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As the adrenaline from the holidays begins to wear off, I know you're gettin' twitchy. It's okay to admit it because I have a plan. I've heard a rumor that Lab Tech Andi is dealing out adventure that will leave you tingly all over. So when you have a chance to escape to the blue door of the shack, knock the drum beat of "Strange & Beautiful" by Aqualung and the password is "Cabin Fever". Be Safe!
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I stood there amidst a sea of unknown faces all staring at the monitors before us, flashing CANCELLED – CANCELLED – CANCELLED. My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I pulled it out to answer it, seeing Alice’s pixie face smiling back at me. I rolled my eyes.“Alice! Please tell me this was not your plan.” I nearly begged into the phone.
“Andi, calm down,” she said in a very controlled tone. “It’s all perspective, now step away from the monitors and go back to the authors. You need to mingle; I’ll call you in a little while with phase two.”
“This was only phase one???” I shouted into the speaker, but the line had already gone dead. I pressed the palm of my hands into my tired eyes, thinking about how we all ended up here.
The lab had been so unproductive lately, authors were just blinking at their screens, pecking at the keyboards like elementary school children first learning how to use a computer. It was a sad state of affairs and I wasn’t sure how to break them out of this funk. That’s when Alice and Jasper decided to come to our rescue.
They burst through the door trying to keep in as much of the heat as possible, but while Alice didn’t even pause before appearing beside my desk, Jasper looked as though he’d just run into a thick fog and couldn’t see ten inches in front of him.
“Damn, Alice! I thought you were exaggerating.” Jasper exclaimed blinking at the both of us.“Hey Baby, I warned you it would be heavy in here.” Alice responded to him. Then she turned to me, “the authors need an adventure to get inspired and blow off these post-holiday blues, so here.” She threw a very thick envelope down in front of me.
I picked up the envelope to examine it and looked up to her face, “What’s this?” I turned it over and pulled out the contents. In my hand were several tickets to San Juan, Puerto Rico. “ohmygod ohmygod OHMYGOD!” I sprang from my chair and threw my arms around her and she laughed. I knew we were all suffering a cross between cabin fever and absolute boredom, so this would be the greatest adventure ever.
“You and the authors are all flying out on the red-eye so go pack, and then Jazz and I will get you guys to the airport.”
While I ran to get my things and share the news, it didn’t even occur to me to check our route. As it turns out we would have two layovers; the first one was in Denver, CO, but the second was in Atlanta, GA, which was where I currently found myself, surrounded by a thousand other travelers all stranded in the airport by a freak ice-storm. My phone vibrated in my hand and Alice’s face lit-up my screen once more.
“So, how many phases am I going to have to be subjected to before we get to San Juan?” I asked sarcasm heavy in my voice.“Actually, I only promised you an adventure, I never said that adventure would be somewhere tropical.” She spoke gently into the phone. “So, are you ready to hear phase two?” she now sounded very excited about her plans and it made me curious.
“As long as it gets me out of the airport, I’m ready for anything.” I responded with a sigh and settled back into the seat as she told me about the resort she’d booked for us to stay in while we were here and I smiled to myself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After swapping stories with wayward travelers it made me think about our adventure. I knew Alice hadn’t been surprised by the storm, but just a simple change of scenery can change your whole perspective on things and add that little bit of spice back into your life. So this week my deals are presenting an adventure, something to shake things up and be someone bold.
The first adventure I found was not far from the resort, in a little tale called “Baggage Claim” by Sparkly Jul. It’s the end of finals and by some crazy stroke of luck Bella, Alice, and Rose find themselves the winners of a radio contest, where the prize is an all expenses paid, two week long trip to the Bahamas. Needless to say, the girls are ecstatic and are ready to begin their vacation the second they step into the lobby, except their room isn’t ready when they arrive, so they stash their bags with the desk clerk and hit the bar. Meanwhile, other guests are also checking in and storing their bags with the front desk. Hmmm… with so many bags up there, I wonder if everyone will end up with the bag they brought. And if Bella let Alice pack her bag for her, just what would be in said luggage. You’ll have to check out this fun fic to find out.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6230465
The first adventure I found was not far from the resort, in a little tale called “Baggage Claim” by Sparkly Jul. It’s the end of finals and by some crazy stroke of luck Bella, Alice, and Rose find themselves the winners of a radio contest, where the prize is an all expenses paid, two week long trip to the Bahamas. Needless to say, the girls are ecstatic and are ready to begin their vacation the second they step into the lobby, except their room isn’t ready when they arrive, so they stash their bags with the desk clerk and hit the bar. Meanwhile, other guests are also checking in and storing their bags with the front desk. Hmmm… with so many bags up there, I wonder if everyone will end up with the bag they brought. And if Bella let Alice pack her bag for her, just what would be in said luggage. You’ll have to check out this fun fic to find out.http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6230465
My next adventure is so lovely, it will simply sweep you away, titled “Tangled Up In Blue” by TxBirdie. Bella is a housewife with two adorable children and a husband who is her very best friend, but somewhere along the way, Bella lost who she was. Before the children were born, Bella wanted something amazing and passionate, but after the girls were born she was simply too tired for passion and she let her identity slowly slip away as she became someone’s wife and someone’s mother. But the embers of who she used to be are still smoldering deep within her soul, all she needs is a gentle breeze and a little bit of kindling to turn those embers into a roaring flame once more, restoring her passion and her own identity. Can a trip to a conference bring with it the spark she’s looking for? http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5945379 
My next adventure comes from one of our favorite authors and doesn’t venture too far from home. It’s a sexy little one-shot called “Vestibule Style” by feathersmmmm. Bella Swan is a successful writer for the New Yorker, but she is bored out of her mind. Living in New York should be exciting, but being successful sometimes means sacrificing your free time, ultimately one’s own excitement. But not this night, tonight she was going to live like a New Yorker and do something exciting, be what she wrote about for once. So when she stops at an ATM to get cash for her night out on the town and the lights go out, locking her in with someone else, is her exciting night over or just beginning? What if that someone else just happened to be her biggest crush from her hometown?http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5083023
My last adventure is a fast paced story, titled “Nature of Love” by drotuno. Hiking through the Appalachian Trail is a very long journey, but Bella, a photojournalist is committed to capturing it on film. Before she even begins, she finds herself unintentionally traveling with two brothers, one of them desperate to leave something that’s haunting him behind. Will he finally be able to find solace there amongst the wilderness? It doesn’t always matter the distance you’ve walked to say you’ve traveled a great journey; the journey of the heart can be a far more difficult path to travel, made all the more meaningful when you don’t have to do it alone.http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5990724
So to go with all these adventurous deals and being blind-sided by Alice, I’m recommending a little something called “What The Hell”
Ingredients
1 oz. Apricot Brandy
1 oz. Gin
1 dash Lemon juice
1 oz. dry Vermouth
Mixing Instructions
shake and then strain into a lowball glass
Until the ice melts, Tweet (FanFicDealer), Message me on Facebook, or email (fanficdealer@gmail.com) if you want to talk shop.
The deal has been made. ;)
