{"id":119,"date":"2025-10-28T21:03:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archive4kids.ever.jp\/1st_Study\/?p=119"},"modified":"2026-02-09T11:49:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T02:49:38","slug":"y4_story2_02-the-mystery-of-the-missing-lunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive4kids.ever.jp\/1st_Study\/?p=119","title":{"rendered":"Y4_Story2_02: The Mystery of the Missing Lunch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter 2: A Trail of Crumbs and Feathers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Liam felt like a detective in a movie. He knelt down where the lunchbox had been, running his fingers along the dusty bricks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Aha!” he gasped.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Right by the spot where the koala lid rested, he saw something tiny: a single, shiny sultana<\/strong> and a little smear of white bread crumb<\/strong>. But the most exciting clue was a fluffy, bright pink feather<\/strong>. It was about the size of his thumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Mum, look!” Liam showed her the feather. “Do you think a galah<\/strong> took it?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galahs were common, noisy, pink-and-grey birds that loved to squawk in their backyard bottlebrush<\/strong> tree. They were cheeky birds, but Liam had never seen one fly off with a whole lunchbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A galah would make a lot of noise,” Mum replied, “and I didn\u2019t hear anything. But that feather is a big clue, Liam. It\u2019s too pink for a magpie.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liam followed the tiny trail of crumbs past the old water tank. He noticed the dust on the ground was disturbed, like something small had been dragged along. He walked slowly, his eyes scanning the ground like a hawk. The disturbed dust led him right to the wooden fence at the edge of their yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He found one final clue snagged on a rusty nail in the fence post: a tiny strip of bright blue plastic<\/strong>\u2014the exact same colour as his lunchbox! The thief had definitely gone this way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liam looked over the fence into the tangled, wild bush<\/strong>land that backed onto the school oval. The mystery was leading him outside!<\/p>\n\n\n\n