That afternoon, Rabbit went to the woods, filling her basket with spring-beauty blossoms, wild violets, and clover, for flower garlands and a pot of fresh springtime tea.

She also left hand-written party invitations with Squirrel’s aunt and uncle, Mouse’s family, and Mama Chipmunk’s cousin. On her way home, she left an invitation at the cottage for the cats.

Just before dusk, everyone gathered in the meadow for their annual first-day-of-spring picnic, where they feasted on delicate finger sandwiches, crunchy carrots with avocado-yoghurt dip, and lemon icebox pie. At sunset, they toasted the equinox with acorn cups of Rabbit’s celebratory tea.

(Late March 2024)

Story © Jennifer Singleton / Read+Purr

This is another vignette in my ongoing series of Tiny Garden Stories: peaceful 1-minute tales that let you read like a kid again. Click one of the first two buttons below to go to (or back to, if that’s where you fell down the rabbit hole) either the “Public Garden” archive page or (if you’re a Story Club member) to the members-only “Private Garden” page. Or click the third button to learn more about my Tiny Garden Stories. If you’re new to Tiny Garden Story-land and would like 10 days’ worth of stories from our first year, visit ReadPurrNewsletter.com.