The next morning, after yet another thunderstorm and a sleepover at Old Possum’s house —  chipmunks and pillows and blankets piled on the living room floor — the sky finally showed itself: a pale, watery blue with only a few drifting clouds.

Pillows stacked, blankets neatly folded, and a quick pawful of granola in their bellies, the older children ran outside, gently cradling flotillas of folded-paper boats in their arms.

Sure enough, the impromptu creek was still flowing through the meadow, and the children made their way upstream to deposit one set of boats at a time in the water and then run along the bank, following the little boats as they bobbed and floated downstream.

The adults and the littlest chipmunks, meanwhile, gathered at Old Possum’s dining table for a breakfast of milky tea, soft-boiled eggs, and hot buttered toast with Rabbit’s strawberry jam.

(July 2023)

Story & Photo © Jennifer Singleton / Read+Purr

This is another vignette in my ongoing series of Tiny Garden Stories: peaceful 1-minute tales, full of cozy vibes, delicious details, and generous dollops of imagination & whimsy. 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 Private Garden page. Or click the third button to learn more about my Tiny Garden Stories. Want each week’s featured story delivered directly to your inbox? Subscribe to my Substack.