Thunderbird Story Starter: After the Storm
Detail of Thunderbird greeting card illustration.
In the PA Wilds, storms are often noticed in small ways first. There’s a shift in the air, the faint smell of rain, and the way leaves turn their silvery undersides outward as wind moves through the trees. Before the first drop falls, the landscape already feels different.
Across this region, geography shapes how weather moves. Long ridgelines guide wind. Reservoirs and open water reflect light and sound. Valleys hold storms longer than expected. When rain passes through, it leaves behind more than wet ground—it changes how a place feels.
Light returning to the ridges after a passing storm. Photo credit Julie Mader
This week’s Story Starter is inspired by that moment after the storm—the pause when rain eases, clouds lift, and the world feels briefly reset. It draws from the PA Wilds landscape and from the long tradition of watching the sky and responding to its power.
In the Pennsylvania Wilds, one story tied to storms is the long-told story of the Thunderbird—an enormous bird said to be connected to thunder, weather, and the movement of storms across wide open valleys. Whether understood as myth, memory, or folktale, the whispered story reflects a deep respect for forces that shape the land and move beyond human control.
Rather than retelling reports passed along over time, this Story Starter invites you into the space it occupies: the clearing sky, the quiet after thunder, and the feeling that something important has just passed through.
Prompt Excerpt
…For a moment, it was easy to see it.
Then the shape shifted. Shadows slid across the reservoir. The outline broke apart and re-formed into something else entirely.
A deep clap of thunder followed — not sharp, but layered — echoing off the hills and carrying across the water longer than it should have. Almost at the same time came a cry from above.…
Will your story follow what was seen in the sky?
What was heard across the water?
Or what changed once the storm moved on?
Download the free “After the Storm” Story Starter printable here.
Place based Stories
Each PA Wilds Story Starter is designed as an open invitation. The downloadable PDF includes the full prompt and a set of open-ended companion questions inspired by the image.
This Thunderbird piece continues Tell Me a Wilds Story, a six-week series inspired by the images of the PA Wilds Collaborative Series Postcards | Greeting Cards, with new prompts released weekly.
For readers interested in the regional roots of the Thunderbird legend, the PA Wilds has shared more about its place in local storytelling and landscape history. Find it here.