28 - The Cuckoo Clock of Doom by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead) Read Free Book Online Page A

and everybody, younger than ever. I’d
forgotten how dopey everybody used to look when we were little.
    I sat through another dull day of learning stuff I already knew. Subtraction.
How to read books with really big print. Perfecting my capital L.
    At least it gave me lots of time to think.
    Every day I tried to figure out what to do. But I never came up with an
answer.
    Then I remembered Dad telling us he’d been wanting the cuckoo clock for
fifteen years.
    Fifteen years! That’s it! The clock must be at that antique store!
    I’ll go find the clock, I decided. I couldn’t wait for school to end that
day.
    I figured if I could turn the cuckoo around, time would go forward again. I
knew the dial that showed the year must be going backwards, too. All I had to do
was reset the date on the clock to the right year, and I’d be twelve again.
    I missed being twelve. Seven-year-olds don’t get away with much. Someone’s
always watching you.
    When the school day ended, I started down the block toward my house. I knew
the crossing guard was watching me, making sure I’d get home safely.
    But at the second block I dashed around the corner to the bus stop. I hoped
the crossing guard hadn’t seen me.
    I stood behind a tree, trying not to be seen.
    A few minutes later, a bus pulled over. The doors opened with a hiss. I
stepped aboard.
    The bus driver eyed me strangely. “Aren’t you a little young to be riding the
bus by yourself?” he asked me.
    “Mind your own business,” I replied.
    He looked startled, so I added, “I’m meeting Daddy at his office. Mommy said
it was okay.”
    He nodded and let the doors slide shut.
    I started to put three quarters in the coin slot, but the driver stopped me
after two.
    “Whoa, there, buddy,” he said, pressing the third quarter into my palm.
“Fare’s only fifty cents. Keep this quarter for a phone call.”
    “Oh, yeah. Right.” I’d forgotten. They raised the bus fare to 75 cents when I
was eleven. But now I was only seven. I put the quarter in my pocket.
    The bus pulled away from the curb and chugged downtown.
    I remembered hearing Dad say that Anthony’s Antiques and Stuff was across the street from his office. I got off the bus
at Dad’s block.
    I hoped Dad wouldn’t see me. I knew I’d be in big trouble if he did.
    I wasn’t allowed to ride the bus by myself when I was seven.
    I hurried past Dad’s building and crossed the street. On the corner stood a
construction site; just a pile of bricks and rubble, really. Further down the
block I saw a black sign with Anthony’s Antiques and Stuff painted on it in gold
letters.
    My heart began to pound.
    I’m almost there, I thought. Soon everything will be all right.
    I’ll just walk into the store and find the clock. Then, when no one’s
looking, I’ll turn the cuckoo around and fix the year.
    I won’t have to worry about waking up tomorrow morning as a three-year-old or
something. My life will go back to normal.
    Life will seem so easy, I told myself, when time is moving forward the way
it’s supposed to. Even with Tara around!
    I gazed through the big plate-glass window of the shop. There it stood, right
in the window. The clock.
    My palms began to sweat, I felt so excited.
    I hurried to the shop door and turned the handle.
    It wouldn’t move. I jiggled it harder.
    The door was locked.
    Then I noticed a sign, tucked in the bottom corner of the door.
    It said, CLOSED FOR VACATION.

 
 
15
     
     
    I let out a howl of frustration. “NOOO!” I cried. Tears sprang to my eyes.
“No! Not after all this.”
    I banged my head against the door. I couldn’t stand it.
    Closed for vacation.
    How could I have such terrible luck?
    How long was Anthony planning to be on vacation? I wondered. How long will
the shop be closed?
    By the time it reopens, I could be a baby!
    I gritted my teeth and thought, there’s no way I’m letting that happen. No
way!
    I’ve got to do something. Anything.
    I pressed my nose