The ship shook furiously from the creature’s sudden emergence, bobbing violently like a cork on the ocean, and the beast opened its enormous mouth, letting out a deep roar. The water around their boat was just beginning to calm, when with a flick of a giant back flipper, the creature caused a huge wave. The swell struck along the length of the port side, dangerously tipping the ship and nearly capsizing the craft, spilling some of the tourists into the cold, murky water.

Leaving the people struggling to stay afloat, the creature submerged itself and was soon nothing more than a ripple speeding away under the surface. Once the tired swimmers were back on the boat and wrapped in wool blankets, the captain turned his vessel toward land.

While the tour boat sped away in one direction, the monster raced off in the other, swimming just below the surface. Smiling a very human-like grin, the creature let out a chuckle as it swam into the shallow waters near the shore of the loch. Slipping its head just above the surface as the sun began to set, the beast looked around. Finding itself alone, it headed toward the ruins of Castle Urquhart.

As it swam closer to shore, the beast rose out of the water and began shuffling along the silt covered loch floor. It stopped a few feet from land and stood still, allowing water to pour off its back, while looking wistfully up at the once majestic castle. The creature’s lips moved quickly in a murmured chant and it then elevated a flipper toward the rising, full moon. Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of pipe flutes and a blinding white light began to pulse forth from the creature.

When the light retreated, a beautiful young woman was now standing in the shallow water where the creature had just been. Shaking her silvery hair back over her shoulders, the lady gathered up the front of her flowing white gossamer gown in one hand and lifted it from the surface of the still water. The ethereal being moved gracefully to the edge of the shore, walking across the water’s surface without causing a ripple.

The woman was about to step onto the cool grass, when a man moved from the shadows to assist her. His hands spanning her narrow waist, the man lifted her from the loch and set her down on a gentle, grassy slope. Grinning down at the woman, he asked in a rich voice, laced with Scots brogue, “Ha’ ye been out frightening the humans again, Nessie, me love?”