As you unearth the golden hand, instinctively your hand grips the open hand as if in a handshake. The metal feels odd. It's cold as you expect, and feels heavy, but it feels softer than you expect. As you grip it, you feel a warmth forming in the metal where your hand is gripping it. Of course, metal is a conductor, so it makes sense that your body heat is transferring to the metal, but still it botthers you. You tug at the hand trying to extract the arm from the sand, but it's way too heavy. Your tongue traces the bottom of your teeth, could this be a solid gold complete statue instead of a fragment? You'll be rich.
Then it happens.
As you grip the hand, it suddenly grips you back. You loose your grip and try to pull free, but the metal hand is holding you fast. Worse yet, the hand is pulling you down into the silty river bed.
You splash with your head just barely above water. The combination of the current and splashes causes swells to surge over your head. You gasp for air as you drop to your knees and they vanish in the sand.
You shout, "No! Help! Somebody, help me!"
Another swell drenches you leaving you gasping and sputtering.