An atmospheric exploration of a child's anxiety by the 2000 Hans Christian Andersen Medal Winner. One night a boy is woken by a terrible sound. A storm is breaking lightning flashing across the sky. In the morning Dad is gone & Mum doesn't seem to know when he'll be back. The next day Mum asks her son to take a cake to his sick grandma. Don't go into the forest " she warns. " Go the long way round." But for the first time the boy chooses to take the path into the forest where he meets a variety of fairy tale characters & discovers the fate of his father."