Stories of Tie Up Games

Part Seven: “We were friends in college,” the librarian said, correctly interpreting my gawking face as needing more context. “We actually met in your class. Emily and I were part of a small…study group.” Emily nodded excitedly, laughing still into her gag, her sky-blue bra heaving up and down. “We ...

Part Six: I closed the covers of my first novel, sending a gentle thump into the microphone and through the decorated community room. “Thank you.” A modest wave of applause rippled through the crowd of 70 or 80. It was my most exciting reading in months, thanks, I’m sure, to the professor of creativ...

Part Five: Standing Emily back up, I began carefully unwrapping the purple tape from around her head, holding her hair each revolution so as to keep the process as painless as possible. After several rounds, the pressure on her mouth began easing, her cheeks unbulging, her eyes fixed directly up at ...

Part Two: “Mmmph!” Ms. Hogan yelped as her back hit the classroom wall. Wide, black electrical tape secured her wrists behind her back. Tape was wrapped above and below her chest, wrinkling the fabric of her bright blue dress, and betraying the impressive size of her breasts underneath. Using her fi...

Part Four: “Turn around — let’s see how I did.” Emily hopped in place a few times as she turned to face me, her pink bikini top fighting for its life. “Mmmmph?” she grunted, wriggling a little, as if to say, “what do you think?” Placing my hands on the outsides of her shoulders, I looked her up and ...

Part one: “I just don’t see how that’s fair, Ms. Hogan. If you can’t tell me what I did wrong, I don’t think I deserve to miss this opportunity. I was a shoo-in for that scholarship — I even met with the selection committee before I applied. How do I explain this to my parents?” Marshall sat across ...

Part Three: This was the first reading in years that seemed to fly by. I tried focusing on the pages in front of me, and in the questions posed by each of the 11 audience members in attendance, but my mind and my eyes could not stop drifting toward the side of the bookstore, where Emily was setting ...

Part Two: Light from the window clanged like metal against my head. Before fully opening my eyes I knew I had overdone the whiskey the night before. Based on the sound that came from beside me on the motel bed, I could tell I wasn’t the only one. “Hmpphh.” Emily groaned as she started pulling agains...

My finger traced a rough circle around the lip of a paper cup, my eyes listing between the weak, watery brown of Days Inn’s free-est coffee and the itinerary sent by my publisher the night before. I have nothing at all against small towns (a proud product of one). It turns out that I do, however, ha...