In Leigh Bardugo’s short story ‘Little Knife’, she tells the tale of a man trying to impress the father of a beautiful woman who he desperately wants to marry.

Duke Luchova sets three challenges for the potential suitors in order to choose a husband for his daughter, each time he hopes that the Prince will prevail, but each time Semyon the Ragged, who is a wandering tide-maker prevails. This young man has not the worldly resources of the Prince, but as a tide-maker he has a connection to the river whom he calls upon to aid him in the three tasks. For the second task Semyon, journeys up into the mountains to meet Baba Anezka the Maker of Mirrors, and barters with her for a mirror to take back to the lovely Yeva Luchova. The river which Semyon called ‘little knife’ creates a mirror for Baba Anezka, that reflects the sky by creating a pool of perfect clearwater.

The mental image this story conjured up of the sky mirror, or the sky door as I called it, quickly took root in my imagination. I began to write the story in the middle of June 2021 and with almost uncharacteristic promptness I finished the story on my birthday at the end of the month. Equally as promptly I created the accompanying image in just three days, finishing it at the beginning of July 2021.

I intended to write a fairytale style story, such as the ‘Princess’s play house’, but with my own twist. Stories like those from the Grimm fairy tales, such as ‘Hansel and Gretel’ always involve children who are young enough to think of as definitely children. Other folk stories feature young men and women who are setting out for adventure to prove themselves, but what happens at that point in between?

I wanted to write a story where the main character was no longer a child, but still a long way from being a man. Surely most people remember what it was like when you were nearly thirteen, as if getting to that point would suddenly make you grown-up. Hans is at that awkward age, where he’s not a man, but no longer a boy, and when he stumbles into a story that one would expect a far younger child to be involved with, he has to behave in a way that is typical for his age, but feasible for the situation. He proves that even whilst on the cusp of being a teenager, he can still enjoy the magic of the world around him.

Which might be a good lesson for everyone to relearn at some point or another, I have certainly found a new appreciation for magic and splendour, through creative writing.

You can find The Cloud Kingdom and the sky door, here on my website under the section of ‘Novella of Gear’.