I told this story in a heavy rain storm, in a little summer house near the sea in Denmark. It was warm and we had the windows open and the heavy rain and frequent thunder are clearly audible in the background.

I guess most storytellers learn to use unpredictable intrusions from their environment to their stories’ advantage. After all, you can’t fight such things so the best policy is to use them somehow.

I like how the valley in the story is fertile because it’s so often raining. And there are times throughout the story when the frequent thunder falls at precisely the right moment.

Such things have to be co-opted with care. You don’t want to overdo it, or it can sound corny. Too many references to thunder and you can undermine the magic…

Visit this story page.