The Well of Glenmoor

 In the year 1655,in the remote hills of rural Scotland,was a village named Glenmoor near the edge of a dense forest and the bank of a twisted river.The residents,accustomed to the harsh Scottish winters and the whispering winds of the forest,lead a simple life.Their lives were going on well,tending lands,raising cattles,and surviving through the harshness of the weather from time to time.

One Autumn evening,a stranger arrived at the Village.Dressed in torn clothing with a haggard appearance.The traveler spoke of a magical Well hidden deep in the forest,where one can make a wish and have it granted.The villagers,skeptical but intrigued,paid little heed to the strange wonderers babbling.They dismissed him as a madman,drived him out of the village.However,as time passed,the magical well’s story spread in the whole town like wildfire and caused a stir of curiosity among the townsfolk.

One particular cold November night,a poor farmer named Duncan McGregor,desperate to save his failing crops and his family from starvation,decided to seek out the well.Guided by the memory of the Traveler’s description and with faith in heart,Duncan set out to find the Well.He ventured deep into the forest,following the river upstream.After hours of walking through the dark and misty woods,he finally reached the place where the Traveler promised.An ancient stone structure that looked like was standing as old as time itself,it’s body covered in moss.It looked very beautiful and unearthly in the pale moonlight.

Desperate and weary,Duncan tossed a coin in the Well and he made a wholehearted wish to get a field full of flourished crops and his family to be spared of Starvation.The next morning,Duncan returned to his farm and he saw that his dying crops had started to flourish.The crops went from goldish brown to lush green in a week and in that harvest season,he had the best crops all the town combined.His heart leapt with joy but his happiness was short-lived.

Within days of the ending of the season of harvesting,his Wife fell ill.One day,while doing household chores she suddenly fell down and then she took the bed.She never recovered and she got worse by the day.After a week’s struggle,she was finally caught by the cold hands of death.Then one by one,his 4 sons and 3 daughters died in mysterious ways.His first son died of Cholera,his second son died of a snakebite,his third son was attacked by wild animals,his fourth son and first two daughters drowned in the river and his last daughter died of chicken pox.This left Duncan heartbroken and he took his life by slitting his wrists.So,by the next harvest season,the whole McGregor family was gone.

On the other hand,Duncan had a friend whose name was Adrian McBride who was told by Duncan about the Well and it’s magical powers.This tamed him to find the well and make his wish to make him rich.He,just after a few days of Duncan’s death,went in the woods to search for the Well and following Duncan’s way,he finally made it to the well.He tossed a coin and wished to have the gift of longevity and to be the richest person in the whole Glenmoor.The well granted his wish by taking the lives of other villagers.All on sudden, Cholera and Small Pox spread across the land and took the lives of innocents.The few who survived had to face the harshest winter in their lives which took the lives of all the villagers except Adrian.Adrian was suspicious at first but when even the harsh winter failed to kill him,he understood it was the well’s magic that kept him alive.But by then he had already realized that the well’s blessing had come at a dark cost.He at once understood that the well was cursed.He went to destroy the well but had lost his life by the bite of an Adder.As the poison spread across his body,as the pain grew,he remembered how happy he was before making that damn wish that had cursed him and his land.He died not far from the well,he could see it and he knew how it would destroy others in future but he could only stare and when he exhaled his final breath,he cursed the well.

Adrian died,his body was left to be taken in by the woods but the Well remained intact.An ancient stone structure,looking as old as time,body covered in moss,still looking beautiful and unearthly in the pale moonlight,waiting to grant more wishes.

The End