“Man it was good to be finally on the open road and out of the traffic.”
I thought to myself. That bastard Bill! He’s so pussy whipped! Calls
at the last minute to say Shelly wanted to do something this weekend and
he couldn’t go on our trip. Shithead!

We had been planning this trip for weeks and he bails out at the last
minute! At least he let me continue to use his parent’s place. There
are probably some other places closer now that I’m on my own but at
least I can count on Bill’s place being free of noisy people besides, I
can’t think of a better place for easy access camping and great fishing.

Damn him. I suppose I shouldn’t blame him. If I had any pussy I’d
probably be pussy whipped too – although I don’t know why he hangs out
with that bitch Shelly. Yeah, she looks nice and he raves about her in
bed. I’ll bet it’s all crap. I can’t imagine her being sexy – unless
she wanted something. And God forbid you want to do anything that even
remotely smells of outdoors – I can hear her now “Ewww, that’s dirty!
Let’s go to a nice hotel and order room service.”

“Forget it all Brad!” I told myself. “You’ve got a nice long weekend
break. Don’t let the stupid shit ruin it for you. You’ll have a good
time.” I knew this would be true. I feel like I’ve been cooped up in
the lab for months. The only thing that really bothered me is that I
don’t like the risk of camping on my own. Call me conservative but it’s
too easy to have an accident and, if you’re on your own, you have no way
of getting out of trouble. With the fluky weather we have this time of
year it would be very easy to die from a very simple accident – get
stuck and freeze to death. “Ok, don’t dwell on it! Just be careful.”
I sighed.

I was driving from my home near Burlington, Vermont to a place in the
Adirondack mountains in New York state. I was heading south and had
gotten off the main road, Route 7, as soon as I could, taking back roads
rather than deal with Holiday weekend traffic. I could have stayed on
the main road for a while longer but I would rather drive farther than
drive in traffic. I wonder how I would be if I was out West where there
are hundreds of miles between vehicles.

It was around 10PM and I had just passed through Ticonderoga, NY. I got
a late start because I got out of work later than expected and had also
counted on that asshole Bill on picking up the groceries. Enough of
that! Let’s just get to the site and have a nice sleep so I’m ready for
the adventure in the morning.

It was Friday night and I had planned to get to the logging road leading
to Bill’s parent’s property and then, in the morning, canoe to the end
of the lake and up some tributaries a bit to a nice camp spot just below
some falls. I’ll sleep in the Jeep tonight. It was Memorial Day
weekend so I had a nice long weekend to enjoy nothing but the outdoors
and fresh trout!

As I came around a corner I saw a car with its emergency lights
flashing. I slowed to see what was wrong. This section of the road was
pretty isolated and there probably wouldn’t be another car along here
for a while or even until morning. I pulled up behind the car and saw
that the left rear tire was flat and the trunk was open. I didn’t see
anybody changing the tire. I got out of my car wary that I didn’t see
anyone but as I stepped out I saw someone get out of the driver’s side.
It was a girl who looked 16 years old. About 5′ 3″, thin, and her hair
pulled back to a pony tail. Christ! Probably doesn’t know how to change
a tire!

I walked up to her and she said “My tire’s flat and I don’t have a
spare. Can you please give me a ride to somewhere where I could get a
new tire?” She sounded older than 16.

I thought about it and said “I’m not sure where to bring you. I’m not
from around here. Ticonderoga is about 10 miles back but everything is
closed. You may have to wait until morning. Can I bring you to
someplace to stay until morning?”

“Damn!” She said. She seemed very angry which I thought odd since this
seemed to be a situation she could have avoided if she had had a spare.
“I was supposed to meet my friend in Lake George tonight and I can’t
call, my cellphone doesn’t work from here.”

“I could bring you to Lake George. I wasn’t going there but I could
take a different route and drop you off. Would that help?”

“Oh Yes! That would be wonderful! Are you sure it isn’t too much
trouble for you?” She sounded very relieved and grateful.

“Yeah, no problem. I’m heading west of Lake George and normally would
start heading west at the next turnoff but I can go through Lake George
just as easily.”

“That’s great! You’re a real life saver! I’m Sarah by the way.” and
she stuck out her hand to shake mine.

“Hi, I’m Brad.” Her handshake was surprisingly firm and her hand, while
not calloused, was rougher than I expected from a 16 year old girl.
“What do you need to bring?”

“Well, how much room do you have? It would help if I could bring the
tire and all my junk for the weekend and then my friend could drop me
off here at the end of the weekend. Do you have room for the tire, my
sleeping bag, and backpack?”

“Yeah, I’ve got room. Let me get your tire off while you get your other
stuff.”

“Thanks Brad.” and she turned to get her stuff leaving me thinking “here
I am pussy whipped by someone who is too cheap to own a spare tire AND I
am not even getting any pussy!” Oh well, good samaritan points and a
buck will get me a coffee in some towns.

We got everything loaded and headed toward Lake George. When Sarah got
in my car and I saw her in the interior light I realized she was a bit
older than I first thought. I was about to ask her about herself when
she exclaimed “Ugh! I feel so stupid!”

“Well you really should have a spare.” I offered.

“I KNOW THAT!” She sounded angry but immediately softened and was
apologetic. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have reacted that way. It probably
looks like I’m too cheap to have a spare. The fact is that I just got
this car about 3 months ago and never even thought to look to see if it
had a spare. The bastard who sold it to me probably stole the spare
before I picked up the car. Man, am I dumb!” I could see she really
felt bad.

“I’m sorry too. You were right. I did assume you were too cheap to buy
a spare. Please forgive me.”

Sarah looked at me strangely and said “Sure, it was natural for you to
think that. I really appreciate the ride. With the cold temperatures
we still have at night I was really afraid of freezing out there. I
couldn’t decide if I should walk or stay with the car. I guess I was
lost until you came along. Thanks again.”

“No problem. Glad I could help. It’s easy to get in trouble quickly if
you’re on your own.” I thought to my own stupidity of going camping
alone.

Sarah looked in the back of the Jeep and saw all my camping gear. “Are
you on a camping trip?”

“Yeah, a friend of mine has a place west of Lake George and I’m going to
camp, canoe, fish, and try to get away from everything for a few days.”

“Wow, it sounds great. Does your friend have a cabin or something like
that?”

“No, the place actually belongs to his parents. They bought this
property years ago. It used to be a logging forest but when the logging
companies moved further north and Bill’s parents got a good deal on this
place. Right now it’s just a piece of property with the old logging
trail leading to a lake. The lake is really pretty and private with
great fishing and there are some nice flat places to set up camp. Maybe
one of these days they’ll build the cabin they’ve been promising. I
almost hope they don’t. It is such a pretty place now.”

“It sounds wonderful. Gosh I haven’t been camping in years.”

“Want to come?” I asked jokingly.

Sarah looked at me and realized I was joking before she answered,
laughing she said “Well it sounds tempting but I am going to meet my
roommate in Lake George and she’s promised me a great time. I’m not
convinced but I promised her I’d give it try. I would rather be
someplace where there aren’t so many people.”

“Roommate? Do you go to school around here?”

“Yes, I, we, go to Middlebury College. I just finished my Junior year.”
OK, so that makes her around 20 or 21 years old, not 16 you dumb twerp –
no wonder you never get any pussy.

She looked at me “What about you? Where are you from?”

“I live in Shelburn Falls and work in a biomedical lab in Burlington.
Originally I’m from Ohio, in the middle of nowhere. Where is your home
town?”

“My parents live outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, but they’re in
Europe this summer so I think I’ll stay in Middlebury through this
summer. Maybe I can get some extra credit during the summer and I’ve
lined up a decent job for the summar. What do you do at your job?”

“Well, mostly I goof off.” I said with a laugh. “No, I’m just kidding.
Actually I’m working on some research using gene splicing to improve the
immunity to diseases in cows. It probably sounds boring but I really
enjoy it.”

“Wow! You don’t look old enough to do that sort of work. How old are
you? No – I’m sorry! That’s very nosey of me to ask that. Do you have
a doctorate degree?” she seemed intrigued now.

“Yup, Doctor Brad Martin at your service! Have anything that needs
looking into?” I asked slyly but kidding around. Sarah laughed and I
continued “I’m not a medical doctor. I have a PHD from Tufts School of
Veternary Medicine – I’m afraid to tell you the subject area.”

“Why?” she asked uncertainly.

“Because it’s a weird degree that most people find confusing. I got my
degree in Comparative Microbial Pathogenesis.” I said knowing full well
that this was likely to end the conversation as it always did.

Sarah thought for a minute and said “So you studied the different ways
that the organism can be attacked in the hopes of finding a way to
protect it?”

I looked at Sarah with total shock on my face. The only people who knew
what this program was about were the school’s faculty, students, and
families of same – and most of these really didn’t know. I had to look
quickly back to the road as I ran on to the shoulder. “Wow! No one ever
gets that! Are you taking medical studies at Middlebury?”

“No, but I have relatives in the medical field.” she said with a smile.
“Are you working at the Schoenberg Institute?”

“Right again! Have I already met you and bored you at a party and
simply forgotten about it?”

“No, I’m just familiar with some of the stuff going on in the area.” she
said with a smirk.

“Well, I’m 26 by the way and would much rather talk about you. I’m
trying to escape for the weekend and don’t want to get into thinking
about work.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Well, first, if you live in Charlottesville why are you in Middlebury
and not University of Virginia?”

“Ah, well, I might have mentioned that I don’t like crowds. UVA is a
huge school and I had already grown up in the town where practically
everyone is a student or faculty at UVA. I needed a change. Middlebury
is the right size for me. Besides, as large as UVA is, it didn’t offer
my major.

“What’s your major?”

“Now it’s my turn to hesitate – don’t laugh but I’m getting a degree in
dance.” she said sheepishly.

“Really? I didn’t know they had that major but I suppose it makes
sense, they have a strong theater arts program.”

“You don’t think it’s silly?”

“Heck no. Dance must be one of those things you do because you really
love it and that you can find a place to study it formally must be
wonderful!”

“Wow! You keep surprising me Doctor Brad Martin. Most people I talk to
think I must be some kind of retard with rich parents who are willing to
throw their dollars at Middlebury to keep me off the streets. Usually
after I tell someone what I’m studying they look away embarrassed to
discover that I’m such a retard. Also, very few people understand what
dance means to me – you got it. I could get to like you Dr. Martin.”
she said with complete candor.

I was blushing but was safely camouflaged by the darkness. “I doubt
there are many ‘retards’ attending Middlebury. What kind of dance do
you like Sarah?”

“I like almost all forms of dance. I think I like Modern or Modern/Jazz
most of all because it doesn’t have a formula you must follow. You
could choreograph a dance in Modern and each time dance it slightly
differently depending on your mood. People watching the dance, if
they’re perceptive, can read the mood from the dance. You really can’t
do that in any of the formal dance styles. But practically anything
that gets me moving is a good thing.” I could see from her that she was
really empassioned about dance. I know that feeling. As strange as it
sounds I’m empassioned about my work as well.

We talked non-stop the rest of the way to Lake George. This was really
unusual for me since I usually can’t find anything to talk about,
especially with women, but it was really very easy to talk to Sarah.

We pulled into Lake George and Sarah guided me to the hotel where her
friend was staying. She said I could just drop her off but I enjoyed
being with her so I offered to wait to make sure she found her friend.
We went into the hotel lobby and Sarah asked about her friend at the
front desk. Now that I could see Sarah in the light I really liked what
I saw. I stood a bit behind Sarah and admired her form. She was small
and thin but had strong shoulders that curved gracefully to her waist
and then widened again to the most exquisite ass and then inward again
as her legs tapered to the floor. I’ll bet she’s a lovely dancer I
thought to myself.

Sarah turned and said she’d call her friend from the house phone. I
stood and watched and this time could enjoy the front of Sarah. The
curves were even more pronounced as she added the extra dimension of
breasts and a flat belly that had to hide the tightest abs on earth and
then moving downward to that lovely place of heavenly delights. Her
breasts were smallish but seemed properly proportioned for her small
body. Her face was probably the most dramatic thing about her however.
Her face was almost perfectly round and she had beautifully large eyes.
She almost looked like the sweet young girls depicted in Japanese
cartoons with the tender innocence that I had thought was only
imaginary, at least, until I met Sarah today.

I was about to day dream about the possibilities when I saw Sarah become
animated and begin talking loudly into the phone. Suddenly she slammed
the phone down and stood there briefly looking as if she was about to
burst into tears.

She walked over to me and said “That bitch! She already met some guy
and is shacked up with him in OUR room! She told me that she really
liked this guy and that I should find my own things to do this weekend!
Christ! I only came here because of her! I should have known better!
See? I told you I was dumb!”

“Wow, it sounds like your roommate is pretty self-centered. I’m really
sorry Sarah. Is there anything I can do?”

“No. I’ll just stay here tonight and get my tire fixed in the morning
and get out of this hell hole!” she looked completely exasperated. Then
she said almost as an after thought “Too bad you were joking about me
going camping with you.”

HUH? Did I hear her correctly?

“Um, Sarah. I was only joking about that because I had just met you and
I knew you wouldn’t want to go. If you think you’d enjoy it I would
really love to have you come along.”

Sarah looked at me quizzically and saw her look straight into my eyes.
I felt her gaze in my belly and knew I had to clarify one thing. “Sarah,
what I mean is that I could use another person on the trip. My friend
bailed out on me so I’m stuck by myself as well. It’s not safe to camp
alone in case something happens. I know we’ve just met but I really
enjoyed the time we’ve spent together and I’m sure it would be fun to
have you along on the trip and, since you seemed to like the idea of
camping, I thought you might enjoy it as well. I have no ulterior
motive. I’ll understand if you don’t trust me but I do want to assure
you that my intentions are honorable.”

She paused a bit longer and then finally said “Wow! Do you always talk
like that? What time/space continuum are you from anyway ’cause it sure
doesn’t seem like you belong in this time!”

I was about to apologize when Sarah said “Yeah! What the hell! Why do
I want to hang around this tourist dump for when I can go to the
beautiful outdoors with anachronistic Dr. Martin? Let’s do it!” she
said with conviction.

I was stunned! Wow, this is too much but I decided I wasn’t going to let
her change her mind and I smiled and took her arm as we headed to the
door saying “To the forest my dear!”

“To the forest my knight!” she replied and we both laughed on the way
out to my Jeep.

When we got in the Jeep, Sarah looked at me and asked “You sure this is
ok with you?”

“Absolutely! Are you sure?”

“Absolutely!” she said with an infectious laugh.

I started the Jeep and was about to pull out when Sarah asked. “It just
occurred to me. Do we need to pick up some more food or something?”

“No, I had originally planned for two anyway and I have plenty. I’m only
bringing basic staples, the rest we need to catch. I hope you like trout
because that’s what we’re supposed to live on for the next couple of
days.”

“Mmmm, I love trout. Maybe we should get some bacon – I love trout
cooked in bacon fat.”

“Already got it covered my dear.” I said with a smile.

“My hero!” Sarah said with her laugh that was bound to become addictive
by the end of this trip.

With that we headed off to Bill’s parents place, as I passed a 24 hour
garage I stopped and asked if they could fix or replace the tire – we’d
pick it up on Monday afternoon. When I got back in the Jeep Sarah
smiled and said “sigh, my hero!” and more laughter. God I could get
used to this!