A Temptation Myth (IP) with apologies to the Isle of Sky

When the world was young it was formed in 3 levels. Earth formed the lower level, then there was a middle strata and a heavenly strata. Inhabitants of earth, called humans, did not know much about the higher levels and told many stories about them, sometimes passing them from generation to generation. Humans called the inhabitants of the middle level angels because they knew no better. It is true that these inhabitants lived among the clouds and had human like bodies but they had no wings or halos. Their bodies were much lighter than a human body, necessarily so, as they lived in middle strata or the cloud world.

The cloud people knew that the humans called them angels and were amused. Angels had no need for any type of body being pure spirit and energy. Indeed, they had no need for a world as we know it but did occasionally congregate in one area to confer or visit with one another. These were super intelligent beings with great thoughts and opinions. Sometimes when they debated, as they did, there would be great peals of noise the humans called thunder. It was actually the agitation caused by the vibration of the so many of these beings communicating at one time each trying to out talk the other.

Now, the cloud people could look down on earth and watch the humans. They were glad they were in the clouds as earth looked very inhospitable. Humans had to hunt and gather or work very hard in order to stay alive. The cloud people thought the earth had a primitive beauty but had no wish to live there. Its terrain, by the cloud people’s way of thinking was inhospitable, deep treacherous seas and high steep mountains that were difficult to climb. Its temperatures could be very hot or very cold, too extreme for the cloud people. No, they preferred their own land of soft clouds which did have towering columns of clouds occasionally but over all was a very soft, comfortable environment. Being so light they could drift from cloud to cloud, floating over a sky stream or drift up a column of clouds and look down on their cloud land.

As is it is today, clouds also came in several colours back then. White and grey clouds were the terrain. But when the pinkish- peach clouds or lavender clouds formed, they were the food and drink for the cloud people. These clouds usually came in the evening or sometimes in the morning but did not form every day. Sometimes the cloud people had to wait several days for their sustenance. Some cloud people got very hungry waiting for the sustenance clouds and were tempted to eat the terrain clouds. Ekans was one of these.

Ekans was the son of Tnepres, and he had been cosseted all his life by his doting parents. Sustenance clouds had not formed for several days and Ekans was hungry. He was lounging on a far cloud among lots of sky streams, as cloud people are apt to do when they are listless. Along came Detpmet, his girl friend to lounge beside him. She, too, was hungry and listless. As they lay on the clouds, Ekans pulled a handful of grey cloud to him and looked at it. “I am so hungry,” he said, “I could eat this terrain cloud.” He put it to his mouth and took a small bite. Detpmet watched in horror expecting something terrible to happen. Ekans also expected something terrible to happen. He had always been told it was taboo to eat a terrain cloud, now he believed he had been lied to. He ate more and offered Detpmet some. At first she refused but Ekans tempted her saying how good it was and how she needed sustenance also. “See,” he said as he continued to eat, “Nothing bad is happening.” Eventually she began to eat also. They more they ate, the better they felt and the more bloated they became. Other cloud people came to see what they were doing and they began to eat terrain clouds too. In their frenzy of eating, none noticed that the terrain clouds were becoming less and less until all of a sudden there was not enough terrain under them and they all fell to earth causing some wet sky stream to go with them. Cloud people and droplets of water littered the ground. Stunned they lay there for a while until gathering their wits and getting to their feet. They were so heavy, they could no longer float. They were all greatly distressed and had no idea what to do. Detpmet saw a rise that seemed to disappear into some clouds they decided that they would all go to the rise and get back into the clouds. Alas, this was not to be. No matter how far they climbed the clouds would not take them back and they were forced to live on earth forever. They tried to warn other cloud people that they should not eat terrain cloud, that it was strictly taboo but they could not do that either.

So children, now you know that when you see certain grey clouds form and then droplets of water fall to earth, more cloud people have eaten terrain clouds and continue to populate the earth, and perhaps this is how the Isle of Skye came to be.