The garden looked like almost-summer: lush and intensely green. But the weather was wet and steely gray, glowering like a winter evening in the late-spring afternoon.

Neighbors had been arriving at Rabbit’s all day, eager to be out of the rain, somewhere bright with candlelight and laughter.

By mid-afternoon, after drinking tea for hours on end, everyone started fizzing with restlessness, but no one wanted to leave the cozy tea shop. So Rabbit rummaged through her bookcase and emerged with several jigsaw puzzles: intricate and complicated enough to keep everyone entertained until it was time to go home for supper.

(Late May 2024)

Story © Jennifer Singleton / Read+Purr

This is another cozy Tiny Garden Story in my ongoing series: peaceful 100-word 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.