"The Dune" is a short story that was published in the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of the U.K. literary magazine Granta, which became available on 27 October 2011.
The story was also read by Thomas Sadoski and included with the audiobook edition of "Mile 81," which was released on 10 January 2012. The story will also be included in the forthcoming collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams.
Plot[]
The Dune is set in Florida and focuses on a retired Florida Supreme Court Judge named Harvey Beecher and his lifelong obsession with a mysterious sand dune on an unnamed island a short distance off the Gulf coastline of his family's property. For some obscure reason, since he was a child and first ventured on to the island looking for supposed buried treasure, he has seen the names of people who are going to die within a month, written in the sand.
The main plot focuses on a visit of Beecher's lawyer Anthony Weyland, with whom Beecher wants to finish his last will. While drawing up the document, Beecher tells about his most recent visit to the dune and the grim recollection of his lifelong experiences with it. The name Beecher found written there during his last visit is the reason he now wants his will finished quickly, though it was not Beechers' own name like Wayland at first thinks...