Morning Routine

Chris rolled out of bed and stretched his arms above his head. The morning sun streamed through the curved windows of Crayon Base, casting blue shadows across his bedroom floor.

He pulled on his sleek blue-and-black supersuit and adjusted his mask. Time for his morning patrol around Canvas Metropolis.

Chris walked to the center of the dome where his giant blue crayon usually stood in its special holder. The metal stand gleamed empty.

"That's weird," he muttered, looking around the circular room. His crayon always waited for him here, right between the four colorful towers.

He checked behind the red tower, then the yellow one. Nothing. The green and purple towers revealed no hiding crayon either.

Chris frowned. Maybe he had left it somewhere yesterday after stopping that bank robbery. But he always returned it to the base.

A soft knock echoed from the main entrance. Chris pressed the button to open the heavy door, revealing Mayor Antelope, one of the city's deer citizens.

The Invisible Problem

"Chris, thank goodness you're here!" Mayor Antelope stepped inside, his brown fur slightly ruffled and his antlers catching the morning light. The deer citizen's usually calm demeanor seemed shaken.

"What's wrong, Mayor?" Chris asked, noticing how the mayor's hooves clicked nervously on the metal floor.

"It's the city's mail delivery system. All the postal boxes have gone completely invisible!" Mayor Antelope wrung his hands together. "The mail carriers can't find them anywhere, and people are starting to panic."

Chris blinked. "Invisible boxes? That's... unusual."

"There's more." The mayor lowered his voice. "Mrs. Otter from the bakery downtown called this morning. She says someone stole all her flour during the night, but her security cameras show nothing. Just empty shelves appearing out of nowhere."

Chris felt a chill run down his spine. First his giant crayon, now invisible thefts around the city? This couldn't be a coincidence.

"I hate to ask, but we need your help," Mayor Antelope continued. "Without your crayon powers though..."

"Don't worry about that," Chris said quickly, though his stomach twisted with worry. "Let's head to the bakery and investigate."