Under the Sand

Marie, an esteemed English professor at a prestigious Parisian university, had built a life of tranquility with her husband Jean, who shared her love for the Landes region where his family owned a vacation home. Their harmonious union had endured for 25 years, filled with joyful memories and tranquil getaways to the beach. One fateful day, while she basked in the sun's warm rays, Jean ventured into the waves for a swim, leaving her alone on the shore. The passing hours found him nowhere, no matter how hard she looked or called out his name. His disappearance left behind only uncertainty, with speculation swirling around whether he had succumbed to an accident or taken his own life.

As the days turned into weeks, Marie's grief refused to wane, and her psyche began to unravel like a frayed thread. The constant presence of Jean's ghostly apparition tormented her, making it impossible for her to accept his passing. It was then that she embarked on an illicit affair, simultaneously denying the reality of her husband's demise while struggling to come to terms with the void he had left behind.

The Landes police soon reached out to Marie with a somber message: a body had been discovered entangled in a fisherman's net, but its identity remained shrouded. Her friends and acquaintances grew increasingly concerned about her mental well-being, urging her to seek support from her lover. However, Marie stubbornly rebuffed his offers of comfort, insisting that he could never fill the void left by Jean.

A visit to Jean's mother, now confined to a nursing home, only added fuel to the fire of Marie's turmoil. The elder woman shared her own theories about Jean's disappearance, positing that he may have taken his own life due to boredom with their relationship or the fact that she was unable to bear him children. Marie found herself torn between these conflicting explanations.

As the mystery surrounding Jean's fate continued to unfold, Marie found herself drawn back to the Landes region, driven by a desperate need for closure. The local authorities revealed their findings: a likely drowning caused by an undertow had claimed Jean's life. However, the passage of time had rendered the body beyond recognition, necessitating the use of genetic and dental analysis to confirm his identity.

The revelation proved too much for Marie to bear, as she was forced to confront the reality of her husband's demise. The discovery of a wristwatch that matched the description she had provided to the police only served to further confound and distress her. It wasn't until she returned to the beach where Jean vanished that she believed she finally laid eyes on him once more – or so she thought, as her grief-stricken psyche played out a poignant and haunting reenactment of their final moments together.