Beachworld
"Beachworld" is a short
science fiction story by
Stephen King, first published in
Weird Tales in
1985, and collected in the 1986
Skeleton Crew anthology. "Beachworld" concerns the marooned survivors af a starship crash struggling to maintain sanity and survive on a planet composed entirely of sand.
"Beachworld" is set in an undefined distant future. Among the few clues to the date is the passing reference that the last of the
Beach Boys died 300 years ago. After the catastrophic crash landing of a Federal spacecraft, only crew members Rand and Shapiro survive. The men stare out over the sand dunes and remark on how it is similar to a beach. Rand refuses to move from the dune he is sitting on or drink water. When help arrives they try to take Rand with them. However the sand itself prevents them from rescuing him by both wrecking the android they send and sending a hand of sand up to stop a tranquilizer dart. The ship escapes just in time with Shapiro narrowly avoiding a giant hand of sand.
