Quicksand

It was a muggy July day, somewhere between fog and rain, even at the beach. James felt he was swimming through a haze of water droplets, and all he could see was the moist sand stretching out towards the sea, somewhere under the blanket of mist.

The sand squelched as he walked, seawater tricking into his sandals. He enjoyed walking along the beach, even in this sauna-like weather. It was lucky that he knew his way about, with the quicksand and –

Something darted, on the edge of his vision. A small shape. A dog? No, too big and too slow. A child? Out on the quicksand?

Then, the screaming started. ‘Help, help!’ A ragged hysterical voice that cut into his spine and made his stomach lurch. He walked carefully towards the sea, in the direction of the voice.

It seemed to come from all around, the mist closing in on all sides. His foot sunk into the sand. Need to be careful. His leg plunged in to his knee. Fuck! Sweat beaded his forehead, mingling with the droplets of mist.

He couldn’t hear the screaming anymore, but he carried on anyway. After a couple of knee deep steps, he slid in down to mid-thigh.

‘Help!’ The fog muffled his voice. No use shouting, no one will hear me. No idiots are out in this weather anyway.

He turned around gradually, heart pounding in his chest, expecting the next movement to suck him in to his waist, fighting to retain his balance. If I fall in, I’m a dead man.

But he managed it. After wading around in a circle, he was facing the way he had come.

He could see a rock ahead and pulled his leg out of the quicksand, with a loud sucking noise. After a few staggering steps, the watery mush was up to his knees again.

James was nearly at the rock when he stumbled. At first he lay there in the knee-deep, quicksand, in shock, as his chest and elbows slowly sunk beneath the sand.

Then he felt it again. Hands, around his ankle. Small hands, childlike hands.

The hands pulled viciously, and dragged him towards the sea. He managed to scream once, arms flailing in panic, before the quicksand engulfed him and filled his lungs. The watery sand closed over his head, the mist closed in above, and all was quiet.

Does what it says on the tin! I hate those sorts of days by the seaside, when it is muggy and foggy and constant drizzle. Also saw some kids ankle-deep in quicksand a few months ago, and pulled them to dry land on a boogie board!