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    Hazel Haven 1: Of Pirates & Castaways
    Hazel Haven 1: Of Pirates & Castaways
    Hazel Haven 1: Of Pirates & Castaways
    Ebook103 pages1 hour

    Hazel Haven 1: Of Pirates & Castaways

    By Clark Nielsen

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    About this ebook

    Hazel Haven is a small, tropical island in a world where humans and monsters live together. But for Heather, Hazel Haven is boring. Craving the life of an adventurer, she sets sail across the ocean, only for things to go from bad to worse. She is attacked by pirates, breaks her leg, and becomes stranded on a foreign island... and that's just in her first few days at sea! Clearly, she was a little too eager to leave home, but there's no turning back now.

    Of Pirates & Castaways is the first book in the Hazel Haven trilogy. The series is a labor of love that combines the quirky characters and over-the-top fights of Japanese anime with a Western sense of humor and pacing. Inspired by stories like One Piece and Ranma 1/2, this lighthearted tale of islands, monsters, pirates, and castaways is a fun read for all ages.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherClark Nielsen
    Release dateSep 20, 2014
    ISBN9781310235399
    Hazel Haven 1: Of Pirates & Castaways
    Author

    Clark Nielsen

    Clark Nielsen is an American-born author, teacher, and web/game developer who's been writing stories since he was six years old. On the non-fiction side, his influences include David Sedaris and Bill Bryson. But when he's writing sci-fi or fantasy, he turns to Jack Vance and Eiichiro Oda.

    Read more from Clark Nielsen

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      Book preview

      Hazel Haven 1 - Clark Nielsen

      HAZEL HAVEN 1

      Of Pirates & Castaways

      by

      Clark Nielsen

      Copyright 2014 Clark Nielsen

      Cover illustration by Mandeep Choudhury

      Smashwords Edition

      PART 1

      The city center of Hazel Haven is a quaint, old-fashioned shop district, though this early in the morning, nobody is out yet. In the middle of the cobblestoned circle is a dried-up, weed-infested well. Four roads lead away from the center and into the residential districts. Beyond them lies the dense forest that makes up the bulk of the island.

      After several minutes of calmness, a loud clicking can be heard. It’s the sound of wooden, box-shaped shoes clomping down the streets. The shoes belong to Heather. She is a young, fair-skinned woman wearing a sleeveless blouse and skirt, both dark gray in color. Her hair is long and blue. A magnifying lens strapped over her right eye makes it appear much larger than normal. She also carries a large, empty sack slung over her shoulder. Heather approaches the well in the center of the city and stops, looking around disappointedly. Sighing, she tosses the bag to the ground and sits against the well.

      The well, as it happens, makes for a nice symbol of the island as a whole. Hazel Haven is a circular land mass with a large lake located right in the middle. A single town resides on the island, just to the east of the lake. The only other sign of life in the island’s thick forests is a small hut sitting on top of a hill in the west.

      As Heather glumly watches, the inhabitants of the island—all much more tan than her—begin pouring into the city center to open shop. Heather observes a particular shopkeeper as he unlocks the door to his building and slips inside. Heather immediately picks up her bag and follows the man.

      Inside, the store’s shelves are stocked with small hardware goods. The shopkeeper is already situated behind the counter, organizing the mess he’d left from the day before. He notices Heather but doesn’t seem to care that she’s there. Heather approaches the counter and slaps the bag down in front of the man. She pulls from her pocket a piece of paper and hands it to the shopkeeper. He looks it over, then grunts disapprovingly.

      This is from Skinner, isn’t it, he says.

      How do you know? Heather asks.

      It’s got his name on it, the shopkeeper replies, handing the paper back. I won’t fill this.

      It’s only a few things, Heather protests. Seeing that he’s not going to budge, she adds, I’ll get you some sneef pollen.

      Huh?

      One pouch of pollen for the list. Deal?

      She holds the list out for him. He takes it and smiles.

      The forest outside of town is thick and full of unusual and scary wildlife. On a small branch, a grotesque bug crawls towards a swaying leaf. As soon as the bug bites into the leaf, the leaf shakes to life, becoming the end of a long tail that belongs to a fat, plus-sized mosquito. The mosquito flies off with the bug attached to its decoy tail. They pass by a sneef on the ground. The sneef is a short, fuzzy, pink creature with two large, rabbit-like feet. Antennae sprout from its head with large puff balls attached to the ends. The sneef starts barking like a dog at the mosquito and tries to jump up to catch it.

      Suddenly, a hand appears and grabs the sneef by the ankle. The sneef barks even more wildly. Heather brings the sneef to her face and examines it, somewhat pleased by how angry she’s made the animal. She then kneels down, opens up a small pouch, and shakes pollen from the sneef’s antennae into the bag. She puts the sneef back on the ground. The creature again barks furiously at her. Heather fakes like she is going to kick it, which sends the sneef running off in a cloud of its own pollen.

      Later in the day, Heather makes her way to the top of the hill where the lone hut sits. She has her bag—now full of goods from the store—hefted onto her shoulder. The blue-haired girl approaches the house, which is nothing more than a crude shack built on stilts. She passes a large garden that has been planted on the hill, climbs the stairs to the door, and goes inside without knocking.

      The interior of the house is small, crowded, and cluttered with tools and random crafts. Her friend, Skinner, slouches at a table under a window, eating a plate full of vegetables. Skinner is a short, green, hairy monster. A large, craggy horn sticks out the top of his head. He wears blue, hand-sewn pants and hand-crafted, orange glasses. His countenance is very ornery, and he doesn’t pay much attention to Heather when she comes in. Heather heaves the bag onto the table, disrupting Skinner’s meal. Skinner takes the bag and rummages through it. Heather steals a piece of food from his plate, leans against a cupboard, and eats nonchalantly.

      Where’s the glue… Skinner says.

      You didn’t ask for any.

      Skinner throws the bag aside. I didn’t ask for any?!

      It wasn’t on the list.

      She hands him the paper. Skinner grumbles, scrunches the paper up, and throws it on the floor. He goes back to eating, indifferently.

      After a moment of silence, Heather says, Thank you.

      You’re welcome, Skinner says in between bites.

      Heather rolls her eyes, clears off a chair, sits down, and props her feet up on the table. Skinner glares at her shoes.

      What’s that smell…

      Sneef pollen, Heather says.

      She clicks her wooden shoes together, shaking off bits of pollen still stuck to them. Skinner swipes Heather’s feet off the table, then resumes grumpily eating. Heather leans over the table, grabs a vegetable from Skinner’s plate, and nibbles on it. Skinner continues to glare at her.

      Mmmmm. Are these from today? Heather asks.

      Skinner grabs the vegetable from her and puts the rest of it in his mouth. Not deterred, Heather takes another from his plate. Skinner picks up a mug, takes a huge gulp from it, then loudly slams the cup down on the table.

      If I wanted you to eat my food, I would have said, ‘Heather, please, have something to eat,’ but I didn’t! So don’t!

      You’re more ungrateful today than usual…

      Ungrateful?! I specifically asked for glue! And where is it? Up your butt? ‘Cause if it’s up your butt, I… then… it’s… you…

      Don’t know how to finish that insult, do you…

      Skinner ignores this and goes back to eating. They sit in silence for a while.

      You know, I don’t have to do this for you, Heather finally says.

      What, are you quitting? Leaving?!

      "I could. I should."

      You would. Ha! But you won’t.

      That… doesn’t make any sense.

      Skinner becomes defensive, You know I can’t go get that stuff myself!

      "I don’t see how that’s my problem."

      You’re a human!

      So…?

      So you owe it to me.

      "I owe it to you?! She stands and, grabbing one more piece of food, proclaims, I don’t owe you anything."

      And with that, she leaves, marching out of the house, down the hill, and into the forest below.

      Back in town, another monster, Bean, is hard at work, painting the side of a house. Well, he’s painting it the best he can, considering one of his

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