A. L. Kaplan

Tag: cute

  • Post 8: My Trip to Scotland: Part 8 – Culloden and Highland Coos

    Post 8: My Trip to Scotland: Part 8 – Culloden and Highland Coos

    We left Ullapool on August 6 after a nice breakfast.

    The first stop was Culloden, site of the Battle of Culloden which took place on April 16, 1746. The Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) was defeated by the British army, ending the Jacobite uprising. In less than an hour, around 1,300 men were slain – about 1,250 of them Jacobites. Many highland clans were in the Jacobite army. After Culloden, the wearing of tartan and highland garb was forbidden, as was carrying weapons in the Highlands, and the Clan system was abolished.

    There are markers for the clans that fought and died. They had to put a fence around the marker for Clan Fraser to keep the Outlander fans back.

    Of course, I couldn’t leave the Highlands without seeing a wee Highland Coo.

  • Happy Halloween Y’All

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  • Lost Footing

    Wendy clung to the rock wall twenty feet off the ground. Ripped and bleeding fingernails weren’t her biggest problem. The tingling in her fingertips was.  She bit her lip, fighting for control.

    “One normal date,” she mumbled. “Is that too much to ask?”

    “Are you okay?” asked Jason.

    The cutest guy in school graced her with a smile that only increased her racing heart. How could she not say yes to a rock climbing date? So what if she had the agility of a glue stick. He was hot and she was the weird girl no one talked to. But rock climbing? What was she thinking?

    Every muscle ached, trembled as she searched for a new handgrip. There were none in sight. The tingling ran up her arm. Panic began to close in. She chanced a glance at Jason and his bulging muscles only to find him studying her. There was no laughter in his look, only concern.

    “Wendy, don’t worry about falling. You’re on a belay line.”

    “I don’t want to quit. My foot is slipping.”

    He scrambled sideways across the rock like a squirrel. The moment he touched her, the tingling flamed through her body. She gasped and began to fall. Jason grabbed her hand. A blinding flash sucked them away.

    Instead of dangling from a rock wall, they landed in a wooded clearing. So much for normal. Tears stung Wendy’s eyes. She waited for Jason’s condemnation, the fear that others had displayed at her powers.

    He stared at her, his deep-brown eyes wide. Then he smiled. “Wow. That was one heck of a jolt. Can’t wait to see what you do on our second date.”