Literature Project

The Rescue of Penny 

I opened my eyes after a long nap and felt a strange smell, as if something was burning. It was probably Hasley who had put food in the oven and forgotten it. I got out of bed and headed to the kitchen to find out where the smell was coming from, but everything was just as I had left it before bed. The only difference was that my fiancée was nowhere to be found. I looked in the bathroom, in the guest room, in the courtyard and in the front garden, but she wasn't there. I tried to call her, but she didn't take any of my calls nor answer my messages.

I waited for her to give a life sign or get home, but nothing. I waited an hour and a half. When I was about to call the national police, the door opened and she came in with a worrying face.

"Where did you go? I was very worried!" I cried and hugged

her. I don't know what my life would be like without her. I had lost my parents in a car accident several years ago and she was the only good thing I had in my life.

"I got a call from the company," she said "I didn't mean to wake you up"

"Did anything happen?" I asked.

"One of the forests has been burning for two or three days and many animals have died. We gotta do something, Luke.

I nodded.

. . .

Later on, after packing what we needed in a backpack, we left for the agency where we worked. Our job was to save the animals that needed it, no matter what species. They could be stray dogs, cats, donkeys and even bats; now, our duty was animals in danger of burning in the forests of our country.

After planning with the team what we were going to do, we put on our uniforms and got on the helicopter. We stayed about an hour and a half, until we got to the forest. The flames reached the top of the trees and the smoke invaded the whole place. They threw a ladder and Hasley and I went down using it. We set foot on the mainland and search among the plants for animals. We walked carefully, until out of nowhere a monkey came out and threw himself into my arms as he squealed.

These animals were suffering.

"Hello, buddy," I said, and I stroked him. Our team arrived and started taking the animals while they were shaking food and water.

We went deeper into the forest and continued to rescue the animals we saw along the way as we sheltered them in the travel cages with food and water. When we saw no more animals we decided to leave south of the forest, but something caught my eye: a koala hanging from a branch of a tree. It was going to fall into the flames.

"There's a koala down there!" I yelled and the pilot came back with the helicopter.

They threw the ladder again and I got down as fast as I could. I put my foot on one of the branches and walked to the poor animal. The heat of the fire caused the branch to start burning even further and the flames began to rise up to the trunk of the tree. I stretched out my arm, trying to take its paw to carry him, but he was a long way out of my reach. I went a few steps carefully and, when I could reach one of its legs, the branch where the koala was, broke.

Fortunately, he didn't fall with it. The smoke made me cough, so with the koala in my arms, I climbed the ladder to the helicopter. One of the vets took him and realized he had a third-degree burn on his back. He proceeded to treat him and we left.

My fiancée, Hasley, ran into my arms and hugged me tightly. Our work had always been very dangerous in many situations and we always care about our health.

. . .

_Two months later._

It had been eight weeks since we had rescued all these forest animals in Australia; the vets had checked them all and made sure they were okay.

The koala, now called "Penny", had healed quite quickly from the burn on its back. That little Koala had proven to be a great company. Every time I went to visit him at the vet, he'd run into my arms and would hang around my neck.

After much paperwork and permits, we were able to adopt him because he couldn't be sent back to its lost and burnt habitat, so we lived happily ever after. 

_The end._

By Andrea Parra, Alejandra Castro, 

and Laura Rodríguez, Steps 8 Y and B.

Narrator: David Estrada, Step 8 Yellow