Sandcastle

***Sandcastle*** (*Château de Sable*) is a graphic novel by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters. A group of beach-goers discover that they are trapped on a beach and are aging another year every half an hour.

## Story

Amesan emerges from among rocks, yawning, when he notices an unnamed woman begin to strip before diving into the water. He continues to walk along the rocks before looking back and seeing the woman's corpse floating in the water.

At 8:03 in the morning, Robert, Marianne, Zoe, Felix, and Elvis arrive in their van and begin walking towards the beach. On the way, Elvis licks Amesan who is sleeping on the ground. The family silently walks past him. Amesan ascends the clip but suddenly begins bleeding from his nose.

On the beach, Robert asks Marianne to not tan topless, feeling uncomfortable by Amesan, to which she teases that he's become racist. Zoe and Elvis discover the abandoned clothes of the Unnamed Woman and Felix discovers her bandana that she was wearing as she died. Elvis brings a medallion which Marianne identifies as "Our Lady of Guadeloupe" and says it wasn't with the clothes and that she gets to keep it. Robert turns to see Amesan watching them.

Charles speeds over a hill and crashes, cursing. He is reprimanded by his wife, Nathalie and her mother who warns Sophie and Louis not to copy her son-in-law. Louis asks when she'll die. His mother quickly slaps him. The group exits their vehicle and measure Louis against the beach's warning sign.

The two families notice eachother as they enter the beach, though Sophie quickly flees to listen to music. The grandma follows Louis into the water. As Sophie sits under a bush, she notices Amesan and smiles at him.

Elvis sleeps on the sand while Zoe and Felix build sandcastles. Robert notes that the sea is unusually calm. He notices that the children's bathing suits are small and teases that Marianne wants them to stay babies. She goes to check her children's bathing suits and shows that she got sizes that should be big on them. As she inspects Felix, she notices that he has grown and calls her husband over to see.

Sophie questions Amesan as to where he's from and what he's doing at the beach. He tells her that he's from Algeria, is Kabyle, and is there because he's a jeweler but can't find work. He begins to tell her that there is something wrong with the beach before they hear a scream. Amesan looks into the water to see that the grandmother and Louis have discovered the corpse of the Unnamed Woman. She pulls Louis away and calls her son in law.

Charles and Robert take off their shirts and inspect the body. They carry her back into shore and lie her on the beach. Everyone gathers, though Robert shoos off Louis, Zoe, and Felix. Charles states that he's a doctor and she's dead. Charles goes to get his cellphone so he can call the police. The grandmother throws a towel over the woman's corpse. Robert asks Amesan if he knew her, but his nose suddenly begins to bleed. Charles returns and accuses Amesan of raping and killing the woman. Sophie begins to defend him but he ignores her and helps him with his nose. He sends Sophie away with the bloody napkin. Charles orders him to stay and hold his nose while the rest of the group away. Charles phones Olivier Gaulier and tells him that he has "a lovely corpse for [him]."

Nathalie and her mother are resting under a beach umbrella. Her mother breathes weakly and Nathalie says she's going to find Charles.

Charles questions Amesan. Nathalie tries to interrupt him and tells him her mother has "taken a turn." Charles agrees to check but asks Robert to watch him. Dressed in the dead woman's clothes and, pretending to be a pirate, demands his treasure back. Robert becomes angry and pulls the woman's clothes off of him. Panicking, Marianne asks Charles if growing so rapidly is normal and begins to cry. Though he initially mocking her, he says he'll look into it once he checks on his mother in law.

As Charles walks towards his mother-in-law, he meets Henry Lascaride, Florence, and Oliver. He mistakes Oliver for an inspector sent by his friend, superintendent Gaulier. When he tells them about the dead woman, Florence and Oliver begin to leave. He stops them and says they aren't allowed to leave because the cops will be there soon. He pushes them along when Nathalie yells at him to hurry because her mother stopped breathing.

On the beach, Charles performs CPR. Oliver offers to take over, saying he's a nurse, but Charles says she's already dead. Nathalie begins sobbing and Charles holds her back, asking the group to take the kids to the other end of the beach. He consoles Nathalie, saying that he doesn't understand.

Oliver asks Felix his name and guesses that he's 10. Felix laughs and Zoe says that he's 3. Florence scolds her for lying, but she says to ask her mother. Marianne approaches and asks if they've seen her children. Oliver asks if she's joking but she appears to be panicked. Zoe says that she's in front of her, causing Marianne to cry and say that she's gotten so big. She clings to her mother and insists that she's Zoe.

Henry appears to be attempting to leave but is caught by Charles. He tries to call the same number but it now says that the number doesn't exist. He says that it doesn't make sense because, when he called the number two hours ago he "said he was sending two squad cars." Charles is confused but Henry Lascaride insits on leaving and knocks Charles to the ground when he attempts to stop him.