The Gardener’s wife stepped outside the cottage around lunchtime, to visit with all the cheery daffodils. But she also noticed numerous messy patches of wild onions and stopped for a few minutes to pull them, bulbs and all, from beds still damp after yesterday’s rain. Then, leaving her discard pile on the wall, she went back inside for lunch.

The distinctive oniony scent drew Mama Chipmunk outside as well. When she saw what had happened, she called her grandchildren to help her carry the pile inside, where they washed and chopped and made a batch of onion soup for supper.

(Early 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.