Mortals were not to be for us and I knew this as I always had, though had no idea how I knew; they were a kind apart, separate from us though alike in occasional ways.
So I decided to lure and charm him until he was enchanted with me and would submit to the river and be mine.
He returned on the next evening with the same strange instrument and again sang for me.
I showed him small flashes of my skin in the water, a sudden sight of my long and beautiful brown hair mirroring the sun and saw that he noticed me though he pretended he did not.
I preened myself the next morning made sure my lovely long dark brown hair was shining.
I made sure that my eyes were bright and my teeth clean and prepared to show myself to him that night.
Fate was not to favour me, as he did not come in the evening, that cold night.
Yet again, he did, at midday on the next day and again played for me.
And I stood in the reeds, showing him only small glimpses of me through their shadows and stripes until he finished his song; a song I felt close to.
I felt my heart soaring as he turned to me
Then when he finished playing and addressed me directly;
Who are you that wait in the river reeds as I sing but will not show yourself?
I am simply me I replied and I came to hear you sing.
Will you not show yourself to me he asked as he moved in front of the fire that he had earlier lit.
I stepped out from behind the reeds into his sight though the harsh noontime sun hurt my skin.
You are naked, it was a statement rather than a question but I responded anyway. I have no need of clothes. I expected him to stare at my body but instead he looked directly into my deep brown eyes and in his I saw desire. He smiled at me and I asked whether he would come into the river to join me but he responded that he could not for he would get his clothes wet.
I suggested that he remove them but he said that the river is fast flowing and deep and I cannot swim that well.
Will you not come out and sit with me a while? He asked.
It was not as I had planned, for he should be mine by now. But I was able to leave the river for a while and when he saw my full beauty then would he be enchanted and would return with me to my home.
This I planned.
I will play you a song if you come sit with me he said and lifted the strange instrument onto his lap and began to play.
I was mesmerised by the music he played and the song he sang and I left the river and walked to him, sitting by his side.
He stopped the song momentarily to say thank you as I sat. Then resumed and I watched as he played and sang.
I did not understand the words of the song but they called to me and I felt somehow part of them.
I closed my eyes and just listened till a deep undertone began growing deeper and deeper.
It was not a sound I had heard his instrument make before and was both taken with it and horrified by it at the same time.
It became more insistent as time passed and his song began to fade.
I opened my eyes to find his blue eyes looking directly into mine. I felt the scratching at my wrists at the same time and knew I was ensnared.
The soft willow bonds he had put on my wrists did not hurt much but the pain of being a fool did.
For I now realised that as I had been trying to lure him just as he had lured me.
I could not break willow and while in sunlight as strong I could not dissolve and run back into my river. I was a prisoner and I could do nothing to break away.
I tried to tell him that if I move too far from the river I will stop existing but nevertheless he placed his hand over the willow bonds and led me up the hill beside the river and into the small white cottage that sat at the top.
There he told me that he had heard my song on days and nights without end and eventually seen glimpses of me from his windows. And then on certain nights all of me when I took form to sing or dance and that over time he had fallen in love with me.
I laughed at this and asked if what he said was true though I had no reason to doubt it and he avowed that it was. That he had learned eventually of my nature and found a way to trap and hold me for he wanted to be with me.
I looked into his eyes and knew it to be true. But you do not understand I said, I also wished for that, it is why I came to you to have you join me in the river for I also love you and am desirous of your company.
But I cannot he had replied for I am a man. You shall stay with me and I shall stay with you and together we will live here in this house.
I told him that I could not for if I stayed far from the river then I would cease to be. Should he keep me he would only have me for a short time but should he come with me to my river then we would live together long and happily. He asked what he would have to do and I said submit to the river until drowned and then I shall breathe life into you.
He could not do it, he said and I watched him cry as he said that neither could he keep me prisoner as had been his plan but would return me to the river straight away for he loved me and could not watch me fade. He slipped the willow bonds from my wrists and led me to the river and there he watched as I dived in then turned to look at him.
Join me.
I cannot.
Join me.
He turned and walked back up the hill and into his house. I saw him watch me from the window and I made sure I would stay where he but no others could see me then eventually he would realise my beauty and come to me.
I saw him watch from the window for many nights and days and I watched back showing to him my beauty, but he did not return.
I listened to him sing at nights but could not be with him for eventually I would cease to be, so far from my river. But he still did not come and my loneliness grew and grew and finally being able to stand it no more I took form and without bond walked to his house and there I became his and he mine.
I knew it meant I would fade but I had decided that is what I wished for should I be able to be with him in the meantime. And so we spent a time together and it seemed long to him for he grew grey before my eyes and one day said to me that his time had come to pass from this world.
I will die soon, he had said, for though you have not aged I am now old and will soon pass from this world.
This could not be for only some little time had passed and I had not yet faded and I told him so.
Perhaps that was true for you and your people, he said but for me thirty years has come and gone since we first met and my span of years is nearly over.
But so little time. I said.
I have loved you every day of it he replied and holding me led me from his house and down to my river and there kissed me telling me to return to myself and live more.
I did not know wither I could but as my foot touched the water I felt life slip back into me. He held out his hands to me and I saw that age had taken him and so asked; if you had the same choice again would you have come to me in the river?
With all my heart I would have, he replied and I fell backwards holding tightly to his wrists as I dragged him under my ever-changing surface. He struggled at first but a river is strong and as he faded I breathed life into him with my river and we kissed again and again.
And again we were together.
Our union had known no issue in his world but in mine, my river, my mighty womb birthed many a faerie and elf, Halfling and sprite. I noticed after an age that the woods returned and I gave birth to dryads and pixies and all called me mother and being now part of us; all called him father.
I was big by this time and over the ages we moved to my foot and thence into the sea with my love always beside me and there we birthed mermaidens and mermen, and all manner of other creatures.
The ocean smelled clean again and was soon filled with the folk, of ages, as had the land around the river been when we left and with my love beside me, we watched the ages pass forever.
The End.
A Sad Farewell.
I clasped your hand in mine held it to my chest, lifted it to my lips and kissed it.
I held your hand to my bosom, my heart, my very soul, and lifted it again
Holding tighter and tighter as my lips brushed your fingers.
The diamond in your ring, or perhaps it was the gold clasp that held it in place cut my lip as I pressed them to your fingers but there was little blood.
We had used up all our blood in living.
I looked at your body, wishing it to rest, and clasped your hand in mine, held it.
It was prone, the sheets barely moving, your next breath your last,
Yet I held fast, held tight, to all of you that lingers,
There will be peace in your heart, where my turmoil goes unnoticed, your children will love you, lest
I haunt them, when my day comes, soon I pray.
We prayed and used up all our prayers while living.
Rest my dear, rest deeply and for long,
Rest and rest well for soon I shall be there with you.
Sleep my dear, sleep well and for long
Sleep and sleep well for soon I shall be there with you.
You will know me, even if you cannot see. You will smell me even if all sense of smell has gone.
You will touch me even when the flesh has fallen from your bones. You will love me even after all love has gone.
You will know me, as I will always know you, you will know me by feeling my love for you.
Fare well, my love, fare well, your spirit bright,
Remains with me now even through this, the darkest night.
Fare well, you will find heaven
It was made for one such as you.
Adieu.
I Hope that you have liked this Short series of tales and that you may wish to peruse more of my works.
To this end I have I have included short write up’s on others that you may enjoy.
When Old Gods Live.
Some tales tell that the Norse conquered Argyll with barely a whimper. Others tell of Hard fought battles, hardship and loss. The Sagas say that many were abandoned, left for dead and had to survive in the cold harsh landscape of Western Argyll for months till rescued. A new life together and a fresh start welcome Mae and Rob to their new home in Argyll. In the Heartland of historical Scotland, they settle in to enjoy the happy home that they have always wanted. But there is something unusual about their new home and whilst Rob seeks answers to the puzzles surrounding them Mae looks to secure her sanity and make this the dream home that she has always wished for. Robs tantrums, educated Rats, deluded Nurses, stuffed birds and ancient gods that want to live again stand in her way but Mae will have her Idyllic home no matter who or what she has to kill to get it.
Moonchild and other Tales
A young girl, abandoned in the ancient Caledonian forest seeks refuge in the arms of a hill walker, or so it seems to the casual observer. A River Sprite seeks solace in the arms of a human, as her world is disappearing. A moon-child creeps from her Holt beneath an ancient tree, scenting the night air, and is enveloped in the world of humans. The man who fell in love with death, who no longer wishes to live but cannot die tells his tale. Goats that debate in shady glens at night discuss revolution, Wolves that are men and men who are wolves wonder of their purpose in life. True love remains eternal in the worthiest of sad tales. These new Faerie and folk tales, of Scotland, from the pen of Raymond Walker, Author of “A River of Tears” and “The Secret Inside” embody the living soul of Scots folk and faerie tales.
Enchanting, beautiful, haunting and timeless. Never have I read of such beauty as I have here. The innocence reverberates in every tale. Beautiful. Robert Anderson. Author of "Elizabeth"
A Pale Shadow Creeps.
Into The dark depths of a Scots winter, A Pale Shadow Creeps. From Its tomb of stones and broken bones; It rises into the cold and forsaken night. This shade, has a dire purpose. For it to live again its place must be taken beneath The Cairn from which it rose. Whosoever wakened it or one of their choice shall take its place beneath the wet sod of the Argyll hills. Rob is too busy enjoying his new home. He worries about the novel that he needs to write, the money he needs to earn and the new love that he has found. Threats from shades, shadows or wraiths are not something he takes seriously. But he should. A very current ghost story with a rather dark and dramatic feel. A romance that will leave you spellbound whilst night falls and shadows haunt ancient Scotland, Its standing stones cairns and sepulchres. Rob thinks about love and life and money and never worries about the scratching at the door, the howling in the night and the very strange dreams he has been having. But he should.
A Shiver.
As time passes, everything changes. The world we live in is in turmoil, we stampede from one crisis to the next, never heeding the grand design, if indeed there is one. Imagine now that nothing changes but the now. The now we know here and today is the same as it always was, the same as it always will be. Has not the world always suffered from turmoil, are our lives not the same as those who have gone before us with little more than superficial differences? This is an explanation of time, the characters essentially the same though they live centuries apart, their thoughts, hopes and fears differ little from the reality of today, their goals essentially the same; to eat, have happy lives, to love and be loved, to search endlessly for a contentment that can never be realised. As usual Raymond Walker has brought these unanswered questions to life in an exciting tale of love, passion and loss, Romance and war that will keep every reader mesmerised from the very first pages to the dramatic conclusion
Nut Brown Eyes
A magical, mystical tale of love and betrayal set against the grand backdrop of the Scottish Highlands. It is amazing what a perfectly ordinary walk in the woods can lead to in an ancient and sparsely populated land that teems with tales of witches and ghosts, sprites and goblins. Where you can still walk for days without seeing another living thing. A strange betrayal, takes place, but a necessary gift is received and given by an ordinary fellow on a holiday of his choice. One that he will regret and relive for his lifetime.
Before the end of the year (2016) Two new novels should be released. The first will be “Over the Tears of the Fallen” which will be the first novel in a horror trilogy named “And the Sea Shall give up it’s Dead” It is a dark, dramatic and relentless read and has not the wistful quiet nature of the tales you have read here.
The Second will be A romantic ghost story which has the name “Wigton” at the moment but will end up having a very different title upon release, we are still arguing about it (perhaps I should have said, discussing but arguing is more appropriate) it will never the less reach the book shelves around the turn of the year. It has a discreet, thoughtful nature such as these tales but is a full length novel. Of course as a ghost story it also has a few shocks.
To the readers.
Thank you all for reading the stories and the sales material contained thereafter, it is a necessary evil, if, like me, you wish to eat and drink.
I have always liked the drinking part and now seem to like the eating part as well. I appreciate all those like me that read everything to the very end. The credits in films, the sound engineers on an album and every note or aside contained therein.
You are my people and I am one of you, part of your gang, conglomerate, association and find you my people.
I do hope that you have enjoyed these tales and wish to search out some others that I have written.
The End.
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Life, Love and Death Page 5
