Sam & Penny Short-Stories *English*

CALL OF THE WILD - Every beginning is hard

When Sam woke up, Penny was already sitting by the fire heating water. Twilight was just breaking over them and he could only explain his early awakening by the fact that he hadn't slept well on the uneven ground.

"Good morning," he greeted her quietly after peeling himself out of his sleeping bag and walking over to her and she greeted him back with a smile. "Why are you up already? Have you been jogging yet?"

"I don't really feel like jogging. I think we get enough exercise with the 33 kilometers we have to do every day. Still, I have my habits and I thought, if I'm up so early, I can boil water for everyone to clean up and then for the march."

"Forward-looking as always. I think we can end the march with this. It couldn't be more team-oriented," Sam joked with a grin and Penny laughed quietly.

"Wait a while. I think the team will be very divided," she then objected seriously again.

"Why?"

"Don't you see how uninterested some people are in this tour?"

"Honestly, Pen. I don't think anyone really understands the point of it. We've always been a good team. Nobody really wants to do it."

"No, that's true, but this very dissatisfaction will make it more difficult in a few days," she replied and he looked at her questioningly, silently asking her to explain it to him. "The further we go, the more annoyed we get. They will all be in pain from running, they will be sleepy because they are all sleeping restlessly on the hard ground and we don't really have much with us to make our menu varied and, above all, to keep everyone full. All of this will lead us to getting annoyed with each other very quickly and it could lead to arguments."

"Are you secretly taking a course in psychology or counseling?"

"Neither. I'm just a keen observer...and a secret jungle camp fan." Sam raised an eyebrow in surprise before he couldn't help but laugh softly. He really hadn't known that about her.

"We'll rock it. We're the haven of peace at the station and we'll manage it here too," he said reassuringly, while Penny offered him a pot of water, which he gratefully accepted so he could go cleaning himself up. He was looking forward to the fresh taste in his mouth after brushing his teeth. "But just between you and me: I like the exams the best," he then whispered to her, to show her that her preference for the jungle camp wasn't hers alone.

"Then I'm curious to see what our Mr. Jones will have eaten by the end of the week," she teased him with a grin and he shook himself briefly at the thought before he went to wash himself.

The breakfast was meager. Everyone had a bag of flour in their backpack, but no one had eggs, sugar or even a little salt, so they mixed together a dough from the first pack and a half of flour and the boiled water, which they baked into pencakes in the pots. They tasted bland, but at least they filled them up. No one liked the prospect of starting every morning like this for the next seven days, but they had no choice. Moose, however, suggested that everyone keep an eye out on their march for berries. It would at least make breakfast the next morning a little tastier and give them a few important vitamins to boot.

However, just an hour later, their hike ended again at a very high rock face and a careful look in every direction showed them that they would not be able to get around it without losing a lot of time.

"I doubt anyone has checked whether this area is actually walkable and safe. I'd bet Boyce just tapped on the map with his eyes closed within a 150 mile radius," Ben muttered sullenly now.

"I can imagine that very well," Penny confirmed his suspicions with a smile.

"Still, we have to find a way home and it looks like we won't be able to avoid climbing," Sam said thoughtfully, still looking at the steep wall. Of course they were all experienced in climbing, but climbing a wall like this without any security from above seemed almost impossible to him.