The Echo of Sneezes

The sound of relentless sneezing filled the middle school corridors. Carmel Dvora paused near the entrance, her dark brown eyes scanning the hallway. "Achoo! Achoo!" Oh no, another wave of sniffles and coughs swept through like an alarm for incoming contagion.

"Carmel!" Leah called, joining her with a worried look. "Have you noticed how everyone seems to be sneezing?"

"I know, right? It's like a sneeze orchestra," Carmel replied, trying to mask her budding curiosity with a smile. She tugged thoughtfully at her long brown hair. "But it's strange. Who started it?"

Leah shrugged, adjusting her oversized sweater. "I heard the whole seventh grade is practically out of tissues!"

Carmel felt her detective senses tingling. "We've got to find out who Patient Zero is before we're all sneezing our heads off."

"Better hurry," Leah warned. "Before you catch it too."

Noting the challenge, Carmel determined she'd trace the first sniffle before succumbing to the cold herself. Time was of the essence.

Whispers in the Hallway

"Maybe it started with the eighth graders," Carmel mused, stepping carefully over discarded tissues scattered along the corridor like breadcrumbs.

Leah twirled a piece of hair. "Could be. I heard Dahlia was coughing heaps in Hebrew class."

Carmel nodded and moved toward the cafeteria, driven by a keen mixture of logic and intuition.

In the bustling hallway, she intercepted Dahlia. "Hey, Dahlia! You feeling better?"

Dahlia sighed. "Not really. It's this cold, but Amira was sneezing even before me. Just saying."

Carmel raised an eyebrow and continued her way.

Turning a corner, Carmel noticed the aging janitor lady, Rina, scrubbing the floor while humming an eerie tune.

"Got the sneezes too?" Carmel asked.

"Oh, they've got me too," Rina responded with a twinkle, sneezing into her sleeve. "Who knew sniffles could create so much mess?"

The janitor's odd tune played in Carmel’s mind, sparking a new direction. Could Rina's regular cleaning rounds conceal more about the outbreak?

With the mystery deepening, Carmel felt a thrill. It was a new clue tied to her hunt through the labyrinth of illness.