One day the blacksmith had an idea to make a miniature glass mountain out of all his leftover glass. He worked day and night for three whole weeks, until soon it was nearly finished. He was just putting the finishing touches to it, when he saw a black dog with a weird looking face racing past his musty workshop, he dropped his tools and put the glass mountain in his trouser pocket (he didn’t want to lose his precious creation.)

He hurried after the black dog, and to his surprise the dog ran into the mysterious forest. While he was running, the glass mountain fell out of his pocket. Seeing as he didn’t notice it, he carried on chasing the dog. Soon he found himself in the centre of the mysterious forest. It was dark and gloomy. The tree branches were gnarled and old. There was fungi growing everywhere. Suddenly he spotted the dog behind a bush. The blacksmith stepped forward and grabbed the dog.

He wandered back through the strange forest, carefully avoiding the tall plants. To his utter amazement, in front of him there was a gigantic glass mountain! He felt in his trouser pockets for his glass mountain and it wasn’t there! He then realised it was actually there in front of him. He was shocked. He put down the black dog and took a step forward, he touched the magnificent mountain. It was as cold as ice. There was an entrance into the Glass Mountain, he took a gulp of air and bravely stepped forward into it, the dog followed closely behind. The sight of the inside flabbergasted him; it was even more beautiful than the outside.

The

Glass

Mountain

Inside the mountain everything was made of pure glass and crystal. In front of him was a glistening room with a throne made out of glinting diamonds. It had a sceptre beside it and a golden orb encrusted with topazes and sapphires. He felt like he was in a trance not knowing what he was doing. Before the blacksmith knew it, he was seated in te throne holding the orb and the sceptre with the dog in his lap. As he stared straight ahead he could see the room twirling and spinning out of control. He started to feel dizzy and shut his eyes. He felt the iciness of the room wrap around him like a freezing cloak.

When he finally felt brave enough to open his eyes, he could see that his arms were empty, the dog was gone! He looked around and was amazed to find that he was on the floor of his workshop. Where was everything: the throne, the orb, the sceptre? On his working table there was the miniature Glass Mountain! He thought to himself, was it just a dream or did it really happen? As he was thinking that, he heard a cheerful bark, the blacksmith turned around and surprisingly there was the black dog in the corner of his workshop! And they lived happily ever after.