Beware the kelpies

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Avatar for TengoLoTodo
3 years ago

30th October 1951

Standing in the bow of his father's crab fishing boat, Jamie thought he lived in the most beautiful country in the world. The sun was shining, and it was unusually warm for this time of year in Scotland.

Jamie had got up at six in the morning to go fishing with his father. It was the last day of his school holidays and he was so grateful to be allowed to help his father.

There was nothing better than being out on the loch beside his home catching crabs. If they were lucky they would get a big catch and he would go with his father to the market and sell them. If they were really lucky they would get enough to buy a sheep for their little croft. Life is hard in the Highlands of Scotland and every little bit of luck helps.

Mrs McDougall had made a lunch for her husband and son Jamie, that consisted of some home made bread with a little jar of potted meat to put on the bread.

The sun was shining and there was not a drop of wind when Jamie pushed the boat into the water and they motored off to find the first crab creel that his father had set in the water the day before.

His father had saved for five years to get their little engine for the boat, but it meant he could use the boat alone and not need the help of his neighbour, but Jamie always went with his father on school holidays.

They stopped when they came to the first crab creel, they lifted it in and Jamie saw the biggest crab he had ever seen. They went to the next crab creel and lifted it in, again it was even bigger than the one before. Four more reels they went to and now had the biggest six crabs that either of them had ever seen.

Truly it was a blessed day.

The water had been as a still as a millpond, but now the water suddenly got very very rough, the little boat started to toss around. The rain started, heavy heavy rain and Jamie could just hear his father shouting, that they would turn round and go home.

The little boat would rise up and drop down as they moved into the waves. The next thing it got black, Jamie couldn't see his father and now he was scared, very scared.

"Sweet mother of Mary" Jamie heard his father say. He looked up and saw what looked like a massive horse head that filled the sky.

"We are doomed, it is the kelpies Jamie, I love you son more than you will ever know" said Jamie's father.

The boat nearly capsized as the water came cascading over them, and on the right-hand side, Jamie now saw another horses head.

"Go Jamie, there is two of them, go swim to safety and I will hold them off, tell your mother I love her and Jamie, I love you both so very much".

"No papa, I can't leave you" screamed Jamie.

The boat was half full of water now, and the crab reels had been lost overboard, there would be no sheep bought for the croft, there would be no trip to the market.

Jamie looked up just in time to see one of the kelpies swoop his massive head down and scoop up his father between his teeth.

"No No No" screamed Jamie "Leave papa alone, what did we ever do to you" cried a hysterical Jamie.

He watched in terror as the two kelpies threw his father from one to the other, catching him in their massive mouths, his father was like a little rag doll, being thrown in the air.

Jamie was stuck, his bones were frozen in terror, even if he wanted to swim to safety, he couldn't. He was watching a live horror show. Suddenly the kelpie on the right side caught his father in his mouth and instead of throwing him back to the other kelpie, it bit his father. The kelpie was so big that it bit clean through Jamie's father and while the top half of Jamie's father was in the kelpies mouth, the bottom half of Jamie's father fell feet first into the water, his legs seemed to kick as he hit the water.

"You animals, you horrible animals, I hate you, I hate you" screamed Jamie.

He was petrified. He had just watched his father be bitten in half.

"Please Lord, I know I am a rascal, but save me from this evil" prayed Jamie.

He looked up and could see the kelpie on his left side move its head closer and closer.

The Falkirk kelpies statues

Jamie peed his pants in fear, his time was up.

Closer the kelpie came.

Closer and closer it came.

So close until Jamie could feel the air blowing out its nostrils and he fell over.

Transfixed in terror, Jamie could not stop staring at the kelpie, knowing he was about to die.

The kelpie pushed Jamie on the head and he fell backwards. The other kelpie splashed the water and the boat almost sank.

Jamie was not going to give up without a fight, and with his little fists, he began to punch the kelpie on the nose as hard as he could.

The kelpie opened its mouth and grabbed Jamie between his teeth.

Jamie was shaking himself as hard as he could, trying to free himself from the kelpie. He punched and he kicked and he almost shook himself free.

He felt himself shaking hard.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO I will not die" Shouted Jamie.

"Get up, get up Jamie, you are late already, your father is downstairs waiting to take you to school." said a worried Jamie's mother "Were you dreaming again of those stupid kelpies?"

Jamie woke to feel his mothers hand on his shoulder shaking him awake.

It really is a blessed day after all, whispered Jamie!

The End ......

This is my wee entry into the competition #Halloweencontest2021  from @Theblackdoll

I hope I have followed all the rules ....

The kelpies are part of Scottish folklore, and are shape-changing aquatic spirits that haunt bodies of water. The name comes from Scottish Gaelic words ‘cailpeach’ or ‘colpach’, meaning heifer or colt.

They are bad spirits and often appear as a tame pony beside a river. They are particularly attractive to children, but children need to be careful because once a child is on the back of a kelpie, its sticky magical hide will not allow them to get off! The kelpie will then drag the child into the river and eat the child.

Falkirk in Scotland is home to The Kelpies, the largest equine sculpture in the world. Unveiled in April 2014, these 30-metre high horse-head sculptures are situated in Helix Park near the M9 Motorway and are a monument to Scotland’s horse-powered industrial heritage.

There you go readers, thank you for having a wee read of this!

Copyright @TengoLoTodo   2021 and yes All Rights Reserved. All images, words, and ramblings are from the author unless otherwise stated.

Kelpie image can be found here from Pixabay user oberaichwald

And don't forget ;)

Haste ye back.

.

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3 years ago

Comments

Aarrgh, bitin, kuya haha! I have the picture of the loch ness monster or two monsters in my head while reading this.

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3 years ago

hehe bitin salamat kuya, I tried to write something different, and yes they could have been Loch Ness monsters:)

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3 years ago

We can be anything naman po in a dream eh. The nightmare turned him into a fighter 👏 This was still scary though..

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3 years ago

Hehe he was a fighter, and just as well it was a dream :)

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3 years ago

He is a good fighter of his dream. What a nightmare he has.

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3 years ago

Yes it was a nightmare, but seems he is a good fighter in his dreams.

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3 years ago

ohhh must've been a traumatizing nightmare, luckily it was all a dream. I can't imagine seeing my father get eaten by kelpies. Nice story kuya ed!

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3 years ago

Oh yes what a nightmare it would have been, I couldn't imagine seeing my father like that either, salamat it was a fun one to write!

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3 years ago

Oh geez! It's good that he fights in his dream hehe. Great entry Tito! Awesome day afterall

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3 years ago

Hehe he is a fighter 😂 yes it was an awesome day and I thought I would try a different genre of writing, thank you 😁

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3 years ago

I think you can do any genre :)

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3 years ago

Flattery will get you everywhere 😁

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3 years ago

I feel how horrible those kelpies are. Good to know it was a dream of Jamie. Nice story po kuya Ed!

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3 years ago

hehe just a dream, I thought I would write something different for Halloween wee one:)

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3 years ago

Oh my god, thank goodness it was a dream. At what point did Eddie W. become a master of gore and horror. LOL

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3 years ago

hehe that was a first for me, writing anything dark or gory like that 🤣🤣🤣

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3 years ago

Well, reading this, you aren't only good at magical stories. And I don't know if you are good at dark ones, but at gory you are. 🤣

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3 years ago

hehe I tried to draw the reader in, it was really fun to write I must confess 🤣🤣🤣

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3 years ago

I can imagine it was fun 😂 And you should write other stories like this, as long as you don't start to cut heads in the haunted park.

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3 years ago

remember the witches in the park, I nearly made this about them, well that is another one in the works!

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3 years ago

Well, maybe some of those naughty witches might deserve to have their heads cut off 🤣

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3 years ago

Off with their heads, too right some deserve it though!

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3 years ago

Are you still dreaming? ahah. You almost missed the deadline. Good luck in the contest. I think this contest has been a success in every way. Many articles.

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3 years ago

hehe some dream it was 🤣 Yes was a fantastic competition and the first time I have written anything dark!

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3 years ago

😂😂😂 what a dream

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3 years ago

hehe it was different 😂

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3 years ago

Okay I tried following this till the end, I was scared of what will happen next... really intriguing, then it was a dream after all... the first time knowing who and what the Kelpies are

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3 years ago

I tried to write it so that people would get absorbed by it, yes kelpies are mythical water creatures here like horses that devour people.

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3 years ago

Wow! Thank God it was a dream. Jamie would have lost his father to the kelpies. I haven't read to the end and I quickly searched for the meaning of Kelpies in my dictionary. Does it mean they are only found in Scotland?

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3 years ago

hehe yes just a dream :) The name kelpies is Scottish but the mythical creatures I think can be found in other countries.

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3 years ago

Yea, I believe mystical creatures can be found elsewhere but the way you narrated the story, the kelpies are really dangerous.

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3 years ago

I tried, but yes the kelpies are notorious for eating their victims.

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3 years ago

When I read the horse head cut the father in half, I almost screamed a massive "nooooo"... It was just a dream, it was just a dream...... thank God... Poor Jamie :/ at least he wouldn't go without a fight

An amazing entry from you. I was rooting for Jamie all the time lol.. Thank you for participating

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3 years ago

hehe thank you for this B, that is the first time I wrote anything dark, so it was fun and I did try to have a twist in there:) Yes I meant to shock when the father was bitten in half lol

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3 years ago

You had to involve this much gore on your first dark post lmaooo..

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3 years ago

well hell yeah, make the reader squeamish and I still the legs twitching as they hit the water hahaha

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3 years ago