A grumpy beetle bumbled past the Great Oak Root's wide entrance. Inside, the air smelled like cool damp soil and sweet clover.
Pip squeezed his tiny nose through the knot-hole and wiggled his whiskers. 'Time for an adventure,' he thought.
He scrambled into the hollow of a toadstool and found something glowing. A crystal seed hummed like a tiny bee against his paw.
Pip wrapped his tail around the blue treasure and tugged. The hollow was too narrow to turn around.
At the Cracked Stone Path, a ribbon of liquid moonlight dripped from the crack in the rock. It pooled on the stones below, glowing with ancient magic.
Pip tiptoed closer and tried to lick a drop. The light stuck to his whiskers like cold honey.
He pulled the sticky strand and pulled. It snapped back with a splat against a waiting leaf.
Pip scrambled through the Tangled Brambles and spotted something unusual. A thorn as thin as hair held a tiny brass key.
It glowed warm and buzzed against his paw. Pip grabbed the key and turned it.
The thorn clicked loud as a drum. The brambles exploded open to reveal a chest overflowing with glowing gems.
Pip wedged a glowing gem into the knot-hole. He watched the light paint rainbow patterns on the bark.
He tipped his ears forward and let out a tiny squeak that sounded exactly like a laugh. The garden shimmered around him, full of secrets only a mouse could find.
