Vacation: A Mystery Anthology

I've been vacationing on the shores of North Carolina since I was a child - an August week filled with the same nostalgia-filled restaurants, shops, and parks. This was a year of new memories - a different month, a different town, a different beach house.

As mom and I peered up at the house at the end of the cul-de-sac, the beachfront mansion plus pool, my mom said, "It was cheaper than all of the other houses."

"You realize that's the opening line of several horror stories, right." I asked. "You rented us a haunted house didn't you?"

A tour of the house revealed several creepy features - light switches & mirrors in obscure places, doors that looked like they were part of the wall, a bulky ceiling fixture adorned with spear-like bottoms, a mysterious light inside a locked closet, and phosphorescent sand that glowed upon impact - I swear I'm not making up that sand tidbit! It does exist. Apparently it has something to do with the algae.

I waited for that moment all week - the moment when I realized we really were in a horror movie. But we're approaching the end of the week and it seems we all survived. 

So instead I've spent the week coming up with beach-themed suspense story one-liners. Each could be an opening to a different story in a vacation thriller anthology.

The beach was supposed to be private, 
but she didn't recognize the shadow looming over her.

Maybe Bloody Marys were a bad idea.

The towel hung over the banister, 
still a reminder of everything that had happened.

From the serenity of the pool, 
they hadn't a clue what was happening on the other side of the dune.

A riptide warning was in effect, 
but this wasn't the ocean pulling her by the feet.

Now your turn - any beach-themed one-liners you'd use? They can be opening lines, closing sentences, or book-blurbs.

And as I'm putting the finishing touches on this post...

a man strolls off the boardwalk and into our backyard. 

He carries a large net and wears an official-looking t-shirt. 

                     We assume he's the poolboy....  

                                                  One more night in the creepy house.