Mossy Grove Bakery

The bread dough lay in heavy lumps across the boards, stubborn and slack. Penny scowled at it.

“Lazy beast,” she muttered, giving one lump a sharp slap with the heel of her paw.

The doorbell jangled weakly, and in tumbled a pair of fieldmice — Flax and Clover, twin bundles of twitching nerves and bundled scarves.

“Afternoon, Miss Penny!” Flax piped up, wringing his cap between his paws.

Clover leaned up onto the counter on tiptoes, voice dropping to a tremulous whisper.
“Er… ‘scuse us, but… heard tell there’s somethin’ stirrin’ in the woods. Fireflies actin’ queer. Branches snappin’ when there’s no wind.”

Penny said nothing at first, thudding a sticky mound of dough onto the counter with a loud, wet SLAM.

The two mice jumped so high they nearly unwrapped their scarves.

Penny grunted, rolling the dough under her paws like a log across a river. She didn’t look up.
“No need for whisperin’ in here,” she said, voice brisk as frost. “There’s naught in those woods but creaky trees and jumpy shadows.”

She reached for a round, golden loaf — the best of the morning batch — and plopped it into Flax’s paws with a thud.

“Take yer bread and settle yerselves,” she said. “The only thing chasin’ us tonight is the hunger for a good supper.”

The fieldmice exchanged wide-eyed looks — part fear, part relief — then bobbed a dozen quick nods.
“Thank you, Miss Penny! Much obliged! Bless you!”
Their voices faded into the chilly dusk as they hurried out the door, clutching their bread like a lifeline.

Penny watched them go, a crooked smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

As soon as the door swung shut, she turned the bolt with a heavy click.

The bakery seemed too quiet suddenly.
The fire cracked and sighed in the oven, and somewhere in the rafters, a lone cricket scratched a jittery tune.

Penny wiped her floury paws on her apron and turned back to the counter…
to the dough that lay limp and sullen, refusing to rise.

For the first time in a long time, Penny Butterleaf felt a tiny knot tighten in her chest.

The forest was holding its breath.
Penny was nervous about what would happen when it finally breathes out.