It was Christmas Eve in the Scottish Highlands, a night that would never be forgotten. The darkness blanketed a quaint stone cottage like a heavy cloak. Inside, a family of four were gathered around the fireside, trying hard to forget the strange thing that had happened earlier that evening. Something uncanny and unearthly – a ghostly figure in their hallway looking for his long lost mother. So, on this freezing winter night, in the smallest and most isolated of homes, a lost spirit searched for his beloved mother through snowstorms and despair, cast for eternity to haunt the Scottish lochs, hills and glens every hundred years on Christmas Eve.
Suddenly, wind rattled the windows, and their log fire flickered ominously. The family exchanged nervous glances – they knew they had no choice but to help the ghost find his way home to find eternal peace. So it was, with heavy hearts, that they set out into the stormy night, guided only by the ghost’s spectral light. As they fought through the snowdrifts, the atmosphere grew heavier with each passing minute until the air seemed alive with malevolent energy.
They trudged, hour after hour, with heads bowed against endless freezing blasts. Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream rang out. The ghostly figure collapsed writhing in pain. Frozen with fear, they couldn’t move until the spirit released a final moan and disappeared before their eyes, leaving behind only his old-fashioned worn coat and tweed cap. The ghost’s spectral light flickered and faded, leaving them in utter darkness
They had stumbled upon an old graveyard and there amongst snow covered graves lay a cracked headstone bearing his name and where he had been buried two centuries before. The family members stood silently in the graveyard feeling an overwhelming sense of dread wash over them. As if to confirm their fears, the blizzard carried an icy chill which seemed powerful enough to freeze time itself.
The family was lost, cold, and utterly vulnerable in the storm. They stuck close together for warmth as they searched for any sign of civilization. They spotted a flickering light from a tiny cottage ahead and set out towards it.
They pushed through the front door and were met by a warm fire, flickering candles, and the familiar smell of roasting turkey. An elderly woman, sitting in a rocking chair with a tartan rug over her lap, looked at them kindly and asked what brought them to her home on this treacherous night. The family explained what had happened, and the woman gasped in shock. She revealed that today was the 25th December, 1823 and that she awaited her son’s arrival.
The family stared in horror, realizing they had traveled two-hundred years back in time and were standing in front of the ghost’s long-lost mother. She grinned, took her son’s cap and coat from them, turned, and simply vanished with a chuckle, saying, “My son needs these. It’s freezing out there, and he could catch his death. Happy holidays!”
INSTANT NOODLES 