Love & home · Sunday night

Room Under the Tail

Told in the voice of June Ellaby, the reassurer · ages 2–5

"It's time for sleep, now, so close your eyes as we return to Hush Hollow."

The Wood is dark and warm, and the day is done. Up in the big tree, in the soft nook lined with moss, Mrs. Squirrel was waiting. "Come up, little ones," she called down. "There's always room under my tail."

Mouse and Pup climbed up, slow and sleepy. The day had been a long one. Mouse had gone quiet. Pup gave a small sigh. "What is it, dears?" asked Mrs. Squirrel, soft and warm. "The dark is so big," said Mouse. "And we are so small," said Pup.

Mrs. Squirrel fluffed her big tail out like a blanket and gathered them in close, one on each side. "Little ones," she said, "you are small, and you are loved, and the night will keep you. You are loved. You are kept."

She held them warm against her. Outside, the dark went on and on — but in here it was close, and soft, and safe. Mouse stopped being quiet. Pup stopped sighing. The big dark was not so big from here, held like this.

Mrs. Squirrel hummed a low, warm hum — the kind that has no words and means only safe. She smoothed the moss. She tucked a stray leaf over Pup's toes. She counted them, the way she counts every little one in Hush Hollow before sleep. "Two," she murmured. "Two, safe and warm. That's right. You are loved. You are kept."

"However far you ever wander," she whispered, "you carry this with you, tucked away inside. You are loved. You are kept."

Mouse gave a slow, warm yawn. Pup gave a smaller one. The moss was soft. The tail was warm. The whole night was kind.