On an April afternoon in 1933, Aldie and John Mackay were driving along the shores of one of Scotland’s largest lakes, Loch Ness. The road, the A82, was brand-new, and Aldie was enjoying the view from the car window.
The Scottish highlands are often rainy but this day was bright. The trees were vivid green, and even the murky waters of the lake seemed to sparkle.
Then Aldie saw something she would never forget. The water rippled, and a giant creature seemed to rise out of the loch. It appeared to be black, with a humped back. Aldie grabbed her husband’s arm, trembling with fright, and pointed.
« Stop!, the beast! » she gasped.
John screeched the car to a halt. For several minutes, the stunned couple stared at the loch as the creature seemed to be « rolling and plunging » until the waters finally calmed.
For a few days, Aldie and John kept quiet about what they had seen. After all, who would believe them? A monster in Loch Ness? It sounded preposterous. People would think they were liars or, worse that they were insane.
Ultimately, though, the couple couldn’t resist sharing their remarkable story, and the news soon speak. As the Mackays had predicted, some people rolled their eyes and laughed. Many others listened with fascination, however. There had always been something mysterious about Loch Ness, something spooky. For centuries, people from nearby towns had whispered stories about a creature living in the loch, a huge and terrifying beast that, according to some tales, lured children to their deaths. Another story, dating back to the sixth century, told of a water monster that tried to devour farmers working nearby. Many Locals avoided the surrounding woods because of these stories. To them, the Mackays’ story was completely plausible.
For Aldie, read Alice!