First story. Let me know what you think.
Copy and paste killed margins, so attached Word too for easier reading.
TICKLE TEST AND THE SECRET FORMULA
As Mary passed through the turnstiles into the next attraction at the theme park, she had no idea that her efforts to avoid becoming part of the show would this time fail or that her feet would be the target of a torturous conspiracy. Mary’s family had been enjoying their day at the Movie Studio Theme Park going on rides and seeing various shows that were all designed to entertain audiences while showing some of the secrets in Hollywood. Her children had volunteered to take part in various acts, but Mary, as usual, would lay low allowing others in the crowd to step forward when volunteers were requested.
This next show was titled “Be Your Role” and was all about actors and actresses getting into character. The first several segments included selecting various audience members and pretending they were going to play specific parts. A thin, un-athletic man was selected to play a boxer, and a large older woman to play a young siren. After the host had selected the volunteers, the cast would take them humorously through the paces of becoming their character. Mary sat relaxing and enjoying the show. They had done a lot of walking today and though she was in good shape, it felt good to be off her feet for a few minutes. These new running shoes feel great she thought to herself. She also was wearing a new pair of ankle socks and the extra padding a new pair of socks offers was a big help on a day like today. The cute size 7 running shoes had caught the eye of the host as he made his way through the crowd during the various acts. The host was looking forward to selecting this pretty young mother to be the volunteer in the upcoming tickle test. He noticed she had not volunteered for the earlier acts, so he would have to use one of his alternate selection methods in order to end up with Mary, his first choice.
The act currently on stage completed and in a booming voice the host posed the following question to the crowd. “Who in our audience has ticklish feet?” Hands went up throughout the crowd, many people just wanting to be a part of the show regardless of what the stunt involved. The host was wandering through the crowd with people waving their hands in hopes of being selected. He had purposely posed this question while near Mary’s section and wandered towards here aisle noting she did not have her hand raised, just as he suspected. Not to worry he thought.
“You”, the host said as he pointed directly at Mary. She looked behind her and the people behind her gestured that he meant you. She turned back looking at the host and pointed at herself and mouthed “me?” “Yes”, the host said, “please come out here in the aisle.” Why was he picking on her? Mary thought, as she stepped around her children and a few other people in her row to get to the aisle. When she arrived her face was beat red, her heart was pounding, and all she could think of was getting back to her seat.
“Here she is,” the host said as Mary made her way to the end of the row, “and what is your name Miss?”
Sounding confused Mary replied, “I didn’t raise my hand,” the host smiled but before he could respond she blurted out “Mary.”
“Well it is nice to meet you Mary, and thank you for joining us here today at Movie Studio Theme Park.”
Mary smiled, and reiterated her original statement. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t raise my hand, I think you might have selected me by mistake.”
“Well,” the host said, “you didn’t raise your hand when I asked who had ticklish feet. Is that correct? Do you not have ticklish feet?”
Mary looked around confused as the crowd glared at the two of them. “Well, no, not really.”
“So they are a little ticklish then,” the host responded.
“I don’t know if I would call them ticklish at all, I mean I can feel it when someone tickles my feet, but soft tickling feels nice, it doesn’t bother me at all.”
“Soft tickling?” the host inquired. “What if the tickling isn’t soft then, are your feet ticklish then?”
“I guess just a little” Mary said.
“Then you are exactly the person we would like for our next act Mary” the host pronounced loudly encouraging the crowd to cheer. “Would you like to be our next volunteer?”
“Oh no, no, I really would want to do that” Mary replied as her kids were waving their hands and screaming for their mother to do it.
“Well how about this Mary”, the host said. “We here at Movie Studio Theme Park could make it worth your while. Our next act is designed to show that with the proper coaching and psychological preparation, actors and actresses can actually begin to feel the physical effects of the role they are pretending to play. To demonstrate this, our coaches will psyche you up for a scene in which you are going to react to being tickled. The Park is willing to bet that you cannot sit calmly and not react to being tickled after being coached to act as a ticklish person would act. To make it interesting, WE WILL OFFER YOU ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS if you can sit calmly for two minutes and not react to having your feet tickled. What do you say? Is it a deal?”
The crowd was yelling and screaming telling Mary to do it. “I don’t know” she said. “How is this exactly going to work?”
“Fair question”, the host said. “You will receive a few minutes of acting class during which the coaches will try to convert you from a woman without ticklish feet, to a woman that cringes and squeals, laughs, and squirms when her feet are tickled. You will then sit in the chair on the stage and put your feet up on the pedestal. One of my assistants, the lovely Miss Stephanie will then tickle your feet for two minutes. Miss Stephanie can you came out here please.” Out across the stage and up the stairs to the aisle where the host and Mary stood walked a young girl about 25 years old. She wore a nice dress, had long blond hair, and stood close to six feet tall in her very high heels. She was a Vanna White type. “Do you have your weapon Miss Stephanie?” the host asked his assistant. The assistant’s big smile never faded as she nodded yes and produced a large, billowing, white feather. It looked over a foot long and was the real soft kind of feather, almost like an ostrich feather. “If you are able to keep your feet still and not lift them off the pedestal, and you do not open your mouth at all for two minutes, you win $1,000.”
Boy, Mary thought, $1,000 would be nice. And this feather was so soft, I will barely feel that on my feet. She really did not want to be on stage in front of all of these people, but everything was happening so quick. “Okay”, Mary blurted out.
“Terrific” the host said and escorted the two ladies to the stage.
On stage they went over to the bench where Mary would be seated. It looked simple, comfortable, with two padded cutouts in the end board where Mary would rest her feet dangling over the edge to be tickled. On stage, they all stood on a soft, blue mat that was about 20’ by 20’.
The host joked, “Now Mary, you did know we were going to make you remove your shoes and socks for this didn’t you?” and he gestured toward the bench as a spot for Mary to take them off.
“Oh, of course” Mary said. She stepped over to the bench and untied one sneaker then the other, rolled her ankle socks down over her tanned feet and removed them entirely. She placed the socks in the sneakers and stood back up. The mat felt terrific on her feet. It was soft and felt cool against her warm soles.
What Mary did not know was that she was being tricked. Years ago, a department of the government had invented a chemical that on contact with the skin would increase the sensitivity of nerve endings by three to four times. It was like a reverse Novocain. Since the government had no use for it, it was never used and never came to the public eye. One of the producers of the “Be Your Role” act at the park was involved in the governmental team that invented it and always retained the formula. Not until years later did he have a use for it, but the use was fiendish and perfect. The mat that Mary now stood on with her bare feet had previously been saturated with the formula. The mat felt dry to Mary’s feet, but as her slightly perspiring feet warmed the mat, the formula would rub off of the porous mat and onto Mary’s soles. The host and the host’s assistant were also aware of their unfair advantage, but no one else in the crowd or the cast knew. It was a well kept and powerful secret.
The cast was out on stage taking Mary through her acting lessons. As she stood listening, her soles absorbed more and more of the chemical slowly but surely creating two defenseless units. The acting lessons seemed to go on and on with much repetition. Mary shifted her weight from both feet to her right foot only, putting her left foot behind her and resting only the toes of her flexed foot on the mat. This additional weight all on her right foot pressed her high arch further into the soft mat ensuring the formula had now come in contact with her entire right sole. Listening to the cast she then shifted her left foot from behind her, brought it around and rested it on her instep. As her left sole lay on her right instep the formula was being transported to the tops of her foot. All this did not go unnoticed by the assistant who become excited and increasingly confident that Mary was another attractive young woman that would fall victim to her and her big white feather. By the time the cast was done with Mary’s pep talk she had shifted her weight several times, smeared the sneaky formula all over both of her soles, insteps, and toes. Her feet were now three to four times more sensitive than normal, and she had no idea.
The training was over and the host asked Mary to take a seat on the bench and place her legs the pedestal in front of her. Her ankles rested in the cutouts just below eye level and her soles were exposed on the other side of the cutouts facing the audience. The moment she placed her ankles on the pedestal, a red light on the pedestal went on. The host asked Mary to raise one of her ankles slightly. As Mary raised her ankle, the red light went off. “There you see Mary,” the host said. “Any movement by you to try and remove your feet and the light will go off. If the light goes off before the two minutes are up, our acting coaches have succeeded in turning you into a ticklish actress. If you are able to keep your feet still for the two minutes, you will win the $1,000. There will, however, also be a close up camera of your mouth that we will watch closely. If your lips part during the two minutes, you will not be awarded the $1,000. This won’t be a problem for you, a woman that does not have ticklish feet, right Mary?” the host asked teasingly.
“No. No problem.” Mary replied.
“Are you ready Miss Stephanie,” the host asked. Miss Stephanie nodded and looked at Mary with a wicked grin. Mary looked back at her thinking ‘what is her problem? She is a helper in a little stage show and she is giving me this look like she is going to outsmart me or something.’
A clock above Mary was set for two minutes. As the start drew near Mary started to question herself. ‘What if it does tickle?’ I am a little ticklish. Wait, don’t be a fool, it is just these pep talks taking effect. I can do this. I can do this easily.’
Miss Stephanie positioned herself to the side of Mary’s feet so the audience could see. The clock was started and Miss Stephanie wasted no time with a slow stroke of the soft feather started at Mary’s left heel and making it’s way slowly along her curvy arch and right up to her toes. She watched Mary’s face for the familiar awe struck look in the ticklee’s eyes.
Mary could not believe it. The feeling of this ultra soft white feather gliding up her foot was so intense. She could never remember a feather feeling so distinct and soft. She never felt so ticklish on her feet before. ‘Oh my,’ she though to herself, ‘this acting coach stuff really works.’ How in the world would she last the two minutes?
Mary settled in for a long ride. Miss Stephanie was an expert with the feather gliding it across Mary’s soles, between her toes, from one foot to the other never allowing one area to become too desensitized to the tickling. She could read Mary’s expressions as she had done to so many other women in this same position before. Mary’s hands and fingers would flutter a bit on the bench beside her when the tickling was affecting her, her lips would quiver trying to hold back the smile, bursts of breath would come through Mary’s nose as she laughed without opening her mouth. Miss Stephanie had deduced that, like many others, Mary’s arches were the most ticklish spot on her soles. She was, however, very sensitive around her toes and on her insteps.
One minute and ten seconds had passed when Mary started to feel hot flashes and that she just couldn’t take it any longer. She found an inner strength in the $1,000 prize. She stared at the ceiling hoping the time would pass as Miss Stephanie continued to lightly stroke her soles that were now turning a rosy color.
Unfortunately for Mary, Miss Stephanie had one more trick up her sleeve. Buried deep within the fluffy feather, she had glued two white false finger nails. She had cut and filed the nails down her self so that they could not be seen in the feather and they were the perfect shape and had the perfect edges for tickling. On occasion, the volunteers would be able to withstand the stroking of the feather and Miss Stephanie would use the finger nails to get the volunteers to submit.
This was looking like an occasion for the nails. Mary was feeling good about her chances. If she could just hold her feet still. She wanted to whip them off of the pedestal and bust out laughing, but she was so close to winning the money. She did not know how much time was left, but she figured it had to be under a minute by now. Actually, she was down to the last forty seconds. Miss Stephanie decided to play with her a bit. She turned the feather so the nails were touching Mary’s right heel and slowly drew the nails up Mary’s sole, again up through her high arch and to the ball of her foot. Mary looked at her in astonishment. She could not believe what she was feeling. ‘This is impossible.’ Miss Stephanie cocked her head to one side and stared at Mary with a perverse grin. Then she said “Is that okay Mary, does that feel nice?”
As the nails slid there way back down her sole, Mary curled her toes reducing the surface area of her sole and reducing the sensitivity. She would have to be careful not to curl her toes too quickly or her ankles might rise up off the pedestal and make the light go out. With each stroke of the invisible nails Mary had no choice but to curl her toes. She then just tried to keep her toes curled.
Miss Stephanie, however, was no novice and had seen this approach before. She also had the solution. If the feather is stroked across a ticklish instep, the reaction of the ticklee is the exact opposite of curled toes. The foot actually flexes expanding the arch and stretching the skin across the sole of the foot exposing every bit of the ticklish surface. She was also very quick with her white feather. With twenty seconds to go, she would go in for the kill. She fluttered the feather on Mary’s insteps and Mary’s feet flexed as expected. With a quick move of the hand she was dragging the fake nails down the sole of Mary’s flexed foot. Mary clenched her toes quickly, but it was torturous split second while her flexed foot was being assaulted by the fake nails. Again, Miss Stephanie stroked her insteps causing the feet to flex, and again she had the nails raking Mary’s flexed arch in a fraction of a second. This process was repeated several times. Each time Mary’s alarmed expression told Miss Stephanie to continue the process. Mary’s head began to thrash side to side as she tried to keep her composure. As the nails stroked her arch with a few seconds remaining Mary burst into laughter, hopped off the bench and stood up rubbing her feet against the floor. She felt so relieved to end this torture she completely forgot about the $1,000. This tickling had to stop.
Miss Stephanie and Mary spent a moment or two on stage talking to the crowd about the show after Mary gave up. During this chat, the host had a few moments to sneak out the line forming for the next show. There among the next show attendees was thirty something beauty with light brown hair, short shorts, tanned legs, and sandals. The feet in the sandals looked to be about size 6.5, tanned, and curvy. ‘Looks like a good candidate” he though to himself. “God, I love my job.’
Copy and paste killed margins, so attached Word too for easier reading.
TICKLE TEST AND THE SECRET FORMULA
As Mary passed through the turnstiles into the next attraction at the theme park, she had no idea that her efforts to avoid becoming part of the show would this time fail or that her feet would be the target of a torturous conspiracy. Mary’s family had been enjoying their day at the Movie Studio Theme Park going on rides and seeing various shows that were all designed to entertain audiences while showing some of the secrets in Hollywood. Her children had volunteered to take part in various acts, but Mary, as usual, would lay low allowing others in the crowd to step forward when volunteers were requested.
This next show was titled “Be Your Role” and was all about actors and actresses getting into character. The first several segments included selecting various audience members and pretending they were going to play specific parts. A thin, un-athletic man was selected to play a boxer, and a large older woman to play a young siren. After the host had selected the volunteers, the cast would take them humorously through the paces of becoming their character. Mary sat relaxing and enjoying the show. They had done a lot of walking today and though she was in good shape, it felt good to be off her feet for a few minutes. These new running shoes feel great she thought to herself. She also was wearing a new pair of ankle socks and the extra padding a new pair of socks offers was a big help on a day like today. The cute size 7 running shoes had caught the eye of the host as he made his way through the crowd during the various acts. The host was looking forward to selecting this pretty young mother to be the volunteer in the upcoming tickle test. He noticed she had not volunteered for the earlier acts, so he would have to use one of his alternate selection methods in order to end up with Mary, his first choice.
The act currently on stage completed and in a booming voice the host posed the following question to the crowd. “Who in our audience has ticklish feet?” Hands went up throughout the crowd, many people just wanting to be a part of the show regardless of what the stunt involved. The host was wandering through the crowd with people waving their hands in hopes of being selected. He had purposely posed this question while near Mary’s section and wandered towards here aisle noting she did not have her hand raised, just as he suspected. Not to worry he thought.
“You”, the host said as he pointed directly at Mary. She looked behind her and the people behind her gestured that he meant you. She turned back looking at the host and pointed at herself and mouthed “me?” “Yes”, the host said, “please come out here in the aisle.” Why was he picking on her? Mary thought, as she stepped around her children and a few other people in her row to get to the aisle. When she arrived her face was beat red, her heart was pounding, and all she could think of was getting back to her seat.
“Here she is,” the host said as Mary made her way to the end of the row, “and what is your name Miss?”
Sounding confused Mary replied, “I didn’t raise my hand,” the host smiled but before he could respond she blurted out “Mary.”
“Well it is nice to meet you Mary, and thank you for joining us here today at Movie Studio Theme Park.”
Mary smiled, and reiterated her original statement. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t raise my hand, I think you might have selected me by mistake.”
“Well,” the host said, “you didn’t raise your hand when I asked who had ticklish feet. Is that correct? Do you not have ticklish feet?”
Mary looked around confused as the crowd glared at the two of them. “Well, no, not really.”
“So they are a little ticklish then,” the host responded.
“I don’t know if I would call them ticklish at all, I mean I can feel it when someone tickles my feet, but soft tickling feels nice, it doesn’t bother me at all.”
“Soft tickling?” the host inquired. “What if the tickling isn’t soft then, are your feet ticklish then?”
“I guess just a little” Mary said.
“Then you are exactly the person we would like for our next act Mary” the host pronounced loudly encouraging the crowd to cheer. “Would you like to be our next volunteer?”
“Oh no, no, I really would want to do that” Mary replied as her kids were waving their hands and screaming for their mother to do it.
“Well how about this Mary”, the host said. “We here at Movie Studio Theme Park could make it worth your while. Our next act is designed to show that with the proper coaching and psychological preparation, actors and actresses can actually begin to feel the physical effects of the role they are pretending to play. To demonstrate this, our coaches will psyche you up for a scene in which you are going to react to being tickled. The Park is willing to bet that you cannot sit calmly and not react to being tickled after being coached to act as a ticklish person would act. To make it interesting, WE WILL OFFER YOU ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS if you can sit calmly for two minutes and not react to having your feet tickled. What do you say? Is it a deal?”
The crowd was yelling and screaming telling Mary to do it. “I don’t know” she said. “How is this exactly going to work?”
“Fair question”, the host said. “You will receive a few minutes of acting class during which the coaches will try to convert you from a woman without ticklish feet, to a woman that cringes and squeals, laughs, and squirms when her feet are tickled. You will then sit in the chair on the stage and put your feet up on the pedestal. One of my assistants, the lovely Miss Stephanie will then tickle your feet for two minutes. Miss Stephanie can you came out here please.” Out across the stage and up the stairs to the aisle where the host and Mary stood walked a young girl about 25 years old. She wore a nice dress, had long blond hair, and stood close to six feet tall in her very high heels. She was a Vanna White type. “Do you have your weapon Miss Stephanie?” the host asked his assistant. The assistant’s big smile never faded as she nodded yes and produced a large, billowing, white feather. It looked over a foot long and was the real soft kind of feather, almost like an ostrich feather. “If you are able to keep your feet still and not lift them off the pedestal, and you do not open your mouth at all for two minutes, you win $1,000.”
Boy, Mary thought, $1,000 would be nice. And this feather was so soft, I will barely feel that on my feet. She really did not want to be on stage in front of all of these people, but everything was happening so quick. “Okay”, Mary blurted out.
“Terrific” the host said and escorted the two ladies to the stage.
On stage they went over to the bench where Mary would be seated. It looked simple, comfortable, with two padded cutouts in the end board where Mary would rest her feet dangling over the edge to be tickled. On stage, they all stood on a soft, blue mat that was about 20’ by 20’.
The host joked, “Now Mary, you did know we were going to make you remove your shoes and socks for this didn’t you?” and he gestured toward the bench as a spot for Mary to take them off.
“Oh, of course” Mary said. She stepped over to the bench and untied one sneaker then the other, rolled her ankle socks down over her tanned feet and removed them entirely. She placed the socks in the sneakers and stood back up. The mat felt terrific on her feet. It was soft and felt cool against her warm soles.
What Mary did not know was that she was being tricked. Years ago, a department of the government had invented a chemical that on contact with the skin would increase the sensitivity of nerve endings by three to four times. It was like a reverse Novocain. Since the government had no use for it, it was never used and never came to the public eye. One of the producers of the “Be Your Role” act at the park was involved in the governmental team that invented it and always retained the formula. Not until years later did he have a use for it, but the use was fiendish and perfect. The mat that Mary now stood on with her bare feet had previously been saturated with the formula. The mat felt dry to Mary’s feet, but as her slightly perspiring feet warmed the mat, the formula would rub off of the porous mat and onto Mary’s soles. The host and the host’s assistant were also aware of their unfair advantage, but no one else in the crowd or the cast knew. It was a well kept and powerful secret.
The cast was out on stage taking Mary through her acting lessons. As she stood listening, her soles absorbed more and more of the chemical slowly but surely creating two defenseless units. The acting lessons seemed to go on and on with much repetition. Mary shifted her weight from both feet to her right foot only, putting her left foot behind her and resting only the toes of her flexed foot on the mat. This additional weight all on her right foot pressed her high arch further into the soft mat ensuring the formula had now come in contact with her entire right sole. Listening to the cast she then shifted her left foot from behind her, brought it around and rested it on her instep. As her left sole lay on her right instep the formula was being transported to the tops of her foot. All this did not go unnoticed by the assistant who become excited and increasingly confident that Mary was another attractive young woman that would fall victim to her and her big white feather. By the time the cast was done with Mary’s pep talk she had shifted her weight several times, smeared the sneaky formula all over both of her soles, insteps, and toes. Her feet were now three to four times more sensitive than normal, and she had no idea.
The training was over and the host asked Mary to take a seat on the bench and place her legs the pedestal in front of her. Her ankles rested in the cutouts just below eye level and her soles were exposed on the other side of the cutouts facing the audience. The moment she placed her ankles on the pedestal, a red light on the pedestal went on. The host asked Mary to raise one of her ankles slightly. As Mary raised her ankle, the red light went off. “There you see Mary,” the host said. “Any movement by you to try and remove your feet and the light will go off. If the light goes off before the two minutes are up, our acting coaches have succeeded in turning you into a ticklish actress. If you are able to keep your feet still for the two minutes, you will win the $1,000. There will, however, also be a close up camera of your mouth that we will watch closely. If your lips part during the two minutes, you will not be awarded the $1,000. This won’t be a problem for you, a woman that does not have ticklish feet, right Mary?” the host asked teasingly.
“No. No problem.” Mary replied.
“Are you ready Miss Stephanie,” the host asked. Miss Stephanie nodded and looked at Mary with a wicked grin. Mary looked back at her thinking ‘what is her problem? She is a helper in a little stage show and she is giving me this look like she is going to outsmart me or something.’
A clock above Mary was set for two minutes. As the start drew near Mary started to question herself. ‘What if it does tickle?’ I am a little ticklish. Wait, don’t be a fool, it is just these pep talks taking effect. I can do this. I can do this easily.’
Miss Stephanie positioned herself to the side of Mary’s feet so the audience could see. The clock was started and Miss Stephanie wasted no time with a slow stroke of the soft feather started at Mary’s left heel and making it’s way slowly along her curvy arch and right up to her toes. She watched Mary’s face for the familiar awe struck look in the ticklee’s eyes.
Mary could not believe it. The feeling of this ultra soft white feather gliding up her foot was so intense. She could never remember a feather feeling so distinct and soft. She never felt so ticklish on her feet before. ‘Oh my,’ she though to herself, ‘this acting coach stuff really works.’ How in the world would she last the two minutes?
Mary settled in for a long ride. Miss Stephanie was an expert with the feather gliding it across Mary’s soles, between her toes, from one foot to the other never allowing one area to become too desensitized to the tickling. She could read Mary’s expressions as she had done to so many other women in this same position before. Mary’s hands and fingers would flutter a bit on the bench beside her when the tickling was affecting her, her lips would quiver trying to hold back the smile, bursts of breath would come through Mary’s nose as she laughed without opening her mouth. Miss Stephanie had deduced that, like many others, Mary’s arches were the most ticklish spot on her soles. She was, however, very sensitive around her toes and on her insteps.
One minute and ten seconds had passed when Mary started to feel hot flashes and that she just couldn’t take it any longer. She found an inner strength in the $1,000 prize. She stared at the ceiling hoping the time would pass as Miss Stephanie continued to lightly stroke her soles that were now turning a rosy color.
Unfortunately for Mary, Miss Stephanie had one more trick up her sleeve. Buried deep within the fluffy feather, she had glued two white false finger nails. She had cut and filed the nails down her self so that they could not be seen in the feather and they were the perfect shape and had the perfect edges for tickling. On occasion, the volunteers would be able to withstand the stroking of the feather and Miss Stephanie would use the finger nails to get the volunteers to submit.
This was looking like an occasion for the nails. Mary was feeling good about her chances. If she could just hold her feet still. She wanted to whip them off of the pedestal and bust out laughing, but she was so close to winning the money. She did not know how much time was left, but she figured it had to be under a minute by now. Actually, she was down to the last forty seconds. Miss Stephanie decided to play with her a bit. She turned the feather so the nails were touching Mary’s right heel and slowly drew the nails up Mary’s sole, again up through her high arch and to the ball of her foot. Mary looked at her in astonishment. She could not believe what she was feeling. ‘This is impossible.’ Miss Stephanie cocked her head to one side and stared at Mary with a perverse grin. Then she said “Is that okay Mary, does that feel nice?”
As the nails slid there way back down her sole, Mary curled her toes reducing the surface area of her sole and reducing the sensitivity. She would have to be careful not to curl her toes too quickly or her ankles might rise up off the pedestal and make the light go out. With each stroke of the invisible nails Mary had no choice but to curl her toes. She then just tried to keep her toes curled.
Miss Stephanie, however, was no novice and had seen this approach before. She also had the solution. If the feather is stroked across a ticklish instep, the reaction of the ticklee is the exact opposite of curled toes. The foot actually flexes expanding the arch and stretching the skin across the sole of the foot exposing every bit of the ticklish surface. She was also very quick with her white feather. With twenty seconds to go, she would go in for the kill. She fluttered the feather on Mary’s insteps and Mary’s feet flexed as expected. With a quick move of the hand she was dragging the fake nails down the sole of Mary’s flexed foot. Mary clenched her toes quickly, but it was torturous split second while her flexed foot was being assaulted by the fake nails. Again, Miss Stephanie stroked her insteps causing the feet to flex, and again she had the nails raking Mary’s flexed arch in a fraction of a second. This process was repeated several times. Each time Mary’s alarmed expression told Miss Stephanie to continue the process. Mary’s head began to thrash side to side as she tried to keep her composure. As the nails stroked her arch with a few seconds remaining Mary burst into laughter, hopped off the bench and stood up rubbing her feet against the floor. She felt so relieved to end this torture she completely forgot about the $1,000. This tickling had to stop.
Miss Stephanie and Mary spent a moment or two on stage talking to the crowd about the show after Mary gave up. During this chat, the host had a few moments to sneak out the line forming for the next show. There among the next show attendees was thirty something beauty with light brown hair, short shorts, tanned legs, and sandals. The feet in the sandals looked to be about size 6.5, tanned, and curvy. ‘Looks like a good candidate” he though to himself. “God, I love my job.’
