Morning Patrol

Ms. Pencil Axolotl stretched her arms wide as morning sunlight streamed through the tall windows of Pencil Axolotl Tower. Her blue and black supersuit gleamed, and her grey mask sat perfectly in place. She pressed a button on the wall, and the entire room rotated slowly, giving her a perfect view of Draw Metropolis below.

"Another beautiful day to protect the city," she said, watching the busy streets fill with humanoid axolotls heading to work, deer families walking their children to school, and humans opening their shops.

Her giant blue pencil floated beside her, glowing softly. She grabbed her grey gloves from the nightstand and pulled them on.

"Time for morning patrol, Glow-Stick," she said to her pencil.

As she stepped onto the balcony, a cool breeze ruffled her frilly gills. Something felt different today. The streets seemed quieter than usual. Several shops that should be open still had their shutters down.

Ms. Pencil Axolotl frowned. "That's odd."

The Humming Mystery

Ms. Pencil Axolotl swooped down from her tower balcony, her giant blue pencil Glow-Stick floating beside her. The wind caught her frilly gills as she glided toward Main Street.

"Good morning, Mrs. Chen!" she called to the baker below.

The human woman with flour-dusted apron looked up with worried brown eyes. "Oh, Ms. Pencil! Thank goodness you're here. Something terrible has happened!"

Ms. Pencil Axolotl landed gracefully on the sidewalk. "What's wrong?"

"All my pencils are gone!" Mrs. Chen exclaimed, pointing to her empty order pad. "I can't write down any cake orders. And look!"

She gestured down the street. Every shop owner stood outside their doors, all holding empty clipboards and order books. A jogger in bright yellow shorts stopped nearby, panting.

"My pencil vanished mid-run!" he gasped. "I was writing in my training log, and poof!"

Ms. Pencil Axolotl's black eyes widened. This wasn't just a few missing pencils—every writing tool in Draw Metropolis was disappearing.

"When did this start?" she asked.

"About an hour ago," Mrs. Chen replied. "Right after that strange humming sound came from the old music shop."