This week's free story comes from the By Thistle By Thimble collection. It's called "The Rat Catcher's Son."   The role of rat-catcher may not be respected in the old stone city where Bern is employed, but he is very good at what he does. The son learns from his father that the skills of patience, confidence and perseverance are important not only for rat-catching, but for accomplishing any goal in life.   If you enjoyed that story, there are hundreds and hundreds more where that came from. Try a Sparkle subscription now - for free. Go to www.sparklestories.com and click the button at the top that says “Start Free Trial,” then you can listen to our giant library as much as you like, anytime you like.   Each week on the Sparkle Stories Podcast, we share a free story from one of our original story series! For many many many more stories like this one, visit the Sparkle website: www.sparklestories.com Questions?  Ideas?  Requests? Email us!  [email protected] Enjoy!