After they had traveled together some distance, William checked his navigation by glancing at the North Star. He realized that he was no longer on a direct path to his destination. He wanted to resume his original path but he felt an irresistible compulsion to follow the mysterious skater. Then it occurred to him. This skater maybe something supernatural (not human). This is Audio Stories with J.B. Simien. And this is the story of two people in love and a mysterious ice skater.
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This tale circulates in the family of a friend (Karen). It about a strange event that happened to her great grandfather William in Canada one winter’s night around December 1912. In those days, the winters in his area were so cold that the lakes and waterways would freeze over until spring. It was normal for people to conduct business by using ice skates to travel from place to place (over the frozen waterways).
On the longest and darkest winter’s night of the year, William departed his home to attend the wedding of his best friend Wally, which was scheduled for the next day, in another town. He was the best man so he had to be there. He needed to travel about sixteen miles over a frozen lake to get to his destination. While moving at top speed over the ice, he was looking up at the sky and navigating by the stars.
He was excited because he was also going to see Marie. She was the maid of honor. He was in love with Marie. He only got to see her when he traveled to the other town. So, he was thinking about their reunion and the wedding. Perhaps, he thought, it was time that he and Marie make their own wedding plans.
After some miles of traveling over the ice, on that dark night, he discovered with a shock that he was not alone. Suddenly, in front of him (almost within reach) he could see an ice skater dressed in white clothing traveling in the same direction. He called out to the skater but there was no reply.
Thinking that he had not been heard, he increased his speed to pull besides the skater. However, whenever he increase his speed, the other skater increased their speed too. He could never get closer than the original distance between them.
After they had traveled together for some miles, William checked his location by glancing at the North Star. He realized that he was no longer on a direct path to his destination. He wanted to resume his original path but he felt an irresistible compulsion to follow the mysterious skater. Then it occurred to him. This skater maybe something supernatural (not human).
Then William remembered the strange thing that had happened when he was five. One night, his family had taken in two travelers who had been caught in, an especially bad, winter storm. They were traveling light. They had no luggage. They had been walking to their destination when the storm unexpectedly hit. They said that they were lucky to have found the family’s home on that lonely stretch of road.
By the next morning, the storm had ended. When the family awoke, the travelers were gone. William was the first family member out of the house that morning. In the newly fallen snow, he discovered a trail of two wolf paw prints leading from the front door to the woods. There was no trail of prints leading to the door (just away). No human foot prints were found.
William felt compelled to follow the mysterious skater for the remained of the night. At, the first rays of dawn, the mysterious skater disappeared before his eyes. However, William discovered that he was now at his destination. The mysterious skater had gotten him there by traveling the creek route instead of the more direct path over the lake.
As William looked towards the lake that morning, over the path that he would have followed that night, he discovered that some of the ice had broken up. He could see open water. If he had continued on his original path, looking at the sky and navigating by the stars at top speed, he would have fallen into the lake. It would have been certain death for him. Following that mysterious skater had save his life. He believes that the mysterious skater was his guardian angel!
When he got to his Wally’s home, he discovered that the wedding nuptials had been postponed. Marie, the bride’s maid had fallen ill. The previous day, she caught a chill while ice skating. Throughout the night, she had been unconscious. Tossing and turning, she fearfully spoke in her sleep about William skating over the lake on the ice. She said that he didn’t know the ice had broken up. She kept crying for him to travel the creek route instead of the lake.
She had only woken from her delirium minutes before William had arrived at Wally’s home. William told Wally that he had traveled the creek route. He then told him the story of the mysterious skater (who had apparently saved his life).
In the spring, William and Marie were married. William was convinced that Marie had somehow summoned an ice skating Angel to save him. For the remainder of their lives, the couple told people the story of the mysterious skater to prove that fate had bless their union. Their descendants still tell this miraculous love story today. I wonder though if this supernatural event should be properly attributed to an ice skating Angel or the living ghost of a woman in love.
That completes the story of the Mysterious Skater. Thanks Karen for your story. I’m J.B. Simien. I hope that you have enjoyed this story. Thank you very much for listening. There are more stories below for you to enjoy. Thank you again and take care.
