Mouse had three crumbs on her plate. One was crunchy. One was soft. One was shaped like a tiny hill.
She was just about to eat the hill when Beetle knocked.
‘Could I borrow your spoon?’ he asked. ‘My sister is coming for supper.’
Mouse gave him the spoon. Then she thought about supper.
‘Do you have crumbs?’
‘Two,’ said Beetle. ‘We can share.’
Mouse looked at her plate. She liked all three of her crumbs.
She also liked Beetle’s sister, who always told interesting stories about the far side of the garden.
‘I’ll bring one,’ she said.
Before she left, Mouse ate her soft crumb and her crunchy crumb. Then she carried the tiny hill to Beetle’s house. His sister had brought a seed. Beetle put everything on one large leaf.
Now there were four things to taste and three friends to taste them. Beetle’s crumbs were soft and crunchy too. They shared those, carefully split the hill, and divided the seed.
Beetle’s sister told them about a puddle with a whole tree reflected inside. Mouse told them about the spoon, which had once been a flower petal.
When supper ended, Mouse carried her spoon home.
Her plate was empty, but she was comfortably full.
She had meant to give away one crumb. She had come home with a new story too.
