Jennifer : 15 - A Second Christmas Story (mmff/mmf)

[Soraka]

Jennifer's stories
15 - A Second Christmas Story
Story index at the bottom

By Jennifer

Part 1 : Introduction

Good day to everyone. Another Week goes by and I am going to write another one of the experiences up from when I was a kid. This story is kind of sequel in a way to one of the other series that I have posted here on my site. It is another Christmas vacation that I spent playing tugs when I was a kid. There have been several requests for a story from when I was a teenager. I have decided to share one of the more memorable experiences that I had as a kid. Quite a bit has changed in my family from the stories where I left off when I was nine. I wrestled with the idea of typing up a list of things that changed along the way. However, I have just decided that I am going to explain things as I go along.

This is going to be a long and multipart story due to all the gaps that I have to cover. Please bear with me on this one everyone. I am going to try and choose good breaking points, but I need to balance posting the story and the length of each post. So, I may choose a strange place to stop. Also, before I want to ask everyone reading to let me know what you think. Well, with that out of the way here we go.

"Wake up big Sister, its' Christmas morning." The excited little voice chimed loudly in my ear relieving my peaceful winter nap. I moaned groggily for a moment and opened my eyes slowly. My vision was greeted by darkness as I shifted about a little and let out a little yawn. Not that I could stretch at the moment. I could feel the weight of my little guest causing the mattress to sink slightly to my left side where the young girl was probably sitting. "Amy, get down you know that mom doesn't like it when you climb up here in my bed." I said directing my voice towards the direction I assumed that she was in. I began to hear the child retreat towards the ladder slowly crawling backwards. Then I felt her weight lift from the mattress as she moved back to the ladder she had climbed to get up to where I was sleeping.

I took a moment and gathered myself before I spoke again. I made sure that my voice was calm and collected before I addressed her again. "Amy what time is it anyway?" I wasn't mad at her, just concerned for her safety. My mother didn't want Amy on the top bunk of the bunk beds. Heck, I didn't even feel that safe sleeping up here. But the room wasn't large enough to split the bunk beds and I was the older of the two of us. "Seven, One, Four" Amy replied as she proudly annunciated the digits off of the clock on the dresser. Great I thought to myself, we were supposed to get up for 9 and here she was already up a little after 7. Still, I couldn't blame her, I remembered how excited I used to get this time if year. I shifted my head about, but I was still blind at the moment unable to recover my vision under my own power.

"What's wrong Jen, are your hands strapped in too?" Amy asked as she looked over at me. I nodded and confirmed her curiosity. "Do you want me to help you?" "No, mom doesn't want you up here. If you want me to get up go see if Sean is awake yet. But don't wake him up if he isn't." I heard Amy descending the ladder slowly. After a few moments, she landed on the floor with a loud thump. "Be quiet or your going to wake everyone up." I got no response from her as she bounded out the door over to Sean's room across the hallway. I leaned my head backwards and let it gently fall into the pillow underneath it. I gave my legs a light shift and heard the quiet clink under the covers confirming what I remembered from the night before. I was secured pretty good for the moment. While Amy was gone from the room, I sat back and let my mind wander about the morning and the plans for the day.

We were going to open presents this morning as we had in previous years. Then we were going to my grandparents in Pennsylvania. We did it every year and it was always an exciting and fun time to say the least. Little did I know how different this year was going to be, especially for me. I was 13 this year just turning it last November. Quite a bit had changed in my life from when I was 9 in my earlier stories. Where to begin? I had grown quite a bit from when I was 9. I was about 10 inches or so taller, but I was still small for my age I guess. I was part way through puberty to say the least and the changes were starting to show. I had also changed my style a little bit from when I was little. My hair was still the light brown it had always been, but I let it grow out further and hang freely around my head now. My fashion sense had changed also, but I still clinged to a few of the things I liked when I was younger. Especially at home.

I thought about Amy and how big she had gotten over the last few years. It was hard not being the youngest child anymore. Amy was my little sister the last of the children that my parent had. I don't think that they had planned on another kid at their age. Still, Amy was a welcome addition to our family. She was born in October the year I was nine. So, at the time of this story she was just over the age of 3. She was barely 3 feet tall at her age. She had my mother hazel eyes and my fathers dark black hair that she wore loosely cut at the sides of her head. Amy was the filled with the same energy and curiosity that I had when I was younger. She had seen several of our games so far. They were more than prevalent than the ones that Scott and Mary held when I was little. We were a little less discrete about the matter as well. They had intrigued her curiosity on several occasions, but she hadn't participated yet. She hadn't even brought the idea up.

Amy ran back into the room followed by slower and heavier footsteps that I assume were my older brother's. "Merry Christmas Jennifer and Amy, thanks for the earlier wake up call." I felt a light tug on the front of my face. It was followed by bright light flowing into my eyes as my older brother slipped the sleep mask up off of my eyes and brought it to gently rest on my forehead. "Good morning", I replied with a quiet smile. I took a moment and looked around allowing my eyes to adjust to the light from the ceiling lamp in the room 5 feet from my head. Sean was standing next to my bed dressed in a pair of pajama pants and short sleeve t-shirt. My older brother was finishing up his last year of high school and getting ready for college. He had put on at least a few inches of height since I was nine. His face wore a quiet smile as he made eye contact even with where I was laying standing flat footed on the floor. Amy stood impatiently next to him on the floor. She was barefoot and weaning a night shirt that came down to her knees with a big picture of Elmo on it. She looked up at us shyly from where she was standing on the floor.

Sean looked like a giant towering over my little sister and standing next to my bed. He had more than a foot on me or Scott. Our sleeping arrangements had changed late last spring. Mary graduated from college and found a job in her field of study. She still lived close by, which was a blessing in itself that I got to see here almost every week. But, she finally got her own place and moved out of our parents home. Scott and I were getting too old to be sharing a room because of our gender difference anyway. My parent took advantage of Mary's absence and moved Sean out of my room and down the hall. The timing seemed to work well all around because Amy was getting too big for her crib and my parents wanted to move her into a normal bed anyway. In the end, Sean stayed put, Scott got his own room, and I got a new room mate. Which, has its ups and downs to say the least. Amy was a little annoying at first, but I like the company and I even got to be the big sister for a change.

"So, are you ready to get up at this fine and lovely hour?" Sean asked trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice. I could tell that he didn't share Amy's enthusiasm about Santa Clause. "Well, I am awake now, so I might as well get up can you get at least one of my hands?" Sean nodded and pulled back the covers down to my waist revealing my upper body. I was wearing a set of light blue two piece pajamas with rolling cloud print on them. The bottoms had a elastic waist band and ended at my ankles in an open hem. The top buttoned down the front and had long sleeves with loose open cuffs at the wrists. It had a back collar and a pocket on the front right side of my chest. They were light weight and comfortable for sleeping or just lounging around the house. I had grown up a little since I was nine. I still had two or three footed sleepers if I wanted one, but I usually wore normal pajamas to bed any more.

I was also wearing another accessory that had become part of my sleeping routine nearly every night since Amy had moved into my room. I was strapped down into bed pretty securely. I was currently wearing one of the car vest harnesses that I we had gotten a few years ago for Christmas. The harness vest consisted of a material like seatbelt that were about 2 inches wide. It had a strap that looped around my waist, and one that went over each of my shoulders. There was also another strap that wrapped around my upper body just below my arm pits. All the straps came together and closed in the back with a zipper. The vest attached to a mount belt that ran the vertical length of my bed with a set of 4 clips that attached to drings located on the waist belt and the shoulder belts. The vest also had a strap that went between my legs and buckled with a fatex buckle in the front.



When Amy moved into my room, she was much too young to sleep in the upper bunk of the beds. So, I had to move up much to my discontentment. I always had a problem with heights, not that I would admit it. But, my bigger problem was that I rolled around quite a bit when I slept. One night about 2 weeks after I started sleeping in the top bunk, my whole family got woke up to a loud thump. I somehow managed to roll over to the point in my sleep where I even rolled over the side guard on the bed and ended up on the floor the hard way. I wasn't hurt seriously, but a sore side for a few hours, but I was more scared than anything. I spent the rest of that night and the rest of the next week and half on the living room sofa. I was scared to death to fall asleep in the top bunk again. Still, that was only a temporary solution to the problem and my parents and I discussed how to approach the problem. We were both generally concerned about my safety and I didn't want another flying lesson.

Several ideas bounced back and fourth from adding a higher guard rail to splitting the bunks. However, it was Scott surprisingly who came up with the solution we settled on. On morning while we were on the bus ride to school and talking about it. He looked over at me and said why don't they just strap you to the bed he said with a joking idea. I still wore my vest harness on the school bus even though neither of my brothers did. Scott gave his up around the age of 13 all together. Sean still wore his from time to time in the family car on longer trips, but not to school. I just felt safer with it on. Scott meant the comment as a joke and a tease. But, after I thought about it for the rest of the day, I decided to present it to my parents. My mom laughed at it the first time until she looked at seriously. A few days later, another seat mount came in the mail and my mother also got a normal length of seat belt to extend it a few feet so that it would fit snugly around my mattress. Then they adjusted to where it would sit comfortably for me and I tried wearing one of the vest to bed.

I had outgrown my original one, but Scott's old one fit me pretty good. So he relinquished his claim on it. That way he could get of having to wear it in the car and my mother didn't have to buy me the next size up. Scott was bigger than me at the same age, so it was a pretty good fit. I liked being tied up and being strapped in because they both made it harder to move around. It felt a little weird the first couple of nights. But, once it became part of my routine I grew to like it. I felt very secure and safe at night because I was all strapped in. My fear of falling out of bed left and it just became part of my night time routine. Some night I would sleep with my wrist strapped to my sides with the wrist straps that my mother got for me when she ordered the harness. Mostly just for the fun of it. My mother stood against it at first, but eventually she caved in as long as it wasn't a school night. I could get myself in and out of the vest easily enough if my hands were free. But, I couldn't with my wrist strapped down at my sides. She didn't want me to risk being late for school over the idea. My hands were secured snuggly to my sides where Sean had set them the night before this morning. Which is why I couldn't get out of bed or even get the sleep mask off on my own.

My older brother reached over and undid the clip that attached my left wrist to the Dring on the lower part of the vest. I pulled my left arm free of my side and lifted it over to my right side and set about freeing my right hand from a similar predicament. After a moment of fidgeting with the buckle, I managed to free my other hand from my side. Next, I reached up and undid each of the clips that held my shoulders in place. Then I finally sat up and stretched a little bit. After a quick yawn I took a minute to remove the wrist straps completely and set them off to the side a the top of my bed. The vest connected to the mount at 4 points 2 on the shoulders and two on the waist. I always did up the two waist clips, but the shoulders varied with my mood. If they were clipped, I would be pinned down pretty securely and not even able to sit up. The purpose was to keep me from rolling out of bed after all. But, sometimes I liked to be extra secure just because it was like being tied up.

I pulled the sleep mask off of my head and laid it next to the wrist straps adjacent to my pillow. Then I proceeded to remove my blankets and uncover my lower body. As I through back the comforter and sheets, a cold chill swept over me. With the blankets removed, my legs were exposed revealing the rest of my situation. My pajama pants came down to my ankles where they hung loosely over top of my feet. I was wearing a heavy pair of teddy bear slippers over my feet. They were the heavy thick padded type that covered the whole foot. They were a fuzzy brown and had little bear heads that extended from the tops. They also had front paws and a set of ribbons with some writing on the front of them. They were very warm and a comfortable addition to pajamas on a cold winter night. I will try to find a picture of them to add to this post on my website.



Additionally, my legs were also chained together at the ankles fairly securely. I wanted to spend the night tied up like I have on several occasions. The wrist straps usually did a good job with my hands, but I also like to have my feet restrained somewhat when I slept tied up. It was just part of tie up experiences that I had as a kid. Anyway, my legs were connected at the ankles with a set of leg irons. My parents had gotten them for me a couple of years ago as another joke gift. My mother found out about my using Scotts handcuffs on my legs and decided to get me them. They were just like a large set of handcuffs in reality. The had the same type of closer that closed and locked around each ankle with a key like handcuffs did. However, the cuff parts were a little bit bigger and meant to accommodate the legs rather than the wrists. Currently they were snugly locked around my ankles over top of the bottom hems of my pajama pants just above the tops of my bear slippers. I continued removing the vest harness, so that I could get out of bed and moving.



I unclipped the harness at my waist which, freed my upper body completely from the bed. Then I scooted forward and swung my chained feet over the edge of the bed and onto the ladder. Then I began my careful and slow decent to the floor. I had to move my legs downwards together because of the leg irons. The chain connecting my legs was only about 14 inches or so in length. It allowed me to walk slowly with a restricted stride on the floor, but it kept my feet too close to do the bunk bed ladder easily. I lowered myself down gently from the last step onto the floor of the room. Then I started to remove the vest part of the harness completely. It only took a moment, all I had to do was unzip it in the back and undo the leg strap. I was loose in a minute and began to fold it up and lifted it back onto the bed. Meanwhile, Sean and Amy stood and watched quietly as I let out another short yawn. "I am going to use the bathroom and then we can meet in the living room." Sean and Amy nodded and I watched as I walked out of the room and down the hallway towards the bathroom.

My progress was slow and steady thanks to the shackles that held my ankles securely. Still, it was a short trip and I didn't mind. I like the way it felt being restricted in the morning. I listened the clatter the chain made with each step that I took. To tell the truth, it wasn't uncommon for me to show up to breakfast with them on during a weekend or vacation. I arrived at the bathroom and entered closing the door behind me. Then I sat down and proceeded with my business. Our tie up games still continued as I got older however, their frequency varied more than they used to. Everyone had a busy life now and it seemed that they were often too busy. But, we still played from time to time and the situations became longer and more securing than when I was younger. I wished they would happen more often, but it was just difficult to find the time sometimes. So, I tried self tie ups once in a while and tried things like this in-between games.

Ropes were difficult to tie myself up with, but hand and feet cuffs were easy enough to get in and out of on my own. Still, I missed the sense fun I had with my siblings when I was younger. Being tied was still neat, but not as fun as when one of my brothers or Mary tied me up. I finished and stood up pulling my pajama pants back into place. I looked around the room and searched for something. It was a cold morning and I was starting to get chilled. My pj's were very comfortable, but not as warm as the ones that I wore as younger kid. I walked over to the door and lifted a white terrycloth bath robe off of a hook on the back of the door. Then I proceeded to put it on overtop of my pajamas. It was soft, warm, and a welcome comfort against the cold. I wrapped my rope over my shoulders and around my front. It had long sleeves and secured at the waist with a tie belt which I double knotted after snugging it down. It fell down just above the tops of my slippers off the floor once it was in place. With my warmth secured, I opened the door and exited quietly into the hallway. Then I saw Sean standing across the hallway waiting for me.

Sean greeted me with a warm smile. "In front or behind Jennifer?" My brother asked. I looked down at the coil of white rope in his hand. I smile back and turned my back to Sean as he began to uncoil the rope slowly. Sean took hold of my wrist and gently guided them into an X pattern in the small of my back. Then he proceeded to bind my hands together criss cross. He made several horizontal wraps to begin then he cinched it off by wrapping my hands vertically as well. Sean knotted the rope off and tied the ends securely. Then he took one of the tails and anchored the tie to the belt on my bathrobe to prevent me from pulling my hands to the front. I gave the cords a good couple of tugs. They were snug and secure, but not tight. I squirmed a little more to show that I was secure and smiled up at my older brother. "Merry Christmas Jen." Sean said with a quiet whisper into my ear. "Thanks" I replied as Sean gestured for me to head into the living room.

The two of us headed down the hallway together and through the kitchen. Sean made sure to set a slow pace that I could match. My slippers were quite bulky and with my feet chained it was hard to walk. But, my older brother was more than patient and stayed by my side incase I lost my balance. Having my hands tied slowed my progress further. After a few minutes we arrived in the living room where Sean gestured for me to sit down in the big easy chair. I seated myself slowly and then slouched back in the large chair lifting my legs off the floor. Amy was seated on the floor with her eyes wide. She was staring at the large mountain of presents underneath the tree. Probably pondering what they could all contain. Once he was sure that I was comfortably seated, Sean walked over and eased himself down on the couch and looked over at me and then at Amy. "Pretty soon, it will all get started pretty soon." My brother said in a quiet voice aiming the comment at no one in particular.

So, there we sat. Sean was quiet and collected. Amy was anxious and in awe. I was bound hand and foot sitting back on a easy chair. All three of us were looking forward to the morning's festivities to come. Little did any of us know what the week that we had ahead had in store for us. . .

This is a good place to stop for now I guess. I will post the next part in a few days to a week. So, that is the introduction to my story to come. Quite a bit changed in my life up to this point, but the surprises were just ahead. If you have enjoyed the story please take a moment to give me a comment. I know that there are quite a few details missing from the 4 years that I skipped over. I tried my best to get everyone up to speed, but I am sure there are questions several of you would like answered. Please let me know and I will do my best to fill in the gaps. Until next time,

Jennifer

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Jennifer's stories

• 01 - My First Time (f/mf)
• 02 - Trying New Things: Breakfast with Mom (Fm/f)
• 03 - A Walk in the Park (mm/f)
• 04 - The Pole and the Dungeon (m/f)
• 05 - A long camping trip (mmf/f)
• 06 - One Rainy Day at Home (m/f)
• 07 - Winter Vacation at Grams (both genders)
• 08 - A Long Weekend tied up (F/f)
• 09 - Shopping with Mom (F/f)
• 10 - My New Friend (m/f)
• 11 - The Bike Trip (m/f)
• 12 - Sharing With Friends (Ffff/fff)
• 13 - New Horizon (Both Genders)
• 14 - A Trip to My Aunts (mFF/f)
• 15 - A Second Christmas Story (mmff/mmf)
• 16 - Mary's Weekend (F/F)
• 17 - The Next Chapter (*/self, f/f)
• 18 - Ropes and Skates (Good Combination?) (MFmf/fff)
• 19 - Hanging With Mary (F/f)
• 20 - College (FFF/FF)
• 21 - College Days : Stephanie's Captive (F/F)
• 22 - College Days : A New Chapter, Ashley Gets Involved (*/self, F/F)
• 23 - College Days : A New Chapter, Ashley Comes Back (F/F)
• 24 - College Days : A New Chapter, Normal is Good (F/F)
• 25 - College Days: Theodore Roosevelt (FF/F)
• 26 - College Days: Summer Job at the Farm (F/F, M/F)
• 27 - Holiday Trip to Grandma's (f/f, f/m, m/fmm)
• 28 - A Long Trip to Alaska (self/f, F/fmm)
• 29 - The Pioneering Experience (mmmm/f)

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Index of all stories in the "Archive for Everyone" section

[Soraka]

Part 2 : The Surprises Begin

Well, I managed to get the first part of my story out early enough. From the feed back that I got, I think that it was well received. So, I am going ahead with the second part of the story. This was one of the more memorable experiences that I had growing up, so I am going to spread it out into quite a few parts. Anyway, on with part two.

The three of us sat mostly in silence for a few minutes staring around the living room. Sean rested comfortably reclined on the sofa. He appeared to be spending most of his time in the same way that I was. I leaned back in the chair and gave my hands a few good tugs. The ropes were quite snug and offered little slack. I could probably escaped if I had wanted to. All I had to do was untie the knot connecting my hands to my belt and then bring them to the front. But, I was just as content to sit back and enjoy the morning. After reaffirming that I was tied securely, I shifted my gaze over to Amy who was eyeing the large pile of gifts up and down. Her eyes were wide with anticipation. Sean watched my sister as well with a quiet grin on his face. The two of us had learned several of the many truths about Christmas and being patient came easily enough to us. I risked a glance over at the clock hanging on the wall. It was a little before 8 and we were not supposed to start until around 9 or a little after. I relaxed and leaned back watching the scene unfold.

Another 10 minutes passed quietly uninterrupted. Amy began sorting through the piles of gifts with her eyes trying to find hers. Then she finally spoke up. "Jennifer, which one are mine? Could you tell me?" Amy asked. "The ones with your name on them." I replied back. "Which, ones are those?" was the response that answered me. Then it hit me, Amy couldn't read. Sometimes I forgot the age difference between her and the rest of us. I leaned forward and started to rise from where I was sitting. Sean stopped my approach with a simple hand gesture and then rose himself walking over to where my sister was sitting. He bent down and took hold of one of the near by presents and pointed at the tag on it. "Amy this is your name." He said pointing at the lettering below the from Santa to line. "Anything with your name on it is yours." My sister stared at the letters as if they were a secret code and took a moment reading them into her small memory. Then she picked up the one that Sean showed her and put it off to the side. Sean got back up and went back over and laid back down on the sofa.

My little sister busied her self digging through the pile of presents looking for hers based on the newly acquired knowledge. She looked over each of the tags eagerly searching for her name without much success in the matter. Then, she finally found one that bore the inscription. Then she found another and another. She seemed amazed at the idea that all of them were suddenly appearing in front of where she was. My sister began to form a pile away from the rest of them presents under the tree. It hadn't occurred to here that Santa had already sorted the presents by name. Sean and I watched from a distance. She seem quite pleased with herself and the two us just looked on. Suddenly, our quiet morning was interrupted by a quiet tapping on the door. It wasn't a knock just a quiet tapping. I looked over at Sean to see if he heard it to. However, he was already rising from the couch and heading towards the front door. I sank back in my char and began folding my feet up under my robe the best that I could. I wasn't all that anxious to be found all tied up in my pajamas by a visiting stranger, so early on Christmas morning.

My brother walked softly to the door and peeped out the viewing hole for a moment. Then, without hesitation, he thought back the dead bolt of the door and opened it. A woman dressed for the cold weather entered the room and began to approach where I was sitting on the easy chair. She was dressed in a white winter coat and had a scarf over her lower face with a big knit cap overtop of her long hair. I relaxed my shyness and looked up at her with a wide smile. "Good morning little sister, and Merry Christmas. I see you've wasted no time in getting yourself up this morning." Mary offered as she gave me a light kiss on the cheek. She walked over to where Amy was digging through the presents and offered a quiet greeting to my younger sister. I hadn't seen Mary in a couple of weeks. Her job kept her pretty busy this time of year. Her coming was expected, but she was very early to say the least. My parents had decided to wait until a little after nine to open presents this year so that we could wait for my sister to come over. That and they wanted to sleep in for a change, which they did every year, but it never happened with 5 kids.

"Hi Mary, what's in the box?" Amy asked greeting her older sister. Mary looked down at the small box she was holding in her hands. "I have some donuts for this morning that I bought last night. Do you want one." Amy replied and asked if there were any with sprinkles. "Yes, I have a big on just for you, but you need to do me a favor and wait quietly for a few more minutes. I don't want to wake Mom and Dad up yet." Mary opened the box to reveal it's contents to my sister. Amy turned around and made a big shhh sign putting her hand up to her mouth. Mary nodded and pointed over to the Sofa where Sean was no longer sitting and told her to wait there for a few minutes. Mary rose and went over to where my brother was standing and whispered something in his ear. Sean nodded and whispered something back. Then the two of them left the room quietly together. I watched over my shoulder as best I could, but they soon disappeared into the kitchen outside of where I could watch them. I saw Mary put the box of donuts down on the counter and head deeper into the kitchen. Sean disappeared around the corner and into the hallway that connected to our rooms.

Both of them were very quiet to say the least of the matter. They seemed intent on making sure that my parents wouldn't be waken up. Amy sat on the couch quietly looking around the room. I think she really wanted that donut. Mary worked in the kitchen for a few minutes and then I watched as she rounded the corner following the direction that Sean headed. I sat and waited wondering what the two of them were up to back there. Something was going on and I certainly wasn't part of it. At least not in the a direct planning sense I suppose. However, I didn't have to wait long to see what they were up to. The two of them returned together holding something that I hadn't expected at all. Sean and was in the lead and Mary was following helping him to carry the weight. My brother and Sister were carrying my other brother of all things.

Sean had a hold of Scott by the waist and was caring his upper body across the kitchen towards the living room. Mary was following his lead carrying my brother’s feet. The two of them entered the living room quietly and deposited Scott in a seated position on the couch. Scott looked pretty ragged and groggy to tell that truth of the matter. That and he appeared to be a little annoyed at his situation to say the least. My brother was dressed in a set of two piece red flannel pajamas similar in style to the ones that I was wearing other than the color and material. He was also wearing a pair of Snoopy slippers on his feet. They were the heavy padded kind that covered the whole foot. Oh yeah, he was also trussed up very securely in quite a bit of white close line rope from head to toe. Apparently, my older brother had done a good job tying him up.

I gave Scott a quick look over and realized how helpless he really was. My brother's hands were tied criss cross behind his back at the wrists with both vertical and horizontal loops. There was another set of ropes looped 3 or 4 times around his waist that his bound hands were anchored to prevent him from moving them out of the small of his back. His upper arms were bound to his sides with rope from a few inches below his shoulders to just above his elbows. Scott's legs were even more secure than his hands. They were also tied criss cross like his hands at the ankles. This was probably to prevent him from being able to hop around at all. His knees were tied behind the joint parallel with cinches. There was also a reinforcement set of coils tied over the middle of his slippers to prevent him from being able to uncross his legs. Finally, he had a thick cleave gag in made of a handkerchief in his mouth. There was a large knot tied where it entered his mouth and it also looked like something was rammed in behind it to keep him from making any noise at all. Overall, my older brother was pretty helplessly bound.

Scott groaned a few times into the gag and looked over at me with a look of desperation. He looked like he was trying to implore my help to his cause. "Sorry." I said as I leaned forward showing him that my hands were also tied behind my back. My brother looked over at me and just rolled his eyes. Then he leaned back on the sofa and layer down where he was sitting. Scott was on his own and that left him pretty much stuck right where he was for the moment. He slouched back and rested his head on one of the arm rests of the couch trying to get a little more comfortable. Mary walked over and put a pillow under my brother's head for support. Then she also grabbed a blanked and tossed it over him gently. Meanwhile, Sean was busy opening a back pack that he had brought with him from his room when they retrieved Scott. He began to pull several coils of white clothesline out of the bag and piled them up on the floor in front of him.

Sean selected several of varying lengths and gathered them up in his arms and walked over to where I was sitting. "Sorry Jennifer, but we need to tie you up a little better too." I looked up at my brother and sister as Mary came over to join us. "Fine with me, just make sure you do a good job." Sean nodded and handed Mary a few coils of the rope. The two of them wasted no time in securing me in the exact same way that Scott was tied up. Sean went to work pinning my arms down while Mary concentrated on tying my legs criss cross like Scott's were. She offered to take the leg irons off first if I wanted her to. I replied that she could just leave them on and tie me up overtop of them. Both of them were experts with ropes and knots and in a few minutes I was trussed up just as tightly as Scott was. I gave my situation a few struggles and found out that I was really trapped good. There would be no getting out of this without help.

Mary reached into her coat pocket and took out two large handkerchiefs. "Sorry Jennifer, I know that you don't like being gagged. But, today I am going to have to insist." I was in no position to argue the point. So, I opened my mouth and accepted them. Mary balled up the first one and put it in my mouth until it was all the way in. Then she rolled up the other one into a thick wrap and tied a large knot in the middle of it. My sister worked the knot into my mouth pinning the other handkerchief back inside. Then she knotted it off snuggly behind my head with a double knot. "There we go Jennifer, that should keep you nice and quiet. Thanks for being a good sport." My sister whispered into my ear. Then she looked over at Sean and nodded. "I need to check the coffee, be right back." Mary left the room and headed into the kitchen. Meanwhile Sean went over to the back pack and began to get out a few more coils of rope and placed them on the coffee table. My immediate attention turned to my own ropes as I began to squirm against them a little. This was the best that I had been tied up in a while and I wanted to enjoy the situation.

I struggled to what I knew would be pointless, but it was fun to test the security of the tie anyway. I looked over at Scott again on the couch. His body had gone still and his eyes were closed. I couldn't believe it. Despite being tied up so tight, he was actually taking a little nap. I looked up at Sean with a questionative stare looking for an explanation. Sean looked over at me an followed my gaze over to Scott. "He's been tied up all night in my room Jennifer." He had tied Scott up last night and made him spend the night in a sleeping bag on floor in his room. (Just note, Scott had been a willing participant and been tied voluntarily. I wouldn't find out until later though. Also, his hands had been in front and there was no gag, that had been added this morning. ) Still, it looked like my brother hadn't slept all that well. Mary came back into the room and nodded silently to Sean. "The Coffee is ready I left it on warm. Are you ready?" She asked.

Mary leaned over and picked up a coil of rope off of the coffee table. Meanwhile Sean turned around and crossed his wrist behind his back. I sat back and watched as Mary went to work tying Sean up in the same fashion that Scott and I were bound in. When she finished, he sat down in the padded chair across from me and Mary applied a gag similar to the ones that we were wearing. Sean gave the ropes a few tugs showing Mary that they were tight and then leaned back in the chair to wait. Mary made sure he was comfortable adding a pillow behind him for a little support. Then, she picked up the back pack and picked up one last short coil of rope that she had left sitting on the coffee table. Without so much as another word, Mary took a quick sojourn into the kitchen and came out with one of the kitchen chairs. She put it across from the sofa in front of the TV set.

"Amy, thanks for being so patient with me all of us. Sean and I thought we would get mom and dad something nice for Christmas." She explained. "We wanted to play a little trick on them and make them think that Santa tied everyone up so that they could sleep in. Do you want to help me with it?" Amy giggled as she walked over to where Mary had deposited the chair. "What do I get to do?" Amy asked. "I just need you to sit here quietly in this chair until it's time to open presents and make sure that nobody escapes. Can you do that?" Amy smile back, "I'll do my best." "That's a good girl" Mary replied as she bent down where Amy was standing. Mary picked my little sister up and set her down on the seat of the chair. She pushed Amy back so that her back was ageist the rear of the seat.

"Could you lift your arms up for a moment please." Mary requested. Amy raised her arms forward to about shoulder height and watched Mary for a moment. Mary unknotted the last coil of rope, which was about 10 feet in length. She looped one end of the rope around Amy's waist and then threaded the ends through the spokes on the back of the chair. Next, Mary brought the end of the rope around the back and wrapped it around the front again two more time. Finally, she snugged it up and knotted it off behind the chair pinning my little sister to the chair's back quite snuggly. "Okay, you can put your arms down now." Amy dropped her arms back to her side and let her hands rest comfortably on the seat of the chair. "What's the rope for?" Amy asked with a perplexed look on her face.

"I need you to stay where you are until it's time to open presents. It's a long way to the floor and I don't want you to fall out of the chair. So, I tied you in kind of like a seat belt okay." Amy soaked up the explanation without any complaint. I think she was just glad to have an important job for a change. Mary went back into the kitchen for a moment or two. When she returned, she was holding a napkin with a large white frosted donut with lots of colorful sprinkles on it. "Thanks for being a helpful good girl." Mary said as she handed it over to my eager little sister's outstretched hands. She walked back over to Sean. "Alright, I be back in a while. You all have a fun morning and try not to go anywhere." She said with a quick grin. I watched Mary as she headed back over to the front door and exited the house leaving the same way that she came in. She closed the door silently behind her. Then I watched as the deadbolt on the door returned itself as Mary used her key to lock the door from outside. Then my older sister wandered off leaving the four of us sitting in the living room.

I struggled a little bit more against the ropes just to enjoy my situation. I looked over at the clock again it was about 8:25 or so. It was going to be a little while before my parents woke up and found Mary and Sean's Christmas surprise. My gaze shifted over to Amy. She ignored the rope around her waist for the most part. She was busy working on her donut. She took small bites and picked the sprinkles off a few at a time and ate them. I pretty much knew what she would be doing for the next hour or so. I glanced over at the sofa. Scott was fast asleep and still. That left me with my predicament and Sean to watch. I looked across the way at my brother who was just as tightly trussed up as the two of us.

I found him pleasantly returning my stare. The two of us just sat there for the next half hour or so. We each struggled a little bit and adjusted our seating to get more comfortable. But, neither of us even tried to make any progress towards escaping. The room was dead quiet aside from Amy chewing away at her morning snack. Neither of us could talk and Amy's mouth was full and busy. Sean and I just sat there staring at each other quietly. My brother looked very relaxed given his position. The ropes were secure, but not that uncomfortable if we sat still. Sean looked like he was having a really good time with this. My brother tied me up once in a while when I asked him to. However, we didn't play as much as we used to. Usually, I was the one who got tied up because I like it so much.

It was rare for Sean to be the one in the ropes and I think he missed being tied. Scott bound him sometimes, but it wasn't that often. He had been the active participant much less often since Mary left home for her own place. I looked over at my older brother. He really seemed to be at peace with his situation. The two of us always shared a common bond when we played these types of games. We both enjoyed sharing the experience of it; it seemed to be one of the things that had made us such close siblings when we were growing up. Either of us would have been content to stay like this for the whole morning. But, that was not meant to be. I looked over at the clock that was reaching within a few minutes of nine. Our parents would be waking up soon to a whole bunch of surprises to say the least. Mary had left them a box of breakfast goodies and a fresh pot of coffee without so much as a note. I think the bigger surprise was when they walked into the living room and found all of us tied up tight with only Amy's hands free and the front door locked tight. To be continued.

It really was a fun morning ahead of us. My parents were in for a big surprise, but not as big as the ones that loomed ahead for me and my brothers. Stay tooned the presents are coming up next.

I think that is a good place to stop for now. I hope that everyone is enjoying the story so far. This is by far going to be the longest series that I posted ever. I am looking at the break down and it is going to be almost 9 or 10 parts at least. I will try to post them as best as my schedule allows and by the amount of interest I have in continuing. If everyone wants to know what happens next, let me know and I will try to find some time to get the next part done this weekend.

Jennifer

[Soraka]

Part 3 : The Morning

Hello again everyone, I am back with another installment of my next story here. Sorry for taking so long to get this out, it has just been a busy week for me. Anyway without further ado here we go.

The four of us sat quietly in the room waiting for the beginning of another Christmas morning. Nobody spoke because nobody really could. After all, three of us were gagged and Amy had a mouth full of donut. Sean and I sat there squirming against our ropes on and off. Scott was still trying to sleep, but I doubted he was getting much for his troubles. Amy sat back and watched the morning unfold. It seemed like forever as the hands on the clock slowly made their rounds on the face. However, it was probably only a little over half an hour before we heard the first distant sound of our parents rousing from their long winter nap.

I should say that we didn't hear much of anything until my mom rounded the corner into the kitchen. Our parent's room was on the far side of the house and it was difficult for sound to travel that far. My mother rounded the corner quietly into the kitchen and let out a loud yawn. I watched her from the living room as she began to go about her normal morning routine. She slowly crossed the kitchen and headed over to the coffee maker to start the normal morning pot of coffee that my parents made every morning. I watched as she looked down at the maker and found the pot missing from it's usual mount. Confused, she took a moment and began to look around for it. Finding it nowhere near by, she looked back towards the hallway and yelled. "Honey, did you do something with the coffee pot? It's missing." "It's where every you left it dear, I haven't touched it."

My mom looked around the kitchen for a few minutes scratching her head. Without much success, my mother continued her hunt for the better part of five minutes or so. I let out a little giggle which, was muffled pretty well by the gag. The coffee pot was sitting on the coffee table in the living room next to the box of donuts that Mary had left for my parents to discover. It was wrapped in a insulated cover to help keep it warm for them. After another few moments of hunting, my mother finally gave up the fruitless pursuit and decided to head into the living room. Even without her coffee, it was probably nice to have a quiet Christmas morning for a change.

I watched as my mother slowly rounded the corner into the room exiting from the kitchen. The look on her face changed almost instantly as her eyes met with what was probably an unexpected site. She seemed a bit groggy at first and a little annoyed at the fact the coffee post was missing from the kitchen. I watched as my moms face turn from a placid expression to one of total distress and disbelief. It took her a moment to take it all in, the three of us tied up good and tight and the sight of my little sister sitting there eating her donut. Amy looked up at my mom and lowered the donut downwards. "Good morning Mommy, can we open presents now?" My mother brushed the question aside trying to figure the whole thing out. She looked around the room probably wondering if we had been robbed, but when she found everything there, my mother turned her attention towards us.

She half circled the room and came up behind me. Then, she looked down and looked over my situation from top to bottom. I mumbled a little into the gag, but my mom played me no real notice or response. She abandoned my position and went over to where Sean was seated on the couch and examined the ropes that secured him quite well. Finally, she went over to where Scott was lying on the couch and gave him a solid look over. Then, my mother stood up and scratched her head unsure of what to make of the situation. All three of us were tied up, too good for anybody to do it to themselves. Next, she took a quick hike over to the back door and examined it looking for an outside party. However, she found the door secured with the dead bolt in place and our driveway empty. Then she looked back over at the four of us and just stood there for a moment with an expression of sheer bewilderment on her face.

Amy repeated her question a second time. This time, she made sure to speak loudly enough to provoke a response from my mother. My mother walked over to where my little sister was sitting and looked down at her. She knelt down and looked her straight in the eye. "Amy, honey did you tie your brothers and Jennifer up?" It seemed to be the only possible explanation that she could come up with under the circumstances. "No, mommy I didn't tie them up." My mom looked around the room again and just shrugged. She really didn't know what to make of the situation. She called my father into the room, "Honey could you come here for a moment, I think Santa left us an unexpected present." My mother examined my little sister a little more closely. "Amy where did you get that donut from?" My sister pointed at the box sitting in the middle of the coffee table holding the remainder of t he donuts. My mother looked over and spotted the filled coffee pot she had gather so much aggravation over earlier, along with the bakery box and the two empty mug. I heard footsteps coming from the direction of the kitchen and looked up.

A minute or so later, my father entered the room to be greeted by the same site that my mother had stumbled onto. His reaction, was a little different to say the least. My dad just laughed good and hard at the whole site of the three of us trussed up in the living room. "I wondered why it was so quiet this morning. My dad hiked over to where I was sitting and bent down behind me reaching down. He unknotted the knot that held the handkerchief tight against my head and pulled it forward out of my mouth. I worked the wadding free and spit it out into my lap. He gave me a little pat on the head and smiled. "Merry Christmas Jen, it looks like your having fun." My father made the round to my two brothers and extended them the same courtesy Then, he asked us if we were okay and comfortable. The three of us relied that we were, Scott was a little sore, from being tied longer than us, but he kept quiet about it. My mother posed the next question looking for an explanation, which none of us was forth coming with.

"Now dear, it really doesn't matter how this happened. What matters is that everything is fine and we got to sleep in this morning. I think they had good intentions with it, so let's have a cup of coffee and a donut." My mother got up from where she was kneeling and nodded. She walked around behind where Amy was seated and undid the knot on the rope that held her to the chair at the waist. Then she lifted my sister up under the arms off of the chair and set her on the floor. "Sure, that sound fine with me, but do any of you want to be untied first?" Scott took my mother up on her offer and Sean and I said that we could wait a little longer. My father walked over and began to pour coffee into the two cups on the table and selected a couple of donuts from the box for him and my mom. Meanwhile, my mother set to work on undoing the coils of rope that cinched my brothers hands behind his back. It took a few minutes, but Scott finally brought his hands to the front. "Thanks, I can get it from here," he said. My mother nodded and went over to accept the donut and coffee from my father.

Our parents each took a seat on the couch and enjoyed their morning for a few minutes. Scott continued to work until he freed the remaining ropes on his upper body. He left his legs bound. Then he leaned forward and helped himself to one of the donuts in the box and began to eat it. Amy just stood and watched as the scene unfolded before her. My parents finished their first donut and Scott and my father each helped themselves to a second. "Hey, save me one." Sean said as he squirmed against the ropes that held him in place as he eyed the emptying pox. My mother stood up and walked over to where he was sitting. "Do you want me to let you go now, so you can have on as well." She offered for a second the second time of the morning. Sean hesitated for a minute or two, and then acknowledged that he wanted the donut more than being tied up a the moment. My mother set her coffee cup down and untied my older brothers hands from behind his back as he leaned forward. My parents had gotten pretty good at letting us go with all the practice we had been giving them over the years. It only took my mother a minute or two and Sean's wrists emerged from behind his back. Sean wasted no time on sipping out of the ropes that secured his upper arms while my mother worked on his knees and ankles. In total, it took them about five minutes to get him completely free.

Sean stood up and walked over to the box and helped himself as Scott and my father each started into their third helping. I sat there helpless as I watched the rest of my family eat, but I remained silent to the matter. There was always cereal in the kitchen and I was enjoying my situation. Luckily, my mom interjected without any provocation. She reminded everyone that Mary was coming to join us shortly and that they should save her a donut as well. She pulled two of them aside so that Mary and I could each have one while the boys devoured the remainder of the box. Once they finished, my parents started passing out the gifts under the tree and setting them into piles for each of us. Scott was working on finishing up getting free from his ropes. Sean came over to where I was sitting meanwhile.

"Hey Jen, I think that it is about time that we got you untied, don't you think." I nodded to my brother and he set to work on freeing me. Sean started with the ropes on my knees, then my upper arms, followed by my ankles and finally my hands were untied last. Then, my brother passed me the donut Mom saved me from the box, which I began to eat. My parents began sorting out the presents and put each of them in a pile near where each of us was sitting. Scott made a run into the kitchen to get a couple of more chair for us. Sean took a seat, and then the doorbell rang about the time that I was halfway through my donut. My mother got up abounding her task and went to greet my older sister who was outside the door with an armload of packages. I watched them exchange a 'Merry Christmas' and several other greetings, while Sean through on a pair of shoes and went out to Mary's car to get the remainder of the gifts she brought and her luggage in a couple of trips. Mary was coming with us to our grandparents up in PA like we did every year. She had come prepared for the journey and brought a few presents for us and the extended version of our family.

The seven of us sat down in a circled and started tarring through gifts one at a time in rotation. We got a variety of things including clothes, a few video games, Amy got quite a few toys, and some other miscellaneous stuff. I am going to skip around several of the items here. Mostly, because I don't remember and they have no relevance to the story's progression.

. . . . . . . . . . .

The circle came around again and I picked up a smaller package that was wrapped in green paper and topped with one of those cheap stick on bows. I looked it over carefully for a few moments, before I proceeded to tare back the paper and examine the contents of the package. What I found inside was a little different to say the least. I looked down at the items in front of me with a look of curiosity because I couldn't directly identify them or their purpose. They were a pair of short pouches that looked like they were made of the waterproof material that winter coats were coated with. I looked over at my mother and asked for an explanation. She answered all of my questions in one short statement. "Thumbless mittens, I got them for your online." She replied with a smile. I looked back down at the items that sat on my lap and gave them a closer examination. Her statement made it quite clear what their intended purpose was.

The pair of mittens was a solid red in color. They were clearly water proof and well insulated for warmth. The top of each one looked like the normal pouch portion of a normal mitten, but the thumb was absent from the sides of them. I pulled one of them on to try to see if they would fit. I pulled the left one onto my hands. The mitten slipped on pretty easily as I drew it to the ends of my fingers. It tapered with a seam close to where I wrist stopped then it opened back up and continued down my arm for about another two inches or so. The mitten ended in an inch long elastic cuff similar to the ones you would see on a sweatshirt. Finally, there was an Velcro strap at the wrist that could be used to snug it down more if you wanted. Overall, they were just a warm pair of outdoor winter mittens, without thumbs of course. I tried moving my fingers around inside of it and found that it was a little more confining than a normal pair was. I snugged up the Velcro strap a little and set about trying to get the other one on.

I had been outgrowing my set of normal mittens earlier in the month. I had a couple of sets, but my mother and I found that it was difficult to find a waterproof pair of them in an adult size in the few stores that were close to us. Mostly, they carried them for children and the adults were mostly fleece and knit styles. I never really like wearing gloves as a kid, and I still don't. Mittens are warmer and a little more restrictive to say the least. So, mother said she would have to order me a new set online probably for Christmas. I had to admit that she had really done a good job here. It took me a little bit more effort to get the second glove on with my off hand sealed in the first. I really couldn't get a good grip on anything and pulling it on was a slow process to say the least. It's amazing how much dexterity we lack without a poseible thumb. I had to resort to using my mouth to pull the second one all the way. Surprisingly, I managed to snug down the Velcro with my other mitten hand. With the pair on securely, I tired to wiggle my fingers a little bit and scrunched my hands in and out of fist a few time to examine how well these worked.

I smiled and thanked my mother for the present. I left them on as the group made it's next round of present opening. When my turn came back around, I selected a larger box that had been sitting there on the floor wrapped with my name on it. I leaned over and tried to take a hold of it only to drop it back to the floor. It was very difficult to get hold of anything with these mittens on. I tried a couple of more time unsuccessfully and the rest of my family got a few good laughs out of my predicament. Finally, I succeeded by pillowing it in-between my two hands and lifted it up and onto my lap. Then, I began to attempt the wrapping paper, which was impossible to get a hold of. After dragging the palm of my pouch across the surface a few times, I gave up and decided to remove the mittens so I could open the gifts. This proved to be another difficulty, but I succeeded by pulling the strap on my right hand loose with my teeth and then pulling it off with my mouth. The second one came much easier once I had a free hand to work with. I put the mittens neatly on the floor next to me set about opening the large box.

I drew back the paper to reveal a large plain cardboard box with a ups logo on it. I ripped the tape away and revealed it's contents to my eyes. I couldn't believe what I saw in the box that morning to say the least of it. I pulled the large garment from the box and looked it over. I knew what it was almost instantly, but I had never expected that my parents would cave in on my request. I won't drag this on for you all. It was a straight jacket made of the usual heavy white canvas with most of the trimmings that one normally has. I had become interested in them over the past few months. I had seen a magic act over the some where someone escaped from one and I became fascinated with the idea ever since. I had taken some time and looked over them online. I had even tried to mimic some by the usual methods. For example, by tying the ends of the sleeves on one of Scott's sweatshirts together and trying it on. It wasn't very effective to say the least and I had no trouble getting out of it. A few months back I had decided that I wanted a real one and finally worked up the courage to ask my mother if she could get me one to try out.

The first time she heard the conversation the answer had been an outright no. However, I kept pestering her and pestering her and pestering her and . . . . well you get the idea. I was sitting here holding one in my lap. Of course, I wanted to try it out right away, but my mother said not just yet. She looked over at the clock it was already after 10 and she wanted to leave around before one o’clock for my grand parents. It was a long drive. She told me that I would half to wait until after the car trip down, but I could take it with me it I wanted to. It was enough to placate me for the moment. We went about finishing the opening of the presents. I didn't get anything else that is really worth mentioning in the story. Afterwards, we talked for a brief period and began going about our separate ways. My brothers cleaned up the paper and the mess while my mother went and took a shower. Meanwhile, my father went out to the van and started to load it for the long trip. He had to load the luggage of seven people plus the presents for the rest of the family. It was like playing a game Tetris, but he managed.

I headed back to my room afterward to pack a few more things including my new present before I took my two duffle bags to my dad. "He smile and asked me if I wanted the kitchen sink to as he loaded the two large bags into the already overflowing van. Each of us changed and continued to get ready to go. My mother also made us a quick lunch that we ate as we worked on preparing for the trip. It was a long drive down and we weren't coming back for a week, so it was important to make sure everything was correct the first time around. I packed a small bag that contained my game boy advance for the ride down. I had gotten to the point growing up where I could play it pretty well even if I had heavy water proof mittens on. But, I didn't think I could with the new ones, but I packed it anyway. Life is full of tough choices, and I was going to have to make some interesting one over the next few days.

I am going to stop here for the time being. I didn't get a chance to play my game boy until the day after we arrived. But, that would be giving too much away if I included any more here. It was fun Christmas morning to say the least, but the games had only just begun. It was going to be a week that I would never forget and I am glad to have a chance to share it with all of you here. If you have a spare moment feel free to drop me a comment if you like. Take care, Jennifer.

[Soraka]

Part 4 : The Long Trip

Hello again everyone. I am trying to get this story posted a little bit quicker than the last one. This experience is about the ride that I took down to my grandparents in Pennsylvania. It isn't as unique as some of the other experiences that I have posted on my site. But, it still was a fun little expense. So, I am going to go ahead and post it. Enjoy.

We had just finished the lunch that my mother made us before the trip and it was time to finish up getting ready to go for the trip. My two brothers had already changed for the long ride down and were finishing up their packing. My mother was doing the lunch spent the last of her time doing the lunch dishes and making sure that everything was turned off and the house was ready for our week away from home. Our neighbor would be taking care of our dog while we were out and would be in from time to time to get the mail and check on the house as a whole. But we wanted to make sure that nothing would cause any real problems. So, it was important for her to make sure that everything was off. My father spent most of his time finishing packing the van with all of the gifts and luggage for the trip. Mary was making sure that Amy was ready to go and helping my parents intermittently with their tasks. I was the only member of my family still in my pj's at the moment I also needed to get ready to go for the ride down.

"Jennifer, make sure that you are ready to go for the trip. I want to leave before one and you still need to get your last two bags ready to go. Also, make sure you dress warmly, it is pretty cold out and that wind will cut right through you." My mother denoted giving me her last set of instructions before going about her duties. I nodded and head down the hallway toward my room to finish my preparations for the trip. I wasn't the only one who still had stuff to pack, but I still needed to get a move on. I headed down to my room and opened the door slowly with a quiet creak. The room was empty and dark from the way I had left it earlier that morning. I stepped through the doorway and flicked the light switch into the on position and closed the door behind me. Amy was absent at the moment and I intended to use the privacy to finish packing and change for the trip. It would be a simple task to complete, as long as I stayed organized and on point.

The first order of business was to finish packing my main bag for the trip. The large duffle bag was sitting half full on the bedroom floor waiting for me to finish packing. I walked over and looked down examining it's contents. The majority of my stuff was already packed, I just needed to add a few last minute items to the bag and I would be ready. Most of my clothes were already packed in my other bag that was already in the car. This was mostly my personal stuff for fun and a few other items. I started with the new present that my parents had given me a few hours earlier. I folded the canvas straight jacket up and laid it in the bag. I had been tempted to try it on a few times since I had gotten it, but my current time limit wouldn't allow it. There would be time to try it out later at my Grandparent’s house. After it was in the bag, I added a few more accessories, my handcuffs, some ropes and a few other items for tugs that might happen at one of these family gatherings. Then, I came to the issue of the new mittens that my mother had gotten me.

I was debating whether I wanted to pack them or wear them on the ride down. I considered the issue for a moment or two and then I decided to table it for the time being. I set them down on the floor next to the bag to make my decision on the matter later. Next, I hiked over to the bed and undid the connector strap that held the mount for my vest to the bed. I coiled it up and loaded it into the bag along with the wrist straps. I was planning on using the vest for the ride down with another seat mount in the van, so I left it on the floor next to my mittens for future use. Finally, I decided to shed my teddy bear slippers and pack them in the bag. The cold on the floor hit my feet almost instantly, but I would be glad to have them for the week ahead. With the majority of my main bag packed, I moved onto the issue of my smaller travel bag that I was going to take with me in the car. In reality, it was really a carrying pouch for my game boy and games, but it had an extra compartment or two for a few other amenities. I sifted through their contents and made sure that I had extra batteries and my power pack before I sealed it up and laid it overtop of the bigger bag.

With my packing job complete, I decided to move onto the issue of getting dressed for the trip down. First, however I headed down the hallway to use the bathroom one last time before we left. It was a long trip and we didn't make too many pit stops along the way. I picked a good time to arrive, I came in-between my brothers who were each taking a quick shower before leaving. I had mine the night before. I did my business and brushed my teeth quickly before exiting the room so Sean could have the bathroom. With that complete, I returned to my room to gather my things. I lifted the larger bag up over my shoulder and picked up the game boy case in my hand. Then, I headed down toward the garage to give my father the bag. The trip down the hallway to the garage was a short one despite the heavy load. Upon my arrival, I opened the garage door and entered it. My father was standing there waiting for me dressed in his winter coat and a heavy pair of winter gloves with a knit hat on his head.

It only took a second for the cold to hit me very hard. Even within the garage out of the wind it was almost unbearable for current outfit. My dad looked over at me from the sound of the door opening. "Hey Jen, you look like your all packed. Did the kitchen sink fit in your bag?" He said with a little chuckle looking at the large bundle over my shoulder. I drew my arms up to my chest and shivered slightly as I approached him and nodded. "I think I have it all where do you want me to put it?" My father answered by taking the heavy bag off of my shoulder and placing it in the back of the crowded van. Then he took the game boy pouch from me and set it in the back seat where I would be sitting. "You really should get back inside Jen, it's too cold out here to be in pajamas. Go bundle up and get ready to go we're leaving soon. " I told him that I would and retreated back into the house from the garage.

Almost instantly, I noticed the difference in temperature between the two areas. Our house was usually cold in the winter because of it's age. But, it was nothing compared to outside. I decided to head back to my room and put something a little warmer on for the trip. As I walked down the hallway, I passed Mary who was being tailed by my little sister. Mary was carrying her bag and Amy was following with the small travel bag for the car. Mary was wearing blue jeans and her winter coat. Amy followed close behind in a little purple snowsuit with mittens and a winter hat. She was also wearing a warm smile as our eyes met as we past each other. I walked pass them silently and continued back to my room to get ready to go. I arrived and entered closing the door tight behind me and locking it in place. Privacy was hard to come by in a house of 7 people and I wanted it at the moment.

I hiked over to my dresser and opened the top drawer so that I could decided what I wanted to where on the trip down in the van. I looked through my options trying to chooses something that would be both warm and comfortable to wear. Quite a few of my warmer outfits had already been packed, so my selection was somewhat limited. I deiced that a few layers would be best and went about choosing an outfit. I started out with a pink sweat suit. It was made of warm fleece and had ribbed cuffs, ankles and a ribbed neckline. I shed my pajamas and put on a white t-shirt. Then, I put the sweat suit on overtop of it. Next, I added two pairs of socks a cotton one to start with and a set of wool ones overtop of them. Once my base layer was set, I moved onto my second layer. I began with a green set of overalls. They were made of blue jean material and had the normal double shoulder straps that attached to a bib in the front. Finally, I grabbed a blue turtle neck sweater from my closet and pulled it on over my head. It came down to my waist covering the upper half of my body. The neck cuff came all the way up to an inch below my chin. Overall, I was comfortably dressed against the cold that laid ahead. The outfit was a little bulky, but more than livable.

Satisfied with my inner layers, I decided to move onto the outer layer for the ride down. This is where I came to a problem. When I began looking around the room, I realized that I had packed my good winter coat for the trip in my original duffle bag. It was probably buried underneath the pile my father had spent the last hour putting the car. I opened my closet door and started looking around for an alternative to my main coat. Unfortunately, I really didn't find anything that would be warm enough and still fit me. I had a couple of my coats from when I was younger, but I had outgrown them and they would be too tight with my current outfit. The warmest thing that I had left was really only a spring jacket not suitable for the weather at hand. I abandoned my current search because there was nothing to find. I head back down the hallway and headed for the hall closet in the living room. When I arrived, I opened it and began to rummage through it looking for a winter coat to wear in the car. My family almost never threw old clothes away. If it was still wearable, it was kept for a hand-me-down to the next kid to save on costs. I was looking for one of either Sean or Scott's old coats that might fit me.

A few minutes into my search, Sean came into the room and walked over to where I was rummaging. "Hey sis, what are you looking for in that mess?" He asked. My brother was right, the closet was a pretty disorganized pile. I took a moment and explained my problem to my older brother and asked if he had any ideas. He agreed that it wasn't practical to make my dad unpack half the car, and the two of us set about discussing a solution. After a few minutes of thought, Sean spoke up with a possible idea. "Jennifer, I may have just the thing if you want. Follow me." With that Sean took up the lead as I followed him across the living room and kitchen back to the main hallway in our house. The two of us walked down the until we arrived at his room where my brother opened the door and invited me in. He bid me to wait by the door while he went over to the closet and began to do a little rummaging of his own. I stood back and watched wondering what he had in mind. Sean and I had always been close as siblings, and he always seemed to have an answer for when I had a problem. This time was no exception.

After a few minutes, Sean located what he was looking for and pulled it from the closet. "Here you go Jennifer, maybe this will fit you. It's a little old, but it's very warm. I used to use it on winter campouts all the time before I outgrew it." Sean passed me the hanger with the old green snowsuit on it. It hung there in front of me a little disheveled from storage. It had been quite a while since either Sean or I had worn a snowsuit to tell the truth of the matter. I had a set of ski pants that I wore outside from time to time, but I hadn't been in a one piece one since I was 11. Still, it was better than nothing and my options were rather limited at this point. Reluctantly, I decided to try it on. I undid the zipper that went down to the waist and started by sliding my legs into the pant portion of the snowsuit. The ankles ended in an elastic type cuffs that drew the pant tight to the ankle. There was also an elastic type band that ran across the bottom of the foot from one site of the pant leg to the other. Sean explained to me that they were to keep the pant from riding up in boots when the wearer was active.

With my legs in place, I began sliding my arms into the sleeves and pulled the upper part of it around the top half of my body. The sleeves ended in an elastic cuff about an inch and half across to seal the wrists from snow. They could be snugged down with a little more by tightening a Velcro flap around them. With my arms in place, I decided to finish by zipping up the main zipper and closing it all the way. I pulled on the heavy zipper and drew it all the way up. It came to a stop on the top of the collar just below my chin. Sean helped me finish up by fastening the remaining items. There was also a set of snaps that closed over the zipper to keep snow out and a belt that could be drawn tighter at the waist to snug it up a little. With everything minus the hood in place, Sean stepped back and looked me over. "Try moving around a little Jen and let me know what you think." Overall, the snowsuit would have normally been a little big on me, but with my two lower layers, it fit me surprisingly well. I tried walking around and moved my arms up and down a little bit trying get a feel for it.

The snowsuit was a little heavier than what I was used to wearing outside. Sean explained that it was meant for colder weather and that the extra bulk would really keep me warm. I could move around okay and I was already starting to feel quite a bit warmer bundled up like this. "It's not too bad. I think I may just go ahead with this if it's okay with you." I had to admit for all my reservations, it was a comfortable fit, a little bulky, but comfortable. "Good, I am glad that someone can get some use out of it. I really am sad that I outgrew it, it was one of the warmer outfits that I had for camping." I asked Sean in he could help me finish getting ready to go and he said that he had some time to kill anyway. The two of us left my brother's room and headed back down the hallway to mine. It was a short trip and the two of us entered when we arrived. Even with the core of my body now warm, I still had to deal with my extremities. I started by adding a pair of winter boots overtop of the snow pants I was wearing. They came up a little past my ankle and were white in color.

With my feet all set, I began getting my head ready for the long trip down. I started out with a set of white ear muffs. Then, I followed it with a blue knit hat that I covered the top of my head with. Next, I took a wool scarf that was about 4 feet in length and began to untangle it. I wrapped it around my lower face covering my mouth twice before I knotted it off loosely in the back. Finally, I pulled the hood up overtop of everything and tied the cords in a little bow to snug it down. Sean just stood back and laughed. "Got enough stuff on Jen? We wouldn't want you to catch cold now would we." I smiled back, not that he could see it through the scarf and laugh back. I explained that I would rather be warm than sorry. Sean nodded, "Do you want to wear your new mittens in the car." He asked looking down at them on the floor of the room. I had been debating that very question in the back of my mind for the past 45 minutes. "No, I want to play my game boy in the car and they might make it a little difficult to do that." I explained.

Sean concurred with my wisdom after seeing my performance earlier that morning. I picked them up and pocketed them in case I changed my mind later. Instead, I settled on a pair of light green fleece normal mittens that I wore often during the winter. They wouldn't be as warm, but they left me enough dexterity to play video games if I wanted to. Sean helped me adjust the cuffs on the snow suit over them once I had dawned them. After, I was finally finished getting dressed, Sean picked up my vest harness from the floor and helped me put it on. It was a snug fit overtop of the snowsuit, and my brother had to use the lager of the two expanders, but it fit none the less. Finally, he helped me pull the leg strap into place and buckled it. Then, the two of us headed outside to the garage and the van. We entered the garage just as my father was closing down the rear door of the van making his final preparations to leave. He commented that I looked a little warmer than our first encounter. The two of us waked over to the left sliding door of the car and entered the vehicle.

Mary was already seated on the right side in the middle row of seating in the car. Amy was seated in her car seat on the bench seat behind Mary. She was all strapped in and ready to go. Sean escorted me to the center of the back seat of the car where my father had secured the seat mount for the harness I was wearing. I seated myself in the middle of the seat and Sean clipped the four connector clips onto the vests D rings to secure me to the seat. He also took the middle lap belt and fastened it before snugging it down overtop of my hips. Finally, he helped me get my game boy out of the small travel case before he left me to my own devices. "There your all set Jennifer, nice warm, safe and sound." He commented before he moved forward to the middle seat where he would be sitting. Sean seated himself and pulled a pair of mittens out of his pockets and donned them before buckling his seat belt. Finally, he put on a set of head phones and started hid cd player up. I looked over at Amy who was sitting next to me. The two of us looked like a matched set except that she wasn't wearing a scarf and the color of the snowsuits. I then shifted my attention to the game in front of me and Amy turned her head to watch.

It wasn't long before Scott and my parents came out of the house after making the final checks. My parents boarded the car and took the front two seats. My father was driving. Scott sat down next to me in the back and buckled in before switching his own game boy on. It was going to be a long ride. But it was also going to be an exciting one to say the least. My father started the car and pulled forwards out of the garage and onto the street. Our long journey began with the first few miles behind us in no time. Scott and I concentrated on our games while Mary and my parents talked to pass the time. It was going to take several long hours to get there, but it was well worth the trip that we usually only made twice a year.

I guess I should mention that I was the only member of my family in a harness in the car at the moment. Except for Amy of course. Sean, Scott and Mary were just using normal seat belts. Sean and Scott had stopped using their vests more than a year ago. I was more than big enough to just use a normal seat belt as well. But, I still liked my vest harness for a couple of reasons. First, it kind of reminded me or being tied up and kept my movements better restricted than a normal seat belt. Secondly, I also felt a lot safer with it on in the car or school bus. It really didn't matter to my parents either way. So, as long as I was happy with it, they were content to let me wear it. It really wasn't a big deal. I shifted around in the seat on and off trying to get a little more comfortable and trying to catch a little bit of more light for my game boy. It was tough to get the right angle seated in the middle in the back. Usually, Scott sat in the middle with Sean, but Mary's addition had forced him to the back seat. Being older, he got the window seat and my mother really didn't want to have to move Amy's car seat around. So, I decided not to press the issue further. It really didn't bother me that much anyway.

I forget what I was playing as we pulled slowly out of the driveway and headed down the road towards our distant destination. I liked RPG when I was a kid and it was probably one of those, but I don't remember for sure. The trip began and for the first hour or two, I was content to game away as was my brother Scott. Amy looked out the window mostly, but she did look over my shoulder from time to time checking out what I was doing. She was fascinated by video games at that age. We let her try to play from time to time, but she lacked the reading skills and the hand eye coordination for it at the moment. My parents and older siblings talked all the way down. I was too engrossed in what I was doing to really pay much attention to what they were saying, but that was fine.

After a while, the car started to warm up from the heater and I began to notice how warmly I was dressed. I wasn't to the point where I was uncomfortable, it was still cold out. But, I was a little over bundled up for the trip. I paused my game and set it in my lap. Then, I pulled the mittens I was wearing off my hands and slipped them into my pocket. I was glad to regain some dexterity and reached up to untie the bow securing my hood in place. Next, I slid it back and pulled the scarf down from my mouth and lowered it to around my neck. It became easier to breath and I began to cool down a little bit. The snowsuit was a little warmer than I had bargained for, but it was comfortable for the day at hand. I picked my game back up and continued where I left off for a little while longer. An hour or two passed as I played and I was starting to get a little further along in the game. However, later afternoon was sitting in and it was getting harder and harder to see the game boy in the fading sunlight. After a while, it became impossible to play, so I switched it off and returned it to it's case.

"How long until we get there?", I finally worked up the nerve to ask the question. I was starting to get bored after a few minutes without my game and there really wasn't all that much to do strapped in the middle of the seat. "A couple of hours yet Jen, we'll be there soon enough, but we still have a ways to go." My father responded as he continued to drive forward. I leaned back in my seat and looked around the crowded van for something to occupy my mind. Scott was looking out the window at the passing scenery in the fading light. Amy was slumped over to her right side fast asleep in her car seat. She tended to sleep on longer car rides. I was too far away from the window to have a good view and the harness vest kept me rooted directly where I was without much chance of being able to move around. After a few minutes of consideration, I decided to follow my little sister's lead and catch a quick nap before we arrived. We were going to be up late for a later evening meal and a short rest would help me be refreshed when we arrived.

I reached behind me and drew my hood back up loosely around my head. I didn't want to catch cold while I was sleeping, so I decided to put it back up. I left it untied though mostly for comfort and to make sure that I didn't overheat. I left my scarf where it was, hanging loosely around my neck. Also, I decided to pull the mittens back out of my pocket and slide them back over my hands. They were getting a little cold anyway, and the warmth would be welcome for the sleep. However, when I opened pocket, I chose the wrong one by mistake and pulled out the thumbless ones that my mother had gotten me earlier. I slipped them back into my pocket and pulled out the normal ones that I had brought with me and pulled them on. Then I leaned off to the side and put my head down on my shoulder and tried to sleep.

My eyes closed easily enough, but rest didn't come at once. My mind was racing in several directions with different ideas and the excitement of seeing my grandparents. But, it came back several times to the idea of the other pair of mittens in my pocket. I was tempted to put them on, but I wasn't sure if I wanted my hands to become so useless for the rest of the ride down. However, I got tired of thinking about it after some time and sat back up. I unsnapped the pocket on the snowsuit and fished them out of it. I set them on my lap and stared down at the two of them debating whether or not to put them on. In the end, temptation won out and I picked up the right one and slid it on overtop of the fleece mittens that I was wearing. I drew up the Velcro strap tight and began the process of snugging the wrist cuff of the snow suit down over it. I had to use my mouth to do it, but I succeeded. However, donning the left one proved to be much more difficult.

I tried a couple of times to do it unsuccessfully. I could get a hold of it with either my right hand or my mouth, but I couldn't move it into place, it was just too difficult to do with my fingers pinned. Then, I looked over at my older brother who was sitting just to my left. "Scott, could you help me? I am trying to slide these on and I am having a hard time of it." Scott looked over at me as I gazed down at the remaining glove and looked back up at me. He told me that he would be happy to help and set about obliging my request. It only took him a minute and my hands were secured in the warm little pouches cutting off my ability to use my hands for anything meaningful. They were a little warm under the circumstances, but they made me feel more restricted and comfortable. I looked down at my hands for a minute or two before I folded them on my lap. Then, I leaned my head back onto my side and closed my eyes. It wasn't long before I fell asleep.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When my eyes opened again, it was dark in the car. We were still a ways off from our destination, but I hadn't come to voluntarily. It was a reaction from my body more than anything else. Something was working it's way into my mouth from behind. Instinctively, I tried to spit it out, but it was already too late. Scott was already drawing the sock snuggly behind my head forcing it's center into my mouth. He pulled it tight and began to knot it off making an effective gag out of it. Inside of the sock there was a little rubber ball a little more than an inch in diameter. It was a larger version of one of those bounce balls that you could easily find at any toy shop. We had learned over a year ago that if it was held in place it could make a very effective gag on the person. We usually wrapped it inside a sock so there wouldn't be any chance of swallowing it. I winced into it as my brother drew it tight behind my head and finished tying it off.

"Sorry to wake you Jennifer, I just thought that you might want to be a little more comfortable for your nap." My brother whispered quietly next to me. I sat up and looked forward. Sean and Mary had followed my lead and were asleep where they sat. Scott reached down to and began to unfold my scarf from around my neck. "I don't want you to catch cold." My brother unfolded it so that it was just one layer thick and wrapped it around my lower face concealing the gag. He tied it off snuggly behind my head making sure not to cover my nose with it. Then, he pulled my hood back up and tied the drawstring into a snug little bow. "Have a good nap little sister." He commented with a snicker before he turned away and left me to my predicament.

I tried to work the gag loose, but with the scarf overtop of it spitting it out was out of the question. I gave my arms a few good tugs to confirm what I already knew about my situation. My hands had been crossed and bound quite securely behind my back at the wrist. Scott must had tied me while I was asleep and he had done a pretty good job. I felt around looking for the knot, which proved to be an impossible effort give the double mittens I was wearing. I shouted into the gag, but my speech was too muffled and quiet to attract the attention of my parents or sleeping siblings. Other than Scott, no one knew about my predicament, and he wasn't going to help me out of this one. I should have known better than falling asleep next to him. So, I just sat back and began on the complicated process of trying to free myself.

I twisted and squirmed against my ropes trying to wriggle free. However, the vest harness held me securely in place and made it difficult to observe my situation. The ropes were well tied and offered no slack from my efforts. I was stuck and stuck good. The mittens on my hands compounded the situation. They rendered my fingers useless and made it impossible to search for the knots. Heck, even if I managed to free my hands I doubted that I would be able to get the gag off without help. They really were difficult to use your fingers in. I struggled for a few more minutes and then I just sat back and gave up. The situation was absolutely hopeless. Scott had me tied up very securely. I wasn't getting free without his help and he wasn't in any hurry to offer it.

I sat back and relaxed my efforts. There was no point in getting hot from all this struggling. I looked over and out the window at the dark landscape behind us. We were still on the highway which, meant we had a ways to go yet. I began to ponder my predicament hopeless as it was. To tell the truth of the matter, it wasn't an unwelcome situation. I was bored and being tied up was something to do. I was even starting to enjoy it a little. Still, I would have preferred a little warning on the matter and the gag was not a welcome addition to say the least. But, being caught off guard was a new twist to say the least. Scott still knew how to surprise me after all the games we played growing up. I looked over at my brother who was trying his best to ignore me. I could tell he was enjoying this too. There really wasn't anything that I could do about it at present, so I sat back and enjoyed the ride.

After about half an hour and some muffled grunts, Scott reached over and undid the gag to see how I was doing. He warned me to keep my voice down or he would put it back in immediately. I told him that I was doing alright and that it had been fun. But a little notice would have been nice. My brother apologized and told me he thought I would like the little surprise, which I had to admit I had. The remainder of the trip took a little over another hour. Scott offered to untie me if I wanted him to, but I decided to stay like I was. It had been an interesting day of TUGS to say the least, and it wasn't over yet. I spent the rest of the ride with my hands behind my back in the ropes. However, the day wasn't over yet and there was still one more surprise to come. But that will have to wait until next time.

Sorry that took so long to get going, but I wanted to fill in all the background details. It was another fun little experience. I got a chance to get even with Scott later that night. But, I will save that for my next part. Let me know what you think if you have a moment. Take care all.

Jennifer

[Soraka]

Part 5 : The First Round Concludes

The night air was cool up in the room where the three of us were sitting after the long ride had ended. I stared out the second story window at the huge backyard. The white crystal powder reflected the bright illumination of the moon that shined brightly overhead. It had been a Christmas day to remember for sure. My parents had gotten more of a surprise than they had bargained for and I had a pretty fun time of it too. I sat on the bed closest to the window looking out at the large star filled sky. Lucy was laying back on the bed opposite from me reading a book. Amy was curled up in the easy chair close to the television set, which was on with it's volume kept low. She was really absorbed in the special she was watching. It was one of those older cartoons, though I cannot recall it to memory. I was a little old for it, heck I was the oldest one in the room.

We arrived at my grandparents several hours ago and pulled into the long gravel driveway covered in snow and ice. We eased into place before brining the van to a final and solemn stop. It had been early evening and we were all tired from the long drive down. My mother, Scott, and Mary quickly set to helping my father unpack the car and bringing all the luggage and presents towards my grandparents' house. Sean set about helping Amy out of her car seat and saw to my needs as well. I was more than old enough to let myself out of the car. But that proved difficult with my hands tied behind my back. My brother untied my wrists and helped me slip out of the harness vest before he moved onto my younger sister who was asleep anyway. I thanked him and told him that I was grateful to be spared the humiliation of having to walk inside as a prisoner. My brother was glad to help me, but he admitted that he had been oblivious to my situation in the van on the way down.

The seven of us made the trip up towards the house fully loaded with parcels in what was to be the first of several trips. My Aunt and Uncle were there to greet us long with their family and our grandparents. Tom and Kyle donned their winter coats and helped us finish the unpacking. Our families went through the usual greeting routines and discussed everything that happened over the course of the last few months. We only saw each other two or three times a year, so it was a really special occasion. After the car was unloaded and I managed to get unbundled from all my winter gear the evening began. The 14 of us shared a hot meal together and the talk continued into the later part of the evening. It would be a few days before we celebrated Christmas as a whole group. But, it was still a fun time to see everyone and talk for the first time in a while.

After desert was consumed, our parents retired to the living room to talk by the fire and catch up on everything. The rest of us went upstairs to retire and get ready for bed. It had been a long trip down and all of us were looking forward to a good solid rest. My grandparents had several guest rooms in their house that served to house each section of our group. Amy, Lucy and myself were sharing a room on the second floor. It had two beds and a TV with two large padded chairs in front of it. Sean, Tom, Kyle, and Scott were boarding together downstairs in the Den in sleeping bags and on one of those older style convertible sofas. My Aunt and Uncle shared a guest bedroom on the first floor of the house. My parents were in another on the second floor and my grandparents used their normal bedroom. Mary had chosen the warmth and solitude of the living room and came prepared to sleep on the long sofa down their right in front of the fire place. The house was a little crowded with everyone. But, it was a pretty cozy place with all of us together.

It was a little past 8 if I remember right. I was sitting on the edge of the bed that Amy and I were going to share looking out the window. I glanced over at the dresser where my game boy was plugged in with the battery pack recharging. I had burned it out of power on the way down and now I had to wait for it to recharge. Unfortunately, I hadn't brought any normal batteries so I was out of luck there. I was still dressed in the pink sweat suit that I had first put on that morning. I was also wearing a pair of white socks and I had gone to the trouble to dig my bear slippers out of my bag. I had debated whether or not to wear the outfit to bed. It was a good deal warmer than my normal pajamas and just as comfortable. Lucy was sitting over on the other bed wearing a set of blue jeans and long sleeve T-shirt. Amy was curled up in a blanket sleeper over in the chair watching her special. Her legs were tucked up to her chest in a relaxed mannerism.

So, there I sat starting to get a little bored with myself. Lucy and Amy were silent and engrossed in their respective activities. I looked out the window at the majestic view so unlike the city where we lived. Everything was still and silent accept for the dialogue on the TV that I had already droned out. I could have sat their all night and admired the view, but it wasn't meant to last. My peace was sorely interrupted by a tapping on the door to the room that sat shut on the opposite corner. I looked over to investigate at it's source as did Lucy as she looked up from her book. Amy didn't seem to notice the disturbance and stayed fixed to her show on the television. The gentle wrapping on the door repeated itself quietly a second time. Finally, I decided to get up and go investigate the source of the noise.

I crossed the room at a comfortable pace taking my time. It only took a moment for me to arrive at the door. I walked over and turned the knob and swung the door back so that I could see what the other side of it concealed. My eyes were greeted by several different sites, the first of which, was my cousin Kyle who had a sleeping bag draped over one shoulder and a pillow under his harm. However, I knew almost immediately from their looks that they didn't belong to my cousin. "Good evening ladies, I thought we would bring you an early Christmas gift this year." Kyle offered with a little smirk on this face. "I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t walk in on somebody changing or something." With that said, Kyle walked passed me without my permission in order to make way for the rest of the boys who were following him. Tom, Sean and Scott entered the room, although only the oldest two walked in.

Kyle went over to a open space on the floor and began to spread out the sleeping bag that he carried with him. Then, he set the pillow he was carrying down on the floor at the head of the bag. Sean and Tom entered the room and made a similar deposited of my remaining brother on the floor on top of the sleeping bag. "I thought we'd get even for him tying you up in the car earlier Jennifer. So, we thought the three of you could use another room mate for the night. Don't worry, we took all the work out of the situation for you he'll be cooperative." Sean finished as he dropped the explanation for the unexpected intrusion into our room. With their errand done, the three boys when were still free bid the four of us good night and exited the room quietly closing the door behind them. They left behind my older brother Scott who at the moment was having a pretty bad day.

My brother Scott sat up on the floor on top of his sleeping bag the best that he could. He was wearing a set of green pajama pants, a short sleeve t-shirt and quite a bit of rope. My brother's hands were tied with a X criss cross behind his back. There was as loop of rope that went around his waist pinning his arms to it. Additionally, his upper arms were tied to his sides and cinched off between his arms and upper body. I had to give them credit, the older boys knew what they were doing. Scott's ankles were tied criss cross and his legs were drawn together in two places above there. His legs were bound and cinched above and below his knees as well to prevent him from being able to move hardly at all. He looked pretty helpless. Finally, there was a handkerchief with a knot in its center drawn tightly in his mouth. Scott started struggling against the ropes as best he could as soon as my older brothers left the room closing the door behind him. Between his squirming the muffled grunts he made into the gag it was becoming apparent that he was less than content with his situation.

My cousin Lucy for the most part ignored him for the first 10 minutes or so as she continued to turn pages in her book. Amy watched back and fourth between the television and her older brother who was struggling quite hard on the floor. It was hard to tell, which one of them had her attention better. I just sat back on the bed and watched the matter unfold. After about ten or fifteen minutes passing, Scott's initial energy began to give out. His situation was pretty hopeless and the ropes didn't seem to be in any hurry to leg him go. Lucy lifted her book mark and selected a point to discontinue her reading. She placed it in between two of the pages and folded the novel closed on the bed next to her. Then, she swung her legs around off the edge of the bed and put her feet on the floor. My cousin rose to a standing position and began to advance towards my brother who was laying on the floor. She arrived a moment later and knelt down where he was seated.

"Hey, Scott long time no see. How are you doing?" My brother glared up at her and yelled something loudly into the gag. It came out pretty muffled and not understandable. "Now, now that's no way to greet your cousin after all this time is it. Especially given your circumstances, if you want something to yell at maybe I should give you something to yell about." Scott looked up at her for a moment longer, then his gaze sank and his focus and composure changed. He was in no position to stand up against his cousin and he knew it. Lucy reached forward with her hand towards my brothers bare feet and began to run her hand up and down his soles slowly at first. Scott jerked away at the implication, but his speed was very hampered under the circumstances. The scene quickly exploded with energy from Lucy and my brother. Lucy let loose on him without any form of mercy imaginable.

Scott jerked around violently against his ropes trying to free himself in vain. He wriggled and squirmed and folded backwards trying to avoid my cousin the best that he could. However, there was no escape to be had as Lucy held nothing back. Amy's attention fell back from TV to the two other occupants of the room struggling for control over the situation. She dropped her attention span from the TV and watched with anticipation as Lucy continued her assault on Scott. My brother was grunting heavily into the gag and struggling as hard as he could. There was no way he could gain any advantage against the situation under the circumstances. I was surprised that the banging around from all his rolling didn't attract any attention from the rest of the family. My own thoughts and musings had been easily interrupted by Scott's peril and my cousins hands. My eyes were fixed on the scene. There really is something about watching someone tied up getting tickled that seems to suck up all the attention in the room.

The tickling continued for about 5 or 6 good solid minutes before Lucy finally retreated and allowed Scott to stop and try to catch his breath. She stepped back and stood up looking down at my brother. Scott collapsed on his side breathing hard into the gag. He was fresh out of energy and most of the fight had been drained out of it. He simply slumped down on his side and surrendered to the fatigue that had been setting in from the situation. Lucy turned around and walked back to the bed where she had been sitting. She sat down and picked her book back up from the spot where she had left it. "Well Jennifer, it looks like your brother is out of breath. I've had my fun, give him a few minutes to catch his breath and you can have the next go at it. After all, he's the one who tied you up in the car. It's only fair that you get the next crack at him." Lucy offered as she opened her book and went back to where she had left off. Amy sat and watched my brother slumped down on his side. She shifted her gaze back and fourth between Scott and myself waiting to see when I would make my advance. She didn't have to wait long.

I gave my brother another couple of moments to collect himself from the first assault. Then, I got up from where I was sitting and padded over to where he was lying on his side. Scott watched as the two little teddy bears on my feet slowly made their way across the room to where he was lying. I looked down at him when I arrived as he looked upwards at me. My brother looked exhausted. He was all worn out and completely helpless at my feet. I slowly knelt down and folded my feet backwards coming to rest sitting on my knees next to him. Scott squirmed backwards a little bit, but he didn't have the energy to put up much of a fight. He rolled over on his side exposing his back to me to guard against another tickling session. It was the only defense he could mount restrained as well as he was. I reached my arms forward slowly towards my brother who was not laying with his eyes closed bracing himself for the anticipated assault.

Scott spit out the knotted handkerchief from his mouth finding that it came loose after I untied the snug knot securing it behind his head. It took him another moment to spit out the second wadded up handkerchief from his onto the floor before he looked up at me. Scott waited another moment or two before he dared to bring himself upwards into a sitting position before he turn his gaze towards me curiously. I scooted around behind him on the floor and reach down to where his arms were bound behind his back. "Do you want me untie you?", I asked looking forward over the top of my brothers head. His answer came without hesitation at all. Scott nodded and replied with a simple yes. It took me several minutes to undo the complex coils of ropes that bound his wrists together and pinned them to his waist. Scott brought his arms around to the front and began rubbing the circulation back into his hands while I went to work undoing the ropes that secured his upper arms. Meanwhile, after a minute of rubbing his wrists, my brother began working on his own upper legs. Once I finished freeing his arms I scooted around helped him finish up on his legs.

My brother took a few minutes to stretch out and get his get more comfortable before he got around to responding to me verbally. "Thanks Sis, I thought you were going to keep my like that all night. Sorry about the car earlier, I was just playing around. I am just curious, why did you let me go so easily?" I scooted backwards and back a little more gently before I replied. "It's been a long day and I think we all spent enough time playing this little game for one day. Besides, you didn't look like you were having fun. So there was no point in continuing with this." Scott nodded in agreement. We talked a little more back and fourth as the rest of the activities in the room continued as they had before the boys had interrupted us. We gathered up the ropes and decided to call it a night on playing tie up.

Scott decided to cut his loses for the night and decided to sleep on the floor in our room of the rest of the night. He thought it would be better than taking a chance with the other tying him up again, Scott and I had shared a room for years, so his presence really wasn't an issue. Lucy really didn't care either way and Amy was too young to care. Amy and I shared a bed while Lucy took the remaining one on her own. We were up for another hour or so before the four of us drifted off to sleep. It had been a long day for all of us to say the least. I was glad to be sleeping untied for a change, though I had to admit it felt a little strange not being all strapped in. But, I slept well anyway. The games were over for that day and it would be another two before we had any more fun. But, that is another story.

[Soraka]

Part 6: The Straight Jacket

Hey all, I am trying to get this next section of the story posted in a little more timely of a manner than the last one. Unfortunately, the title is a bit of a give away on the subject of the story. But, most of you knew that it was coming from the innuendo in the third part of this series. This is one of my favorites and I hope everyone enjoys it.

It had been two days since the end of our last game and all was well at my grandparent's house in PA. It always turned out to be a wonderful time getting together with friends and family. Our activities over the last two days varied from playing out in the snow, to our normal holiday gift exchange that had taken place earlier that morning followed by our traditional Christmas dinner. The really large meal with all the trimmings. The table had been full of mountains of fantastic food. It turned out to be a really cheerful time to spend as a family. When the meal had concluded and the holiday banter had quieted down most of the family had either gone off to engage in some other form of activities or they gathered in the family room to continue the conversations. I had spent the afternoon out in the snow with Lucy, Kyle, Scott, and Amy playing around. Even though I had become a teenager officially a month ago, I still behaved more like a child than an adult. I wasn't above having fun outside in all the fun white stuff with everyone else. None of us were.

The day winded down as the 5 of us came in from the cold to warm up in by the big fire place in the family room. We shed our winter clothing and hanged it up to dry so that we could put it to good use the next day. Then, we sat down to a warm dinner fixed primarily from the leftovers of lunch. My grandmother always made way too much food to eat in one sitting. I was still pretty full from the first meal and only ate a little, mostly to appease my mother. The conversation at dinner was less complex than the first go around. Everyone had caught up with the lives of the rest of the extended family and the topic jumped all over the place. Like me, most of the younger portion of our group found the talk pretty boring and excused ourselves from the table at the first available excuse we could create. I was no exception and the second one gone. I wanted to take a shower before the line got to long. In a house with 14 people and only two bathrooms, it could be a long wait. I headed upstairs to the room where I was staying with the rest of the girls and collected my stuff before heading down the hallway over to the bathroom.

I trudged their slowly with the dragging the large duffle bag over my shoulder. I arrived to find the bathroom conveniently empty from the gathering of people downstairs and went inside. It wasn't long before the water began running and I allowed it to reach a comfortable temperature before stepping into the shower. I let the warmth of the water drift over me as I absorbed it into my skin. It had been a pretty cold and busy day outside. The heat was a welcome stress relief that promised to soon be followed by a restful night. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. I let the shower run for a good while as I enjoyed the quiet break from the stress of the day. Unfortunately, all good thing must come to an end.

I turned the water off slowly letting the last of the spray hit the floor quietly before I grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower onto the floor of the room. I was struck almost immediately by the cold air that inhabited the room. It wrapped its chill around me like a cold breeze. I dried off quickly and decided to seek comfort in some warmer clothing as I hiked over to where I had left the duffle bag on the back of the toilet. I opened the zipper on the bag and began to dig though it's content's hastily. I changed into my undergarments. I already knew what I wanted to wear to bed, the only problem was finding it. I had packed about half a dozen outfits for the week along with 4 sets of sleepwear. We did laundry throughout the week so we didn't need to worry about running out of clean clothes. I had packed two sets of normal pj's plus a long nightgown, but they weren't what I was looking for tonight. I dug toward the bottom of the bag and found the blanket sleeper that I was looking for neatly folded and ready to remove from the bag.

I lifted it up and unfolded it letting the lower part of the garment fall to the floor. First, I undid the zipper and ran it all the way down the front to where it ended in at the waist. Next, my legs were slid into the lower part of the sleep suit and my feet ended up in the built in feet on the garment. Then I worked my arms into the sleeves and zipped the front of the sleeper back up sealing myself in with the warmth that it provided. I was covered all the way from top to bottom in warm fleece and I watched as the cold swept away from me. After my pj's were in place, I began to did back in my bag for a second layer to wear to before I went to bed. I settled on a set of green sweat pants and a dark blue sweater with long sleeves and a tall collar on it. I pulled them on and tucked the top into the bottoms. Now, I was really going to keep warm, I wasn't going to wear the second layer to bed, but I wanted something to keep warm before I went to sleep. I finished the outfit off by donning my teddy bear slippers over the pajama feet and I added a light weight pair of fleece mittens over my hands. I tucked them under into the cuffs of my sweater before I went to close the bag.

Once, I was changed for the night, I leaned over and picked up my duffel bag from the floor and lifted it onto my shoulders. Next, I reached down to zip the bag shut. However, this proved to be a little bit difficult because of the mittens that I was wearing. I lowered my gaze and concentrated on looking down at the zipper so that I could get a reasonable grip on it. The grip was easy enough to find once I focused on what I was doing, but looking downward caused me to look into the bag where something else caught my attention. It was hidden under my clothes close the bottom of the bag itself. Only a slight part of the left sleeve of the canvas jacket was visible from beneath the clutter of clothing that lined the bottom of the bag. My attention shifted away from closing the bag and I began to focus on the straight jacket that was situated at the bottom of my bag. I exited the bathroom with the duffle bag still open, my attention drawn away from wanting to close it.

I hiked across the upstairs to the room where we were staying for the week and entered it almost secretly. It was empty of other human beings. Lucy and Amy must have still been down stairs with the rest of the family I thought to myself. I crossed the room to the bed that I was currently sharing with my little sister and placed the duffle bag on it with a plop. Then, I couldn't hold back my curiosity any longer. I pulled the rest of the contents of the bag aside and withdrew the garment from it's resting place on the bottom of the bag. I lifted the straight jacket out and held it up in front of me so that I could examine it more closely. I had gotten it for Christmas a few days ago from my parents, but I hadn't had time to try it out yet. So, it ended up getting packed in the bottom of my bag in the hopes that my schedule would be a little freer once we arrived at our grandparents house. Now that it was in front of me, I gave it a much more complete examination up and down.

The straight jacket was made of a reasonably heavy canvas type material designed to withstand struggling. It a large opening in the back that seemed to be drawn shut with quite a few straps and buckles that ascended the height of the jackets. When it was held up, the sleeves on the jacket extended a good foot or two below the where the waist ended and would likely cover my arms all the way down with plenty of room to spare. There was also a high collar on the jacket that would make it difficult to pull it off over the wearer's head. Finally, there were quite a few loose straps and loops hanging in several other places on the jacket, whose use I could only guess at. I held it up in front of me looking it from top to bottom and back. I tested the weight of the straight jacket against the force of gravity and it was heavier that I originally thought it would be. It had been a the back of my mind ever since we had arrived at my grandparents house that I wanted to take it for a test drive. However, no real opportunity had presented itself. Finally, I decided to give into temptation and try the thing on to at least get it out of my system.

I lifted it forward in front of me and pulled the back gently open. Next, I threaded my left arm into the sleeve and followed it promptly with my right. As you could probably guess, the sleeves were more than too long and extended the well past the ends of my arms covering my hands. I shrugged back my shoulders and pulled the back of the garment closed the best that I could. However, with the limited amount of dexterity it offered, I couldn't go much further on my own. I shifted around a little and tested it's weight and strength for a minute or two. It was quite heavy and made of a very sturdy material. With everything done up it would probably be nearly impossible to escape from it. Unfortunately, I had gone as far as I could go on my own. There was no way that I could secure my self to the point that I wouldn't be able to get out of the jacket with relative ease. I contemplated my decision a moment longer before I finally arrived at the conclusion I had been building for the last few minutes. I wanted to try it out officially and I was going to find someone to help me out. I decided to swallow my pride and head down stairs to ask for help. I turned and walked away from where I was standing and exited the room slowly heading for the stairs. I headed down and began my short journey to the living room.

My fascination with straight jackets had begun about 8 months ago when I was watching a special on TV. I forget what the show was exactly, but it was talking about escape artist and it had a demonstration on how to get out of one on the television. I had been fascinated with the idea the first time that I had seen someone escape from one of them. It looked pretty restrictive, and I wanted to see what one was like. A few months ago, I had Sean make me a pretend one by putting on one of his shirts and tying the arms together behind me with my hands folded in front. It only took a few minutes for me go get out, but it was an neat experience. The next time, he tied rope around my arms overtop of the shirt and I wasn't able to escape. After that experience, I decided that I wanted to try the real thing. So, I asked my mother if I could get a real one and got the standard answer of no. After another two months of nagging, I worked it up to a "we'll see" and I left it at that. Low and behold, I opened my presents two days earlier and there it was. I had to wait a long time to get it, but it was really neat to finally have one and I wanted to try it out. I rounded the last corner of the lower hallway and entered the family room most of the other people were gathered. Almost immediately, most of the eyes in the room floated over to where I was standing as my presence seemed to completely disrupt the scene.

"Hello Jennifer, what do you have there?" My aunt asked as she looked over at me and then back over at my parents with a look of astonishment. "It's a straight jacket that I got for Christmas, I was wondering if someone could help me put it on?" I replied. My aunt looked over at me as if I mentally needed it and then asked my parents for an explanation. My father got up from where he was sitting and came over to where I was standing. He gave my aunt the long version of the story and explained the purpose and background of the strange gift. His speech concluded with, "Mostly we thought it would keep her out of trouble and our hair if she had it on." The room soaked up the cheap pun and we all had a good laugh over the matter as my father hiked over behind me and looked the jacket over. He gave a wave over to my brothers to come over to where I was standing. The two of them rose and hiked across the room to where I was standing. "I'm going to show the two of you how to close this up. That way Jennifer won't have to bother us the next time she wants to wear it." My brother both nodded with the statement and my father went to work on the straight jacket.

With the jacket already partially on, he began by closing it off in the back. There were several buckles in the back that threaded from one side to the other and tightened down like a belt. My father drew each of them tight and pulled them secure before setting them in place. With each strap he drew, the jacket got snugger and tightened around me. Once he finished with the back, he directed me to let my arms hang at my sides. There was a looped strap on each side just below the shoulder that secured the upper arm to the side of the straight jacket. He snugged one of them down into place and allowed Sean to secure the other one. Next, my father lifted up my arms and had me fold them across my chest. He guide them each through a loop that was set there and folded my lower arms. The look helped to keep me from being able to pull my crossed arms away from my chest. He drew the ends of the long sleeves around my sides and tucked them into another set of loops before he drew them together behind my back. They secured to each other there through a series of straps and buckles. He secured them and drew them up tight explaining each of the straps to my brothers as he went. Then it was time to do up the last strap.

My father leaned down and took hold of the strap that was hanging down from the front of the jacket. He guided it between my legs and threaded the end of it into a buckle on the back of the jacket. Then, he drew it up and took of the slack from it. He drew the strap to where it was tight between my legs and pulling down on the rest of the jacket. When it was drawn, it tightened everything down good and snug. I felt the canvas pulling in on me from several different angles and it really felt secure. My dad stepped back to admire his handy work for a moment. Then, without another word, he turned and went back to where he had been seated next to my mother. The adults watched me for a minute or two longer, then they went back to their conversation as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, I set about testing the limits of the straight jacket as Scott and Sean watched me.

With all of the straps done up, the straight jacket was a lot tighter than I had anticipated that it would be. I began by pulling my arms in several different directions. I also shrugged my shoulders back and fourth and pulled against the jacket in several different ways. However, it all proved to be a futile effort. I could squirm my upper body around in it quite a bit, but nothing I did seemed to make any difference about my current state of affairs. The one I had seen escaped from on TV didn't have the extra loops in front and around the upper arms. The held my arms rigidly in place where they were and prevented any attempt to move them more than an inch or two out of position. I wasn't getting anywhere at all. Every time I pulled against part of the jacket, it tightened up on the opposite site or area. The canvas was much heavier that I thought and held well against any struggles that I could provide. Finally, I decided there was no way out of this and accepted my fate. I was going to be stuck in this thing until someone let me out, and it was awesome to say the least.

I settled on that I was stuck and decided that I was going to sit down and just enjoy the atmosphere of the room. There were several conversations going back and fourth along with a warm fire burning in the fire place. I hiked over to the couch that my brothers had been sitting on and turned around. I plopped myself down gently and scooted all the way back to the rear of the couch. I seated my self against the back of the couch with my knees just short of the edge and my feet dangling over the side. Scott and Sean followed and took a seat on either side of. The flow of the evening continued less interrupted by my presence. I sat back in silence and watched the warm glow of the fire as everyone else continued to talk. I shifted around back and fourth now and again to remind me that I was secured. The straight jacket was a little stiff, but if I sat still it wasn't really uncomfortable to wear. I was really enjoying this situation quite thoroughly. I was a little warm, but I kept that to myself. If I asked for the straight jacket to come off, so I could cool down it was probably not going back on and I wanted to stay like I was for most of the evening.

I spent the next couple of hours secured quite nicely seated between my two brothers on the couch. I struggled a little and dangled my slippered feed back and fourth somewhat, but for the most part I just watched the fire and sat quietly. Amy gave me a look over a couple of times and asked several questions about it. She soaked up the explanations we gave her and was content to go back to playing. As the evening drew onwards, several other members of the family grew tired and began to depart the room for where they were sleeping leaving the rest of us to continue onwards. Most of the adults gradually left the room in turn and Lucy took Amy up to bed around 10 or so. After another half hour or so, Mary asked the boys if they would depart so that she could get ready for bed. She slept in the family room on one of the two sofas with a sleeping bag. With a lot grumbling, the boys departed leaving just my sister and myself in the room. Mary told me she would be right back and told me not to go anywhere. Not that I really could once she closed the door to the room behind her.

I think my sister understood that I wanted to stay like this for as long as I could. She was will to tolerate my presence a little long if it would make me happy. With my brother gone, I decided to stretch out on the couch and get a little more comfortable. I drew my legs upwards and used them to maneuver myself into a laying position. I brought my head up against a pillow on one end of the sofa and straightened my legs out in front of me. Then, I went back to watching the fire as I drew in the silence of the room. Mary was gone for about 15 minutes or so. She returned changed into a yellow nightgown with her hair drawn up in a braid behind her. She closed the sliding door behind her and crossed the room. My sister said nothing to me as she set about laying out her sleeping bag for the night across the opposite sofa. Once that was compete, she put her pillow above the top of the bag and hiked over to the fire places. Mary drew back the screen and added a couple of more logs to the fire stoking it up to provide her with some warmth for the night. Then, she back to her makeshift bed and sat down.

"You look pretty comfortable over there Jennifer. you can stay like you are a little longer if you like, it will be a little while before I go to bed. Just let me know when you want out and I will let you go." I looked over at her and nodded before changing my gaze back to the fire place. I shuffled my shoulder back trying to get a little more comfortable. There was just something relaxing about being restrained like this. It was calming not being able to move around and I was content to stay put for the moment. My sister and I just laid their across from each other watching the fire and drawing in it's warmth. I was in no hurry to be let go and I decided to take my sister up on her invitation to stay put a while longer. The straight jacket was very secure and completely unyielding to any of my efforts to free myself. I laid there and began to wonder how someone could escape from something like this. I allowed my thought to wander as I laid there. I was in no hurry to go anywhere fast.

I am going to stop here with this story. It is starting to get on the longer side and I want to get it posted. I finish it in the next part. I hope everyone has enjoyed this one. It has an interesting conclusion, but it will have to wait. Some feed back would be welcome, Part of me feels a little uneasy sharing this story, but it was one of the more memorable ones from my childhood. I will hopefully post the next part in the near future. Until next time everyone take care.

Jennifer.

[Soraka]

Part 7: The Straight Jacket Continued

Hello again everyone sorry for leaving the first part of the story unfinished, I just wanted to get it posted in a timely matter. Anyway, this is the second half of this part of this series of stories. I hope everyone enjoys it.

I let out a quiet yawn as my eyes opened to the dimly lit room slowly. I tried rolled slowly from my back to my side. As my eyes adjusted to the limited amount of light in the room I began to realize where I was. I was stilly laying on my side in the family room. I began to look around and see what I could take in. I looked first over at the only real source of light in the room, which was what remained of the fire form earlier. The roaring blaze had fallen to a few remaining logs and just simple embers of what it had been. I glanced up toward the clock that rested just above the fire place's mantel. However, the light from the fire wasn't sufficient to make out the time. It was still dark outside, so it must have been between very early and mid early morning. I continued my observations and saw my sister asleep curled up in her sleeping bag on the opposite couch from where I was lying. I suddenly realized that I must have fallen asleep while I was lying on the couch.

I squirmed around for a minute to see what my current situation was, and I found that it wasn't what I had expected. I was pretty stiff on the upper half of my body. The straight jacket was still very securely in places. I gave it a few tugs in different directions and found it was just as secure as when I had been wearing it the night before. My arms were still folded across and strapped to my chest and the sides of my upper body. My body was a little hot too under the circumstances. I was in footed pajamas, sweat pants, a sweater, slippers and a straight jacket after all. My sister had apparently taken the liberty of tucking me in a little. There were two blankets laid overtop of me. The first was wool blanket and the second was a big blue afghan that usually hung over the back side of the couch. Overall, I was pretty warm at the moment.

I tried to use my legs to dislodge the blankets, but I found that I was in for another surprise. When I tried to kick my legs apart, I found that they had been bound securely at the ankles and just above my knees. I wasn't quite sure what exactly had been used to secure them because of the blankets, the two layers of clothing and the lack of lighting. So, I decided to struggle a little bit and test the strength of the bonds. They were rather rigid and unyielding to my initial struggles. My best guess was that they were probably rope, but I was completely sure. I shifted my legs against each other under the blanket to searching for a means of escape. All I got for my effort was a confirmation that my second set of limbs had been secured as well as my first.

I flayed on my back on the couch and squirmed around for a few minutes more without any real success on the matter. I was starting to get pretty hot and sweaty from my efforts. There really wasn't anything that I could do about it under the circumstances. I looked up across the room at my dozing sister and decide to play the only card I had left. I had no chance of getting out of this on my own and it was time to admit that I needed help on the matter. "Mary, hey Mary" I whispered softly at first trying to see if I could rouse my sister to my aid. When the first attempt was unsuccessful, I repeated it in a slightly louder voice and then I went to almost a normal speaking tone when she finally opened her eyes slowly and looked across the room at me. Mary took a moment and began slipping her top half out of the sleeping bag and into a sitting position. My sister raised her hand and put a finger to her lips to signal for me to be a little more quiet. I nodded and let her collect herself for a couple of minutes before she emerged completely from the sleeping bag and crossed the room. She switched on a small lamp next to the couch I was laying on.

When she arrived where I was laying, she knelt down and whispered to me. "Hey little sister, it's still pretty early. What wrong do you have to go to the bathroom?" I shook my head and looked over at her. "I am just a little warm at the moment." Mary nodded and pulled the blankets off of me revealing my straight jacket and legs, which were bound above the knees and at the ankles with white clothesline. "How did my feet get tied up too?" I inquired as I looked up at my older sister. Mary's reply was prompt and direct on the matter. "About half an hour after everyone else went off to bed you fell asleep on the couch. So, I just figured that you planning to spend the night like that. I tied your feet so that if you woke up you wouldn't wander around the house in the dark with your arms tied up and get hurt. I also added the blankets to keep you warm. You used to sleep tied up at home so often so I didn't think anything of it." Mary finished her explanation and gave it a few moments to sink in before she looked towards me for a response. "Are you okay?" She asked.

I replied that I hadn't planned on sleeping like this, but other than being a little to warm and a little stiff I was alright. Mary nodded and stood up clicking off the lamp as she rose. "Hey, wait are you just going to leave me like this." I protested. "Shhsh keep your voice down or I am going to gag you. Everyone else is trying to sleep and I don't want you waking them up. And yes, I am going to leave you tied up until 7 or so. I'm tired and I want to go back to sleep." I wasn't happy with the response that I got and I launched another protest explaining how hot that I was. Mary had been patient with me up to that point, but I could tell that she was aggravated from being woken up. She didn't waste another word on me. She crossed the room and opened a pocked on the outside of her duffle bag. She reached inside and took out 3 handkerchiefs then she came over to where I was laying. "Open your mouth" Mary ordered in a firm voice.

At first, I resisted her intrusion by keeping my mouth held tight. The last thing I wanted was to be gagged right now. However, it proved a futile effort, My sister began by rolling one of the handkerchiefs into a long shaft which she tied a double knot in the middle of. Then she balled up a second one and pushed it tight against my lips trying to work it into my mouth. When I refused her entry, Mary simply put her hand down and pinched my nose shut in the hope of forcing me to draw a breath from my mouth. With both sets of my limbs restrained all I could do is wiggle my head back and forth in an attempt to dislodge her hand, but she kept a firm hold. I held my breath for a little over a minute before I was forced to take a breath. I tried to breath shallow, but I couldn't. When my mouth opened for the first time, the handkerchief got forced in without much difficult on my sisters part. I tried to spit it out, but she countered that by lodging the double knot in the center of the second one between my lips before I could manage the feat. Mary finished off the gag by pulling the ends of the outer handkerchief behind my head and knotting them off very tightly, probably because of the resistance I put up. Finally, she released her hold on the cloth and stood up,

Next, she took the remaining handkerchief and rolled it up. She knelt down and lowered it overtop of my eyes and tied it snuggly off behind my head making an effective blindfold. "There, now stay still and keep quiet I want to get some more sleep and I am tired of being interrupted." Mary said. The next thing I felt was the return of the weight, probably of the two blankets being laid back over me. I struggled back and fourth for a moment or two and shouted into the gag which just reduced my speech a series of muffled grunts. After a few minutes, I stopped struggling and stretched out trying to get as comfortable as I could. I rolled on my side and tried to bring my head to rest on the pillow at the end of the couch. There wasn't any point in trying to get free on my own. All that it would yield would be making me warmer and more uncomfortable. I stopped struggling and just leaned back accepting my fate on the matter.

I laid on my side in silence and darkness as I waited for the remaining hours of the morning to pass ever so slowly. I couldn't move, talk or see, so I was pretty bored under the circumstances. I tried to sleep and I managed to doze on and off, but never for more than a few minutes. I just couldn't fall asleep gagged and bound like I was. All I could do was wait for morning to come and eventually it did. I must have dozed off, the next thing I remembered was the flood of light coming into my eyes as Mary pulled the blindfold loose and put it into her pocket slowly. My sister was standing over me and I could clearly see light had begun to reenter through the windows of the lower floor. It was snowing outside and looked like another wonderful winter day. Mary reached down and slowly pulled the two blankets off of me before rolling them up and depositing them at the end of the sofa. Then, she reached down and guided me upwards into a seated position with my legs hanging off the end of the sofa. "Good morning Jennifer, did you sleep well." Mary said in a sarcastic tone of voice knowing full well that I hadn't. All I could reply with was a muffled grunt.

"I am going to untie your legs now, don't run off just yet okay." I nodded and looked down as she began unknotting the coil of rope on the upper part of my legs. Mary took her time and made sure to coil the first rope neatly before beginning on the second. But after a few minutes, my legs were finally free. I looked down at her as she coiled the second piece of rope and stood up. She turned her back and began to retrace her steps to her duffle bag. I shouted in protest into the gag hoping that she would take a moment and remove it. My mouth was getting pretty sore from it and I wanted it out. "Sorry Jen, I am going to leave that in a little longer, you woke me up this morning and I like having you quieted down. I'll take it out soon if you behave." I gave her a mean look, which she answered with her back. Mary walked across the room ignoring me and put the rope away. I was still reasonably helpless and she knew full well that there was nothing I could do about it. She waited a few more minutes as she stood back and stared back and forth between me and the fire which she had built back up before she finally came over and approached me.

Mary reached down and took hold of one of the straps on the back of the straight jacket and slowly moved me up into a standing position. "Come on, I let's take a little walk shall we." She said as she gestured me towards the exit to the living room.

I had a strong urge to kick my sister, but I held my temper. I really didn't want my legs tied back up at the moment. I was pretty sore and just wanted out of the straight jacket. It wasn't uncomfortable really, but I was still pretty stiff from the night before and I wanted to lose one of the two layers of clothing I was wearing under it. I was just too hot. Mary released her hold on me and asked me to follow her out of the living room and led me down the hallway towards the bathroom. The walk was short and soon after we arrived at the bathroom. The door was shut tight and locked when Mary tried the handle. She knocked and my aunt gave a response that she was doing business and we would have to wait a minute or two. Mary and I stood there in silence as we waited for my aunt to finish. I debated speaking up a couple of times, but decide against it because I couldn't get a message across anyway. Finally, after what seemed like a short eternity the toilet flushed and the door opened a minute later.

My aunt opened the door and beheld the two of us. She had a surprised look on her face as she took the whole view in. "Mary did you keep her in that thing for the whole night?" My aunt said as she looked down at me. I just mmmphd into the gag and nodded. Mary reaffirmed my answer verbally to my aunt. My aunt just smiled and patted me twice on the head before she headed down the hallway from where we had just come. Once she departed Mary reached down behind me and began working on something. I faced forward and let her be. After a minute or two, the crotch strap on the jacket fell loose. It was shortly followed by the tension that kept my arms tight finally beginning to slacken some. Mary undid the last clasp and the ends of the sleeves pulled free. I was glad to finally begin to loosen up some and I immediately began the process of untangling my arms from the remaining straps. Mary spent the next few minutes letting me go completely as she finally lifted the straight jacket from me.

Once my hands were free, I immediately went for the gag, I forgot that I still had mittens over my hands and I found it quite difficult to undo it without my fingers to work the knot loose. I brought my hands back down to my front and began pulling the mittens off. However, by the time I did the gag came loose as Mary removed the last knot securing it to the back of my head. I spit the second handkerchief out into my hands and passed it to my sister. "Why did you have to keep me gagged for so long anyway? You know I don't like it." Mary just smiled back at me holding everything. "Because I know it annoys you and you wouldn't let me sleep. Anyway, your free now so go ahead and use the bathroom and change if you want to. I give you some privacy already." With that, Mary walked off and back toward the living room leaving me free standing in the hallway. I decided to follow my sister's advice and headed into the bathroom. The first thing I did was get the outer layer of my outfit off and deposited it on the floor. I began to cool down almost immediately. It was a relief to be able to cool off.

I sat back and did my business in the bathroom. I used the toilet, brushed my teeth, straightened my hair a little and decided what to do next. I decided to stay in my pajamas for the time being. I pulled my mittens back on and proceeded to collect the outer layer of clothing and my slippers form where they were sitting on the floor. Then, I opened the door and headed back to the living room to find Mary. The sliding door to the room was shut when I arrived and I slid it open to gain entry from the hallway. Surprisingly, the room seemed empty of people. The fire was still burning, but there was nobody around. I hiked in slowly looking around, I caught the ambush from the corner of eye a moment too late. Sean jumped me from behind and grabbed me around the upper body pinning my arms to my sides. I couldn't react quickly enough to dodge with my hands full. Mary came from the opposite side of the doorway and helped Sean push me down onto the floor on my stomach. Sean adjusted his grip and began trying to get hold of my wrist while Mary approached me with a coil of rope.

"Hey, get off me. If you want to tie me I'll cooperate, just let me get up off the floor first okay." I protested. Sean released his grip on my arms and backed off. I took a moment to collect myself and pushed myself upwards until I regained my footing. Mary asked me to cross my wrists behind me and after a moment I complied without much hesitation. My sister took a moment and secured my wrist with a double criss cross tie using the rope. Mary finished the job with a secure knot on top of the tie before she stepped back. "Okay there, I am tied up. But don't gag me this time okay." Mary nodded and smiled at me. "That’s fine, I just thought you might want to spend a breakfast tied up for a change. We haven't done one in a while and I thought it would be fun this morning before everyone else is up an about. Sorry about leaving you earlier, I just wanted to sleep in a little and I was a annoyed that you woke me up so early." I returned my sister's grin and told her that it was okay. I should have known better than to fall asleep with a straight jacket on.

Mary led the way out the family room and down the hallway to the kitchen. Sean and I followed in close pursuit towards the kitchen where the two of us sat down at the table waiting for Mary to fix breakfast. Sean pulled a chair out for me and allowed me to sit down. Then he pushed it back under the table before seating himself next to me. The two of us sat and watched as Mary poured some ingredients into a bowl and mixed up a set a batch of pancake batter. She stirred it for a few minutes and then began pouring a couple of scoops of it onto a skilled letting the batter begin to take it's cooked shape. Meanwhile, Sean and I sat back and watched hungrily as Mary worked away at the stove. After a while, Sean got up and set about seeing the table for the three of us and gathering some of the side items. He got each of us a glass of milk and juice along with a bowl of cereal while Mary worked over the pancakes at the table. "So, Jennifer how do you like the straight jacket?" She asked out of the blue while she continued to cook.

I told her that it was great. I had never been in something so secure in all my life. It was comfortable for a long term wearing and I just loved it as a whole. Mary smiled, "I am glad you like it so much. I helped Mom and Dad pick it out for you. It fit you like a glove last night and I couldn't resist leaving you in it a little longer this morning." Mary went on to explain how where she had found one online and that it had been hidden at her house until Christmas morning when she had slipped it under the tree while I had been tied up. She had shared some of the cost of it with my parents as a special surprise. (There was a lot I still had to learn about my sister since she had left the house, but that was still to come.) The conversation bounced back and fourth for a while as Mary continued to cook. It was about that time that Amy rounded the corner and entered the room in a groggy mood. She must have been drawn in by the smell of the food or the talk at the table.

My younger sister rounded the table and looked each of us over. She didn't seem surprised to see my hands tied, it was a common occurrence at my house. She bid Sean and I a quick hello and headed over to where Mary was cooking. "Whata making? Smells Good. Can I have some?" "Pancakes, yes they do, and if you are hungry I'll make you some too." Mary replied curtly and told my younger sister to have a seat at the table. Amy looked pretty happy as she walked over and pulled the chair out at the place Sean had set for Mary. Mary took a few more minutes and finished the last of the batter and deposited the finished product onto a plate before heading over to the table. She set the pancakes down and headed over to the cupboard to get herself another plate and glass. Before seating herself. Amy grabbed a couple of pancakes outright and dug in. Sean was a little more conservative in his efforts and served me before helping himself to a few. I just sat and watched as he poured syrup over all three stacks and topped them with butter. Then, he took a bite out of his own and Amy started eating.

Amy was on her fourth or fifth bite before my situation hit her. "Hey, how is Jennifer going to eat with her hands all tied up like that?" My little sister inquired. "We're going to have to feed her I guess." Sean answered as he picked up the fork next to my plate and used it to get me a piece of pancake. Then he held it up and let me bite it off. I took a moment and ate it slowly enjoying it before I swallowed. Sean got me another bite, which I consumed in the same fashion. He ate a bite of his own in-between and gave me a sip of juice to wash it down. Amy just sat back and watched with fascination at the whole process. She watched as Sean and I repeated the process a couple of more times slowly and relaxed. It seemed to interest her to no end as she sat back and watched. I realized that this was the first time Amy had witnessed this old enough to try and rationalize the situation. It had been one of my favorite parts of our games when I was younger. It meant that a tie up didn't have to end because of a meal. But we hadn't played it in a while.

Finally, Amy seemed to work up the courage to ask something. "Sean could I give it a try?" My brother looked over at her. "You want to be tied up to eat?" he asked. "No silly, I can't eat tied up. I wanted to know if I could help Jennifer eat breakfast." Sean just shrugged and looked over at me. I told him it was fine and he passed the fork over to my younger sister. She used it to break off another piece of pancakes and held them up for me to eat. I leaned forward and tried to take the bite of food, but my sister hand eye coordination was less stable that my brothers. I got more of the syrup on my chin than in my mouth. Sean and Mary had a good laugh over the incident at my expense. I finished chewing the food and joined in the laugh afterwards. Amy seemed proud of herself and drew herself upwards to where she was sitting up on her knees on the chair. Then she tried again to get me a second bit. This time we were a little more successful. Amy continued until the last few bites were gone and dropped the fork the plate. Sean and Mary just sat back and had a good laugh at Amy's progress and responses to the matter.

When we were done, I used my legs to push myself back from the edge of the table and stood up. Once I cleared the table, I took a quick moment and worked my tied hands around from behind my back to my front by pulling my legs through them. I was still pretty flexible even when I became a teenager. Amy watched with amazement as I got my hands around to my front without incident. I grabbed a napkin off the table and wiped my face off. "Thanks for the help Amy. And thanks to both of you for a great present and a wonderful breakfast. That was fun. I am going to go catch a quick nap for a couple of hours before we go sledding this afternoon." Sean and Mary both game a your welcome response and I headed back toward the stair case leading up to the second floor of the house. I entered the room where Lucy, Amy and I were sharing and headed over to the empty bed. Lucy was there just getting up for the day.

"Good morning Jennifer. So, where were you last night?" My cousin asked. I gave her the short account of what happened and explained that I wanted to get a little more sleep before we went sledding that afternoon. Lucy nodded and told me she would wake me up in time to leave. I thanked her and headed over to the empty bed to lie down. I was tired and I wanted a little more rest. "Do you want me to untie your hands?" She asked as she was getting ready to leave the room. I looked down at my wrists, I had forgotten that they were still tied together in front of me. "No, not really I think I'll be more comfortable this way anyways." Lucy crossed the room and lifted the covers for me as I laid down. "The do you want me to tie your feet up also?" She offered. I told her that I didn't care one way or the other, I was just tired. Lucy took me up on my invitation and cinched my ankles together with a bathrobe belt before she exited the room closing the door behind her. I was tired and ready for a few hours of rest. I laid my back against the pillow and slowly closed my eyes.

Well, there we finally go another story done and only a few parts left to go. It was a fun morning to say the least. But, the rest of the fun was still to come that weekend. I learned a little more about my sisters that day. Mary in particular. Feel free to give me some feed back if you want. Until next time,

Jennifer

[Soraka]

Part 8 (Final) : A Trip Down Memory Lane

Hey everyone, here we are again with another new story to share with all of you. This sadly is the last in the Christmas series of my teen years. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. I think I am going to go through a second set of stories from my teenage years before I go back to my earlier childhood. This has been a fun trip for me down memory lane with my brother who has been giving me some of the details of these to share with everyone. This is probably my favorite in this series, so I hope that everyone will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy sharing it. (A quick admittance, I don' t remember exactly what was said, but I am going to be filling it in to move the story correctly. I still remember the gist of it though,) Without further ado, here we go.

It was new years morning quiet and peaceful as I looked out the window on what would be my second to last morning at my grandparents house. It was a wonderful time every year to come up here and spend a week and a couple of days with the extended family. Unfortunately, our winter vacation was almost up and I would have to go back to school in a few days. Everyone had been up late to ring in the new year. The party had been long and fun with plenty of excitement to share and stories to trade. Strangely enough, this was one of the first new years in a while where we got through the whole night without anyone getting tied up. It usually happened early during the celebration and either Lucy or I usually ended up ringing in the new year without the use of our hands and sometimes our feet. But, no one had been in the mood to play and I didn't really feel like it so we skipped it. I had gotten to wear my straight jacket one more time since my first experience with it for an afternoon, but that really isn't a story worth recalling.

The snow was falling quietly outside as everyone was still fast asleep from the part the night before. I was in a long pink night gown and my teddy slippers. I had already gotten out of bed and stepped out of the room careful not to wake Amy who had been up well past her bed time or Lucy. It was only a little after six when I finally sneaked a look at the clock in the kitchen. I had gotten just over five hours of sleep. I could tell school was coming because my body wasn't letting me sleep in anymore. I was a little down about the morning's situation and there was nothing I could really do about it. I guess I should explain one of our family traditions. Every year on the last day of the year, we have a family photo of everyone dressed up formally for a Christmas memory. The girls are all in dresses and the guys are in suits and ties or a sweater. Unfortunately, I was having a problem with that this morning.

Almost a third of the clothes I packed were pajamas and most of the rest were mostly play clothes and things for lounging around in. Currently, I had nothing proper to wear for the photo. I had packed everything that I needed to complete the outfit. I had white tights, hair ribbons and a set of t-strap maryjane dress shoes packed for the today. But, I had left the main dress I wanted to wear in the picture back at home in my closet. In fact, I was wearing the only dress I packed and a night gown wasn't anywhere near appropriate for the picture. I had the sweater I had packed, but it was still dirty from being warn all week and I had nothing to go with it formally. I didn't know what I was going to tell my mother. I could here the lecture already in my head about how important this was and that I should have been more careful packing. I wouldn't have been surprised if she threatened to make me walk home and get it. (Sarcastically speaking of course)

So, I sat by the window and watched the snow fall silently onto the back lawn. I felt just like it that morning all cold and blue reflecting the sky as it fell. I was so lost in thought over the matter that I was quite startled when the address game. "Good morning Jennifer, what are you doing up so early. I figured you would still be in bed at this hour this morning." I almost jumped out of the kitchen chair I was sitting in when my I heard the voice. I jerked around quickly and saw my grandmother standing behind me staring out the window at me. I gave her a heavy sigh followed by a polite "good morning" that I forced myself to return out of manners. She started out at the snow falling with me for a few minutes. It's funny how grandparents can always read into your thoughts and feelings so easily and know just what to say. My grandmother gave me another moment of private thought before she finally interrupted my depressed state.

"So, what wrong with you this morning, didn't you have a fun week with us. I know it's sad to have to leave, but well see you again around Easter and we always have email and the phone until then." I sighed again and told her that I was sad to be leaving, but that wasn't the source of my discontentment that morning. I painfully broke down and shared my failure with her about forgetting the dress at home. I let out the details about letting everyone down and sat back waiting for her disappointment with me to come out. Surprisingly it didn't. "Well, is that what this is all about? That really isn't all that big a deal. Everyone here will still love you even it you wore your nightgown and slippers in the picture. It's about having the family together not the clothes." I appreciated her attempt to cheer me up over something that was so trivial. I knew she was right. However, it was a big deal to me and I was still down in the dumps about it. I thanked her for the reminder. The words were kind, but it still left me without anything to where for the picture. But, my grandmother wasn't willing to accept defeat yet. At least not without a fight.

She gave me a moment and put her thinking cap on before she spoke again. She probably had the answer right away, but she let me think it took her a while to find it. "Well, if all you need is a dress for the picture, I probably have something that would look pretty on you around here somewhere. Your two aunts had a lot of pretty clothes growing up and I save quite a few of them. Why don't we go down the basement and have a look around for something?" My head perked up almost instantly at the suggestion with a renewed sense of hope on the matter. I rose from where I was sitting and nodded in agreement with her. With that, the two of us head down towards the steps to the basement. It was a short decent into the deeper part of the basement. Once we arrived at the bottom of the stair my grandmother flipped on the lights and we headed around the corner to a storage room set apart from the rest of the basement with a old wooden door. My grandmother opened it and we entered turning on a second light as we entered the room.

The room was filled from the floor to ceiling with clothes and other things my grandparents never through away. My grandmother asked me my size and I shared it with her so she could at least get a ball park of where to start sorting. The place was a mess, but she had all of it sorted and kept straight in the front of her mind. It took her less than five minutes to locate what she was looking for. I think she had it in mind from the get go, but now it was coming into reality. After sifting through a rack, she came to a dress that was still wrapped and preserved against the elements of the room in a plastic bag. She dislodged it from where it was hanging and checked the size before offering it to me for a final approval. "Will this do for you Jennifer?" I looked the dress over from top to bottom as my grandmother unpacked it from it's protective coating. I knew the moment I saw it that it was perfect. It was even better than the one I left at home. I nodded with approval and told her my opinion of it. She invited me to leave the room with her and head back upstairs so that she could iron it before I wore it and get the wrinkles out of it.

The two of us headed back upstairs and my grandmother unpacked the ironing board and iron and set to work once it had heated up. I looked the dress top to bottom as my grandmother's experienced hands worked it back into almost prime perfection. It was a simple dress to say the least with a rich lavender color. It fastened in the back with a couple of buttons behind and below the neck line. It had long sleeves and full shoulders both of which, were slightly ruffled. The collar was a little ornate in design with a flowery trim around it. The bottom of the garment was long in length and spread out quite a bit at the bottom. The waist secured with a large red sash that was meant to be tied in a large bow in the back for a touch of cuteness to it. It was definitely a dated style, enough to make me wonder if my aunt had been the first owner or it. But, it looked great as the wrinkles came out of it and I couldn't wait to try it on. Sensing my anticipation, my grandmother hurried her work and soon presented it to me as "good enough for the picture" and gave me approval to try it out for size.

I took it excitedly and headed upstairs to get the rest of my stuff from the room I was sharing with my sister and cousin. It wasn't long before I was in the bathroom pulling the gown on over my head and tying the sash off to finish the job. I looked at it in the mirror and twirled around a bit to get a feel for it and I had to admit the dress fit me pretty well. I took a few more minutes and settled my hair back into a style with the ribbons, I finished it off by adding my maryjanes overtop of my tights and buckling them in place. The shoes were flat bottomed and offered a comfortable step. I liked a dressy look for formal occasions, but I couldn't stand wearing high heels for any extended length of time. They just got two uncomfortable to walk in after a while. These were a good compromise I thought as I gathered up my discarded nightgown and slippers and headed back to the room to drop them off. Once that errand was finished, I headed back downstairs to show my grandma the results of her labor. She seemed pleased as she greeted me with a warm smile.

"Well look at you, Jennifer. That really looks like it fits you well what do you think." I told her that I loved the way it looked and thanked her for everything. She walked forward quietly and handed me something else. They were a long pair of white formal gloves that would go all the way up to the elbow when adorned. "I found these downstairs while you were changing. They go with the dress would you like to try them on as well?" She asked offering them to me. I took them and looked them over for a moment. I pulled one of them on and drew it up the length of my forearms and pulled the sleeve back down covering my hand all the way to the wrist. I repeated the process with the remaining one. They were made of a soft and warm material of some kind, maybe a form of satin or something, I don't quite remember. They had a pretty snug fit, but they added a nice touch to the outfit anyway. I felt like a five year old playing dress up, but I liked the way they looked and decide to leave them on for the time being.

I looked up at my grandmother and watched the smile on her face. I could tell that she was waiting for a response so I provided one. "Pretty neat, but I think I still prefer mittens." The two of us shared a good laugh over the little joke. "I have to admit Jennifer, that gown look nice on you. Have a seat and we'll wait for the rest of the family to wake up." I returned to my chair and resumed my vigil of the falling snow. There was just something that relaxed me watching it drift in slowly from the sky to the ground. It was only a little after 7 and I didn't expect any more company until 9 or 10 at the earliest. My brothers hated getting dressed up for things like this. They waited until five minute before and were changed back five minutes after the picture. Still, I was content to sit and wait for the picture as I was. My grandmother stood behind me and watched the snow with me looking down and back up at regular intervals. I could tell she was pleased with herself this morning and I was also.

We waited a couple of minutes before either of us broke the silence. "You know Jennifer, you remind me so much of your aunt when she was your age. She liked to sit right there where you are in chair and watch the world go by outside that window early in the morning. I think she was happy just to be part of it." I looked up with a smile and turned my gaze back outside wordlessly. My grandparents shared all sorts of stories about my father and my two aunts growing up. But, they kept a few things to themselves. It was true that I was just content to sit here and stare out at the world next to her without a care in it. "Yep, no doubt about it you look just like her with one exception." She said with a another glare of happiness. "Stay put I am going to go throw a pot of coffee on for this tired bunch and we can talk in a few minutes if you like." With that my grandmother crossed the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker and set about the task of getting the pot ready to go.

I heard a few drawers and a cupboard open in the background, but it wasn't enough to distract me from the moment at hand. I watched as a raccoon made it's way across the yard leaving a fresh set of tracks in the snow. I watched with curiosity as it disappeared quietly around the corner of the garage. I was so engrossed in it that I almost jumped out of my seat when I felt my grandmother's hand on my right wrist. I looked over my shoulder and saw her crouched down curiously with the gripping arm in-between two of the spokes on the chair. I looked down and saw a small coil of white clothesline in her other hand neatly coiled up. I gave her a curious look seeking an explanation for her actions. "Just relax Jennifer, I was just going to tie your hands. If that is okay with you? I watch you play these games all the time around here." I nodded and turned my view back towards the window. I decided not to spoil the moment. Besides, it felt like a good time to be tied and I wasn't really opposed to the invitation.

My grandmother pulled my right hand slowly backwards and straightened it through the spokes or the chair before clasping it loosely with her hand that was holding the coiled rope. She, switched off the coil to her other hand and gently guide by left wrist back until they where set parallel to each other with three chair spokes between my arms. My grandmother held my arms with one hand while she uncoiled the short rope with the other. She began by tying off one of the rope around my left wrist with an overhand knot leavening about a six in tail or so. Next, she took the long free end of the rope and made about 6 or 7 passes around my parallel wrists horizontally pulling the rope gently snug with each pass. Once the loops were complete, she took the last trailing foot of rope and cinched my hands off a couple of times in the middle before she tied the loose ends together on top of the tie with a secure knot. She stepped back and looked down at me now being tied to the chair.

Feeling her retreat, I decided to give the ropes a test run and pulled against them a few times in a couple of different directions. They held tight and didn't yield the slightest slack to my efforts. I struggled a little bit harder but the ropes held snug. I was surprised how effective such a simple tie could be as I looked up backwards at my grandmother. "There we go, now you really do look just like your aunt. She loved to sit their tied up and stare out the window early in the morning. I used to tie her up almost every morning for a half hour before she left for school" I was a little surprised by the comment. I knew that my aunts and father tied each other up as kids, but I didn't realize my grandmother had been in on it also, or that she was so good at it. It felt a little weird to have grownup doing the tying, but I was content with it. I gave the comment a moment to set in and then I looked up at her. "This is a pretty good job. Do you think you could do my feet too?" I asked looking up at her.

My grandmother met my stare with a smile and a puzzled look. "I guess there are some differences between you two. Your aunt never liked me to tie her feet up. Something about bothered her. I guess she liked still having a little control over the situation, but if you want your legs bound to I would be more than happy to oblige." My grandmother finished her little speech and retraced her steps back to the kitchen drawer to retrieve a second coil of rope. She returned promptly and knelt down in front of me proceeding to being. She tied my feet in the exact same mannerism that my hands had been bound with horizontal loops and a few cinches. However, she left about a foot tail on the end of the rope and tied it off to the cross bar under the chair drawing my bound feet backwards slightly. Once she finished, she stood up and stepped back. "There, how is that?" She asked waiting for a response.

I gave my feet quite a few good solid tugs first against each other and then against the anchor rope. Both proved futile and I began to realize just how securely I really was bound. My grandmother didn't repeat the question at hand. The look of frustration on my face said it all and she gave me a smile about the success of her labors. It was the second time she had made me happy in one morning and it was reflected in her. I gave up struggling and just surrendered to the idea of being like this for while. With my efforts ceased, my grandmother turned her attention away from me for a moment and onto herself. She recrossed the kitchen and poured herself a mug of hot coffee. Which she lifted with one hand and brought another chair over to join me sitting by the window. She deposited the chair and seated herself adjacent to myself. My grandmother took the cup in both hands and helped herself to a warm drink before replying.

"Here, want a sip to help you wake up a little?" My grandmother offered me the cup which, I politely refused. I hated coffee at that age and couldn't stand the tasted, especially when it was just black. "Suit yourself, more for me I guess. So, Jen do you want anything else a gag or any more ropes? I take requests you know." My grandmother offered with a warm smile. "Not really. I really don't liked being gagged. I just makes your mouth hurt and then you cannot talk either." I replied. "I don't blame you one bit, your aunt never liked it growing up either. I really didn't care much for it myself when I was growing up. But I see your brothers use them on you all the time and I just assumed I should offer." I took the comment in stride and explained that I put up with it because part of being tied up was not having control over the entire situation I was in. She smiled at the comment and took another sip of her coffee.

"You used to play tie up when you were a little girl, Grandma?" A asked as I squirmed about in my ropes trying them against my strength. "Yeah I did, but I did more of the tying than of being the one tied up. I was pretty good with knots and my younger brothers and sister hardly ever got out. We never had much money, but we always had rope or twine around on the farm and we could use that for something to do. After all, there wasn't all this fancy TV and computer stuff back then. It was just one of the games we played to pass the time once in a while. I still think I am pretty good at it, I haven't lost my touch after all these years." I gave the ropes a couple of more struggles and squirms. I had to admit she was right. I was held very securely in place with only two pieces of rope. The one on my ankles was really only cosmetic. I doubted that I could get free if all she had done was tie my hands. "I guess you're still pretty good at this after all, I don't think that I am going to be able to escape from this at all."

My grandmother soaked up the comment and took another sip of her coffee before continuing. "Your aunt kept me in practice over the years. I used to tie her up every morning like this before she got ready to go to school. We both liked to get up early and just watch the world go bye outside the window. She used to sit in that chair right where you are in her pajamas with her hand tied behind her back for about half an hour. Then I had to let her go so that she could eat breakfast and get ready for school." I was surprised by the comment. I liked being tied up on and off, but it wasn't that often for me. "Did you really tie her up everyday in the morning?" I asked as I looked up at her. "Only if she wanted to, but after a while it became every morning for about half an hour or so, Sometimes I would leave her a little longer on the weekends if she wanted. But we always had stuff to do, so she couldn't stay tied all day. There were times I bet she would if I let her." She finished her the first half of her cup of coffee and returned her gaze to outside looking as if she was staring through her own memories, much like she was looking through the window.

"Yeah, it all started a when your father and your two aunt were a little younger. The three of them fought like cats and dogs when they were growing up. There was one occasion that it got so bad that I had to pull your father and aunt off each other before someone got hurt. I made them make up, but after I had left the room for five minutes they were at each other's throats again. I pulled your dad off of his sister and took him up into the kitchen and tied him right to a chair. Then I got your aunt and repeated the process. It was the only thing I could think of to keep them apart." I continued to listen as she concluded the anecdote. "Strange thing was, after an hour or so everything quieted down. The two of them stopped fighting and asked me if I would let them go if they behaved. I took them at their word and untied both of them. The rest of the day was quiet and everything calmed down quite a bit."

"It was almost a week later when your aunt came to me and asked me if I could tie her up again. It was just out of the blue. I asked her why and she said it had kind of been fun and she wanted to try it again. I gave her what she asked for and kept her prisoner for about an hour before she asked to be released. A few days later, I found her all tied up in the basement with clothesline. After some coaxing she finally let me know that your father tied her up when she asked him too. As a few weeks drew on, their games started becoming more frequent and you aunt wasn't the only one on the receiving end." My grandmother took another drink from her mug. I sat back and continued to listen. "I let her go and had a good talk with the two of them about it. Mostly about not keeping someone tied up for too long and some things that they weren't to do. Their games evolved out of it. I think your brothers and you play a little more often than they did, but they had more chores and other things they had to do during the day than you do."

My grandmother looked down at me. I was no longer looking out the window, I was looking up at her. My attention had been drawn into the conversation. It was neat to finally hear some of the background of my fathers history with being tied up as a kid. "It wasn't long before your aunt asked me to start tying her up more often when your father was busy. Eventually, it became something that we did almost every morning. It was kind of her time to just sit comfortably and let her mind focus on the world." My grandmother finished the last sip of her coffee and looked down at me. "I guess it's no surprise that you and your brothers and cousins like this stuff. I guess you could say that it's in your blood or something like that." She finished with a quiet grin. Another voice chimed up from behind the two of us.

"Well, mom you really are reading more into that than is necessary. I always just thought of it as something to fun to do before school. Being tied up was just relaxing." I looked up to see my aunt standing in the hallway. I was so engrossed in the story that I hadn't even heard her come in. "Good morning Jennifer you look comfortable this morning." She commented as she crossed the room. My aunt bend down, gave a hug and patted me gently on the head. I was beginning to feel a little embarrassed. "It was just part of our morning routine. Something I could do with my mother before I went off to school for the day. I guess I am still an early riser. By the way Jennifer, that dress looks good on you but your hair is a little off for it. Do you want me to fix it for you." I nodded and told her that sounded like a good idea to me.

My aunt came and knelt down behind me and started to undo the ties I had secured my hair with earlier that day. She took the divided look and drew the longer length of my hair back into a single shaft. It came out of a gathered bundles she made on the top of my head. Finally, she tied it off and secured it with a red bow tied from a thick ribbon my grandmother handed her. She took a small mirror off the counter and held it up in front of me to show me the end result. "There Jen, what do you think. It looks a lot better to me." I looked in the mirror and turned my head to take in the full view of it. The style wasn't anything that I would have thought of trying on my own. But it turned out really well and accented the outfit perfectly. "That looks pretty to me. Thanks you two really know how to make this package work."

The two of them smiled first at me then at each other. It was turning out to be a great morning after all. "Well Jennifer, I think it's time we untie you and start getting breakfast ready for the crew. The smell of warm food will probably get them moving. After that we can have our picture So, what do you say are you ready to be free yet?" I wished I could have stayed their forever. But, I knew it had to come to an end sometime. Now was as good a time as any and I let them know I was ready. My aunt circled around to my front and undid my feet while my grandmother released my hands. The two of them coiled the ropes and they were returned to the kitchen drawer they came from. I stood up and stretched a little getting the stiffness out of my limbs while my aunt returned the chair to it's proper place at the table.

Not long after we made breakfast and set about getting everyone else up for the day. The family had the picture later that day and it turned out just fine. My mother wasn't mad about my forgetting the dress and I liked the one my grandmother got me better anyway. She let me keep it and take it home with me at the end of our visit. I ended up wearing it to a school dance later in the year and even around the house a few times just for fun. We spent one last night together and early the next morning we all loaded all of our stuff. I ended up in the middle of the back seat in my car harness over the green snowsuit again. Finally, we headed home until next year.

Well, that concludes this story. It is another one of my favorite memories growing up. My grandmother knew how to turn almost any situation into a good one. It was a fun morning and I got to finally learn some of the background to the games my father played as a kid. It just goes to show that this sort of thing has been being played for a long time. Unfortunately, while this has been a great story it sadly is the last of this series of events. It was one of the most memorable times for me growing up. These weeks really marked the change in my life from a child to a teenager. I got a new toy, the straight jacket, and tried a few new things. I hope that everyone has enjoyed reading this group and I am looking forward to posting the next one.

. . . . . . . .

Alright everyone, I now the space here is reserved for stories, but I need to take a moment for discussion at this point. First, I have to admit that I have enjoyed posting this series of stories on my site and Canucks. I was a little concerned about the reactions I would get at first, but most of the feed back has been positive. I was really nervous about posting these two and half months ago. But I now feel that these have served as a good bridge and staging ground about some of the stories from my teen years. Now however, I stand at a divided cross roads about, which path to continue on. There has been some interest in my continuing on with some of my teenage experiences. But, there are some things in my background in the years that I skipped over that I need for a few of them to continue forwards much further. I have a shorter experience I can share without these details about a weekend that I spent with Mary at her house not long after we got back from winter break. It does cover the things that some of you wanted to know about Mary. The problem lies in the content of the stories and the mixture of feed back I have gotten so far.

Most of the readers I have heard from seem to like the "light heartedness" or "cuteness" ,to quote a couple of emails. of some of the stories I have posted so far. As I got older, I began to experiment with some newer ways of being tied up and a wider variety of things. There is nothing sexual about the nature of what happened to me. That was never part of TUG's for me. Also, after this last group of stories, there is nothing that would be inappropriate for my site or the standards Canuck and Daniel set on their board. Mostly, it has to do with the length of time I would spend tied and the ways I was tied. My concern is that I don't want to offend anyone in this community by proceeding without warning.

This has been a great experience for me so far being able to post here and share my past with everyone. But before I proceed further, I need to get some feed back about everyone's opinion on this idea. I've decided that I am going to hold off on posting anything else for a little while until I can gather some opinions on the matter. Please take a moment and let me know what you thought of the last eight stories as a whole. Also, I would appreciate hearing whether I should head forward or head back to where I was before I started this group of stories. Any information you would like to share would be helpful. If you would like to send me a comment you don't feel comfortable posting publicly you can email me at jenniferstories@gmail.com if you would rather. Thanks everyone in advance. I hope you have enjoyed reading my experiences as much as I have writing them.

Jennifer