Whispers

“They say the First Tooth's burrow goes deeper than any living rodent has mapped — and that the Sleepers can hear it gnawing on the longest nights.”

“Nib's sub-pouches are said to hold something the Miller has audited for six years without ever finding. The Miller calls it 'the Sub-Pouch Question.'”

“The Thornmother's sweaters, they say, are knitted from moonlight and stubbornness. Every newborn in the Thicket wears one. The foxes know better than to ask why the pups glow.”

“Manifest keeps the true names of every Stowaway crossing in a book he checks twice nightly. Nobody has ever guessed one. He smiles when you try.”

“Old Knot's forgotten winter store is said to be feeding half the Canopy. He insists he remembers. Nobody believes him. Everybody's grateful.”

“The Wellfinder smelled Mirage once — 'old water and mischief.' It's the only confirmed Mirage sighting on record. Mirage declined to confirm.”

“Dune's hawk-feather file has eleven feathers, filed by date. When she files the twelfth, the old ones say, the winter will be the worst in living memory.”

“The Architect's tooth — older than the river itself — is said to whisper building advice to those who touch it with clean paws and honest intentions.”

“They say the Cache-King's map has ten thousand entries, but only one in someone else's handwriting: 'Acorn's oak — do not dig here.'”

“Ballast's albatross story gets better every telling. The pups say the albatross gets bigger. Ballast's eyes get further away. The sea is in him still.”

“Mama Capybara remembers the names of all thirty-seven orphans. They say she also remembers the names of their children's children. She won't confirm. The orphans will.”

“The Oasis Keeper's vault of dawn seeds — one from Dune Runner every morning — is said to hold a seed for every dawn since the spring was found.”

“Sable got past Juniper's midden defenses once and left a note: 'Nice pile.' The defenses have been upgraded twice. Sable is flattered to be worth two upgrades.”

“Hibernia woke twice for exactly one hour, nodded at the Warren, and went back under. Both years were good ones. The Warren is counting on the third.”

“They say the Horned One's horns could move mountains, and that the reason they never have is that the mountains asked nicely.”

“Deep Delver's badger tenant pays rent in grubs and votes in local elections now. The Mayor counts it as a win. The Town Crier is still processing it.”

“Moonseed's glowing cache is said to guide lost travelers home — though the nightjars insist they were never lost, just 'navigating creatively.'”

“Pincushion's thirty thousand quills have never touched a friend. The Thicket says the one time they did — the splinter — was the gentlest touch in Warren history.”

“The Professor's crumb catalogue is thirteen pages and, per the Miller's audit, 'mostly correct, entirely charming.' He has framed the audit.”

“Velvet once let a fox feel her fur, briefly. Two foxes have since retired from chasing. The Thicket sends them birthday seeds. The foxes wept. Everyone wept.”

“Eddy's downstream door — breakfast delivered by current — is the only door the Architect has ever signed. Eddy charges one reed per visit. The Architect paid double.”

“Old Groundhog insists the shadow is his own. The meadow plans its festivals around it anyway. He has stopped arguing, which the meadow takes as confirmation.”