Havok Publishing

Tag - adventure

Below Challenger Deep

I dive into the water.

Bubbles explode around me, floating to the surface as water passes through my gills, replenishing the air in my lungs. The slight oceanic pressure is comforting, and I relax. It feels like home.

But Axel warned me not to go all sentimental again. We’ve only got an hour before

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A New Discovery

One can learn everything about a place and realize you know nothing when you get there.
Tatiana learns this firsthand as she scrambles through the enormous Ocotea trees of the Amazon Rainforest, trying to escape the creatures she’s awoken. She can recall the scientific names of

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Never Run from a Lion

I braced myself as the oversized Jeep conquered a particularly stubborn pothole. With eight of us crammed into three rows and no roof or doors on the vehicle, I worried I’d be jostled over the side.
My handkerchief slipped off my face,

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The Ruby Room

Book club invitation. Take one if you dare.
Lucy withdrew a folded slip of red paper from the acrylic display. How mysterious.
Hearing shuffling from behind the check-out desk, she cleared her throat. “Excuse me, I’d like to renew my library—”

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Lucky Lendur and the Pickle Jar Peril

“Look! It’s Spark Spaulding!”
Lachlan looked instead at his little sister, since one of his life goals was to avoid a repeat of last year’s “look, a flying corgi” humiliation. Angelica’s face beamed “ga-ga fangirl,” so he scanned Marine’s crowded open-air market.

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Just an Apple

Just one more step. Now nudge your glasses up to appear casual. Smile, and reach behind you…
“Oy! What are you doing, girl?”
Now run.
I tighten my fingers around the apple before darting from the stand, almost running into another seller while I do so. Why do I always have to make

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Sweet Success

“Quarantine means no going outside, old man,” the guard growled beneath his face mask. Well over six feet with a vice-like grip, he dragged me inside as his name tag bobbed in and out of my peripheral vision. Pickerman was clearly stamped in sparse utilitarian lettering.
“Just going for a walk, sonny,” I said…

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The Lady in the White Scarf

Where is she? I crouched on the roof of a flat, stone building overlooking a cobbled alley, pulling the brim of my cavalier hat closer to my nose. She promised to be here an hour ago. I rose slowly. I should get back to the zeppelin now. The crew will be wondering what happened to me.

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The Apple of Aphrodite

Well, this relic hunt sucked.
“Hurry up, Andy!” Louisa berated. “I don’t want to end up Swiss cheese because you stopped to read every footnote! I can’t hold this position forever!” She balanced on one foot, hands raised, struggling not to fall off the small pedestal and trigger whatever booby trap awaited the unworthy.

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Prairie Dragon

“Daggum scientists!” Penny growled. Hefting her skirts higher, she tore through the brome toward a cluster of cottonwoods. A raspy roar echoed across the open plain, and she glared back at said scientist. “You just had to poke the Prairie Dragon!”
“Actually, dragon is a misnomer,” Benjamin huffed, struggling to keep up.

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Somewhere Over the Rainbow Detector

Most people believe rainbows are formed by light refracting through water droplets. They’re wrong. Rainbows are ingenious GPS trackers developed by leprechauns to locate hidden treasures.
It’s time to test my newest invention and prove my hypothesis.
Astride my Harley chopper, I peer through misty rain, scanning the sky for rainbows.

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You Want-y, I Getty

“Forget deep-sea diving,” Gertrude Tesoro muttered, trying to enjoy Café Regatta’s scenic patio beside Helsinki’s Taivallahti Bay. “The hardest part of this job is getting paid.”
“Client inbound, Aunt Getty,” Cody’s voice came through her earbud.
Lars Korhonen, dressed like a CEO at a board meeting, stood out like a sore thumb among the Saturday morning coffee crowd.

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