· International edition Newsletter
storyriver

Real stories, told every day

World/Puerto Rico

He took a photo of his wife on the beach… and he couldn’t believe it

Carmen and Rafael, from Puerto Rico, were expecting their first child. The pregnancy was approaching its final month, and the parents-to-be were trying to spend as much time together as possible, enjoying quiet walks and sunsets by the sea.

By storyriver news desk 2 min read

Illustration: a quiet beach at sunset, with a small scorpion half-hidden in the sand in the foreground. No people.
Illustration: storyriver

On one of those warm evenings, Rafael took out his camera. He wanted to capture his wife’s smile, her happy face and the tenderness of that moment of anticipation. Carmen sat down on the sand, adjusted her dress and posed for the camera. Everything seemed peaceful.

The photo shoot ended quickly and the couple returned home.

A dark shape in the sand

It was only later, when looking through the pictures, that Rafael noticed something strange.

In one of the photos, very close to Carmen, a dark shape was clearly visible in the sand.

Looking closer, he realised it was a scorpion.

A scorpion on the move. Video: Andreas Tsantakis / YouTube. Filmed on Gavdos, Greece; not footage from Carmen and Rafael’s photo shoot.

The scorpion was just a few inches away from his wife’s hand.

Rafael imagined what might have happened if Carmen had lowered her hand a little further or accidentally brushed against the sand beside her.

A scorpion sting can be painful and, depending on the species, dangerous. During pregnancy, it was not a risk either of them would ever have wanted to take.

Fortunately, Carmen never noticed the danger and kept posing calmly while her husband took the photos.

When Rafael showed her the picture, her face turned pale.

Both felt immense relief that everything had ended well.

From that day on, Rafael promised to be more careful and never to forget that even a familiar beach can hide unexpected dangers.