Symphony of Dawn

Am I lost?

Beware the will-o'-the-wisp, ma wee lad. They'll be leadin' ye away from yer home, with their ghostly light and beckoning call. Ye mustn't heed them, ma wee lad. Dinna listen to the wisps, or ye'll find yerself lost in their domain of death and decay.

Jamie had often heard this warning from his dear old nan. He didn't know why he was thinking about it now. The wise woman passed a few months ago. Never had Jamie encountered the wisps. Nor had anyone else he knew. To him, it all seemed like old wives guff, told to wee bairns to scare them into staying close at home. Now that he was grown, those insipid tales were the biggest nonsense he had ever heard. So silly he had ever believed it. Certainly not a tale he would ever tell his own bairns should he ever have them.

't Was already dark when Jamie walked home from ploughing his field. It was a tough job, to be sure, but necessary nonetheless, if they were to survive another winter—the first without dear old nan. Beware the will-o'-the-wisp, ma wee lad...

Jamie shook his head to get her voice out of his head. There were no wisps. There was no fairy folk. Just superstitions passed on from generation to generation through all the families who lived within the Highlands. It was nothing more. Only a supersti-...

The Scotsman halted. Up ahead, between the trees, off the beaten path that swirled through this patch of woods, Jamie saw a figure holding a lantern. A faint blue-ish light glowed about the figure, yet Jamie could not perceive it as lad or lassie. He called, but there came no response. Instead, the lantern moved further away from the path, deeper into the forest.

Jamie knew he should not stray from his path. But his feet carried him after the figure, his eyes following the blue glow of the lantern so he would not lose it. Whoever it was, they could still need help. It could well be one of Jamie's neighbours. If not that, then perhaps a brigand, or worse, and then it was Jamie's duty to ensure none of his father's tenants would befall any harm.

Deeper and deeper into the woods, Jamie went, following the light. Around him, the trees started to change shapes. They became shorter and less green. Jamie walked on until he reached the edge of the forest.

A wasteland lay before him. A dark desert almost. Jamie looked about him but saw nothing. He made to turn back and return to the path home, but suddenly, he heard a faint whistling. He spun back round to see the blue glow of the lantern once more before him. It floated in the air, almost seductively, daring him to keep following.

Once again, Jamie's feet moved his body towards the light. His shoes sank away, making a soppy sound with every step he took. The ground he stepped on seemed to want to swallow him whole. But Jamie trudged on, his curiosity taking the better of him.

All was silent around him. The moon above him, a pure white body in the heavens, sends its light to Jamie. Why was it that he felt like the moon was weeping for him? He reached out his hand and caught a moonbeam. Through his fingers, he saw the moon's reflection in murky water. Water?

Jamie's head snapped up, looking wildly around him. The blue light had led him into a swamp. He tried to move, but he could not. He was already ankle-deep in the mud and sinking still.

Blue lanterns lit up around him. He tried to find the persons holding them, but there were none. Beware the will-o'-the-wisp, ma wee lad... The words of his dear old nan echoed through Jamie's mind. No, it was not true. They were not real. They could not be real!

And yet they were. Jamie tried desperately to escape from them, to escape their haunting lights and ghastly howls. But it was futile. The more he moved and struggled, the more he sank. The wisps began to dance around Jamie, faster and faster, laughing at him for his foolishness. In their glow, Jamie saw himself as a bairn, playing at the fire and listening to his nan. He saw himself riding his horse. He saw himself holding his mother's hand as she lay dying. He saw his sister making dinner. He saw his father teaching him all he knew. He saw himself with his darling sweetheart, who has at home waiting for him. Jamie reached for them, stretching his fingers, hoping to touch them. The earth swallowed him, and he tumbled down, deeper and deeper until...

Jamie awoke with a jolt. He scrambled to his feet, waving wildly about him. His eyes searched his surrounding for the wisps, but he found himself alone in the field where he had fallen asleep after a hard day's work.

The moon smiled down upon him, reassuring Jamie that all he had seen and felt had been but a dream. He gathered his thoughts, steadying his pounding heart, and smiled back at the moon. He took the long way home, not wanting to tempt fate. From that night, he would no longer see his dear nan's stories as mere tales. He would tell them to his own bairns and their bairns too. And he would tell them how he had once seen the wisps. When asked how he had escaped them, Jamie would tell them the truth.

Beware the will-o'-the-wisp, ma wee bairns. They'll be leadin' ye away from yer home, with their ghostly light and beckoning call. Ye mustn't heed them, ma wee bairns. Dinna listen to the wisps, or ye'll find yerself lost in their domain of death and decay. Should ye fall prey to them, ye hold on to yer memories. They are what binds ye to yer life. They are the one things the wisps cannot take from ye. So think about the ones ye love. And let them guide ye. Always.