Charlie had spent her twenties at Oregon State University, taking an eclectic mix of subjects including Geology, Ecology, Anthropology, and Archeology. Graduating with a degree in Earth Studies, the first student at OSU to obtain this degree that she had personally proposed and successfully sold to the school's Board of Regents. She had worked long and hard, saving every penny from jobs, working in a local bookstore on the weekends and late nights at a bakery, so that she could take a deep breath and enjoy this trip. Charlie was headed to Australia to undertake fieldwork on the Continent's yearly rainfall, updating a decade old report on how rainfall affected the Outback's ecological system. Not glamorous work, but it appealed to this young adventurous woman.

Charlie was born Charlotte Eleanor Brent, starting out life cursed with both her maternal and paternal Grandmothers' stodgy names. But thanks to her father, soon after birth she simply became known as Charlie. She was considered to be nothing more than a gangly yet curiously scholarly tomboy growing up. Her interests lay in books accompanied by hours upon hours sifting through literary works in old dusty libraries. Party dresses or playing with dolls simply wasn't as appealing as getting whisked away into a tale of the unknown or dredging the backyard for buried finds. Furthermore, it took a Holiday occasion and dire threats from her concerned Mother to see her in a dress. Even then she took desperate measures to remain as androgynous and uncommitted to womanhood as possible.

Dating of course was always a fiasco. Charlie was an intelligent being and had no interest in wasting her time with prepubescent boys, who only wanted to reach their weakly washed hands down her pants. So for the most part, Charlie put boys aside and concentrated on her studies. Looking back though, you would have seen Charlie's mother laboring to coerce her sweet and only daughter into some sort of dating ritual.

Her last "mother set-up" outing with the opposite sex was at the age of 17. Charlie's dear thoughtful mother had thought it a good plan to get her dirt digging daughter, now a young woman, out of the back fields and into a pink frilly part dress to meet and mingle with just the right boy.

Jason Williams was the son of her mother's best friend Brenda. Grace Brent and Brenda had met every Saturday morning since graduating high school for tea to compare the raising of their children. Many an hour doating and preparing for their siblings' futures and low and behold one of the old hags decided it would be clever to pair their two offspring.

"Charlotte Eleanor, darling come here hon. I have a surprise for you", Charlie's mother called from the other room in her usual wind-chiming voice.

Charlie could hear her mother's call, with a slight icy cringe sliding up her spine as her mother used her formal name. It was raining that day, so Charlie had retired her spade and shovel to its rightful place and opted to spend the afternoon listening to dreary cult like music and reading through old history books. It simply fit her mood and was pretty much her style. With a sigh she flipped off the cd player and headed down stairs to her mother.

Standing in front of her mother, Charlie had to stop and smile for a moment. Grace Louise Brent had somehow miraculously maintained her youthful glow. If she and her daughter went on outings, they were always mistaken for sisters by many strangers. Charlie was thankful to have such a beautiful mother, but at times became quite annoyed at her mother's somewhat passive demeanor.

"Yes mother, what did you want to show me?" Charlie asked curiously.

With a gayly stretched smile her mother presented, what she thought, "the idea of the pairing." Charlie about choked on the piece of bubble gum she had been working on all afternoon as she listened to her mother's grand plan. Forcing a smile she began to ask her mother why in the world would she couple someone like herself with her mother's best friend's son.

"Really mother! Look at me! Do you sincerely think someone like Jason Williams, an obviously well rounded young man, (She lied trying to butter her mother up, knowing what a wart covered, slithering ape and lust-filled moron this boy was.) who should be seen with someone like the prom queen, should be with a skinny nobody like me? I look like the lost sister from an Ethiopian tribe!" She debated.

Her mother as always came to the rescue with some sort of June Cleaver response, giving one of those Aunt Bea smiles, "Darling. Really, look at you. You are a lovely just waiting to happen! If you didn't spend so much time trying to mask your beauty you might be the prom queen too." Handing her daughter a muffin to fatten her up she shooed her on her way.

Charlie rolled her eyes seeing how naive her mother really was but also seeing how adamant she was about this date. Calling over her shoulder Charlie said, "Okay mother, but really if it doesn't work out this time do you promise not to try and set me up on anymore dates?"

Her mother agreed with her daughter and happily ran to the phone to dial up Brenda and inform her that the date was on full force. Hearing the fading giggles and raving, Charlie groaned from deep in her throat crawling back upstairs completely defeated to meditate and prepare for the night of hell she knew lay ahead.

The doorbell rang at half past seven, as Charlie was just about to pull off the pink (oh God of all colors) dress her sweet mother had cloaked her in for the evening. She had it set in her mind that this loser Jason backed out at the last minute and was going to bless her with a peaceful evening alone without the trial of dealing with teenage male hormones. But no that idea was too good to be true as Charlie peered out the window to view this boy smoothing his dark hair back with his own spittle. He was wearing a lime green t-shirt un-tucked with pants that seemed to sit at the backs of his knees rather than on his waistline where they belonged. And he wore shoes that looked as if they were the family dog's chew toys. Oh please, Charlie thought, what a complete animal. With a faux smile, a trained trait from her mother, she opened the door and greeted Jason Williams.

"Perhaps you have forgotten how to tell time Mr. Williams?" Charlie sneered.

Jason stumbled a bit trying to find some type of snappy come back but failed miserably just staring at Charlie with a look of a sex starved dog ready to pounce the nearest bitch in heat.

"Oh come now, boy! Are you just going to stand there with your mouth agape looking stupid and aimless or are you ready to go? We can cancel this whole deal, really." She said in a fading tone as she was cut off with her mother's entrance into the foyer.

"Oh lovely, Jason is here. Now you two run along and have a splendid time. I trust that you have something marvelous planned for your outing this evening son?" Said Grace.

"Uuuuh, well yeah, ummm, going to the movies and to eat," he replied.

Grace turned and smiled at Charlie. "See now hon, he isn't at all unorganized" She defended. "I'm sure he is just a bit nervous. After all remember all those days you two spent together in the sandbox as children? You terrorized the poor boy." She laughed.

Charlie grunted, "Yeah sure mom. I remember burying Jason up to his neck in sand. He was more help that way and I was allowed to play and create without his grimy interrupting paws trying to ruin everything!"

Grace smiled nervously, "Oh kids will be kids. Now run along and you two have a good time."

Charlie and Jason steered down the path towards his beat up lowered Toyota truck. The evening was already a flop from hell and it was only the beginning. Charlie walked around to her door and waited but Jason the numb nut plopped in on his side and just stared at her.

"Well are you hopping in or not girl?" he yelled over the clanking engine and loud base.

Charlie growled and pulled open the door to settle onto the duct tape covered seats. She thought that there was a whole lot better uses to duct tape than repairing an old broken down piece of rusted metal. Oh yes, she thought, I could use that tape to smother the poor bastards tongue using a bit more to confine his filthy hands and really have an enjoyable night teasing him. Telling him what a prize he has sitting next to him and only if he wasn't such a pig he could be un-taped perhaps enjoying me. Charlie continued her little fantasies, as the night treaded on, to get her though the date from hell. By the end of greasy french fries and undercooked burgers to a horror teenage film, Charlie had Jason striped naked on all fours wearing a pig snout and hog-tied to the tailgate of his truck begging to never think of touching a woman's panties again.

The night ended with Jason having the gull to try and kiss her and receiving a firm slap across the face from Charlie. Needless to say this is how most of Charlie's dates ended up. Her mind wandering aimlessly through colorful fantasies. And thank God it was the last she would have to endure for awhile. Through college she enjoyed a few boys who tried to call themselves men but for the most part she was too heavy into her graduate work to give any of them a second look.

Charlie had just turned 27 in the summer of 1997. Although, when she looked at her reflection in the mirror, it was clear, to even her that she was blessed with eternal youth. She didn't look a day over 18. She had the smoothest bronzed skin highlighted by bright green eyes and long dark lashes. Her cheekbones were high and proportionally set on her angular face. A strong yet feminine jaw and a pouty pink mouth. Her hair was long and dark and fell just to the middle of her back. She was a petite woman but not actually small. Well-developed shoulders, a round derriere and a tight fit stomach all complimented her stunning figure. All of this definitely credited to good genes and many hours hiking outdoors looking for some new archeological find. Looking at the clock with twenty minutes to get to the airport she threw her backpack over her shoulder and was ready to go.

Charlie felt like an astronaut at lift-off, her head plastered against the back of the sweaty vinyl of the taxicab seat, the G-force making her bottom lip quiver. "Would you mind slowing down, I have plenty of time!"

"ya, ya, we go be there soon, babe" slurred the cabbie.

Charlie moaned softly, and eyed the cab driver's registration swinging wildly as the cab rocketed toward Portland's Airport. She imagined stripping the leering male in the photo (who probably learned his English from low budget American adult films) tying him up with just his ass exposed to the cool night air, and dropping him off at the nearest gay bar. She breathed a sigh of relief as he came to a screeching halt at the United Airlines terminal. She managed a weak smile as She tossed him a ten-dollar bill, and suggested that he invest in some driving lessons with it.

Charlie found herself resting against the window of Flight 272. She stared at the youthful image in the small round window from her comfortable seat on the plane. "Well, can you believe it kiddo? You did it! You're on your way to do what you've dreamed of for years."

She sighed and turned away from her reflection, pulling her long ponytail tied with a red sash from behind her back as she settled into the soft seat. She was comfortably dressed in the clothes she most enjoyed, a white t-shirt and soft khaki cover-alls. She pushed her only luggage, a camper's backpack, under the seat in front of her with her stocking feet, already having removed her rugged hiking boots. No time or necessity to apply make-up this morning, she was the picture of relaxed self-assurance as she rested her head back as the airplane began to taxi on the tarmac.

She looked out of the window as she heard the distant muffle of the flight attendants instructions and watched her breath fog the doubled paned glass between her and the place she had called home for the last 27 years. This was Charlie's first trip out of country and her heart was rushing with excitement for what adventures lie ahead in her travels. Finally the pilot came over the intercom announcing lift off. She just sighed and closed her eyes with a smile. Charlie slept as she crossed the Pacific, shaking her head and smiling slightly with unopened eyes as the steward tried to serve her a drink, give her a meal, or a pillow or blanket.