Page 1 of The Hotshot's Prize
Chapter One
Ella
It’s barely eight a.m., and sweat is already running down my spine. The sun’s been up for less than an hour, but it’s hitting me with full force, bouncing off the red rock like it’s got something to prove. Arizona doesn’t play around.
Still, I wouldn’t trade this for anything.
I crouch beside a low bush, my camera in hand, fingers feathering along the zoom as I spot movement in the scrub about twenty yards away. A curve-billed thrasher flits between branches, its long tail flicking like it’s scolding me for watching. I snap three shots before it disappears.
“Gotcha,” I murmur, my lips stretching out in a pleased smile.
This is the good stuff. The quiet, the waiting, the thrill of a good find. Out here, it’s just me, the wildlife, and a camera that’s seen more of the world than most people I know.
I reach for my water bottle and take a long drag. The Grand Canyon stretches in front of me in layered shades of rust and gold, jagged as if a god took a cleaver to the earth. It’s day one of my fieldwork here, and I’ve already clocked five species I hadn’t expected to see until week two. If I keep this up, my conservation piece might actually blow some minds. Or at least get me out of the unpaid intern zone.
My phone buzzes and I fetch it from the side pocket of my hiking vest, glancing down at the screen with a smile.
Tessa.
“Hey, nerd,” I answer, tucking the phone under my chin as I adjust my camera lens.
“Rude!” Tessa says brightly. “I’m doing actual work in an actual office, thank you very much.”
“Uh-huh. Sitting in a folding chair and answering emails?”
She lets out an exaggerated gasp. “Excuse you, I am coordinating permits, organizing press contacts, and creating our social media calendar while drinking the worst office coffee known to mankind. I’m suffering for this job.”
“True,” I say with a grin. “The suffering is noble.”
Tessa and I have been best friends since college, which isn’t saying much seeing as we’ve only just graduated, but she’s the kind of person you cling to like a life raft. She’s my rock, my cheerleader, and currently the field program coordinator for our wildlife research nonprofit. Basically, I get to do the fun part while she handles the headaches.
“So?” she continues. “Is it everything you dreamed? See any canyon critters yet? Please tell me you found a squirrel in a cowboy hat or something majestic like that.”
I laugh. “No rodents with accessories, sadly. But I did spot a green-tailed towhee and a whole family of kestrels. I’m off-trail near a shallow ravine right now. The light’s incredible.”
“Ugh, I’m officially jealous. If I see one more spreadsheet, I’m setting the printer on fire.”
“Please don’t. I need those grant forms.”
“Fine,” she huffs. “But only because I love you. Are you pacing yourself?”
I hesitate.
“No,” she answers for me. “You’re not. I can hear it in your voice. You sound all hyped up and twitchy.”
“I’m just excited. This is the biggest assignment I’ve ever had, Tess.”
“I know. And you’re killing it already.” Her voice softens. “But seriously, El, breathe. You don’t have to prove anything. You already deserve to be there.”
I glance toward the horizon. The clouds are thicker than they were an hour ago, swelling over the canyon’s edge like slow, heavy smoke. A breeze picks up, rustling the sagebrush.
“I know,” I say. “I just…sometimes I feel like a fraud. Like they’re going to realize they picked the wrong girl, and I’m gonna get yanked off the project for being too young or too anxious or too…me.”
Tessa sighs softly. “You’ve got this. You worked your ass off to be here, remember? Even when your professor told you wildlife photography was ‘impractical.’ You didn’t quit.”
I swallow. “Yeah.”
“You belong out there, El. Right in the thick of it. You’re brave as hell, girl.”
