The Mantel Cabin Secret — By the first hiss of the fire, Junie stirred her cocoa and sniffed. No cinnamon. Read the full story →
By the first hiss of the fire, Junie stirred her cocoa and sniffed. No cinnamon. The jar on the hearth was empty, and the room smelled only of woodsmoke, wool socks, and plain chocolate. Her friends stayed tucked on the braided rug, but Junie padded to the cold stone mantel where the pinecone sat prickly and the tiny cabin leaned beside it. “Maybe winter hides spices,” she whispered.
She nudged the cabin door with one claw. A dusty click answered. Inside, where nobody had thought to look, waited a rolled paper no bigger than a leaf. Junie sneezed, dropped one marshmallow, and read: UNDER THE PILLOW BENCH. The bench by the window was chilly, and snow tapped the glass like fingernails, but she crawled under the stacked pillows and found a blue tin of cinnamon stars.
Back on the rug, Junie sprinkled stars into every mug. The cocoa smelled like sparks and sweet bark, better than plain chocolate. If you peek at the little cabin on the mantel, can you keep the secret Junie found by the first hiss of the fire?
