My Short Stories: For Young Adults

By R.H. Proenza

A collection of stories in a variety of subjects to keep you entertained: a boy suddenly finds himself the captain of his own pirate ship where he discovers a secret he can never share with anyone; a meteor is heading right for a boy's house and there's nothing he can do about it; brother and sister 'teens are left orphans after they lose their parents to an accident; a boy is fearful of the dark ocean but makes a discovery that he can never divulge for the rest of his life; a boy that is short in stature but ends up saving his friend from certain death and nabbing a dangerous robber.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Proenza
• Release date: Jun 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463265123

R.H. Proenza

I am a retired Dentist and enjoy writing as a hobby─I write for the creative FUN of writing. Other hobbies include playing the clarinet, Soprano sax and Bongos, oil painting, photography, and graphite drawing. Story ideas may occur to me spontaneously, or just by looking at a picture when it evokes a story line in my mind, and I use it as a 'seed' to grow the story.I'm a 'romantic' at heart. Love runs deep in me, and have published several romances as a result (and usually fall in LOVE with my female protagonist) mixed in with some adventure stories, and stories for Young Adults.I have done a few things in my life to include, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Mountain Rappelling Instructor, clinical lab tech, read books on Sci and romances, and hold a license as a Ham Radio operator---all of which I assume, add to the repository from which I draw some of my story ideas. I grew up reading Mad Magazine which, I’m sure, affected (distorted?) my sense of humor as well as my perspective on life. I enjoy humor, and like to laugh.I'm am most assuredly an untrained amateur but nevertheless have published five small books on Amazon and twelve on Smashbooks.com under the name of R.H. Proenza if for nothing else but my ego. I live in Georgia with my wife Sandy, a computer or two, and no pets.

Book preview

My Short Stories

By

R.H. Proenza

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PUBLISHED BY:

R.H. Proenza on Smashwords.com

Copyright © by R.H. Proenza

ISBN: 9780463265123

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These stories is mostly a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters (except for some main one) are mostly productions or the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

Your support and respect for the property of this author are appreciated.

I hope you enjoy the story and perhaps can relate to one of its characters, if only for a short while.

The Danger Below -- Pg 3

Jeremy’s Space Rock -- Pg 14

Coming Home -- Pg 21

Davy and the Pirate Ship Adventure--Pg 26

Coby’s Short Dilemma -- Pg 41

STORY SUMMARIES:

The Danger Below– a boy overcomes the fear of the ocean and makes an incredible discovery that he can’t tell anyone about.

Jeremy’s Space Rock– A boy is threatened by a meteorite falling right at his house and comes away with a once-in-a-lifetime memory.

Coming Home– Brother and sister ‘teens turn the bitterness and sadness of losing their parents in a car accident to something positive and a brighter future.

Davy and the Pirate Ship Adventure– a bookworm boy with a vivid imagination captain’s his own ship, survives a horrific ocean storm, and is given a deep secret to keep for life─or did it all really happen?

Coby’s Short Dilemma– a boy who is considered very short, discovers he can save his friend from certain death and help capture a dangerous burglar.

# 1

The Danger Below

By

R.H. Proenza

* * * * *

PUBLISHED BY:

R.H. Proenza on Smashwords

The Danger Below

(A YOUTH Story)

Revised 05/30/2019

Copyright © 2013 by R.H. Proenza

ISBN: 9781301587421

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The Danger Below

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PREFACE

Robbie Benton wiggled his toes, smiled, and dug them into the soft wet sand. At the mature age of five years old, he was very much at home in the warm waters of the Florida Keys. He had grown up here, and the ocean was like his back yard. His full body tan attested to his fondness to being more out in the sun rather than indoors.

The seashore offered many chances to explore the animals that inhabited the area. His favorites were the tiny baby crabs that he could never quite catch as they scurried down their secretive little holes in the sand. Hermit crabs were also fun to watch, but their claws looked a little more menacing than the baby ones that hid in the sand.

Part of his explorations always included shells. He was intrigued by the tiny ones for their details, especially the ones that spiraled. But a favorite shell to find was the beautiful mother-of-pearl that caught the sun’s rays and glistened in a rainbow of colors. This mirrored layer was usually on the inside of the shells. He remembered this was his mother’s favorite, too. For these special ones, he had to wade into the water and dig them up with his toes─the deeper he waded, the bigger the shells.

If he were lucky, the shell would be upside down and easy to spot. Suddenly, Robbie saw the unmistakable pink glistening of a large one in less than two feet of water. He would not let the tide wash this beauty away. As he walked toward the shell at a rapid pace, he ignored the interesting clumps of fine golden seaweed floating by that looked more like his mom’s hair. The seaweed had distracted him from the danger that lay hidden below. Without warning, his foot encountered the long, menacing spines of a sea urchin nestled between the blades of seagrass. Unable to stop his forward motion, his foot stepped on the spiny urchin.

The sharp, menacing spikes quickly penetrated the tender underside of his foot, the tip of one breaking off at the skin. The searing pain was exquisite─like he had never experienced before─ and ran up his leg almost making him pass out. It was the worst pain Robbie had ever felt. His screams were such that several adults rushed over toward the boy at the water’s edge to see what was the matter.

Later, the offending sea urchin quill had to be removed from his foot at a hospital. If that wasn’t enough,