Everyone was busy in the fall.

Squirrel and his cousins ran hither and yon, harvesting nuts, burying nuts, digging up nuts, and feasting on nuts.

Mama Chipmunk sent her grandchildren out during each calm, golden day to gather twigs for their winter firewood pile, and handfuls of dry leaves for a quilt she was making for Old Possum, to fend off the winter chill in his drafty old house.

Rabbit collected dried basil, mint, and lavender, and the seed heads from wood poppies and cone-flowers, while she awaited her shipment of black tea.

But each afternoon, when the autumn light was at its most golden, and the jewel-toned trees glowed in the slant-wise sunshine, Raccoon brought out coffee and snacks, and she made sure that everyone stopped for a minute or two to admire the light, the faint breeze, and the impossibly blue sky.

(October 2022)

Story © 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.