"Has anyone seen my watering can?" asked Larry one afternoon.

"No," replied Wendy. "I’m looking for my 6 zillion inch high heel shoes."

"I can’t find my wrench," complained Ludwig.

The other Koopalings chimed in with their missing object reports. Finally they all decided to go see Bowser.

"None of us can find our stuff everything is missing and we don’t know where it is it’s lost or maybe we’re lost and it is looking for us and we don’t know what to do have you seen my tape recording from 6 years ago yesterday I haven’t seen it today but I was looking for it no one knows where it is so I guess…"

"I get the point, Morton," Bowser said quickly. He thought for a minute. "I think you should all go searching."

"Gee, isn’t our father brilliant?" Lemmy whispered to Iggy.

"Would you like to share something with the class, Lemmy?" Bowser smiled.

Lemmy shook his head. Roy, who was standing nearby, waved his hand.

"I would!" yelled Roy. "Lemmy says you’re a %^*$ (#@> who couldn’t $? for his !?)^ life!"

The Koopalings laughed. Bowser decided to continue.

"This afternoon, we will hold a scavenger hunt. Meet back here in one hour."

The Koopalings went to their rooms to prepare. Meanwhile, Bowser gathered together materials for the hunt.

One hour later, the Koopalings came back to the throne room. Bowser announced the rules.

"You will each get an identical list of things to find. Items may count towards more than one category. You will place things that match the descriptions in a bag which I will give you, unless they are too large. You may not leave the castle grounds. When I blow the whistle, you will begin the search. When I blow it again, you must begin making your way back to the throne room. You may not collect any items before the first whistle or after the second. If you are not back in the throne room five minutes after the second whistle, you will be disqualified. You may not steal anyone else’s items, bag, or list. Any questions?"

None of the Koopalings thought of any questions. They were all thinking that the search was a free-for-all.

Bowser began to distribute materials. He held up seven sacks in the Koopaling’s favorite colors: green for Larry, orange for Morton, purple for Wendy, red for Iggy, gray for Roy, blue for Lemmy, and brown for Ludwig.

Bowser did not give the sacks to the Koopa who liked that color. He gave Larry a gray sack. Morton got a red sack. Wendy was handed an orange sack. Iggy got a sack in his best friend’s favorite color. Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig were given the remaining sacks.

"I got my favorite color!" gloated one of the last three Koopalings to get a sack.

Another one of the last three traded his sack. Both trading Koopas wound up with their favorite color.

Next Bowser handed each Koopaling a folded piece of paper, saying, "These are your lists. Do not read them until I blow the whistle."

The Koopalings shouldered their sacks and waited. Bowser blew the whistle. The Koopalings unfolded their lists and read them.

The lists said: Something shiny

A hair

Something found in a school room

The word "meow"

Something that runs

A horse

Something red

Something squishy

Something wooden

Something soft

The Koopalings thought about the items on their lists. Six Koopalings slowly turned to look at the Koopa with the most hair.

"What are you staring at?" asked the Koopa nervously. He checked his list. Then he screamed and ran from the room with his hands over his head. Five other Koopalings chased him.

The sixth Koopa Kid smiled. The Koopa took off something wearable and placed it in their sack. The Koopa checked off the first item on their list. Then the Koopa left the room.

Six Koopalings ran down the castle’s main hallway, pushing and yelling. The Koopa in the lead ducked into a room and slammed the door. The other five rushed past.

"Whew!" sighed the Koopa. He looked around. He was in the kitchen. The Koopa looked at his list, picked up a fork, and made a checkmark. As an afterthought, a wooden spoon also went in the sack.

The five Koopalings gave up the chase and split up. One Koopaling went to his school room and looked around. He blinked and a pushcart appeared. The strong Koopa picked up a heavy wooden desk and placed it on the cart. Dropping an empty sack next to the desk, the Koopa pushed the cart out of the room.

The Koopa who had not joined the chase was wandering the halls, calling a name. Finally, the Koopa spied who they were looking for: their cat. The Koopa picked up the cat and carried it with one arm. The Koopa smiled and made four checkmarks on their list.

Another Koopa noticed that he had been given an item before the whistle blew, and made a checkmark. The Koopaling went into his room and picked up a hardened clay figurine he had made 3 years ago. "I call it, ‘Wild Stallion’," mused the Koopa, making one checkmark on his list.

The Koopaling with the purple sack went into his room. He picked up his hairbrush, removed one hair, and placed the hair in his sack. The Koopa made one checkmark on his list and left.

The older of the two Koopalings who still had no items went to his room. He picked up a coin, a pencil, a pillow in a red pillowcase, and a clock. The Koopa made seven checkmarks on his list.

The only Koopaling who did not yet have any items also went to his room. He picked up his sewing kit and cut a length of blue thread. He took a log from his fireplace. He scribbled on a piece of paper with red marker. He took a big squashy eraser. The tricky Koopa placed all the things in his sack and made five checkmarks.

The Koopa with the pushcart went outside. He hurried to the stables and took his horse. He tied the horse to the cart and went back inside, after making four checkmarks.

The Koopa with one item got to work. He turned on a tape recorder, said "meow", and placed the recorder in his sack. He also dropped in his sack a piece of paper. Then he grabbed a toy train and a metal piece of track. The Koopa also picked up a bean bag toy and a comfortable red shirt. He made seven checkmarks on his paper.

The two Koopalings who had two checkmarks ran into each other. They both screamed, and both managed to snatch a hair from the other’s head. Then they ran away.

The Koopa with a cat picked up a red pen and added two more checkmarks. Then the Koopaling walked to the Koopa Lounge.

The other Koopa with an animal entered the Lounge. He saw his sibling and smiled. He charged forward and tackled the other Koopaling. The attacker managed to stuff his competitor into his sack. As an afterthought, the winner picked up the loser’s items. He also pulled up a section of the wooden floor and put it in a sack. After dropping items with overlapping qualities, the Koopa had a total of nine checkmarks.

The Koopa with something red, a horse, and a hair dropped his list in his sack and counted it as another two items.

The Koopa with a clock picked up a dog hair from a dustball in the corner. He picked up a textbook and made two checkmarks.

The Koopa with the least number of items wrote "meow" on a piece of paper in red ink. He went to his room and picked up a workbench. He loaded the bench on a handtruck and made three checkmarks on his list.

The youngest Koopa with his favorite color sack stole two items from the Koopa with the second most items. One item overlapped, but the thief added one checkmark to his list.

The whistle blew. Six Koopalings raced back to the throne room. Along the way, the Koopa with seven items dropped something. It clinked as it hit the floor, and another Koopa scooped it up, tying him with the careless Koopa’s current total.

Five minutes after the whistle blew, Bowser made a note. "No credit for Wendy, " he muttered. "Let’s begin!" he announced.

He inspected Larry’s sack. On closer examination of the hair, he discovered it was a thread. "No credit!" announced Bowser. He removed an item from the sack and pushed a button. "Meow," said the item.

"That’s mine!" yelled another Koopa. Bowser played the sound again and decided it did sound like the challenger. "Credit goes to original finder!" Bowser marked down a point for the other Koopa and tallied up Larry’s remaining points.

Next Bowser looked in Morton’s sack. He pointed to one item. "It’s my art project," explained Morton. "Can’t you tell what it is?" Bowser shook his head.

"It could be a hippo for all I know. No credit!" He examined another item. Another Koopa looked in their sack.

"Morton stole that from me!" complained the Koopa. Bowser gave the Koopa credit and continued to check Morton’s items. He wrote a number on the scorecard.

Morton looked. "I have more points than that!" he argued. He showed Bowser his items.

"You got these before the whistle," said Bowser. "No credit."

Bowser then moved on to Iggy. Iggy was given credit for all of his items.

Roy proudly displayed his items. Bowser looked at the items on the cart and then asked Roy to open his sack. Wendy jumped out.

"What is this, Roy?" asked Bowser angrily.

Roy smiled. "This is Wendy. Wendy, meet my dad. Dad, meet Wendy."

"Why was Wendy in your sack?" Bowser smiled.

Roy pointed to his list. "So I could get a point."

"For what?" asked Bowser.

"For ‘something shiny’," explained Roy. "See, look at her nose."

"Hey!" complained Wendy. "I use powder!"

"No credit for Wendy," Bowser decided.

"And by the way," Wendy pointed to several items. "These are mine." Bowser gave Wendy credit for the stolen items, and followed her to the Koopa Lounge. He gave Wendy four more points for the items Roy had left behind.

When the Koopalings complained, Bowser said that Wendy had been in the room five minutes after the whistle and was entitled to her points. Roy was disqualified for stealing. After more complaints, Bowser disqualified Larry and Morton too.

Bowser went back to the throne room and inspected Lemmy’s sack. Lemmy was given credit for all his items plus the stolen one. However, Lemmy forgot about the item that Larry stole and abandoned, and did not get credit for it.

Ludwig was last. "What is this?" asked Bowser.

"A sawhorse," replied Ludwig.

"Credit given," Bowser decided. "Very creative, Ludwig."

Bowser checked the scores and announced, "Three Koopalings are tied for the lead. Therefore, we will have a tie-breaker. The first Koopaling to bring me an item wins. The item is…something bright. Go!"

The three Koopalings ran from the room. One found a flashlight. Another grabbed a lightbulb. The third Koopa started dragging a smart servant back to the throne room.

The three Koopas met in the hallway. One Koopa clunked another on the head with their item. The clunked Koopa let go of his item and fell down. The dropped item did not break.

The two remaining Koopas raced towards the throne room. One got behind the other and kicked. The kicked Koopa turned a somersault in mid-air and fell to the ground. Two items rolled down the hallway. The other Koopa dashed into the throne room, held up the winning item, and cheered.