Read Online The Birthday Party of No Return! by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online

And for trying to pass off the bad-luck claw to him. Then I hurried to the kitchen to find Mom.
    â€œSo what happened, Lee?” Mom asked as we drove home. “What went wrong at the party?”
    â€œEverything,” I replied. How could I explain?
    Both hands on the steering wheel, Mom turned to stare at me. “Maybe you could describe it a little better than that?”
    â€œI really can’t,” I said. “I — I smashed his TV. Then I fell. And I knocked the food over. And then I fell again — on the cake. It was all a horrible accident.”
    â€œWere you dizzy?” Mom asked. “Should we take you to Dr. Markoff?”
    â€œNo. I told you — it was an accident,” I said.
    Mom nodded. She gazed out the windshield and bit her bottom lip. She only bites her lip like that when she’s worried.
    I stared out the car window. We passed a group of kids on bikes. They grinned at me and raised their arms. They all had claws instead of hands.
    â€œOh, noooo,” I muttered.
    A scrawny gray and black vulture landed on the hood of the car. It stared at me through the windshield. Then it raised an ugly, clawless stump at me.
    I’m living a nightmare! I thought. I can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t real.
    My life would never return to normal until I got rid of that horrible claw.
    Mom pulled the car up our driveway. I pushed open my door and bolted out, eager to get going.
    â€œThere’s something I have to do,” I said.
    â€œYes, there is,” Mom replied. “You have to walk Arfy.”
    â€œHuh?” I started to protest. But Mom pushed me toward the house.
    â€œGive Arfy a good long walk,” she said. “He’s been lying around the house all day. He needs some exercise.”
    â€œBut, Mom —”
    â€œNo arguing,” she said. “Some fresh air will do you good, too.”
    No, it won’t , I told myself. Fresh air won’t change my luck. Fresh air won’t stop these frightening hallucinations.
    I stepped into the house first. Arfy was waiting. The big sheepdog leaped onto me and tackled me to the floor. Then he wrapped me in a head-lock and planted wet tongue kisses all over my face.
    I screamed. He had a vulture head. He was licking me … licking me with a disgusting, scratchy vulture tongue!
    â€œNoooo!” I rolled out from under him and jumped to my feet. His head was back to normal now. I grabbed his leash off the hook by the back door. I hooked Arfy up, and we headed out the door.
    The late afternoon sun was dipping behind the trees. Long shadows stretched across the front yards. Trees shimmered with their fresh leaves.
    â€œWhoa!” I let out a cry as Arfy started to run. “Slow down! Hey — take it slower!”
    The big guy had been cooped up all day. I could see he wanted to stretch his legs. He wanted to run .
    But I wanted to take it slow. I needed to be careful, to watch out for more hallucinations.
    â€œArfy — stop!” I shouted. “Arfy — stay! Stay, boy!”
    He gave the leash a hard tug and bounded into the middle of the street. I tried to pull him back onto the sidewalk. But he was a lot stronger than me.
    â€œArfy — stop! Stop!”
    He lowered his furry head and plowed on, picking up speed. Running down the middle of the street.
    â€œArfy — no!”
    I heard a snap . The leash flew back and hit me in the chest. Arfy kept running.
    Running free !
    The leash had snapped off, and Arfy was on the loose.
    â€œStop! STOP!” I screamed.
    This was not a hallucination. This was real . The dog kept running full speed, his four legs pounding the street pavement.
    I chased after him, running as fast as I could. But the big dog was galloping now. My legs ached. My heart throbbed. I couldn’t catch up.
    â€œArfy — please!” I wailed breathlessly. “Please stop!” I was in a total panic now.
    I didn’t see