Sam & Penny Short-Stories *English*

CALL OF THE WILD - Abandoned in the forest

"Yeah, let's go on an adventure. It'll be fun!" Moose shouted excitedly as he jumped out of the helicopter and gave a high five to Tom and Malcolm, who flew out on the first flight along with Helen, Ellie, Arnold and Elvis and had to wait for the rest of the team. Now the three of them shouted at each other in their typical euphoria.

"And I always thought I had something to do with animals. How can you be so positive about something like that?!" grumbled Lizzie, who was briefly straightening her clothes after jumping out of the helicopter and now, like everyone else too, putting on her backpack while Sam spoke briefly to the replacement pilot.

"The pilot gave me a compass and a map. If I'm not mistaken, we have to go in this direction," Sam then explained to his friends and colleagues as he joined them and the helicopter disappeared into the distance.

They gradually examined the map. Everyone agreed with Sam and so they shouldered their backpacks and set off. Groups quickly formed and conversations arose. Sam and Penny walked in silence at the front of the group, just listening to the chatter behind them that they couldn't really understand much of, wondering when they would all run out of energy to chat.

"Helen?" Jodie then turned to Helen after a while, both of whom brought up the rear. Helen turned to her and saw something in her face that she couldn't quite interpret.

"Are you okay? Are you having problems with your prosthesis or are you worried about the hike?" she replied immediately - the nurse in her always switched on automatically.

"No, no. Everything's fine. I...I just thought..." She took a deep breath before deciding to speak freely. "I'm still pretty new here and Ellie has already told me a lot and shown me a lot in the city, but I'm a little afraid of making a mistake now that we've all been sitting on top of each other for a week and you're here the nurse. I thought you could know about everything?!"

"Okay. What do you want to know?" Helen invited her to continue talking with a reassuring smile.

"What do I need to know so that I don't step on anyone's toes? In a figurative sense."

"Nothing really, because no one here really holds grudges. There's nothing you could say that couldn't be put to rest with a good dose of humor. We're all pretty laid back."

"Yes, I've noticed that. It's nice to work with all of you. It's fun." They walked in silence for a short while, watching the others in front of them talking or laughing. "What is this wild man thing that Moose, Tom and Malcolm are doing?"

"Oh, to be honest, I have no idea. Tom and Moose started it. I think they think real men can make it anywhere, or they're trying to get back to their roots."

"Roots? To the cavemen? They're on the right track," Jodie now smiled and Helen laughed softly as she agreed with her. "And what's that with Sam, Penny and Ben?"

"What's supposed to be there?"

"Sam and Penny seem to be very familiar with each other. When you see them like that, you might think that they are together and then they look at each other strangely, as if they didn't dare to even touch the other."

"Well, it's probably like that. Everyone can see that they're totally in love with each other, except the two of them. Or to put it correctly, they're too insecure. They trust each other blindly, but they're incapable of to confide their feelings to the other person for fear of being rejected."

"And Ben? Why does he always go after Penny so obviously, even though he should see that she only has eyes for Sam?"

"I would guess that he still thinks he has a chance as long as they aren't actually together. I honestly have no idea why Ben is so attached to Penny. I mean, I get it. Penny is very pretty, ambitious, goes her own way and is extremely talented at what she does, but there are more women who fit that description. Why doesn't Ben see that?" She answered her own question with a shrug. "When Ben came here, many women turned to look at him more than once, not just Penny."