Quicky Sanders Collection - Quicksand Fans (2024)

Quicky Sanders is my OC, created to spotlight quicksand perils with the detective/reporter in distress trope. I've done a few illustrations and updated old ones. To save the space, I'll be put the illustrations (and stories) here. They (and my other illustrations/stories) can be see on my DeviantART page.

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Caught on Camera - A collaboration with Aiko

"Isn't it strange?" Victoria asked. "That all witnesses just...disappear?"

"Not at all," Sanders replied. "These aren't your everyday crooks. It's organised crime. Corruption runs deep. You saw them - Gustavo, the commissioner, the money. If they want someone to disappear, they'll make it happen."

"Aren't you afraid that you'll be one of them?" the young intern asked.

"Not today," Sanders replied confidently, tapping her camera. "We have the photos, and no one saw us. We just need to head back to the car, put the photos in the public domain, and we've cracked this case wide open."

Unfortunately, this was not so easy. They had trekked far into the remote forest well off the beaten path, and after half an hour of walking, they had no idea where the car was. They reached a break in the vegetation and, to their relief, they spotted the lake. The car was a short walk from here. Except that they had approached from the opposite side of the lake.

"Wow, we must have gotten really lost," said Victoria. "How do we get to the other side? We can't swim across, obviously."

Sanders looked around. They could turn back, but this would add another hour to their walk, possibly getting lost again and being stranded in the woods by nightfall. Victoria pointed to the lake shore - a wide, flat expanse of sand that stretched around the water in a more direct route to their destination. If they could follow that, they would get back to the car in fifteen minutes. This was their best option. As they crossed the shore, they noted how perfectly smooth the sand was. It was a welcome change to the rugged terrain they had to navigate through earlier. They also noticed that it was a bit damp in some spots, probably due to the proximity to the water. The sand sucked against the soles of their shoes, making it a bit awkward to walk across and getting their footwear muddy. They briefly considered turning back to avoid the mud, but they were already across most of the sand, so they decided to press on.

Then, suddenly, the sand opened up. Victoria was stunned to see that she up to her ankles in the sticky sediment, and her feet didn't budge. "Ugh!" she grunted. "My feet are stuck. I can't get them out." Sanders was in the same situation, trying to wriggle and pull her legs free. The placid surface shimmered and rippled as the two women struggled without success.

"Wait, Vicky, stop..." Sanders cautioned. She been distracted with her feet and only just realised that they were standing in a wide open sand flat that was moving all around them, liquefying, growing softer. "Vicky, don't move! We're in deep trouble!"

Victoria froze, recognising the urgency in Sanders' voice. "We're standing in...quicksand!"

They both stopped struggling and now stood as still as they could, like two statues by the lake shore. But even this wouldn't help them. Their movements had agitated the unstable sand. The surface sagged under their weight, and their legs began to slip into the sucking quicksand. They plunged to their knees, windmilling their arms as they fought to keep their balance, but the quicksand kept on pulling them down.

"We're sinking!" Victoria yelled. "We're sinking!"

"Shh! The gang might hear us..." Sanders said, voice shaking. Even though she didn't want to be caught, she also didn't want to die in the quicksand. She looked around for anything to reach. Unfortunately, they had blundered right into the middle of the quicksand. The whole shore was a quaking death trap!

There was a glimmer of hope. In front of her was a rock jutting out of the sand - perhaps a sign that there was something solid beneath it. It was just out of reach. Her camera! She had a long lens, and the strap might be enough to snag the rock. Removing it from her neck, she flung it towards the rock, but it fell short. She began to wind up for another toss when she felt Victoria tugging at her shirt.

"Sanders! Help!" she cried. "It's REALLY soft here!"

Sanders looked back at her intern with alarm. While Sanders had sunk to her thighs, Victoria was already up to her chest in the shifting sand and sinking quickly. "Hold on!" Sanders yelled. She attempted another throw, but the strap slid off the rock face. But she knew that she could make the distance if she could lean forward a bit more. The sand wasn't letting her go easily though. Holding her tightly by her hips, she could barely shift her weight. One more attempt was all she needed. She flicked the camera, seeing the strap reach for the rock.

Then it all went wrong.

The quicksand bulged and opened up without warning, sucking her down to her waist and throwing her forward. At the same time, Victoria dropped down to her shoulders. She desperately yanked on Sanders' shirt, ripping it open and pulling her back and down. Sanders lost her grip on the lens and the camera flew out of her hand, landing in the quicksand by the rock.

"NO!" she shouted. "The photos! That's all the evidence!"

"Forget the camera!" Victoria yelled.

The feeling of the quicksand pushing up against her breasts caused Sanders to snap back to reality. Their shortcut across the lake shore led them into a sea of unforgiving quicksand, relentlessly swallowing the two women. Victoria whimpered as the sand climbed over her shoulders. Sanders would soon join her if she didn't act fast. She had to reach the rock, but she could no longer reach her camera. As the quicksand soaked into her bra, she had an idea.

"Vicky, just do what I say," she said. "Take off your top."

"What?" Vicky asked.

"Just do it! I need to make a rope."

"I can't! My arms are stuck!" She was up to her neck now.

Sanders focused on the distance she had to cover. She needed more length. She looked down at the quicksand oozing around her breasts. She reached behind her back and unhooked her bra...

Was her plan going to work? Or was it too late for the two reporters? Would her camera record their final moments?