Lost Shoes on Rannoch Moor

 

The first time I saw them, I thought to myself, ‘hello, something up here’ and I had these visions of an office worker who had had enough, who had then taken off his shoes and wandered into the wilds of Rannoch Moor. Never to be seen again.

It can be a lonely place, can Rannoch Moor. Full of pools and bogs that can pull a man down and never let him see the sky again.

As the weeks passed, I was amazed that the shoes remained there, I had thought that some wild beast might have a taken them back to their lair or home or whatever, or that some numb skull would have thrown them away.
But there they lay. A little tired and worn, perhaps, but aren’t we all?

One Spring day I decided to stop to have a bit of lunch and thought that perhaps the stone table would be a good place to do this.

So I moved the shoes over a little to give me some room, and that was when I noticed the handwritten note pushed down into the toe of the right shoe. I unfurled the paper and read it:
“These are my shoes. Once I was caught on Rannoch Moor with nothing more than my bare feet (it is a long story, don’t ask). So these shoes are for you, for whoever needs them. That’s what life is about – sharing.”

I had to smile, and you know what? I smiled all the way back home. Life wasn’t so bad after all.

bobby stevenson 2020