Haasbroek Five Sahara Short Stories

A Collection of Gripping Tales of Love, Survival, and Adventure in the Sahara Desert.
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-7764911-7-9
Verlag: Pieter Haasbroek
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 107 Seiten

The Sahara doesn't just claim lives.

It forges legends in fire and blood.

For those who dare to face its wrath, survival is only the beginning.

In the heart of the blistering Sahara Desert, five epic tales of survival unfold. A seasoned guide must use an ancient trick to save his clients from a sandstorm powerful enough to strip flesh from bone. A desperate engineer, dying of thirst, stumbles into an abandoned fort and discovers not water, but a beautiful woman with a knife and a story of her own.

A small garrison of French Foreign Legionnaires, outnumbered thirty to one, prepares for a brutal last stand against an overwhelming horde. A pair of lovers, having just escaped one peril, find a mysterious camel carrying a priceless golden cross, drawing them into the path of cunning thieves and a lost city. Finally, an archaeologist and his daughter unlock a secret temple, only to be trapped inside with a colossal treasure and an escape route that demands a terrifying leap of faith.

This collection of five thrilling pulp adventures is a relentless ride through sun-scorched dunes and deadly oases. Perfect for fans of classic action, high-stakes adventure, and stories where heroes are pushed to their absolute limit.

Fans of pulp, action, and survival will love this thrilling collection, Five Sahara Short Stories. Start your Sahara adventure today!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Haasbroek, Pieter

Weitere Mitwirkende

Haasbroek, Pieter

AI,

Ai

Leseproben

FIVE SAHARA SHORT STORIES

Story One

SANDSTORM IN THE SAHARA DESERT

It is the year 1905 and eleven camels are walking neatly in line, one after the other, across the vast Sahara desert. On the back of the front camel sits Dirk Lubbe lazily daydreaming. This is the last time he will act as a guide for tourists who want to get to know the Sahara better. Over the past ten years, he has already made a tidy sum of money by acting as a guide for tourists. He rightly considers himself the best guide in the whole world to teach people about the Sahara, and there is probably nothing he does not know about the insects, animals, the desert itself and its history.

However, this all comes at a price, and therefore he asks double what his closest competition asks for the same work. Despite this, his diary remains full of bookings because his name is well known, and his clients know that they get value for every cent they pay. For now, he has had enough of the dangers and the terrible heat of the desert. After this last tour, he will take his money and buy himself a place somewhere in Switzerland, where it is at least much cooler than here.

Then he suddenly wakes up from his daydreams as a gust of wind almost blows his hat off his head. He looks around and notices here and there a whirlwind picking up loose grains of sand and then settling down again. One of the whirls catches his hot face for a brief moment and cools it down slightly. Since he got up this morning, he has observed that the air looks different from usual. The sun is not quite a bright, boiling ball of fire, and the air pressure is more than usual. The camels also seem restless, and it is as if the whole desert is waiting for something big to happen.

Dirk turns around in his saddle and looks back, where his ten clients are coming on their camels. There are five women and five men, and they still look relatively fresh at this time of the morning because it is still reasonably cool now. Soon, however, the sun will burn fiercely over the desert and the mercury can then climb quickly to fifty degrees Celsius and even more. Together with the extremely dry air, it seems to suck the moisture out of a person's body, and you have to drink water frequently to prevent dehydrating quickly. The scorching heat and extremely dry air will make it feel like an oven in which they are moving, but on their third day in the desert, the tourists already know what they can expect soon.

From experience, Dirk knows that in this desert one can survive at most one day without water and two days if you are very lucky. Due to the scarce vegetation and dry air, the night also cools down rapidly and temperatures can then turn very close to zero degrees. Strong winds can change the dunes that you see today in the blink of an eye so that you look out over an almost entirely new desert the next day. It is precisely one of the Sahara's properties that makes it so dangerous for inexperienced travelers. Many have already got lost and died after simply relying on the immediate surroundings. You must also use the sun, moon and stars as aids, along with years of experience and a kind of sixth sense to know which direction you need to move in. Daily water is critical here for human and animal survival, and if you miss an oasis, it can mean your end. The Sahara in all its splendor is therefore also full of dangers and only the smartest, strongest and bravest can survive here.

Dirk always makes sure in advance that he knows exactly who his clients are and what drives them to the desert, as this can prevent or later facilitate all kinds of problems. There is the male student, Stefan Bruwer, who just comes to take photos of the spectacularly beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Then there is Dorothy Snyman, an elderly lady who recently divorced from a filthy rich millionaire and decided she first had to recuperate by getting away from everyone and everything that had been intimately part of her life for years. Then there is also Peet Schutte, a freshly built bodybuilder, who regularly participates in competitions. He reckons he is strong and man enough to now also come and brave the desert. He sees potential in everything in life and wants to broaden his outlook a bit. So Dirk looks at the rest of his tour members and recalls in his mind the knowledge he has of each one. In this dangerous desert, you have to know exactly where you stand with everyone and what their strengths and weaknesses are. It may just make the difference between life and death later.

A strong gust of wind suddenly tugs at Dirk's clothes, and he struggles for a moment to get sand out of one eye. He realizes that for the last few minutes he has been finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. His clothes are almost completely soaked in sweat, despite the wind that is now gradually getting stronger and stronger. He feels slightly dizzy, and the next moment it feels again as if his head will burst open from the pressure in the air. Dirk holds his camel in and now looks around more carefully. What is happening strikes him like lightning. How could he not have realized it sooner? He should not have sat there daydreaming, he reproaches himself because they may have already lost too much time now, and it could cost them dearly. He jumps out of his camel's saddle as quick as lightning and lands neatly on his feet next to his camel. He puts his hand up in the air and calls out loudly.

"Stop your camels immediately and come to me at once!"

The power and seriousness of his words make everyone do as he says. Stefan, the student, gets such a fright because he was daydreaming, that when he tries to dismount from his camel, his one-foot gets caught on the saddle, and he tumbles properly off his camel's back. He falls head first almost cattywampus onto the sand. He stands up drunk and comes hobbling over while rubbing his head. The group of ten people now stand worriedly in front of Dirk, with their eyes wide open. They can feel that things are definitely not right.

"People," Dirk begins immediately, "our lives are in great danger. To tell the truth, mortal danger, and our chances of survival are very slim."

"What are you talking about now, Mr. Lubbe," Dorothy asks in shock, clearly visible in her eyes. "There is nothing and no one near us, and I don't see anything that poses a danger to us either. The strong wind that has picked up is troublesome indeed, but surely, it is not harmful to us?"

Dirk knows that time is short, and therefore he is not going to beat around the bush.

"A big sandstorm is on its way here. We may have half an hour before it hits us, an hour at most. No human can survive it if it is a strong sandstorm that catches you in the open like here. The strong winds that accompany such storms drive small pebbles and sand horizontally with the ground and due to the speed of it, it literally eats the clothes off your body. Where you have no protection, your skin is literally abraded layer by layer. As if that is not enough, the fine dust and sand enters your lungs and smothers you. The dry, hot air forces moisture out of your body at a high rate and once you are dehydrated, thirst can drive you insane. Such sandstorms usually last several hours, but can also continue for a few days, and the longer it lasts, the more dire your chance of survival."

It is as if the desert hears his words because the next moment a strong gust of wind hits them and almost blows them over.

"A sandstorm in the Sahara is the most feared and dangerous natural phenomenon and should not be taken lightly at all," Dirk continues quickly. "Eleven years ago I was caught in one of the Sahara's sandstorms in the middle of the desert with no shelter nearby. I was one of five out of twenty people who survived the sandstorm. That storm lasted four days, and our food and water simply ran out."

Another sudden gust of wind blows dust and sand into their eyes, and it is as if they now also become acutely aware of the change in air pressure and impending doom on its way.

"Our time is short, people," says Dirk. "Listen carefully to me now. You are going to carry out everything I tell you to the letter and there may not even be the slightest mistake made because it will cost all our lives. I hope it is clear to everyone!"

Dejected and shocked, they all just nod their heads. Not one of them, not even Dirk himself, expected misfortune to strike them now far away from the nearest oasis without any shelter. Here they are exposed and trapped in the desert, left at the mercy of nature.

"Peet," says Dirk, "go and quickly fetch me the pegs and tarpaulins that are in the rear two bags of my pack animal. I had special tarpaulins made that are tight and strong and can withstand the abrasive effect of the wind and sand, long enough, I hope. I always bring the pegs and tarpaulins with me on my tours, just in case a sandstorm hits us because maybe, just maybe, they might save our lives today. It is a tip, an old sheikh of the Tuaregs taught me after my last narrow escape in the desert sandstorm. Back then we did not have them and thus had almost nothing to protect us from the sandstorm."

While Peet goes to fetch the pegs, Dorothy asks, "Mr. Lubbe, what will become of the camels, they have no shelter at all?"

"Mrs. Snyman, camels are excellently adapted to the desert. Their thick hair protects them from the heat and cold of the desert. They also have thick eyelids and long eyelashes that provide protection against a sandstorm's blowing sand. Lastly, they can close their elongated nostrils at will to keep out sand and dust when it gets too bad. So I don't think we need to worry about them, they will take care of themselves."

When Peet puts the tarpaulins and pegs in front of Dirk, he orders...