Toni is a cheerful, obedient ten year-old Austrian boy who’s afraid of thunderstorms. There’s nothing unusual about that – lots of people are scared of lightning and thunder. But this is a particular problem for Toni because, you see, he is a goat boy. Every day he tends his father’s prized herd of goats, all alone, high up on the mountain that towers over their small village.

One summer afternoon there’s a terrible storm and Toni, mad with fear, abandons his herd and flees the mountain pasture. Three of his beloved goats are lost that day and his father is very angry, saying that Toni is no longer fit to be the family’s goat boy.

Ashamed and fearful of losing his job, Toni is given one more chance to prove himself. But when the next thunderstorm hits, something miraculous happens.

Bettina Ehrlich