My Visit to Scotland!

 

My Visit to Scotland

Some background: the reason I went to Scotland in 2018 had nothing to do with the 'Outlander' craze, etc. I'm Wiccan. I believe in past lives with unfinished business. 

As long as I can remember, I've needed to go 'home' to Scotland. I didn't know where that home was. Only that I had been forced to leave and I'd sworn to return. My trip was to find that place.

I found three of them.

One was a trail out on Black Isle, across Moray Firth from Inverness. It's called Fairy Glen. Within minutes of starting the hike, I was smiling. I could not stop. This was one of the homes, the first one I didn't expect (the one I was searching for had been found two days earlier). At the end of the hike, there's a small pool of water and a waterfall. 

Honestly, it's breathtaking. Yes, I have photos. But they don't convey the power of the place. 

I stayed, as there was something at the pool I had to hear. The person who was hiking with me went further up the trail. I received the message I was meant to hear, and my soul was given a sense of peace I'd never felt before and long to feel again. 

Hiking companion came back, and we began to walk out. That's when the music started. A single fife, notes drifting between the trees and dancing off the ferns. Music that gave my soul pause. 

Music that made me confirm that the other person heard it. Because, if they didn't, I knew I was being invited to Tir N'aill. And I knew I would answer such a summons.

They did, and I would be lying if I didn't feel any sort of disappointment. We did hear it as we walked, off and on. Eventually we caught up to a couple. She had a fife and would occasionally play traditional Scottish or Irish tunes on it as they walked.

For me, though, there was magic on that trail. The music simply reminded me that things are not always as they seem.

K. M. Warfield

Author - Heroes of Avoch trilogy

Follow K.M. Warfield on twitter @KMWarfieldbooks

Have I Seen a Ghost?

 

Have I Seen a Ghost?

I love ghost stories, and I’m an author whose books feature ghosts, monsters and the supernatural. I, however, have not personally seen a ghost.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t not believe in ghosts. I have gotten the chills in some places. Witnessed an actual apparition though? Nope. Well … maybe. There are at least two occasions in which I thought I saw something.

The earlier incident was when I was much younger. I was backpacking in Europe at the time. I was in London, visiting a friend at an old building that had been converted into a youth hostel. It was in the afternoon. I went to the women’s restroom on the ground floor.

You had to walk through two doorways connected by a narrow five-foot-long hallway to get to the restroom. The outer door opened to the lobby and the inner door led to the restroom.

As I opened the outer door, I saw the inner door close behind someone just ahead of me. I caught a glimpse of a white shirt or dress and the back of her head. I thought nothing of it at the time.

The restroom had about five or six stalls. I went into one of the stalls and did what I had to do. I was washing my hands at the sinks when it struck me that I hadn’t seen anyone else in there, or heard another person. I was so puzzled that I actually looked to see if the restroom had another exit. There was only one—the one I used. I glanced into the other stalls but it was clear I was the only person in there.

The hair at the back of my neck was standing by then so I left as quickly as I could.

The other occasion was at an old hotel in Florida. I was working as a journalist. I stayed at the hotel to cover a legal conference that was held at the hotel.

After a long day of panel discussion, After a long day of panel discussions, I returned to my room in the evening. I stepped through the door and was walking quickly past the bathroom when I saw something in there from the corner of my eye. It was a woman looking at herself in the mirror. I was startled because I hung a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door so I didn’t expect any maid service.

I dropped my bag and laptop on the bed and went back to the bathroom to tell the woman that my room didn’t need cleaning. However, there was no one there.

Perhaps she was an optical illusion, the effect of my eyes adjusting to a dark room. But I saw her so clearly in my mind. She was middle-aged and had short dark hair. 

In any case, I slept with all the lights on that night.

So what do you think? I told myself in both instances that I must be mistaken. I scared myself for no reason.

Or have I seen a ghost? I’ll let you be the judge.

Submitted by Yin Leong.

You can follow Yin on Twitter 

@kampugkreepy

Or visit her website @

https://www.kampungkreepy.com