As our story begins, a most peculiar vehicle is flying through the skies over the minuscule town of Frostbite Falls, Minnesota.

Two gentlemen seated next to one another on a park bench looked up from their newspapers to watch the dark blue rectangular object zoom past overhead.

"Well, there's something you don't see every day, Chauncey..."

"What's that, Edgar?"

"A most peculiar vehicle flying through the skies over our minuscule town of Frostbite Falls, Minnesota."

"You mean the dark blue rectangular object that just zoomed past overhead?"

"Uh-huh," They both turned the pages of their newspapers. "What do you think it could be, Chauncey?"

"I dunno. Maybe it's an alien invasion."

"Maybe. Sure picked a nice day for it."

"Yeah. Not too hot like yesterday."

"Think it's supposed to rain later, though..."

"Hmm." They considered. "Y'think we should panic?"

"Nah. We have plenty of time before it starts raining..."

"I mean about the alien invasion."

"Well, if they can get it in before the rain, that'll probably be better for them."

"Yeah, I guess so..."

Fortunately, the vehicle was not a sign of an imminent alien invasion...

"Oh, that's good. Saves us a lot of bother panicking and such."

Don't interrupt the narration. As I was saying, the vehicle was not a sign of an imminent alien invasion but was instead the famous flying van belonging to the internationally acclaimed Odd Squad Mobile Unit...

"Never heard of them..."

Shut up. Anyway, at that very moment within the van, Agent Omar was sorting through his vast and varied souvenir collection.

"Wow, Omar!" His colleague Osmerelda exclaimed, looking over the piles of stuff. "You have more souvenirs than anyone I know!"

"Thanks, Osmerelda!" Omar beamed, adjusting a little plastic gimcrack. "I like to collect things that remind me of all the awesome moments of my life."

"Yeah!" Osmerelda held up a flyer. "You're sure to win The National Souvenir Collectors Contest at The Frostbite Falls Civic Auditorium!"

"I sure hope so," Omar dusted a small trinket, wrapped it in newspaper, and set it in a padded box for transport to the Auditorium. "I hear the competition is pretty fierce..."

"Oh, c'mon!" Osmerelda laughed. "You've traveled all over the world solving cases with The Odd Squad Mobile Unit! Who could possibly have a collection as good as yours?"

Little did she know, for as it so happened, another souvenir collection was being inspected by an equally accomplished connoisseur.

"Hokey smoke, Bullwinkle!" Exclaimed a plucky little flying squirrel. "You have more souvenirs than anybody I know!"

"Thankee, Rocky!" The mighty moose replied, sweeping a dust rag over an assortment of doodads arranged on a bookcase. "I do like t'have a little something to help me remember the awesome moments of my life, y'know!"

Yes, it was our old friend, that jet-powered, brainy rodent Rocket J. Squirrel and his pal, the magnificent Bullwinkle Moose. The two of them were in their modest, to put it mildly, home on the outskirts of Frostbite Falls...

"Hey, wait a minute!" Bullwinkle interrupted. "I happen to take exception to that remark!"

The angry squirrel put his fists on his hips. "Our little house might not be fancy but it's ours!"

"Yeah!" Bullwinkle chimed in. "And we just got a new shower curtain that really spiffs the place up too!" He indicated the transparent plastic curtain covered with yellow flower designs hanging in place of a door between the living room and the kitchen. "We're poor but clean."

The old wood-burning stove in the corner belched ashes all over the floor. Bullwinkle looked down at the mess.

"We're poor but dirty."

Rocky went to sweep up the ashes.

"Anyways, Bullwinkle, you're sure to win The National Souvenir Collectors Contest at the Frostbite Falls Civic Auditorium!"

"I sure hope so! The competition's s'posed to be mighty fierce!" Bullwinkle pushed his fur back from his eyes. "Y'think we've established the Contest enough?"

"We haven't mentioned it's in just a few hours!" Rocky said, dumping a full dustpan of ashes into the trash can just outside their window.

"Oh yeah!" Bullwinkle nodded. "We gotta get that in or the readers might get confused!"

Rocky picked up a pile of photos and started leafing through them. "Jeepers, Bullwinkle!" The little squirrel gasped, staring at a photo. "What's THAT thing?"

Bullwinkle looked over. "Oh, that's just my autographed picture of Sonny Tufts."

"No, Bullwinkle," Rocky sighed, holding up half of an ancient, yellowed photograph. "I mean THIS!"

"Oh, that!" Bullwinkle looked over his pal's shoulder at the torn right half of a photo depicting several scruffy men gathered around an apparently dead reptilian looking bat-winged creature sprawled on the ground before them. "I don't rightly know, Rock! I bought a copy of JERRY TODD AND THE BUFFALO BILL BATHTUB in an antique store once and it was stuck between the pages!" He held up the picture to examine it. "Sure is weird-looking, ain't it?"

"Golly!" Rocky turned over the picture. "There's writing on the back!"

Bullwinkle squinted to make out the faded letters. "STONE. And underneath it... '888.'" He scratched his head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno, Bullwinkle. It certainly seems mysterious!"

"Yeh. Tis a puzzlement."

Meanwhile in the Odd Squad van, Omar and Osmerelda were still sorting through Omar's treasured trinkets. Osmerelda found a manilla envelope filled with odds and ends and started leafing through them.

"Oh, those are photos, papers and stuff," Omar explained. "I keep them all together in that envelope so they don't get lost."

Osmerelda nodded, shuffling through the various items. She stopped at one and made a face. "Ugh! What is THIS?"

"Oh, that's some old movie star from the Forties," Omar shrugged. "Never heard of him really, but I..."

"No, I mean this!"

Osmerelda held up the left half of a torn, yellowed photograph depicting some scruffy men and a dead-looking reptilian creature.

"Yeah, that was at the bottom of a box of old records my dad bought at a swap meet." He looked at the picture. "It was pretty odd, so I thought this was the best place for it."

"Um-hmmm," Osmerelda studied the image. "What IS that thing? It looks sort of like a dragon or something..."

"I'm pretty sure it's a crocodile," Omar said. "Dunno what those things are under its front legs, though..."

"They almost look like bat-wings..." Osmerelda turned the photo over. "Hey, there's writing on the back!" She read it aloud. "Tomb.1." She looked at Omar. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno. I never did get around to checking it out."

Osmerelda continued to contemplate the cryptic message. "I'll bet Oswald would know..."

"Yeah," Omar agreed. "It's too bad the Eiffel Tower ran away and he and Orla had to go bring it back..."

Meanwhile, as it happened, the other two intrepid Odd Squad agents had successfully tracked the runaway structure to a cow pasture somewhere outside of Eugene, Oregon. Oswald and Orla stood looking up at the enormous Tower sitting in the field, grazing cows wandering about.

"Yeah... I don't think we can fit that on the truck..."

Back on the van, Omar shook his head sadly. "They're gonna miss all the fun!"

Suddenly, the robotic voice of The Odd Squad Van Computer echoed through the room. "APPROACHING FROSTBITE FALLS CIVIC AUDITORIUM. Have a good time, you two!"

"Thanks, Van Computer!"

Omar and Osmerelda started gathering up the boxes as the van landed and cruised around looking for an available parking space.

Meanwhile, a pair of baleful eyes watched not so far away through a pair of binoculars.

"I knew you couldn't resist coming here, Odd Squad! And soon, very soon, I shall have my revenge!"

Well, it certainly looks like trouble is in store for our heroes! Who is this mysterious villain? What evil schemes might be afoot? What is the story behind those strange photos? And most importantly, who has the best souvenir collection, Omar or Bullwinkle?

To find out, join us for our next installment...

'From Souvenirs To Eternity'

Or

'Joanie Loves Tchotchkes!'