From "Isle of Stumps" by Bryan R. Dennis

He felt soft sand beneath his back and heard a vast crashing of waves against shoreline. By some stroke of cruel misfortune, he’d made it to land. If only he’d died, erasing his wretched identity. His body remained cold and numb, but to his amazement, he was free from his restraints. The raft lay nowhere in sight. He sat up and his head swam. He fell back down; waited for his head to clear, for feeling to return to his extremities. On the second attempt he managed to remain upright. The white-sanded beach, sparkling in the moonlight, crawled with crabs and sand hoppers. The beach sloped up past him. It ended at a forest of dark palm trees and sprawling plants. 

 What was this place?

 He inspected the sand around him. He found it covered in countless footprints of different sizes. The footprints led away from his position on the beach and into the forest. But there was something strange about the prints. When he peered closer he realized they were not footprints after all. In fact, he couldn’t discern even a single footprint.

They were handprints.

 

From "The Fall Guy" by Simon Wood

Todd glanced at the headline: DRUG DEALER BUSTED DURING ROUTINE TRAFFIC STOP.

“The car you hit belongs to an employee of mine. Driving home the other night, he was pulled over for a busted headlight. The cops discovered two kilos of cocaine in his possession. He’s in a lot of trouble and I’m minus an employee, not to mention a lot of money. Do you see now? Do you see what you’ve done and why it has led us to your door?”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s not important.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to know. But I’ve lost a valuable employee who had a job to do. Now he can’t do it. This is where you come in.” The small man stabbed a finger in Todd’s direction.

Todd’s stomach twitched. He didn’t like what was coming. He knew it was retribution for what he’d done, but it wasn’t the kind he wanted. Points on his license and a fine he could accept. He’d even take a beating. But the small man’s kind of retribution filled Todd with dread.

“Me?” Todd stammered.

“Yes. You’ll have to fill in.”