#Fairies, #Myths, & #Magic October Spooktacular Author Spotlight Guest Post – “When the Tide Turns,” By Hugh W. Roberts

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HAPPY CREEPY HALLOWEEN!

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Today, I have a special treat for you! My friend and author, Hugh W. Roberts, has agreed to share with us a sneak peek into a creepy story that will appear in his second novel of short stories when it’s published.

Author, Hugh W. Roberts

If you don’t know Hugh, from his blog Hugh’s Views & News, you are missing one of the most beautiful people on the planet. Always gracious and a great blogger and friend, he always makes you feel good with his kind and humorous comments.

Since I’ve known Hugh, we’ve discussed quite a few pumpkin recipes. Pumpkins are native to North American, but not in the U.K. This year, Hugh surprised me. Yes, he took the plunge. He grew pumpkins!

pumpkins

Image Credit: Hugh W. Roberts

Just so you know, Hugh is also a master in writing flash fiction with endings you never expected. Take it away, Hugh!

Image credit: Pixabay.com

“When the Tide Turns”

By Hugh W. Roberts

It was the stupidest warning any of the young men had heard. ‘Don’t go on the beach. If the tide doesn’t get you, then the Sandman will.’

Coming to the end of their final year at college, the old guy in the beaten-up Ford in the car park at the beach was not going to put them off. Anyway, right there in front of them, paradise awaited.

“I thought you said high tide was 15:06,” said Alan.

“It is. I checked the website, and it said 15:06,” replied Carl.

“The tide times are different on this beach. That’s another reason why there’s nobody on it. Unpredictable the tide is,” warned the old man sat in the car.

“It doesn’t matter guys. Just look at that golden sand and sparkling sea,” shouted Ben. “Ignore the old guy, he’s probably on something. YOU ARE, AREN’T YOU, WEIRDO!”

Turning around to face the old man, Ben saw the deadliest of stares.

Image credit: Pixabay.com

“I’m warning you boys, go down on that beach, and none of you will come off it alive.”

“Yeah, OK weirdo, you just want this place to yourself,” called out Ben. “Besides, we’re kind of a bit old to believe in the Sandman. Come on guys, last one in the sea gets to raid their old man’s fridge for the beers.”

With that, Ben ran towards the sea. It wasn’t long before Alan and Carl followed him, while the old man shook his head.

***

Twenty-five minutes later, Ben was the last one to start making his way out of the sea.

“Why has nobody ever told us about this place?” asked Carl.

“Would you want to tell anyone?” asked Alan, as he dried himself. “It’s beautiful. Best swim I’ve ever had. Anyway, I think the tide is turning, so we’d better get back to our clothes. Let’s hope that weirdo in the car park has gone when we get back.”

Standing up, Carl wrapped a towel around the top half of his body to take away a slight chill. He turned around to face the beach and suddenly dropped the towel to the sand.

“Did you see that?”

“See what?” asked Alan, looking over his shoulder.

“Something over there; moving in the sand.”

“Get out of here, dude, you’re just trying to scare us,” laughed Alan, as Ben joined them.

“Seriously, something is moving in the sand,” said Carl, pointing to the area just in front of where they had undressed and left their clothes.

Looking back over his shoulder, Alan couldn’t see anything. “You’re playing games, dude.”

“No, seriously, take a look,” said Carl, as Ben flicked water droplets at him.

“Look at what?” asked Ben.

“Over there. Something is moving in the sand,” replied Carl, as he pointed towards the piles of clothes.

Image credit: Pixabay.com

“I don’t see anything, apart from sand and three piles of clothes,” laughed Ben. “Stop messing with us, dude. I didn’t see anything as I came out of the sea. Why’re you letting that weirdo of an old man get to you? Come on, I’ll race you both. Last one back to the clothes has to date and bed the Swanson twins.”

Before they knew it, Alan and Carl watched as Ben started to run towards the three piles of clothes, which were halfway up the beach.

“NO! COME BACK, THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE SAND,” screamed out Carl. However, Ben continued to run towards the piles of clothes, laughing, while calling the other two boys names.

A sudden scream from Ben filled the air when he finally reached the piles of clothes. His screams got louder as Alan and Carl watched in horror as Ben seemed to be pulled into the sand.

“HELP ME GUYS, SOMETHING’S GOT MY LEGS!” screamed Ben, before quickly disappearing.

For a few moments, Carl and Alan stood in amazement, not able to move. It was only the touch of cold water washing over his feet that made Alan speak.

“How the hell, did he do that? “You two had better not be pissing me about. BEN! YOU CAN COME OUT NOW. I’M COUNTING TO FIVE, AND IF YOU DON’T SHOW YOURSELF I’M GONNA KNOCK YOU SENSELESS, MATE!”

“Don’t walk on the sand.” begged Carl, “it’s not safe. The old man was right. There’s something in the sand.”

“We got to go, Carl. The tide’s coming in so unless you want to drown, you need to start walking now.”

With that, Alan started to walk away, while Carl tried pulling him back.

“Get off me! I swear I’ll knock you out. You two aren’t going to scare me.”

Pulling himself away from Carl, Alan started to walk towards the area where Ben had disappeared. Feeling a little scared, when he finally reached the piles of clothes, he turned around to face Carl.

Image credit: Pixabay.com

“COME ON, IT’S SAFE. THERE’S NOTHING HERE,” Alan called over to Carl.

Carl remained where he was, the water now above his ankles.

‘You’re going to drown, dude,” said Alan to himself, as he jumped up and down on the sand.

Carl remained fixed to the spot.

“Where are You B—”

It was the feel of two hands around his ankles that made Alan stop talking. However, the touch was sharp, as if somebody was rubbing sandpaper hard into his ankles.

“Argggggh,’ he screamed while looking down at his feet, which had disappeared into the sand. The last thing Alan saw before being dragged under the sand, was Carl running along the shoreline.

***

Screaming for help, Carl ran down the shoreline, not wanting to touch any part of the sand that was not under water. To his relief, he saw a large wooden walkway coming down to the shoreline and ran towards it.

Image credit: Pixabay.com

Stopping beside it, he hesitated at first, but the tide was now coming in fast, and this was his only escape. Although exhausted, he found the energy to run up the wooden walkway, making sure that his feet went nowhere near the edges. When he got to the top of the walkway, he was relieved to see two cars in the distance. One was Alan’s car, the other belonged to the old man.

Although small stones embedded themselves into his bare feet, Carl made his way quickly to the car park and only realised he was still naked when he reached the old man’s car. Winding down the driver’s window, the old man spoke.

“I told you not to go on the beach. Why didn’t you listen to me?”

“You need to get help, please,” begged Carl, “phone the police.”

“Oh, it’s too late for them,” said the old man, as he opened his car door.

In horror, Carl watched as layers and layers of sand began to fall out of the old man’s car and crawl towards him.

Nobody heard his scream.

©2017 Hugh Roberts

Meet Hugh Roberts

Hugh W. Roberts published his book of short stories, Glimpses, in December 2016.  He lives in Swansea, South Wales, in the United Kingdom.

 

Hugh gets his inspiration for writing from various avenues including writing prompts, photos, eavesdropping and while out walking his dogs, Toby and Austin. Although he was born in Wales, he has lived in various parts of the United Kingdom including London where he lived for 27 years.

 

Hugh suffers from a mild form of dyslexia but, after discovering blogging, decided not to allow the condition to stop his passion for writing. Since creating his blog ‘Hugh’s Views & News’ in February 2014, he has built up a strong following and now writes every day. Always keen to promote other bloggers, authors, and writers, Hugh enjoys the interaction blogging brings and has built up a group of on-line friends he considers as an everyday essential.

 

His short stories have become well known for the unexpected twists they contain in taking the reader up a completely different path to one they think they are on when reading one of his stories. One of the best compliments a reader can give Hugh is “I never saw that ending coming.”

 

Having now published his first volume of short stories, Hugh and is working on the next volume. A keen photographer, he also enjoys cycling, walking, reading, watching television, and enjoys relaxing most evenings with a glass of red wine.

 

Hugh shares his life with John, his civil-partner, and Toby and Austin, their Cardigan Welsh Corgis.

CONNECT WITH HUGH W. ROBERTS

Blog:  https://hughsviewsandnews.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HughRoberts05

Flipboard: https://flipboard.com/@HughWRoberts

Stumble Upon: https://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/hughroberts05

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hugh.roberts05/?hl=en

Google+: https://plus.google.com/108647661887874692677

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hugh-W.-Roberts/e/B01N40ZABP/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16123684.Hugh_W_Roberts

Happy Halloween

As part of my continuing efforts to support independent authors if you are interested in participating in my Author Spotlight – Guest Posts, I am looking for themed posts about fairies, myths, and magic. If you are an enthusiastic author and would like to be featured on my blog, please click HERE to find out more. ~Colleen~

101417_2041_ColleensBoo4.pngSleep Tight! Don’t let the bed-bugs bite! ❤

81 Comments

  3. Thanks so much for inviting me over to join you on Halloween, Colleen. Your kind invitation got a brand new story out of me.
    Be careful when visiting the beach next time, especially if the tide is about to turn.
    Happy Halloween. 🎃

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Hugh. It’s always fun spending time with you and your stories. Happy Halloween my friend. ❤️❤️❤️🎃👻

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  5. Pingback: “When the Tide Turns,” By Hugh W. Roberts – The Militant Negro™

        1. lol. When Colleen asked me to write a new story for this feature, this one took a while to come. Then, while out walking on the beach on a windy day (the beach is only a 5-minute walk away), the story came to me after I saw a man sat in a beaten up car. The sand was blowing up to the car (like a snowdrift) and I nicknamed the man The Sandman.

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  15. Pingback: #Fairies, #Myths, & #Magic October Spooktacular Author Spotlight Guest Post – “When the Tide Turns,” By Hugh W. Roberts – Hugh's Views & News

    2. Thanks, Terri. I don’t mind walking along the beach. We have great walks along the beach with our dogs. However, ever since a child, I have disliked the feel of sand on my skin when it sticks to it because of suncream or water. And the thought of sand stuck between my toes – ekk! 😱

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  23. What a treat to see Hugh here. And the perfect time of year for Hugh to poke his head out and share a new gruesome story. One thing about Hugh’s stories, he knows how to keep a reader til the very end, and still leaves us hanging. Great story Hugh. ❤ xoxo Hugs to you both.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    2. Many thanks, Debby. I was so excited when Hugh said he would write a special story for me for Halloween. He gets those twists in there just right! ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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