The Northern Wind

Far, far away, in the land where the Northern Wind comes from, it’s always chilly and freezing and grey and miserable. Only a small handful of people have ever found the courage to build their humble homes there. Those few who did lived their lives simply, in harmony with nature.

Two of these brave people were Olaf and his mother. Every evening they would sit together by a tallow candle and listen to the howling Northern Wind until they fell asleep. The Wind had been lulling them to sleep like this for many years and they found it comforting.

One night, Olaf forgot to close one of the windows in their little wooden cabin. The Wind loudly slammed the shutters, but Olaf and his mother were both in such a deep slumber the noise didn’t wake them up.

It was only when they awoke to the sunrise in the morning that they discovered the Northern Wind had blown all their food out of the kitchen. The pantry, larder and cupboards were bare! The wind had taken every single scrap with him all the way to the North Pole!

Olaf immediately put on his warmest clothes. He was head to toe in thick wool, and topped it off with a fur hat and coat. He set out to find the Wind and get all their food back. It was freezing cold outside even during the day, and the snow crunched under Olaf’s feet with every step. His breath blew white and he had small icicles on his eyelashes.

The lonely traveller slowly made his way through the deep snow for hours and hours, until he chanced upon a small village. It was getting dark, so he decided to get some rest and spend the night in the only…