Hello and welcome back to Drift Off Bedtime Stories. I'm Joanne, your host, and I'm so glad you're here tonight.

Tonight we're stepping back into one of Laura Engel Wilder's most gripping and quietly beautiful stories, the long winter.

It's the winter of 1880 on the Dakota Prairie, and the Ingalls family is about to face months of brutal blizzards

that would test every ounce of their courage and resilience. It's a story about endurance,

about family pulling together, and about the small steady flame of hope that refuses to go out,

even in the darkest cold.

I think it's the perfect thing to carry you off to sleep tonight.

Before we begin, a gentle reminder.

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you need them. You can find the link in the show notes and truly, thank you, it means everything.

Now let's get settled in. Find a comfortable position and let your body begin to relax.

Let your shoulders soften and drop away from your ears.

Take a slow, easy breath in through your nose and let it out gently.

Feel the weight of your day beginning to left.

There's nowhere you need to be and nothing you need to do, just this moment and this story.

And whenever you're ready, let's begin.

Chapter 21 The Hard Winter

The Sun shone again next morning and the winds were still. The day seemed warmer than it was because the sunshine was so bright.

...