Symphony of Dawn by Lorraine Tramain

Author:Lorraine Tramain
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy anthology, musical anthology, based on music, fairytales and folklore, fantasy, paranormal, romance, short stories
Publisher: Lorraine Tramain
Published: 2025-12-17T00:00:00+00:00

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. Dinna listen to the wisps, ma wee lad, 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. Never had Jamie encountered the wisps. Nor had anyone else he knew. To him, it all seemed like old wives guff. Fairy tales to scare the bairns into staying close at home. Now that he was grown, those insipid tales truly seemed 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 just before sunset when Jamie walked home from his field. The rain cascading from the sky was making it too hard to continue. He hoped the downpour would cease by morning. It’s been a harsh summer so far, but he couldn’t give up. He had to provide for his family if 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 the wise women’s 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 and nothing more. Only supersti—

The Scotsman halted. Up ahead, between the trees, off the beaten path that swirled through this patch of woods, Jamie perceived a lantern. A faint blue-ish light glowed about a dark figure, yet Jamie could not determine if they were man or woman. 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. Every bone is his soaked body screamed caution. Yet 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 it was 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. Around him, the trees started to change shapes. They became shorter and less green. The foliage no longer protected Jamie from the rain, and the ice-cold droplets struck his already chilled body like bullets from a rifle. Still, 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.

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