"The Audition"
Myra Luckley glanced around the waiting room. She had been doing this all her life, it seemed, though it had only been a few years.
Auditions. Auditions and more auditions. Trying to break through as an actress.
Myra was blonde and very thin. Too thin, she thought, for the part for which she was auditioning. At least, she had been told to bikini-wax, so she assumed she be near naked. She didn't think she had enough of a figure for parts like that.
She looked at the dozen other young women in the same room. In most circles each one would have been considered drop-dead gorgeous, but good-looking women were a dime a dozen in her profession.
Her profession? She hadn't even had a speaking role yet. She survived by waitressing and the occasional modeling gig. Maybe she should go back to college, try something else.
There was Pam O'Hallahan, sitting across the room, looking superior as always. Every time she ran into Pam, Pam bragged endlessly about her latest part, making it sound like an Oscar was just around the corner. In fact, her career was no more accomplished than Myra's.
Pam O'Hallahan. Maybe Pam thought she could fool people into thinking she was Irish with that name and her red hair. Myra had heard through the grapevine that her real name was Prudence Hinkelschneider, and that the red hair was dyed.
Myra sighed. Pam would look stunning in a bikini, though. Oh, well, there was always another audition ...
"Miss Luckley?"
Myra looked up. It was her turn. Pam smirked at her as she walked through the door.
----------------------
Myra wasn't surprised to get a bikini from the wardrobe assistant. It was pale red. Did that go with blonde hair? Should she mention that?
She was looking over the script she had been given to quickly memorize. It looked awfully corny. An evil mad scientist of some sort, Dr. Zodiac, and his henchman Jiang, had captured her character, Kayla, while she was sunning on a beach and were torturing her for information about her father, a scientist working on some government project.
The script wasn't very long. At the end of the script, there were instructions to keep ad-libbing until the scene was terminated. She was supposed to resist answering any questions from Zodiac or Jiang.
Myra smiled a bit. This might give her an edge. She had been on the debate team in high school and was good with words. Maybe she'd show Pam and the others a thing or two.
----------------------
Myra lay on the back, stretched out on a rack, her legs shackled and her arms pulled up over her head.
"You think we don't know who you are, Kayla Kendall?" said Dr. Zodiac in his evil voice.
Zodiac's assistant, Jiang, who turned out to be a woman, turned the wheel to stretch the rack a bit further. Myra had been assured the rack wouldn't be stretched to the point of pain, though she should act like her joints were being racked.
Myra/Kayla grimaced and said:
"I'm Kayla Kendall. So what?"
"Your father is Dr. Nathan Kendall," said Dr. Zodiac. "Where is he this weekend?" Myra thought the actor playing Zodiac was overplaying his role badly.
"He's at an academic conference, in Washington," answered Myra/Kayla.
"Aha! Washington! You and I both know he's not at an academic conference, but rather meeting with government officials about the spectral destablizer. I want that weapon!"
"I don't know anything!"
Jiang, played by a young Asian actress and dressed in a black bodysuit that was supposed to look sinister, turned the wheel again. Myra felt a pull and hoped there wouldn't be much more.
"We need to know exactly, EXACTLY, where your father is staying, Miss Kendall!" said Zodiac.
"I don't know!" said Myra, or rather Kayla, desperately. This was where the script ended. After this, she was supposed to ad-lib.
"I'll leave in her your capable hands, Jiang," said Zodiac, dismissively. He turned and left.
Myra felt a pang of real fear as Jiang looked her over. The Chinese woman looked so convincingly evil with her hard expression and black attire.
Jiang turned the wheel one more turn. Myra grimaced in pain. Any more and the pain would be real.
"Well, Miss Kendall," said Jiang in a Chinese accent. "Dr. Zodiac has ordered me to get your father's whereabouts from you, and I shall do just that."
"I tell you, I don't know where he is!" Myra/ Kayla ad-libbed, trying to sound even more desperate. She wondered if she could have said something more creative.
"It would be such a shame," purred Jiang, "to break such a pretty young body with this awful device."
Myra grimaced for another turn on the rack.
But instead Jiang reached out with one finger toward Myra's taut stomach. Myra gulped. Jiang better not touch her there, she was so ticklish.
"Such a shame," repeated Jiang.
Myra stifled a laugh as Jiang's finger made contact just above her navel.
"I wouldn't tell you even if I knew!" she shouted, trying to sound even more defiant. She heard a slight giggle in her voice, though.
"You think this is funny, Miss Kendall?" said Jiang, raising her eyebrows.
"No -," began Myra, but continued, "noooooohahaha!" as Jiang's finger lightly made contact inside her perfect innie.
Myra forced her mouth closed trying desperately to stop giggling.
"I assure you, this is not a humorous situation!" said Jiang angrily.
Myra tried to think of a suitable reply. She wished Jiang would keep her hands back.
But now Jiang let four fingers run lightly across Myra's ribs.
"I know it's not - BAWAHAHAHAHAAAA!" said Myra, losing control.
"The spectral destablizer! We mean to have it!" shouted Jiang.
Myra couldn't speak or think anymore. She gasped deeply between loud guffaws as Jiang, still looking evil, tickled both sides of Myra's ribcage with her nimble fingers. Myra tried to twist away but could move very little since she was stretched so taut by the rack.
"I - I - can't ...." stammered Myra. "I - bwahaahahaaa! STOP IIIIT!"
She was sure now she had broken character but she couldn't take any more of this.
"I won't stop until I have the information!" said Jiang, still playing the part.
Now Jiang's evil fingers had found Myra's most ticklish spot, her underarms. Despite the tension of the rack, Myra's hips jerked a foot above the platform as she tried madly to free herself.
"EEEEEEE!- gasp - EEEEEEEEEHEEEE!- gasp -AAAAAHEEEEEEE!" she screamed.
She wanted to scream at them to stop. But she couldn't get the words out.
Now Jiang had one finger probing an underarm while another explored Myra's navel. The combination was unbearable. Myra wished she would pass out. She could hear, above her own screams, more of Jiang's incessant chatter about that stupid "spectral destabilizer."
Finally it stopped. She spent a minute catching her breath, then opened her eyes to tell Jiang, the director, everyone that there was no way could do this part.
But when she opened her eyes, everyone was gone.
---------------------
A minute later, the director returned. To her relief, he released her from the rack.
"Caught your breath?" he asked.
"Not quite," said Myra, still breathing heavily.
The director waited another minute.
"Well, Miss Luckley, I suppose you're wondering ..."
"No way I can do this!" said Myra, interrupting. "I'm sorry, there's no way I can do a part like that!"
"Too ticklish?" asked the director.
"Way too ticklish," said Myra. "You saw."
"But you've already done it," said the director.
"Excuse me?" said Myra. "That's the whole part? That's my only scene? That take is going to be ..."
"Miss Luckley," said the director. "This is a new reality series we're doing called 'Tickle Torture.' It consists of unknown actresses being called in for an audition which includes some ad-libbing. None of them know that they'll be tickle-tortured during the scene. We, and the audience, get to see how they react."
"Yeah, well, I reacted all right," said Myra, bitingly. "You mean you want to show that?"
"You'll be paid, of course," he said. "Not that you could prevent us from showing it, if you read the release form."
"Shit," she said. This wasn't what she had envisioned for her first speaking role.
"Now maybe you'll feel better if I tell you that I'm offering you another role. A certain Miss O'Hallahan is coming in next. She'll be a Puritan girl condemned to sit in the stocks for adultery. You'll be her sister who has come to berate her for besmirching the family's reputation. She doesn't know it, but you'll pull off her shoes and tickle her feet."
Myra stared at the director, not quite believing what she heard.
"You'll be paid, of course," he said.
Myra would have done this part for free. The very thought: the cocky Pam O'Hallahan, rendered helplessly barefoot and immobile to be tickled-tortured by Myra Luckley. Myra closed her eyes and smiled.
"I'm in!" said Myra, grinning.
"I thought you'd accept," said the director, smiling. "You'll go back to wardrobe to get your Puritan dress. I'll get your script. Oh, and spend a few minutes with Miss Yu - she played Jiang - so she can give you some pointers on tickling techniques. She's a professional dominatrix. She's very good, and we'd like to use her in all our scenes, but a Chinese Puritan just doesn't look authentic."
------------------------
"Sister, you'll find that the penalty for soiling our family name is very severe!"
"I laugh at your threats, Polly! Wait, why are you taking off my shoes?"
"To see how you laugh at my threats, dear sister. to see how you laugh ..."
Myra Luckley glanced around the waiting room. She had been doing this all her life, it seemed, though it had only been a few years.
Auditions. Auditions and more auditions. Trying to break through as an actress.
Myra was blonde and very thin. Too thin, she thought, for the part for which she was auditioning. At least, she had been told to bikini-wax, so she assumed she be near naked. She didn't think she had enough of a figure for parts like that.
She looked at the dozen other young women in the same room. In most circles each one would have been considered drop-dead gorgeous, but good-looking women were a dime a dozen in her profession.
Her profession? She hadn't even had a speaking role yet. She survived by waitressing and the occasional modeling gig. Maybe she should go back to college, try something else.
There was Pam O'Hallahan, sitting across the room, looking superior as always. Every time she ran into Pam, Pam bragged endlessly about her latest part, making it sound like an Oscar was just around the corner. In fact, her career was no more accomplished than Myra's.
Pam O'Hallahan. Maybe Pam thought she could fool people into thinking she was Irish with that name and her red hair. Myra had heard through the grapevine that her real name was Prudence Hinkelschneider, and that the red hair was dyed.
Myra sighed. Pam would look stunning in a bikini, though. Oh, well, there was always another audition ...
"Miss Luckley?"
Myra looked up. It was her turn. Pam smirked at her as she walked through the door.
----------------------
Myra wasn't surprised to get a bikini from the wardrobe assistant. It was pale red. Did that go with blonde hair? Should she mention that?
She was looking over the script she had been given to quickly memorize. It looked awfully corny. An evil mad scientist of some sort, Dr. Zodiac, and his henchman Jiang, had captured her character, Kayla, while she was sunning on a beach and were torturing her for information about her father, a scientist working on some government project.
The script wasn't very long. At the end of the script, there were instructions to keep ad-libbing until the scene was terminated. She was supposed to resist answering any questions from Zodiac or Jiang.
Myra smiled a bit. This might give her an edge. She had been on the debate team in high school and was good with words. Maybe she'd show Pam and the others a thing or two.
----------------------
Myra lay on the back, stretched out on a rack, her legs shackled and her arms pulled up over her head.
"You think we don't know who you are, Kayla Kendall?" said Dr. Zodiac in his evil voice.
Zodiac's assistant, Jiang, who turned out to be a woman, turned the wheel to stretch the rack a bit further. Myra had been assured the rack wouldn't be stretched to the point of pain, though she should act like her joints were being racked.
Myra/Kayla grimaced and said:
"I'm Kayla Kendall. So what?"
"Your father is Dr. Nathan Kendall," said Dr. Zodiac. "Where is he this weekend?" Myra thought the actor playing Zodiac was overplaying his role badly.
"He's at an academic conference, in Washington," answered Myra/Kayla.
"Aha! Washington! You and I both know he's not at an academic conference, but rather meeting with government officials about the spectral destablizer. I want that weapon!"
"I don't know anything!"
Jiang, played by a young Asian actress and dressed in a black bodysuit that was supposed to look sinister, turned the wheel again. Myra felt a pull and hoped there wouldn't be much more.
"We need to know exactly, EXACTLY, where your father is staying, Miss Kendall!" said Zodiac.
"I don't know!" said Myra, or rather Kayla, desperately. This was where the script ended. After this, she was supposed to ad-lib.
"I'll leave in her your capable hands, Jiang," said Zodiac, dismissively. He turned and left.
Myra felt a pang of real fear as Jiang looked her over. The Chinese woman looked so convincingly evil with her hard expression and black attire.
Jiang turned the wheel one more turn. Myra grimaced in pain. Any more and the pain would be real.
"Well, Miss Kendall," said Jiang in a Chinese accent. "Dr. Zodiac has ordered me to get your father's whereabouts from you, and I shall do just that."
"I tell you, I don't know where he is!" Myra/ Kayla ad-libbed, trying to sound even more desperate. She wondered if she could have said something more creative.
"It would be such a shame," purred Jiang, "to break such a pretty young body with this awful device."
Myra grimaced for another turn on the rack.
But instead Jiang reached out with one finger toward Myra's taut stomach. Myra gulped. Jiang better not touch her there, she was so ticklish.
"Such a shame," repeated Jiang.
Myra stifled a laugh as Jiang's finger made contact just above her navel.
"I wouldn't tell you even if I knew!" she shouted, trying to sound even more defiant. She heard a slight giggle in her voice, though.
"You think this is funny, Miss Kendall?" said Jiang, raising her eyebrows.
"No -," began Myra, but continued, "noooooohahaha!" as Jiang's finger lightly made contact inside her perfect innie.
Myra forced her mouth closed trying desperately to stop giggling.
"I assure you, this is not a humorous situation!" said Jiang angrily.
Myra tried to think of a suitable reply. She wished Jiang would keep her hands back.
But now Jiang let four fingers run lightly across Myra's ribs.
"I know it's not - BAWAHAHAHAHAAAA!" said Myra, losing control.
"The spectral destablizer! We mean to have it!" shouted Jiang.
Myra couldn't speak or think anymore. She gasped deeply between loud guffaws as Jiang, still looking evil, tickled both sides of Myra's ribcage with her nimble fingers. Myra tried to twist away but could move very little since she was stretched so taut by the rack.
"I - I - can't ...." stammered Myra. "I - bwahaahahaaa! STOP IIIIT!"
She was sure now she had broken character but she couldn't take any more of this.
"I won't stop until I have the information!" said Jiang, still playing the part.
Now Jiang's evil fingers had found Myra's most ticklish spot, her underarms. Despite the tension of the rack, Myra's hips jerked a foot above the platform as she tried madly to free herself.
"EEEEEEE!- gasp - EEEEEEEEEHEEEE!- gasp -AAAAAHEEEEEEE!" she screamed.
She wanted to scream at them to stop. But she couldn't get the words out.
Now Jiang had one finger probing an underarm while another explored Myra's navel. The combination was unbearable. Myra wished she would pass out. She could hear, above her own screams, more of Jiang's incessant chatter about that stupid "spectral destabilizer."
Finally it stopped. She spent a minute catching her breath, then opened her eyes to tell Jiang, the director, everyone that there was no way could do this part.
But when she opened her eyes, everyone was gone.
---------------------
A minute later, the director returned. To her relief, he released her from the rack.
"Caught your breath?" he asked.
"Not quite," said Myra, still breathing heavily.
The director waited another minute.
"Well, Miss Luckley, I suppose you're wondering ..."
"No way I can do this!" said Myra, interrupting. "I'm sorry, there's no way I can do a part like that!"
"Too ticklish?" asked the director.
"Way too ticklish," said Myra. "You saw."
"But you've already done it," said the director.
"Excuse me?" said Myra. "That's the whole part? That's my only scene? That take is going to be ..."
"Miss Luckley," said the director. "This is a new reality series we're doing called 'Tickle Torture.' It consists of unknown actresses being called in for an audition which includes some ad-libbing. None of them know that they'll be tickle-tortured during the scene. We, and the audience, get to see how they react."
"Yeah, well, I reacted all right," said Myra, bitingly. "You mean you want to show that?"
"You'll be paid, of course," he said. "Not that you could prevent us from showing it, if you read the release form."
"Shit," she said. This wasn't what she had envisioned for her first speaking role.
"Now maybe you'll feel better if I tell you that I'm offering you another role. A certain Miss O'Hallahan is coming in next. She'll be a Puritan girl condemned to sit in the stocks for adultery. You'll be her sister who has come to berate her for besmirching the family's reputation. She doesn't know it, but you'll pull off her shoes and tickle her feet."
Myra stared at the director, not quite believing what she heard.
"You'll be paid, of course," he said.
Myra would have done this part for free. The very thought: the cocky Pam O'Hallahan, rendered helplessly barefoot and immobile to be tickled-tortured by Myra Luckley. Myra closed her eyes and smiled.
"I'm in!" said Myra, grinning.
"I thought you'd accept," said the director, smiling. "You'll go back to wardrobe to get your Puritan dress. I'll get your script. Oh, and spend a few minutes with Miss Yu - she played Jiang - so she can give you some pointers on tickling techniques. She's a professional dominatrix. She's very good, and we'd like to use her in all our scenes, but a Chinese Puritan just doesn't look authentic."
------------------------
"Sister, you'll find that the penalty for soiling our family name is very severe!"
"I laugh at your threats, Polly! Wait, why are you taking off my shoes?"
"To see how you laugh at my threats, dear sister. to see how you laugh ..."
