Whispers by the River Ness

Unveiling Inverness’s secrets: eerie islands, abandoned playgrounds, and ghostly echoes along the River Ness.

Dear Jane,

It was almost golden hour, and I found myself crossing an iron footbridge onto one of the River Ness islands. The water was high, much higher than usual, based on its proximity to some stone benches. The islands were covered in pine trees, which shielded me from the sun. I noticed there were a lot of old electric street lamps and fairy lights strung between them, but all of them were dusty and covered in moss, kind of like Spanish moss hanging off trees in the deep south.

I was trying to find some island landmarks, including the Circle of Wise. The internet implied that it’s a performance space that the city of Inverness uses in the summer. I was expecting standing stones, but the Circle of Wise was not that. There were a series of curved stone walls that could seat one or two people. 

It felt small for a performance space and seemed more suited for ancient rituals. But maybe I was influenced by the murder convention taking place within it?

There were a lot of crows.

And none of them were talking to each other. Perhaps my presence interrupted them. They weren’t shy about giving me the side eye. I asked permission to take some photos, and only one of them posed for me.

Or maybe it wasn’t posing. I felt I should move on immediately.

I quickly walked the last island, stopping only to admire the luminescent moss that caught my eye when the sun started poking through the trees. It looked like magic.

I crossed the last iron footbridge back to mainland Inverness. Knowing that the Caledonian Canal was nearby and feeling a little more at ease, I kept walking away from the city along River Ness. The few people I had seen were left behind on the islands. The river kept me company until the path diverted into a wooded area, where I came upon small train tracks and brightly colored animal statues. Intrigued, I followed the tracks.

They led me out of the trees into a huge open area, which encompassed one of the most dilapidated playgrounds I’d ever seen in my life. I climbed up a slide structure that had been gated and, at one point, cordoned off with caution tape to get a better view.

I shielded my eyes from the sun to see a vast open area play area in front of me. For the space available, the metal and concrete play structures and swing sets were few in number and awkwardly far apart. Each piece was grounded on a cracked piece of asphalt, floating in an oddly well-kept lawn. Paint peeled off everything. There was absolutely nobody at the park, and it didn’t look like there had been for years.

From my perch, I could see that the path I’d been walking looped around a pond with an island connected to the playground by a wooden bridge, which also suffered from peeling paint.

After deciding to walk the loop, I carefully descended the concrete slide structure. I opted for the left side of the pond, and just as I started walking, I heard the sounds of laughter. 

On the other side of the pond was a small blonde girl and her father. They continued laughing and started a race around the pond. The island was home to a shed and a small dock structure that had a plethora of sun-faded plastic boats and kayaks strapped to it.

The shed and trees next to it cut the racers from my sight, and I moved to one side to give them the right of way while we crossed paths.

Except, they never passed me, and I never saw them again. The little girl’s laughter was carried past me by the breeze. I was sure that I was hearing her from some other path that I must have missed. I quickly dashed around to the pond to find there were no other places for them to run—or even hide.

Her laughter continued to ring in my ears. And, that was my cue to get back to the city.

<3 Katherine