Aliens for Breakfast Read Online Free Page A

Richard. To his mother’s surprise he ate everything on his plate. Then he kissed her on the cheek and left to wait for the school bus right on time.
    Richard was glad Henry wasn’t on the bus. If he saw Henry, he wasn’t sure he could keep quiet about Dorf. And he knew that saying anything would ruin Aric’s mission. Then again, it was pretty clear that Henry was underDorfs control. “He probably wouldn’t believe me if I did tell him,” thought Richard.
    He walked into school and stood near the boys’ bathroom. A second later Dorf and Henry came walking down the hall. They were both wearing red cowboy shirts and string ties. Dorf was talking, and Henry was nodding at everything he said. As usual.
    “Remember. Do not look at Dorf’s teeth when he smiles,” said Aric. “And step back after you give him the flakes. Dranes can get violent before they explode.”
    Richard got hot. Then cold. Then slightly dizzy.
    “Do not be afraid,” said Aric.
    “I’m not afraid. I’m terrified,” said Richard. But even as he said it, he was stepping away from the wall. He stood in front of Dorf and Henry. “Hi, you guys,” he said.
    “Hi, Richard,” said Dorf. “How are you doing? You don’t look so good, buddy.” Then he smiled one of his amazing smiles right at Richard. Just in time Richard remembered to look away. Then he said, “I was hoping I’d run into you before class, Dorf. I’ve gotsomething I think you’ll
really
like. Come on in here. I’ll show it to you.” He led them into the boys’ bathroom, which was empty. Then he set his backpack down. It took all his strength to pull out the box of pepper flakes.
    “Here. This is for you,” Richard told Dorf. He opened the box. “Want some?”
    Dorf looked at the pepper flakes. Suddenly his face was wet with sweat. He smiled a hungry smile. His breath came fast and hard, and his eyes gleamed. His face turned bright pink. He grabbed the box away from Richard. Then he poured a heap of pepper flakes into his hand. He stuffed it into his mouth as if he were eating popcorn. Only he didn’t chew it. He simply swallowed it. Then he swallowed another handful. And another.

    “Dorf! What are you doing?” cried Henry.
    Dorf ignored him. His eyes turned bright purple. “More!” he gasped. He poured pepper flakes down his throat. “More!” The snaps on his cowboy shirt popped open. His chest was bright red. It started to steam. Henry jumped away. So did Richard. Now Dorf’s eyes were bulging. He finished off the box and his skin went from red to purple. Then his hair started burning. It smelled horrible.
    “Yikes!” said Richard. He grabbed Henry. They backed away toward the door.
    Dorf began bubbling and popping. His clothes fell to the floor in a smoking heap. He stopped looking like a boy and started to look like a blob of live Silly Putty. Then he sprouted tentacles. There were dozens of them. They thrashed on the floor, making a loud hissing noise.
    Richard felt something on his neck. He jumped. It was only Aric. He had climbed on Richard’s shoulder to watch.
    A horrible cry filled the bathroom. “You got me!” screamed Dorf. “Two more hours, and I would have started dividing. My clones wouldhave been all over your planet like ants on a candy bar! And then all you pathetic Earthlings would have been our slaves!” His tentacles flopped on the white floor.

    “I hate to lose!” Dorf wailed at Richard. “I hope you flunk math and history. I hope you fail science and art and social studies and English and gym!”
    Then he blew up.

8 .
    It had been a great day. Dorf was gone. Earth was saved. Richard had stopped melting. And he and Henry were friends again. In fact, now that Dorf was gone, everyone in Richard’s class seemed a little friendlier. Richard didn’t know why. It sure wasn’t because anyone knew he’d saved the world.
    The amazing thing was that no one even remembered Dorf anymore. Except for Henry. He was coming over later to spend