On the fifth day of Christmas, just before New Year’s, the Gardener and his wife went out for the evening.

Left to their own devices, the first thing the cats did was invite Squirrel over for a knitting party. Then they constructed a pillow fort on the couch and raided the stash of Christmas leftovers in the icebox.

When their guest arrived, the cats and Squirrel all snuggled into the feather-stuffed fort in front of a crackling fire and enjoyed a tasty supper of mince pies, cranberry chutney, cheddar cheese, and crackers.

(Late December 2023)

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.