1 Is This What It Means to Be a Journalist?

All her life, Sarah had dreamed of becoming a journalist. She wanted to travel the world and document the amazing things that happen, she wanted to expose the truth for the public. After years of school, she finally landed a job with a newspaper, but it was nowhere near the life she imagined. Instead of scoops on politics and worldwide events, she wrote about the next hot celebrity couple, or who wore what better. She was no better than a paparazzi. And now they had her heading into the wilderness. Supposedly Brad Schmidt was out camping with his new girlfriend, while his wife was back home with the kids. Shocking. It was Sarah's job to catch him in the act and publish it before any other news company.

Here's the problem, though. Sarah has never been camping a day in her life. She's a city girl, and she's not meant for the outdoors. Luckily, anything is possible with just a little help from the internet. She'd managed to download an article on how to set up a tent, however it looked much easier in the article. All the poles for the tent looked the same, and she kept putting them in the wrong sleeves. Finally, she finished setting the tent up. Or so she thought, because the minute she got inside the tent, it collapsed on her.

"I can't believe they're making me DO this! It's not what I signed up for. Nowhere in my job description did it say I'd be dealing with the outdoors and…bugs!" Sarah sighs, wishing she'd just listened to her mom and gone to medical school. After another hour of messing with the tent, she finally had it set up. Standing back to admire her handiwork, she takes in the view. She'd been so preoccupied with setting up camp that she didn't notice the cherry blossom tree next to her tent. How strange that one was in the middle of the woods in the United States… Thinking no more of it, Sarah took out some food from her ice chest and began to make a sandwich for dinner. It's already getting late, so she decided to set out on her journey for Brad Schmidt tomorrow. Sarah heads inside her tent and lays down on the cold, hard ground. Somehow, she falls asleep almost immediately.

Sarah is woken up by a rustling sound outside of her tent. Turning on the flashlight on her phone, she peaks out the tent. Looking around, she notices a big dark figure near her ice chest. As her eyes adjust to the dark, she realizes just what it is that is getting into her food. No, it's not a racoon. It's a bear. Sarah freezes, unsure of what to do. She's ill-prepared for camping, and even more so for a bear attack. Does she freeze and stand still? Or does she punch it in the nose? No, wait, that's sharks… Unfortunately, her time to forge a plan has run out, as the bear has now noticed her. Sarah's fight or flight instincts kick in, and she chooses flight. She can't outrun a bear, but she can at least get above it, right? She runs for the cherry blossom tree and scrambles up it. The bear rises on its hind legs and swipes at the branch Sarah has perched herself on. She thinks to herself that she hopes it'll hold her weight. She hears a laugh come from behind her. Who could be out in these woods at this god-awful hour? Is it Brad Schmidt? A figure steps out from behind a tree, and Sarah is taken aback by just how beautiful this person was. He had long blonde hair and piercing light blue eyes. He peers above at her, a smirk on his face.

"You do know that bears can climb trees, right?" The mysterious man watches as the bear starts to make its way up the tree. He stands there, contemplating on whether he should help the lone girl in the woods. Fortunately for her, he's feeling generous today. The man holds his hand up in the air as a ball of light shoots out of it, hitting the bear. The bear falls and runs off into the woods. Just like that, it was gone.

"Are you going to stay up there forever or do you plan on coming down anytime soon?" The mans gaze pierces Sarah, and she feels a flush coming up her neck. She thanks god that it's nighttime and he can't see.

"I-Uh, well I can't get down. I'm not sure how I got up here in the first place." Sarah smiles weakly at the guy, feeling embarrassed that he's witnessing her in such a situation in the first place. This must be the most beautiful human she's ever seen, and she's feeling shy because of it. Sarah has never been good with men, let alone cute men.

"Just jump, I'll catch you. Promise." The man reaches his arms out preparing to catch Sarah. She hesitates, considering her options. She can stay up in this tree until someone else finds her, or something else. Or she can jump down into this strangers' arms and hope that he doesn't mean her any harm. She thinks about the fact that he did just save her from the bear, so she chooses the latter option. She jumps down and the man catches her in his arms, almost as if she weighed nothing. He sets her down back on her feet and begins to turn.

"I hope you know not to tell anyone about what happened. Not that they would believe you anyways." He looks her over one last time, before he disappears, leaving Sarah alone again.