Covered in dark smears.
Banana mush clung to the zipper. Something thick and foul was oozing down one side.
“What happened?” I asked.
Her teacher looked close to tears.
“During lunch, several students took Alice’s backpack.”
My gaze shifted to three children sitting across the room. Two girls and a boy. Pale. Silent.

One girl’s mother stood beside her, her expression tense—as if she still didn’t fully grasp the gravity of what had happened.
The teacher continued.
“They threw it into the cafeteria trash can.”
A boy in the corner spoke up.
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