As he sometimes did, the Gardener had left a bit of food on the stone wall; this time it was two ripe oranges.

Squirrel watched the Gardener go back inside the cottage, scampered up on to the wall to inspect the fruit, and then picked up both oranges and carried them to Raccoon’s tree nest.

While Raccoon brewed a pot of coffee as a thank-you for the gift, Squirrel kept himself busy by peeling the oranges for her, dropping the orange-peel bits into his backpack one by one (later that afternoon, he would bury them, one small pile at a time, in seven new holes at the back of the garden).

That evening Raccoon used the fresh juice to whip up a batch of orange frosting for the dark-chocolate cupcakes she planned to make as a special treat for Rabbit’s tea-shop counter.

(February 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.