Arthur and his friends were now fifteen. It was the anniversary of the day Elwood was founded, so the town was going to have a big picnic in the park. Even though it wasn't a big number anniversary the city still wanted to do something for it.

At the moment Arthur's dad and other residents were working at community hall getting food and decorations ready. Arthur and his friends were part of the committee working on the decorations, and Arthur and Buster were just finishing a piñata for the little kids. It was in the shape of an elm tree, since the city would've been called Elmwood if not for that misspelling incident. Arthur suddenly laughed.

"Hey Buster are you feeling well? You look a little green." He joked.

Buster was confused at first until he realized that some of the dye from the green crepe paper got on his face.

"Very funny Arthur." He smirked. "Say, have you been trying to get a tan?"

Arthur touched his face and found out that some of the dye from the brown crepe paper got on him.

"No, but this is an easy way to get a tan." Arthur chuckled.

Buster laughed too. So did Francine, Muffy, and Sue Ellen, who had just been walking by.

"I'm glad we decided to work on those tissue flowers instead of the piñata." Muffy remarked. "It's less messy."

"Still, I would've liked to work on the piñata." Sue Ellen shrugged. "Not that the tissue flowers aren't fun."

"You just want to-" Francine was about to say something but Sue Ellen slapped a hand over her mouth, blushing.

Fortunately for her, Arthur and Buster were too busy trying to set the piñata aside to dry without ruining it to notice. They were almost out of earshot anyway.

"Francine!" Sue Ellen said under her breath angrily. "I'm starting to regret telling you about that."

"Oh come on, you know Arthur and the other boys have gotten more mature about dating girls." Muffy rolled her eyes quietly.

"Yeah, it's about time you make a move." Francine added.

"You just want me to end up with Arthur so people will leave you alone about dating him." Sue Ellen retorted.

"That's not my fault..." Francine glared at Muffy slightly.

"So I jumped to conclusions, so sue me." Muffy shrugged.

"I'd like to, you can afford to be sued." Francine smirked.

"Watch it or I might not invite you to my next birthday party." Muffy smirked back, knowing that Francine was only kidding.

"All right." Francine decided to drop the banter for now. "Anyway, there's no way me and Arthur will ever date. We're too much like siblings."

"Yeah, well, I guess you have a point." Muffy had to agree. "But in my defense you could've just said that you didn't want Binky stomping on your feet."

"I thought that would've been obvious, considering that was why you wanted to trade partners in the first place." Francine pointed out. "Besides, I had a bigger reason for wanting my feet 'un-stomped', being on the soccer team and all."

"True."

They stopped due to Arthur and Buster coming back.

"Say Buster, with the piñata done and all what do you want to do now?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know, not much left to do around here." Buster shrugged. "And unfortunately we can't leave without asking our parents."

"Well then why don't we? Dad's in the kitchen and I think your mom is helping." Arthur suggested. "We can just ask if we could play a game outside on the lawn, there are some sports equipment here."

"That works. Hey, do you three want to join us? We could form teams." Buster turned to Francine, Muffy, and Sue Ellen.

"Uh, that would make the teams uneven." Francine pointed out.

"Not if I play scorekeeper." Muffy smiled.

"Okay, then yeah!" Francine smiled.

"I'm game too." Sue Ellen smiled.

The five of them chuckled at the pun.

"Okay, let's find our parents and ask them. We'll meet outside." Arthur nodded.

They left the room and went to find their parents. Sue Ellen, Muffy, and Francine didn't have much trouble getting permission. Basically their moms just double-checked that the tissue flowers were all done. As for Arthur and Buster, they got permission but had to help in the kitchen for a short time first.

"Not too long, Francine and the others will wonder where we are." Buster said.

"No worries, we just need your help finishing adding icing flowers to the pastries." Mr. Read smiled. "With the four of us working together it won't take long."

Yeah, Buster's mom was working on that too.

Mr. Read turned out to be right, since there weren't many pastries left it took the four of them about five minutes to finish.

"Great, I'll put these in the freezer." Mr. Read smiled, taking a tray of pastries and heading for the large freezer in the back.

"Here I'll help." Mrs. Baxter picked up another tray. "You two have fun now."

"Thanks mom!" Buster waved as he and Arthur left.

"Thanks Mrs. Baxter!" Arthur agreed.

They joined Francine and the others and started playing. Pretty soon other preteens and teens who had finished their projects started to come outside too. The rest of Arthur's friends joined in the game while other preteens and teens did their own thing. After a little over an hour Buster stopped playing, confused.

"Anyone else smell smoke?" He asked.

"Figures, who else can smell a barbecue from anywhere?" Muffy smirked.

"Not barbecue smoke, wood smoke." Buster shook his head.

"Look!" Sue Ellen gasped.

The community center building was on fire! Well sort of, it was only smoking but that did mean that there was a fire inside! Fortunately, most everyone who was still in the building started to come outside. There were only some missing.

Most of them were the ones working in the kitchen. Since the kitchen was mostly metal and ceramic they hadn't notice the fire or even the smoke yet.

"Everyone out! There's a fire!" Mr. Crosswire, Muffy's dad, entered the kitchen.

Most of the people working there ran out of the kitchen, one running past the door to the freezer...

Mr. Crosswire and the kitchen workers made it outside. By that point the fire had gotten worse and the firemen arrived.

"Is everyone safe?" A fireman asked.

"I believe so." Mr. Powers, Brain's dad, said.

"Arthur!" Mrs. Read ran up.

She, D.W., and Kate and Pal had still been at home at the time. Mrs. Read had work to do on the computer and D.W. and Kate decided to work on some sort of project for the picnic. No one knew what they were planning. Now they had driven to the center to help the others with preparations. Even Pal came along, since he hated being left alone at home unless it was necessary. He had become quite the family dog, though was closest to Arthur and Kate (obviously).

"Are you okay?" Mrs. Read said.

"Yeah, the fire started after we went outside to play." Arthur nodded.

"Hey, where's dad?" Kate asked.

Startled, Arthur looked around and saw that his dad wasn't there!

"Mom, have you seen Arthur's dad?" Buster asked Mrs. Baxter.

"No, not since we were in the kitchen." Mrs. Baxter shook her head.

Arthur paled a little, remembering the last time there was a fire with his dad inside the building... Even though he had gotten over his paranoia of losing his dad this new fire incident brought back his fear. Without thinking, he suddenly rushed into the building!

"Arthur no!" Mrs. Read gasped.

"Hey!" A fireman protested.

Too late, Arthur was out of sight!

"Get that kid out of there!" The head fireman ordered.

A few firemen went into the building.

Meanwhile, Arthur was running blindly along the halls. He wasn't sure where his dad was, but figured that the best place to look would be the kitchen. Coughing a little from the smoke, he immediately headed for the kitchen. When he got inside the kitchen at first looked empty. Then Arthur saw a hand hitting the glass window that was on the freezer door. He ran over and opened the door and there was his dad!

"Arthur!" His dad shivered. "What's going on...why do I smell smoke?"

"There's a fire." Arthur explained, a little breathlessly due to the running and the smoke. "We have to get out of here."

"Did you just-nevermind, you're right." Mr. Read realized that now wasn't the time to scold Arthur for his recklessness.

They ran out the side door, where the kitchen received deliveries, and headed for the front lawn.

"David! You're safe!" Mrs. Read hugged him.

"Are you okay dad?" D.W. asked.

"Just a little cold, I accidentally got locked in the freezer." Mr. Read explained. "Arthur found me and got me out."

"Way to go bro!" Kate smiled.

Pal barked proudly.

"Arthur even though that was dangerous and foolish...you did save your father and you're both safe so I won't punish you." Mrs. Read said seriously but with a smile.

Arthur smiled, just glad that his dad was safe, but then he started to feel weak. He suddenly had a coughing fit and collapsed onto his knees, his vision growing blurry. Pal whimpered and went over to Arthur, nudging his arm concernedly.

"Arthur?" Buster asked, concerned as well.

Arthur didn't respond, he didn't even pat Pal on the head. He just continued coughing until finally...he collapsed completely on the ground, unconscious.

"Arthur!" Mr. Read cried, kneeling down and trying to wake Arthur up by shaking him gently.

"Arthur?" D.W. looked at him worriedly.

"Get him in the ambulance!" A fireman called out.

Along with the firetrucks a fire ambulance was there, for obvious reasons. Some firemen brought a stretcher over and gently lay Arthur on it. They then put him into the ambulance and drove him to the hospital. The Read family went into the family car and followed. Buster and Arthur's other friends wanted to go too but their parents decided to let Arthur's family take care of things first. Arthur's friends would get to check on him the next day.

Oh, and the firemen who went after Arthur? Well when they saw him enter the kitchen they knew that he was safe, since the kitchen was relatively fireproof and there was a door leading outside in there, so they left. Also, it was discovered that the fire was caused by a combination of the old wiring and a slight oil leak, since the building was one of the oldest buildings in the city.

In the hospital Arthur go hooked up to a bronchodilator and an IV. Fortunately, according to the doctors his condition was stable. There was a good chance that he'll survive. Also luckily, this hospital was one of the ones that allowed animals, as long as they were healthy and clean. Meaning Pal, after being given a bath, could stay with Arthur for the day. Since he still needed food and such, and since the hospital didn't have an ample supply of dog chow, the Reads had to take him home later that night. Much to his displeasure.