied it carefully. It was dripping with saliva. One of the talons was torn — just a little bit. Not too bad.
    â€œBad dog,” I scolded Arfy. But he was already trotting out of the room, his tail wagging. Dogs have very short attention spans.
    I tried to dry off the claw on the front of my shirt. Then I slid it back in place.
    â€œClose call,” I muttered.
    Arfy almost ruined my good luck. Of course, he didn’t know what he was doing. He was just being a dog.
    But I needed this good-luck charm. Needed it. Like breathing.
    I let out a sigh of relief. The claw felt good against my chest. I vowed I’d keep it snug and safe from now on.
    I started up the stairs to my room. I was nearly at the top when my shoe caught on something. A lump in the carpet?
    â€œOwwwww!” I let out a scream as I lost my balance. I fell hard onto my side — hit my head — and bounced all the way down.
    Bump bump bump bump.
    I landed at the bottom. The surprise took my breath away. My heart was racing. Pain rolled up and down my body.
    I didn’t move till I could breathe normally. Then I sat up with a groan. The back of my neck ached. My left ankle throbbed. I tested it. It wasn’t broken, but it sure hurt.
    â€œOh, wow,” I muttered. “Wow.” I shook my head, trying to shake away the dizziness and pain. Groaning, I climbed to my feet.
    â€œThat’s not supposed to happen,” I said to myself. “I’m supposed to have all good luck.”
    Then I thought, Well, I didn’t break my neck. I could have broken my ankle or my arm. I guess the claw kept me from seriously hurting myself.
    I pulled it out from under my shirt. I turned it over in my hand. The fall didn’t crush it or anything.
    I kissed it and tucked it back in. Then I started back up the stairs.
    This time, I gripped the banister as I climbed. My ankle still throbbed, but I could stand on it.
    I stepped into my room. One of my baseball posters had fallen off the wall. It was lying upside down on the floor.
    I rolled it up and leaned it against the wall. I’ll tape it back up later , I decided.
    I sat down at my desk and opened the laptop. I powered it on and waited for the screen to light up.
    Miss Harrison puts her homework assignments online every afternoon. I went to our school site to see what work I had to do.
    The page started to come up. But then the screen suddenly went black.
    I heard a sizzling sound. Like bacon frying on the stove.
    â€œWhat’s up with that?” I muttered.
    And then I jumped to my feet as black smoke poured up from my laptop.
    I knocked the desk chair over as I staggered back two or three steps.
    And then I gasped as bright orange and yellow flames flickered over the keyboard.
    My laptop! It was on fire!

I stared in horror as the flames danced over the keyboard. My panic lasted only a few seconds.
    I dove forward and slammed the lid shut. Would that put out the flames?
    Black smoke sizzled up from the back. Then the smoke faded away.
    Silence.
    I didn’t move. I froze there, holding my breath, waiting to see if the flames would shoot up again.
    Finally, I touched the lid. It wasn’t hot. I flipped it open.
    The flames were gone. The keyboard was charred black. A lot of the keys had melted onto one another.
    Ruined. It was totally destroyed.
    How did that happen? I just powered it on, and it burst into