The Eclipse Party, Part 2
As I made my way toward the basement, the sounds of a female comedy review mixed with a GLOW match rolled down from the upper loft as the girls got ready. Laura was laughing and shaking her head as she came down the stairs. “Good luck controlling
that,” she warned.
Bear was beside himself, busy racing downstairs and dragging toy after toy back up into the melee. He kept looking at me with bright eyes and his ears perked forward as if to say
Dad, this is AMAZING…can we keep them?!
I went down to get a fire going in the basement. It's always chilly down there, which is actually perfect for tickle sessions, but the fire feels nice and also smells good with a few aromatic wood chips thrown in. Also, the tickle box was clamped to a heavy table right next to the hearth, positioned so the feet of whoever was locked in would be warmed by the flames.
I’d had lots of practice setting this up...
The ticklees would be sitting in a comfy armchair with their legs resting inside the box. A brace over their knees would also lock their wrists in place, and their ankles would sit in a set of stocks at the box’s far end, where there was also a crossbar for tying toes. Below is a pic from a recent LOL clip with M modeling the setup:
Tickle box with M
A thundering gallop announced Bear’s arrival on the basement stairway landing. He froze, locked eyes with me –
Dad!!! They’re coming!!! – and shot upstairs again to escort the pajama-clad foursome plus Laura back down with him.
Three of the girls were wearing what you’d expect: comfy sweats or in Khushi’s case yoga pants, soft t-shirts or for Lisa a spaghetti strap top, and ankle socks. Isabel, however, was a vision in her crop-top Invader Zim pajamas and bunny slippers. All of them were watching me watch her, and I had to give her a slow clap.
“'Real Genius'?” I asked, referring to the slippers.
“Yep,” she replied. “Good call. I could eat 80s Val Kilmer like ice cream."
The classics never die.
Laura had brought down Khushi’s wine and was setting out glasses on the game table as the girls reviewed the tickle box setup. Lisa was retelling parts of the story from M's party, sitting now in the open box to demonstrate.
I stepped over and grabbed the top of the ankle stocks. "Want me to lock you in?"
Lisa shot up like she'd been electrocuted as everyone laughed. "Not yet!" she said. "I have to get ready first!"
I looked questioningly at her fetching pajama ensemble. "I mean,
mentally ready," she clarified.
"Ok, so, how do we do this?" Anna asked. "Who goes first?"
Earlier I had dug out four different colored dice from several of our family board games and placed them on the table where Laura was arranging the wine. I indicated the small pile and suggested they roll for it.
The girls each picked a die color as they grabbed their glasses of wine. Then they all knelt in a circle on the floor, shooting each other questioning looks.
"Low number goes first?" Isabel asked, and everyone nodded. Dice rolled.
Khushi and Lisa rolled high, with the twins each rolling a two. What is it with twins and coincidences anyway?
"Roll off!" shouted Isabel. Trying again, she got another two to Anna's six.
"Fuck!" she shouted as Anna
whooped with a fist in the air. "Ok then. Well. Damn."
"It's not so bad!" Lisa promised. "You'll have fun!"
"Just remember," Isabel threatened, "I get to get you all back!" And with that, she knocked back her wine glass and drained it dry in one impressive gulp. Then she looked at me. "Ok, let's do this," she said. "Your show, Marquis de Sade."
"Step right in," I offered, and helped ease her into place. She fit into the box nicely, bunny slippers dangling over the ankle stocks near the hearth. Here are a few Isabel pics to set the scene.
Isabel head shot and sole lookalike, actual eclipse day pic
Anna and Khushi looked on in mild astonishment as I locked Isabel’s knees and wrists into place, followed by her ankles. For her part, Isabel closed her eyes through the process and softly hummed a tune.
"Finding your happy place?" I asked.
"Mmm-hmm," she hummed back.
I popped off the bunny slippers and set them aside, catching Bear’s eye with what looked like a matched pair of new toys. Isabel’s bare feet were shapely and narrow, probably size 7 or 8. She flinched and struggled a bit as I looped the string over the crossbar and snugged it in place around her big toes.
"Uh oh," I said. "You may be laughing here in a second whether you find your happy place or not."
"Screw you, G-man," she said. She had concluded earlier that I looked more like an FBI negotiator than a finance professor.
Behind me, Khushi giggled. "
Ooo I think I'm starting to see the appeal. This will be fun to watch!"
"Watch?" I asked. "I thought you three would do the tickling."
"Hey wait!" Isabel protested, uselessly twisting in the stocks.
Lisa and Khushi exchanged a look, but Anna lit up. "I
like that idea!" she said, making her way forward.
"Wait! No, wait!" Isabel struggled some more, but the box held her tight. "We need some rules!"
"Now
that's something I never thought I'd hear you say!" Anna teased. "But you're right." She looked over at me. "So, Quinn, how should we do this?"
"No gift certificates this time," added Lisa, referring to the games played at M's party.
"Well," I said. "You could just make a bet. Money or maybe bragging rights for whoever lasts the longest."
"What do you mean 'lasts the longest'?" Anna asked suspiciously.
"Before safewording," I explained. "You just say 'red' when you can't take it any more, and whoever endures the longest wins."
The girls nodded but then shook their heads. "Not money though," said Khushi.
"And bragging rights are lame," added Isabel.
I pondered for a moment. "Well, you all go out a lot together, right?"
They nodded.
"Any karaoke bars around?" I asked.
Lisa smiled. "There are!"
"So I wrote a story once where the loser of a tickle contest had to sing at a karaoke bar in front of all her friends."
Lisa actually clapped. "I love it!"
"God no!" Khushi protested. "I would die of embarrassment!"
"So don't lose!" answered Lisa.
"Or get really drunk if you do," Isabel suggested.
"Want to know the song I used?" I asked.
Lisa nodded eagerly.
"'You Oughta Know'," I said. "Alanis Morissette."
The way this was met with a round of howls, laughing, and protests, I was pretty sure I'd picked a winner. And sure enough, Lisa finally talked them into it.
"So whoever lasts the shortest time has to sing?" Anna asked
"I'd do it differently," Laura chimed in. "Whoever lasts the
longest gets to
pick who sings."
"You're a genius!" Lisa declared. "That's it!"
And the rules were set.
"I love us having this little chat while I'm locked in the torture box," Isabel said. "But could we please get on with it?"
Laura agreed to run the timer and I stepped away as the girls took their positions around Isabel’s feet. Lisa had to nudge a shoebox aside to sit on the hearth.
"Oh, are these the tools?" she asked. She'd seen the same box at M's party.
"
Tools?!" Isabel echoed.
"Ah jeez," I said. "I almost forgot."
I moved the shoebox to the table where Isabel could see and popped off the lid. For the girls' benefit, and as Isabel’s eyes grew wider, I rummaged in the box through a small bag of feathers, a few pairs of chopsticks, some lotion and a pair of dollar store claw backscratchers, and a pair of electric toothbrush chassis with the vibrating wands exposed.
The girls
oohed and
aahed as poor helpless Isabel grew visibly paler. "God it sucks going first," she finally said.
"But as you pointed out," Khushi countered, "you can get us all back."
"Here's a final thought," I suggested, shaking several stiff black feathers out of the bag and into a pile on the table. "Maybe use only these for the first minute or so to start off easy."
"Feathers on your feet are
easy?!" Khushi gasped.
Lisa smiled. "It feels good!"
"Maybe to
you…" Khushi went on.
"It's these little buzzies that'll curl your hair," Lisa said, grabbing one of the toothbrushes and letting it whirr.
"Did this just become one of your sex toy parties?" Isabel teased. Lisa shot her a look and dragged the humming wand across her toes.
"Oh my
GOD!" Isabel shrieked as everyone laughed. "No fair! Feathers first!"
"Are you ready?" Laura asked, poised over her smartphone timer. Each girl settled in and picked out a feather as Isabel whimpered and rocked. "On your mark, get set, go!"
Khushi was giggling again as the feathers began stroking Isabel’s soles. She and Lisa were looking at Isabel’s feet as they tickled, but Anna was starting intently at her sister's face.
Isabel tried her best to curl up into a ball, but the box wouldn't let her. She clenched her fists and toes and hunched her shoulders, shuddering and barely suppressing a high pitched squeal as the feathers stroked and probed.
"Come
ooon," Anna coaxed. "Don't hold it in. You know you’re gonna laugh…"
Isabel's keening stopped as she switched to rapid heavy breathing through puffed cheeks, threatening hyperventilation. Her legs vibrated in the stocks and her feet squirmed wildly. Her hands began to open and close. Anna's smile became an evil grin.
Khushi laughed and said "God, look at her! This is so much fun!" Lisa made coochi-coo noises like she was tickling a toddler.
"One minute!" shouted Laura.
Without a plan, the girls fumbled for a few seconds at the minute mark, deciding what to do next. Isabel caught her breath and shouted, “Holy fucking shit this is
torture!”
Lisa finally popped open the lotion bottle while Khushi grabbed a chopstick from the showbox. Anna stood and moved around behind Isabel, placing her hands on her sister’s shoulders.
“What are you doing?” Isabel asked in a growing panic.
Anna flipped Isabel’s long hair aside, her answer heavy with sisterly knowledge. “Just a little neck massage,” she said.
“
NoooOOOO!!!” Isabel shrieked as Anna’s fingers danced across her neck. Her arms instantly broke out in gooseflesh, and then a scream tore the air.
Khushi had set down the chopstick and decided to just tickle Isabel’s left foot full-on with her nails, as Lisa was busy rubbing lotion into the sole of her right foot. A back scratcher sat threateningly nearby.
And that’s how the next few minutes passed, with Anna tickling her sister’s neck while Khushi and Lisa worked over her soles with fingernails and a backscratcher. Isabel fought and squirmed and screamed, alternating high pitched laughter with incredibly creative cursing.
Laura called off three minutes, then four, and Isabel was clearly wearing down. She finally slipped into begging, but stubbornly refused to safeword.
Until Lisa fired up the toothbrush again.
The buzzy tip on Isabel’s sole brought on a new level of screaming. And when Khushi joined in with the other, it was all but over.
“
Nononono stop stop STAHAHAAAHA RED RED RED!!!” were the words that ended Isabel’s round. She had lasted four minutes and forty seconds. I released her to much applause and whooping from her friends as she crumpled onto the ground.
“You are all so fucking dead,” she promised ominously once she gathered her wits.
“I don’t know if I can do that…” Khushi began, but Isabel cut her off.
“Oh you absolutely
will fucking do it,” she said. “
All of you. Or I will murder you in your sleep.”
Khushi swallowed as Lisa scooped up three dice from the carpet. “Next?”
To be continued…
