The Acorn-Lamp Tea Party

The air inside the secret room behind the brass archway felt warm and smelled faintly of sweet pine needles. Bramble the hedgehog stood very carefully on her short legs. She held up one of the glowing acorn-cap lamps so the soft, golden light shone all around the little chamber. Pip the mouse stepped right up to the tiny custom-fitted chair made of soft green moss that Bramble had found earlier. Pip climbed up onto the green cushion and smiled a big, happy smile. It was wonderfully soft, and it fit him just right. Nutmeg the squirrel watched from the doorway. Nutmeg chattered softly and clapped her paws together in delight.

While Pip was sitting comfortably in the soft moss chair, Nutmeg scampers back into the secret room with a huge smile. In her paws, she held a tiny acorn-shell teapot that she had just dug out from under a pile of old story scrolls in the library. She held it out toward her friends and asked if they wanted to have a grand tea party in their new secret hideout. Pip hopped down from the moss chair in excitement, and Bramble set the glowing acorn-cap lamp gently down on a flat stone table so they could all get ready for their very first party under the ancient oak.