As the sun peeked above the treetops, soft sideways light slipped through the woods, and tiny wildflowers unfurled their petals for the day.

It was spring break at Mr. Owl’s school, and Mouse had roused his children at daybreak to take them on a hike to Rabbit’s tea shop, where they looked forward to mugs of hot milky tea and warm lemon scones.

Mouse’s wife, meanwhile, reveled in her early-morning solitude. She filled a thermos with tea, went outside, and stretched out among multitudes of Spring Beauties to watch the clouds drift by overhead. (And she might have fallen asleep.)

(Mid-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.