The Piper of Glascarnoch Loch

[dafthermit]

.With a final look at the night sky and the huge halo around the moon i smiled and closed the door and hurriedly headed to bed .

Already all life in the bus was in the land of nod ,snoring and dream filled whimpers filled the room

Pulling the duvet up i fell back onto the pillow and started to drift off ,it had been a day filled with sites and sounds that only the mountains can
supply.

In the moment between being awake and asleep i could hear the sound of some pipes drifting passed the bus ,many times over the year i have heard this sound sometimes passing the
dam other times sitting by the loch the haunting sound of the pipes
would drift passed .

Tonight was different the sound was clear and so loud almost as if someone had pulled into our wee parkup

i pulled on my dressing gown and went to see who it was that had pulled in,many times people in trouble on the road would stop and ask for help

but as the door pulled back to reveal nothing ,no one was there yet the music played on .. i was shocked but just put it down to the wind and maybe someone was parked just up the
road turning to head back to my warm bed i stopped and listened

the sound was louder and seem to be played with so much passion

before i knew it i was walking along the side of the road heading towards Loch Glascarnoch

The full moon was resting on the summit of Ben Wyvis and lit my way almost as if it was daytime. still the music played on .

As i walked passed the wee copice of woods on the left the music STOPPED and as the loch came into view

peace and quiet filled the glen no wind nothing just quiet ..

Looking up the road towards Loch Glascarnoch dam and Aultguish inn beyond i could see that no one was parked at any of the layby’s ..

For the first time since coming back to the mountains a feeling of terror filled my whole body the hairs on my neck stood proud , a shiver
started , shocked and reverberated throughout my body

a feeling of being watched was overwhelming but i shook my head and forced myself to get a grip and as i did the negative feelings seem to
leave to be replaced by quiet and calm once more ….

Looking to the loch i was sad that i had forgot my camera the loch and mountains were a perfect image the very air all around was pure and
cold

Something seemed to beckon me to the water edge and i made my way there ,i love these mountains and as i have said they have given me a feeling of place and space like i have
never had in my life .

Sitting on the rock a feeling of wonder rushing around my soul a splash in the middle of the loch caught my eye

water flew into the air an fell onto the blue cracked ice again another splash this time a few yards away

a pike was on its hunt for food ?

Ice covered nearly 90 percent of the water .the natural shapes and colours from the ice truly nature the artist at play .

the wind stirred and played with the shapes formed by the ice ,sounds echoing of the mountains and rolled back to the loch and seemed to race
to the dam wall only to disappear over it and off down the glen to
Garve .

A cloud rolled in and slowly the light from from the moon faded and i was left sitting there in the dark only the stars where left to cast a dim light out across the frozen
water

at the edge a small crack in the ice quickly grew and grew then a loud crack was sent bouncing off the walls of the glen and a large piece of ice started to rise skyward
gently rolling to the left before crashing back to the water

i stood back trying to work out what could have caused this sudden movement in the frozen surface

i watched as a mist rolled down the side of the mountain and quickly reached the edge of the water and with a strange feel to it i watched
as it rolled out and within a minute the loch was almost invisible

the cloud that had covered the moon rolled on bye ,the golden rays from the moon shone on the fog ,the atmosphere took on a foreboding feel and
once again a feeling of terror gripped me

i noticed a large rock to my left and dived behind it not sure what i was escaping from but every sinew of my body said this was wrong

i looked round the edge of my large piece of moss covered granite to the water and what i saw froze me to the spot even though i tried with all
my might i could not dive behind the rock for cover

From the water a head began to emerge strange pieces of material draped from it ,that only as the head rose was i able to see it was weed from the
depths

i managed to step slowly back behind the rock but the image before me captured me like nothing in my life before

and i watched as a man wearing full highlands dress emerged the ice parting as made his way to the shore he was carrying a set of pipes in one hand
the other held a huge golden claymore he glided out from the loch and
as he stood there under the moon

water dripping back onto the ice with only a faint splash

he stopped to look all around he headed for a large rock i stared in awe ,then the piper once again stopped and slowly he turned his head
towards me and let out a call in Gaelic i could see that his right eye
was missing and in its places a small stone was lodged

a large scare was etched into his face from the corner of his mouth up to his left ear

i dived to my right forcing myself against the rock without thinking i stopped breathing and fear gripped me i was sure he had seen me and i
waited for what seemed like an age before gathering the courage to turn
and look again .

after a couple of minutes i convinced my self i was just dreaming to much cheese before bed as my old mum would say

getting to my feet i turned and as quickly as my confidence had returned it vanished there not two feet from me was the piper pipes at his mouth
the sword strapped to his side

i thought my heart was going to explode and with it my life would end here at this wonderful highland snow covered spot

But with one smile from the piper all my fears went to be replaced with an overwhelming feeling of warmth and peace

he beckoned me closer and before i knew it i was shaking hands he said with the softest voice sit and i spent the next hour listening to some
of the most haunting and passion filled music i have ever heard

at the end of it he took of his cap and nodded to me and heading back to the water and entered it

the frozen water lapped at his feet but in seconds he was fully emerged and the sound from the pipes had gone

the last image i have is when he had turned to go i could see several tears in his jacket and a large knife handle was sticking out, fully embedded
to the hilt how many years had he carried this reminder with him ..

I headed back to the bus

I think i will keep this wee story to my self

peace and light

the Dafthermit

[dafthermit]

Hi mY friend

many thanks for that so glad you are enjoying the wee tales from the tin can in the mountrains

peace and light

[Simone E.]

cheese-dreams… i know them as well lol.
i like your stories and enjoy reading them.
it’s nearly like being in the middle of the goings :-)
best regards