The Missing Lunch

Mira kicked a pebble across the stone path as she entered Thistledown Park. Her pink pigtails bounced with each angry step. Another boring lunch break at school meant another boring walk to nowhere special.

"Great. Just great," she muttered, plopping down on a bench near the wooden bridge.

The park felt different today. Quieter. She watched a red cardinal land on the bridge railing, then quickly fly away when a boy about her age appeared from behind some bushes. He had messy brown hair and wore a green jacket that looked too big for him.

"Hey," he said, glancing around nervously. "You didn't see anyone drop a paper bag around here, did you?"

Mira raised an eyebrow. "What kind of paper bag?"

"Brown. Lunch-sized." He scratched his head. "It's important."

Before she could answer, he spotted something under the bridge and hurried toward it, leaving Mira wondering what could be so urgent about a missing lunch.

The Castle Under the Bridge

Mira watched the boy disappear under the bridge. Her curiosity won over her usual grumpiness, and she followed him down the muddy slope.

"Found it!" he called out, holding up a crumpled brown bag.

But when he opened it, his face fell. Instead of a sandwich, he pulled out a small plastic castle with tiny towers and a drawbridge. "This isn't mine."

"Whose is it then?" Mira asked.

"I don't know, but look." He pointed to a piece of paper taped to the castle's side. In neat handwriting, it said: "Trade your turkey for my tuna. Leave at the big oak. -Knight of the Round Table."

"Knight of the Round Table?" Mira snorted. "What kind of weird lunch trade is this?"

The boy's eyes widened. "There are others. My friend Jake said kids have been finding these castle pieces all week. Each one has a different trading message."

Suddenly, three more kids appeared on the bridge above them, all holding identical brown bags and looking around nervously.