Once upon a time in a bustling little town, there was a boy named Ebuka. Ebuka was known for two things: his big imagination and his habit of losing socks. Every morning, he’d put on two socks, and by the end of the day, he’d somehow come back with only one.
One sunny Saturday, Ebuka decided it was time to get to the bottom of the Great Sock Disappearance Mystery. "Today," he declared, "I will discover the sock thief once and for all!"
His first suspect? His dog, Bingo. Bingo was guilty of many crimes—chewing shoes, stealing snacks, and barking at the TV. Ebuka set up a secret surveillance mission in his bedroom. He carefully put two bright yellow socks on his feet, plopped on his bed, and pretended to sleep. For twenty long minutes, he waited. Bingo sniffed around, wagged his tail, then fell asleep at the foot of the bed. No sock-stealing behavior here.
Next suspect? His little sister, Ada. Ebuka knew she had a bit of a fashion sense, and he once caught her using his superhero T-shirt as a dress for her doll. But when he snuck into her room and inspected her doll wardrobe, he only found ribbons, doll clothes, and one of his old mittens. No socks.
Determined to catch the thief, Ebuka went to his final suspect—his mom. She was, after all, the one who did the laundry. Maybe she was hiding them away in a secret stash. Sneakily, he tiptoed into the laundry room, only to find his mom folding a mountain of clothes. "Mom," he asked, "have you seen any missing socks?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Ebuka, are you accusing me of stealing your socks?"
"Maybe," Ebuka admitted. But his mom just laughed and handed him a basket.
"Look closer," she said. Ebuka peered into the basket, and there they were—dozens of single, lonely socks, mismatched and abandoned. He held one up and shouted, "The sock thief is... the laundry machine!"
From that day on, Ebuka became the Sock Detective, carefully counting each sock before putting it in the wash. But no matter what he did, socks kept disappearing, one by one. And so, the Great Sock Mystery of Ebuka’s house continued, with every missing sock making him laugh a little harder.