Prairie Tale: A Winter Short Story

An isolated homestead, a wicked winter storm, and a quick read perfect for fans of Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder Alone in their cabin during a prairie blizzard with her laboring mother, little Mary is the only one available to fetch water when Mama needs it. She rushes out into the snow and wind, fills her bucket, turns, and can no longer see her home through the thick sheet of snow. Mary's active imagination—filled with evil queens and witches, princes on horseback, and other fairy tale creatures from her favorite books—coupled with the very real fear of the storm raging around her and the anxiety of not making it back to Mama in time, make it difficult for her discern what's real and not while she pushes across the prairie, attempting to make her way home. Will she be able to save herself from the evil that may be lurking within the storm? Will Pa and the midwife arrive in time to help Mama with her baby? Or will the storm—or the witch—get them, too? The original version of this story appeared in As the Snow Drifts: A Cozy Winter Anthology, published by And You Press, an imprint of Nicole Frail Books, in November 2024. It has since been expanded to spend more time with the characters.