1 THE DREAM VULTURE How well do you remember your dreams? Some kids are Duhhh-reamers. These are kids who can't remember their dreams at all. When they try to remember a single detail, they go: "Uhhh..." Other kids are Dream Weavers. Now, these kids dream up some silly things. Sometimes they're knights riding on the backs of giant chickens. Or maybe they float all the way to outer space for an alien-filled picnic. But me? I just dream about things like screaming vultures. I'll explain. In my dream this morning, I wore a top hat, and I had an inflatable duck around my waist. Why? Because it was a dream! Everything was just peachy. But then the inflatable duck became an ugly, screaming vulture. "You are forgetting something IMPORTANT!" the vulture screeched. "WAAAKE UUUP!" "AHHH!" I screamed. "Go back to being a cute duck!" But the dream vulture wasn't listening to me. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAAA--!" I jumped awake. On the nightstand, my alarm clock rang loudly. "Why did that bird wake me up so early?" I groaned. "And why is my alarm also screaming at me?" It was Saturday, and Saturdays were for sleeping in. Here was my weekend routine: 10:00 a.m.: Open eyes. 10:01 a.m.: Go back to sleep. 11:00 a.m.: Wake up to play the new video games that Regina let me borrow-- My sleepy eyes widened. Regina du Lar. Why was one of my best friends' names bouncing around in my head? Was there really something I was forgetting? Surely not. But as I shook off the sleep haze, a memory nagged at my brain. I remembered the moment my friends and I walked to lunch last week. Everything was normal, until dozens of drones had flown through the hallways. "Whoa!" my friend Jake Gold had said. "Those birds are made of metal!" Each drone dropped a sparkling invitation into every kid's hands. They weren't just any invitations, though. They were video messages from the one and only Regina du Lar. She and her family owned the Du Lar Video Game Emporium. They created the coolest games ever. "You're invited to celebrate ME on my birthday!" Regina said in the video. "Check it out!" The screen flashed with big, bold words: "Next Saturday" had seemed far away back then. But "next Saturday" had finally arrived. And it was today . "Oh no," I groaned. "That's what the vulture was trying to tell me! Wait... maybe I'm still sleeping." I pinched my arm to find out. "OW!" I yelped. The pinch pain was very real. This was no dream. Regina's birthday had somehow slipped my mind, and I hadn't even bought her a gift! Excerpted from Happy Gift Day to You by Andy Nonamus All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
