They left Jack in charge of the women. Nicole thought Chester deserved
a vacation. Even prophets needed a break every now and again. Chester liked the
beach. So she arranged this weekend for the four of them, parents and children.
Not the most romantic getaway but they didn't trust Jack that much yet.
As soon as they arrived, Chester insisted on heading to the water.
Nicole knew he would, it was still warm enough to swim. She barely convinced
him to wait while she checked them in and gave the bags to a bellhop. Their
clothes would be waiting when they reached in the room later.
Chester's impatience to reach the surf left Nicole carrying their
infant son and holding the hand of their daughter as they followed the man of
the house to the sand. Nicole had
forgotten the sign. With only two left and things proceeding so well her mind
refused it on instinct. She had a moment to wonder, was this how the
unbelievers felt when confronted with the harsh reality that would bring
paradise? If so she could pity them but not understand.
The waves boiled with crabs, king crab that had no place in this
particular section of the planet. Nicole slipped to her knees with tears
sliding down her cheeks. Her son
wriggled free and began to crawl towards the water. Her daughter knew her job
as an older sister. Until the wars came she was to protect her little brother.
Nicole simply looked upon the water. The kind of water Jesus could walk on
without a miracle. With more crabs than spray it looked solid. They skittered
over each other and rolled in just like a wave of pinchers and shells.
The smell of salt was the most tangible thing on that beach as
everything else grew surreal. Chester ran towards the waves, the crustaceans.
He stripped his clothes as he did. With every inch of skin exposed he morphed
further into a crab. Their children toddled and crawled after him, but as he
shrunk his speed lessened and theirs did
not. They quickly gained on him.
"No!" It was all Nicole could think to scream. She knew the
outcome in advance though. That was the disadvantage to prophecy.
Their son caught up to the Chester crab. He grabbed it by the claws.
Instinctively the crab snapped and pinched at its son. The boy cried out in
pain and gripped tighter, pulling until those claws ripped free with a sound
too like rending flesh. The boy lifted the crab, not yet done with his angry
vengeance. He brought it's back down on a hard rock, shattering its body and
spreading the meat and life across the sand.
Meat that the daughter picked up happily. She raised it to her lips and
tasted the transformed flesh of the father, of her first god. She declared
through a smile too young to be sadistic but with all the signs of such,
"Daddy nummy!"
Nicole fainted.
#shortstory #novel #author #writing #writer
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