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Highlander's Library of Inspirational Tales on-line...
Freedom of the Skies...Interview with an Outlaw
It started out as an ordinary average day, what became of that and how the day ended was something of the extra…ordinary.
It had been a warmer than usual summer and we could surely use the rain. The natural rainforest within the southern Blue Ridge Mountains are at their finest when they receive sufficient rainfall even though the unusual summer heat this year had often just sucked the moisture right back up into the atmosphere. The forest looked rather healthy yet the water levels were down a little...continue story...
Breaching the
Darkness...Easter Sunrise
The quiet of the darkened night was disrupted by the sound of two metal doors shutting. A turn of the ignition key sent a charge to the combustion chamber of our private chariot as Mrs. Highlander and I fasten our seat-belts and settled back anticipating a new adventure within our beloved Blue Ridge Smoky Mountains....continue story...
Easter Sunrise on Chimney Rock
The caravan of night travelers rolled into the small tourist town of Chimney Rock, sparse streetlights lit our way as we slowed down and began to form a line. It's about 5:30 A.M., Easter Morning, up ahead two figures holding flashlights moved their beams from right to left guiding the traffic thru the entrance of the park, I wasn't surprised to see every vehicle on the road entering the gate....continue story...
In the Name of Love
To embrace the true meaning of Christmas you must embrace pure unconditional love itself. Although, the nature of unconditional love and its purpose often confounds the logical mind.
As mere mortal beings, we did not create love instead we are the product of love's good intention. We all strive to be embraced with the warm and nurturing qualities of love, yet often it eludes us...continue story...
Hope...Faith and the Light
This is a message of Hope for the upcoming year and beyond. In our quest for a relevant story we were quite perplexed because of the current times.
Inspired by an abstract thought to ponder on. "There is light at the end of the tunnel" a cliché, but but one with meaning, and something we do believe, we were inspired to write this story, one that we got more response than any before....continue story...
A Merry...Humble Mountain Christmas
This Christmas tale is several stories in one, our purpose is to take you back to the true essence of Christmas. Christmas can be the most wonderful time of the year where truth and love can set you free, as the fictitious character George Bailey of Bedford Falls discovered in, "It's a Wonderful Life." Like ole' George found out, the holidays can be trying for those who are burdened with heavy responsibilities, challenges or troubles.
We know that this is a very busy time of the year for everyone, but if you take the time to read the entire story, you will be happy you did. It might just change how you view the holidays and bring a new light and joy to your life....continue story...
The Meaning of Christmas
The first thing Santa said to me as we warmed our hands in front of the fire is that he does the Christmas thing to keep children believing. "Yes," he said in a somber voice, "without hope for the future and a bit of joy in their lives, children suffer."
He worries that the world is not always a hospitable place for children; that Princes and Princesses and Kings and Queens and Presidents are all failing to buffer children from the discontents of their elders....continue story...
A New Beginning...the Promise
There are signs of greater life all around. I find myself continuously being drawn outdoors, not just for the sake of working in the yard, but a chance to explore and experience.
Spring is a time to reflect on new hopes and dreams, a time to plant new seeds. Although, it takes more than skilled hands and a sharp wit, to plant these seeds....continue story...
Winter Solitude...a Holiday Tale...
It's late December, a time when peace becomes a focus to reach for, yet seldom achieved. I like to do a little wood carving during these quiet times, nothing fancy. It helps me reflect on the months that seemed to have passed by so quickly. A time to take my thoughts away from a world of material goods and a chance to look into the spirit of the human soul, its goals and purpose....continue story...
Kings of the Mountains
This story is written from the perspective of the Bear. For over two hundred years, we the hierarchy of the royal family of the Ursus Americanus, have been in conflict with the invaders of the outer realm. For many generations, it has become a war that we have been losing against a most formidable alien foe...continue story...
Cherokee Myths & Legends of the Black Bear
I remember when this nation celebrated the first Earth Day; it was back in the peace, love and hippy days of my youth. That day a great unified and organized call went out to stop polluting our environment.
People envision these mountains as pristine, an oasis of beauty, unspoiled by mankind's dark hand...continue story...
Tears of the Fairies
Howdy! I'm Nathanael O. Smith. I've lived in these mountains all my days, wouldn't ever dream of leaving here, my ancestral roots are here to stay. I've been telling tales and hearing tales all my life, its what my family and neighbors have been doing in these parts for generations. Tales about pioneers and the folks that arrived here directly from the "Old World."
Some of my fondest tales have been about the Cherokee people, they're really the first mountain people, and they lived here longer than time will tell...continue story...
Playground of the Gods
Under enormous pressure they burst upon the scene in a succession of earth shattering rumbles. Climbing higher than any known surface under the ancient firmament, they towered above the horizon of the prehistoric world in a dramatic precession. Born of greatness and driven by internal forces, these wonders of His creation accumulated into a land mass higher than the mountains of the Himalayas. As a living force and physical presence they establish themselves as a cornerstone of the earth, shaping the destiny of the antediluvian world of the "blue planet." In time they would be decreed as the first vertical "Gods of the Earth"...continue story...
Dream Visitors
When I hung up my worldly footwear for a pair of pathfinder boots, I began a journey that would lead me through the deepest recess of my mind, body and soul. These early years of my search for enlightenment were exciting times of untold wonders.
Inspiring teachers, fellowship with other journey persons, and the discovering of ideas and ancient practices boggled the mind and charged the soul. Each new experience led me to desire another and another. I began to open a mind that was previously formed by the concepts and demands created in a world composed of appointed rulers, and those who structured the ethics of morality. It was like opening myself to a realm of colors, and sounds that I was never aware existed....continue story...
Hands of Time
They roll across the heavens like great gray and white sails, suspended on masks held up by the wind. Bolts of white line fire, collide with the earth, forming a flag's insignia against the ominous sky. With a tropical force, lines of pouring rain showers waves against the mountain slopes. Gradually melting, exposing bare rock that cuts against the blue sky, the canyon walls and gorges give themselves up to continual harassment...continue story...
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