Dinosaurs, a hidden civilization, and aliens bent on destruction were never part of sixteen-year-old, Casey Smith’s vacation plans. That is, until a freak storm tossed her and two best friends, Mike and Jack, out to sea. Shipwrecked on a mysterious tropical island, they must find a way to survive…and save planet earth.
Intrigued, yet doubting her sanity, this island isn’t like anything Casey’s ever seen before. She knows her hopes of rescue from what she first presumed to be ‘paradise’ will, in turn, be wrought with danger. While attempting to find a way home, the trio is split up when Jack is abducted. When she and Mike stumble upon a glass city in the jungle, Casey learns that they washed up smack in the middle of a prehistoric wildlife animal preserve. Shocking enough on its own, she also learns they’re not even on an island at all. Instead, they are inside the earth where a thriving civilization has been kept hidden for thousands of years. Casey begs the Agarthaians to launch a search-and-rescue mission for Jack, but there are more urgent problems. A rebel group of Greys plan to take over the planet and vaporize every living thing in less than twelve hours. Agarthaian scientists devise a brilliant plan to stop the Greys, but it will entail Casey and Mike traveling into space and boarding the very same mothership that has taken Jack prisoner. It is a race against time and the stakes are high.
How can a girl from California think she can rescue her best friend and save the world, when all she ever had to do was worry about improving her school grades, learning to drive, and not falling in love with Mike?
Trapped In The Hollow Earth is a 85,000-word young adult fantasy.
******
Chapter One: Raging Storm
The fishing line screamed out of the aluminum casting reel as a giant yellowfin tuna stole the hook, line, and almost Casey right off the deck of her parent’s fifty-foot sailboat.
Powerful deck lights mounted high above her illuminated the green water of the Pacific ocean. Night fishing under a sky full of shining stars was one of Casey’s favorite things to do while on vacation. She hauled back on the pole, bending it nearly double. This tug-of-war had been going on for well over an hour and her muscles ached from the strain. “I plan on going for a dip, but NOT right now!” Beads of sweat trickled down her face. She peeked up at her father. “Are you sure I didn’t catch a submarine?”
He chuckled as he secured his hands above hers on the pole. “Good job. Told you coming out here at two a.m. would pay off.”
She snorted and pulled at the rod, trying to free her hands from his. She wanted to do this on her own. “No, Dad. I can do it.”
“Honey, you need some help. These tunas fight harder than a boxer trying to win a heavyweight championship.”
In a circle of light cast by the boat, the sea pitched and churned like a pan of boiling water. Silver flashed. The fish broke the surface in a clatter of spray, thrashed its head, and danced on its yellow tail. Casey could now see its characteristic streamlined body.
Intrigued, yet doubting her sanity, this island isn’t like anything Casey’s ever seen before. She knows her hopes of rescue from what she first presumed to be ‘paradise’ will, in turn, be wrought with danger. While attempting to find a way home, the trio is split up when Jack is abducted. When she and Mike stumble upon a glass city in the jungle, Casey learns that they washed up smack in the middle of a prehistoric wildlife animal preserve. Shocking enough on its own, she also learns they’re not even on an island at all. Instead, they are inside the earth where a thriving civilization has been kept hidden for thousands of years. Casey begs the Agarthaians to launch a search-and-rescue mission for Jack, but there are more urgent problems. A rebel group of Greys plan to take over the planet and vaporize every living thing in less than twelve hours. Agarthaian scientists devise a brilliant plan to stop the Greys, but it will entail Casey and Mike traveling into space and boarding the very same mothership that has taken Jack prisoner. It is a race against time and the stakes are high.
How can a girl from California think she can rescue her best friend and save the world, when all she ever had to do was worry about improving her school grades, learning to drive, and not falling in love with Mike?
Trapped In The Hollow Earth is a 85,000-word young adult fantasy.
******
Chapter One: Raging Storm
The fishing line screamed out of the aluminum casting reel as a giant yellowfin tuna stole the hook, line, and almost Casey right off the deck of her parent’s fifty-foot sailboat.
Powerful deck lights mounted high above her illuminated the green water of the Pacific ocean. Night fishing under a sky full of shining stars was one of Casey’s favorite things to do while on vacation. She hauled back on the pole, bending it nearly double. This tug-of-war had been going on for well over an hour and her muscles ached from the strain. “I plan on going for a dip, but NOT right now!” Beads of sweat trickled down her face. She peeked up at her father. “Are you sure I didn’t catch a submarine?”
He chuckled as he secured his hands above hers on the pole. “Good job. Told you coming out here at two a.m. would pay off.”
She snorted and pulled at the rod, trying to free her hands from his. She wanted to do this on her own. “No, Dad. I can do it.”
“Honey, you need some help. These tunas fight harder than a boxer trying to win a heavyweight championship.”
In a circle of light cast by the boat, the sea pitched and churned like a pan of boiling water. Silver flashed. The fish broke the surface in a clatter of spray, thrashed its head, and danced on its yellow tail. Casey could now see its characteristic streamlined body.
