NESSIE – NESTLING IN THE DEEP

Far from the madding crowd

I’m drifting on the empty waters. I’m searching for the holy grail of leviathans.

I know she’s waiting. Waiting below. Ready to attack, and my life is at stake.

I’m armed only with the belief that this legendary creature is not myth. That there really exists this monster.

I know. I can feel it in my heart of hearts.

That’s why I’m here in Inverness. In the murky vastness of Loch Ness. 

All by myself in my boat. With only the splashing of the oars and the gentle lapping of water against the boat to break the eerie silence.

As the night wears on, I’m getting hungry. The fish and chips I bought from the local chip shop are now long gone. I need to keep myself warm. 

I take one more swig from my Speyside single malt. It’s a pleasure to let the fruitiness, and spice notes tickle my palate. I’m feeling good again.

In a minute, as I reach for my flask again, a mystic sound slithers over the water and makes it shiver and shake. And an ominous cry shrieks from the sky – slick and sly as a snake.

A silvery beam of lightning shatters the edge of the night. A shadow looms across the surreal lake.

And then, I see her. Gliding just beneath the surface.

I grip the oars tighter. I’m holding my breath. Fear and excitement surge through my veins.

Her overwhelming presence is making it hard for me to breathe.  This is beyond what my head can fathom.

She breaches the surface of the lake smoothly. There’s a mystical twinkling in her eyes as our eyes meet.

The distinctly serpentine-like appearance of this apex predator reaches for the stars, and she blinds the sky.

And I can’t hold on any more. I feel the strength drain out of me. I’m drenched in cold sweat. I instinctively brace myself with both my hands to soften my fall.

Her baleful eyes come closer and I can feel that she’s thirsting to communicate.  And I black out.

I open my eyes. I’m lying flat on the floor of the boat.

It seems like as suddenly as she had appeared, she’s gone.

But every thought that she had communicated to me in those ephemeral moments flood back into my head.

Once upon a time, she lived the carnival of life with family and friends. 

Now her world has come undone. Here all alone.

Eternally torn apart, she weeps in silence. Swimming in the tears left behind.

Slithering mournfully on the edge of time looking for a bridge to cross.

And as she glides her weary self to the end of her path, she wonders – “Who will cry when I die?”

I’m too exhausted to oar back to shore. I don’t care anymore. The pain in her eyes will never leave me. I want to lie here forever drenched in melancholy. 

And the mountains echo my cries.

In making even horizontal and clear inspections we colour and mould according to the wants within us whatever our eyes bring in.

Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd