Although just a little after half nine, it was already a very warm and sunny Saturday morning in August. Our parents were having a 4-day weekend in London to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in 3 days’ time, so Paul and I had the house to ourselves. We were sat at the garden table in our secluded and immaculate back garden, talking over breakfast.
I was wearing a loose-fitting black cropped t-shirt and skin-tight faded blue cropped jeans shorts with frayed edges, and plain black leather trainers.
Paul was wearing a loose-fitting Adidas white-striped light blue t-shirt and matching shorts, with slightly darker blue Adidas sports sandals.
“Fancy a tie up?” I offered. “The tree or stake out?”
Is the Pope Catholic? LOL.
“Stake out, please!” Paul replied with instant eagerness.
“You get the bag while I stack the dishwasher.” I suggested, gathering our pots together onto the tray.
Paul eagerly jumped up and hurried inside to his bedroom.
I took the tray into the kitchen and stacked the dishwasher. Setting it going, I returned to the garden furniture.
“I’m back!” Paul exclaimed cheerfully a few moments later, carrying a bulging Royal High School Edinburgh (RHSE) gym bag.
I followed Paul out into the garden, and he dropped the bag on the lawn just off the decking and went to the shed at the bottom of the garden. He returned a few moments later carrying a wooden mallet.
Opening the bag, I produced four short, thick wooden stakes with ropes already fastened to them. Handing them one by one to Paul, he knelt on the grass and hammered the stakes into the grass, forming a rectangle.
Handing me the mallet, I placed it on one of the spare garden chairs.
Paul laid full-length on his back in the grass, inside the rectangle, and held his arms out.
“We must make you comfortable!” I laughed.
Going round each of the stakes in the grass, I tied the other end of the ropes very tightly round Paul’s ankles and wrists, stretching him out in a spread-eagle position.
“How’s that?” I asked, admiring my helpless captive. “Ropes ok?”
“Just fine!” Paul replied gratefully.
I went back to the chair I’d been sitting in and sat back down.
We spent the next hour just chatting about church, uni and school. I can’t recall the exact dialogue.
My mobile ringing interrupted the conversation. I picked it up – it was our mother.
“Hi Mum!” I greeted cheerfully into the phone. “How’s London?”
For a minute or so, mother told me what Dad and her doing in London. Then she asked how we both were.
“We’ve just breakfast!” I replied, getting up and walking over to Paul. “We’re just chilling in the back garden.”
Paul giggled as I approached and knelt down on the grass at his left side.
“Say hello, Paul!” I requested, holding my mobile to Paul’s face.
“Hi Mum!” I greeted cheerfully. “Glad you’re both having a great time. You deserve it!”
Paul and mother chatted for a moment or two, with my holding the phone to him. Then Paul nodded to me.
“We’ll see you Monday tea time!” I exclaimed, taking the phone back to me.
Closing the phone connection, I stood up straight and stepped over Paul, standing with both feet on the grass on either side of his stomach facing his head. Carefully one foot at a time, I stepped up onto Paul’s stomach, standing on him facing his head.
We do karate. Standing on the stomach is a common training exercise is many martial arts and in a lot of armed forces and security services. It strengthens the stomach muscles and breathing. Paul used to have a book on Desert Storm showing a US Drill Sergeant standing on the chest of a (slim built) Kuwaiti volunteer in training, and the Drill Sergeant was a hefty character wearing hefty army boots. In karate we are supposed to stand on the stomach barefoot. Although I’m no “bean pole”, I am not as hefty as the US Drill Sergeant, and standing on Paul’s stomach in trainers isn’t going to hurt him!
“How are you doing, sweetie?” I asked, smiling down at my brother as I stood on his stomach.
“Just fine!” Paul replied, returning my smile.
We chatted for a moment and then I got off and headed back to the table.
I giggled at Paul’s sigh of relief at being able to breathe freely when I got off. I should have rolled his t-shirt up first so I was standing in his bare skin! LOL.
I sat back down at the table and we chatted on-off for quite a while. We both lost track of time, and the clock on my mobile reported forty-two minutes past eleven when I looked at it!
We got the morning sun at the front of our house, and the afternoon sun at the back. The sun was definitely coming round to the back garden and it was very hot summer weather, keeping Paul staked out any longer would risk sunburn and heatstroke.
“I think it’s time you were released!” I announced, standing up.
“I think I agree!” Paul responded.
I walked over to Paul and untied the ropes. He sat up rubbing the circulation back into his limbs.
Paul pulled the stakes out of the ground and stood up. He came over to the table and put them away in the gym bag. After putting the mallet back in the shed, he took the gym bag back up his bedroom.
Gemma & Paul
