Handy Hiding Place (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Chapter 1

Amelia visited the beach for the salty air, the sound of seagulls and waves crashing against the shore, the feeling of gritty sand beneath her feet, and watching the pink-orange sunset. Laughter could be heard in the distance, making the girl smile. She loved the evening breeze blowing through her wavy, dark mahogany hair. After closing her eyes for a moment to enjoy the wind, Amelia decided to continue walking away from the other visitors. While their joyous sounds made her happy, she also enjoyed the quiet.

When she could no longer hear the sounds of other people, Amelia sat down near the water and decided to make a little sand castle. She clumped together wet sand, digging for dry sand as well. As she dug, her fingers touched something hard with a strange texture. Curiously, she brushed sand away. Gasping, Amelia promptly stood up as she uncovered a finger. She covered her mouth in shock, glancing behind her then back at the finger. Kicking it a little, Amelia realized she had discovered a human hand.

How could this happen! Was there maybe… a whole person? Was the person dead! Well, probably. Probably dead, yeah. But how? Why? What should she do, call her parents? What would she say? Hey mom. Yeah I’m good, just dug up a dead person I think. Should she call the police? In the midst of her panic, Amelia noticed a person coming her way. Oh no, she had to hide this hand.

Walking up to Amelia was a person with hands resting in dark jean pockets, treading the sand in black white-laced shoes. A hand moved to pull the gray sweatshirt hood up, but this was when the person noticed Amelia. Quickly checking the beach for any other people, the person ran up to Amelia, who watched while trying to think of something to say.

“Can I help you?” Amelia smiled, crossing her arms in discomfort. Amelia liked to study people’s appearances. Had she not been so nervous, she might have taken a moment to admire the person’s ochre skin, their smooth black hair, or just their overall ambiguous look. However, now was not the time to admire people. Now was the time to divert attention away from a recently-discovered human hand.

“Hey, what are you doing?” the person asked suspiciously.

“What am I doing? Uh… standing.” Amelia gave a sheepish grin as the person raised an eyebrow. “Standing on the beach, that is. Looking at the water. Um, what are you doing?”

The stranger glanced down at the half-built sand castle. “That’s a cute castle.”

“Huh? Oh, thanks.”

Amelia was given a long, blank stare before being asked, “Did you see it?”

Startled, Amelia automatically glanced at the spot where she had reburied the hand. “See it? S-See what? The sand? Yeah, there’s a lot of sand here.”

Entertained, the stranger grinned. “You saw the hand.”

“What, no. I mean, what hand, what?” Amelia stuttered.

“Move,” the person sighed, crouching on the ground. Amelia complied, letting the person dig up the hand. Horrified, she watched as it was pulled out of the sand, severed from its owner.

“What are you doing!” Amelia screeched. Then she realized that there was no blood, no stains. It was plastic, and the stranger was laughing.