Hello again everyone, I am moving onto the third part of this story, or the best that I can remember it. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the story. Here we go.
The remaining two hours or so of the morning passed without much incident. I spent most of the time playing with a deck of cards that I had packed in my bag. I usually carried a deck with me on longer trips and sometimes I ended up playing a card game with my brothers to help pass the time. Although, the rest of my older siblings were otherwise indisposed at the moment, I still hadn’t unpacked them from the last little outing we had been on. I set up the deck on my aunt’s dinning room table and began playing solitaire to try and pass the time.
The game was a foreign concept to me at that age, but I had recently become aware of the rule of how it was played from our computer. It was one of the few things that I enjoyed doing on the living room computer. The game was part of windows on our family comp and I had gotten pretty good at it. However, while it was fun to play the video version of the game, the real version was rather dull. I continued to play because I really lacked anything else meaningful to do at the moment. It was going to be a long day and I knew it. Time seemed to drift by painfully slow while I waited for the day to move forward. After what seemed like a couple of hours, buy was probably much less, my mother and aunt entered the room to see what I was up to.
“Well, Jennifer you’ve been pretty quiet today. Usually when you come to visit me you make quite a bit of noise playing around the house.†The comment was a sting into the void of activities available to me at the moment. “I think she is still just a little tired from the long ride down. We got her up pretty early this morning.†My mother responded providing an explanation for my behavior. “Well, is that so Jennifer? Maybe we should have some lunch and go from there. What do you say?†The question was directed at me, but I already knew the response that was expected. The truth of the matter was that I was a little burnt out from the trip down. I really wasn’t all that tired, but it offered a viable excuse, so I decided to go with it. I replied that lunch sounded good and I would be ready to eat when they were. My aunt nodded and headed into the kitchen to get started on the preparations. My mother set Amy down on the floor near my chair and asked me to keep an eye on her while the two of them made lunch for us. She followed my aunt into the kitchen.
Once the adults had departed, I decided to see if I could get some entertainment out of my little sister while they were gone. I collected the cards and folded them back into a deck neatly. Then, I seated myself down on the floor across from where my sister was sitting. “Do you want to play Cards Amy?†I asked. My little sister didn’t have the motor skills to understand anything complex being just over a year old, but she quickly nodded her head at my request. I shuffled the deck and handed dealt each of us a hand of cards. She took hers and folded them mixed in a facing of backwards and forwards. I picked up a pile the other hand and flipped the top card of the deck over. Then I played on of the cards out of my hand. Amy followed my example and put one of her cards down on top of the discard pile. I repeated the procedure and she followed along. I drew a card from the deck and added it to my hand. Amy collected half the remainder of the deck on her attempt to mimic me.
The game continued while we waited for my mother and aunt to prepare lunch. Amy didn’t have any concept yet of the value of the cards, much less the rules of any known game. She was just having fun imitating her big sister in what usually was a game she was too small to play. It wasn’t much of a card game, but it gave both of us something to do and kept us both out of trouble. When the deck ran out, I flipped over the discard pile and the game continued without much purpose. I almost didn’t notice as my mother was standing over us to inform us that lunch was ready. “So, who’s winning?†The question was sarcastic at best and we all had a good laugh about it. I collected up the cards and began to neaten them as my mother collected my little sister from the floor of the dining room. Amy didn’t want to give up her hand full of cards and began to get fussy when my mother took them from her and handed them to me. “We’ll play more after lunch okay.†My mother commented to my little sister as she tried to soothe the situation back to a more mellow mood.
My aunt brought in some plates and flatware and began the process of serving us. I really don’t remember what we had for lunch that day. Probably hamburgers or hotdogs. Both were common when we visited my aunt’s for a midday meal. The four of us ate and talked some more about the happenings around where I was growing up. As the meal was coming to an end, I stretched and let out a little yawn. I had gotten up a little before 6 that morning. This wasn’t all that unusual for me on a Saturday, but it had been a long car ride down. I really wasn’t tired, but a little groggy from the lack of stimulating things to do around my aunts house. “Boy Jen, you should have got some more sleep last night.†My aunt commented reading into the body language I was showing. I just shrugged and commented that she was probably right. My mother had raised me to be well mannered, and I didn’t want to be a bad guest. Little did I know that I was playing right into a trap that my mother had laid earlier.
“Well Bonnie,†my mother began, “I am going to put Amy down for a nap for an hour or two. She can be a little fussy when she is tired like this. I’ll help you clean up the dishes afterwards and we can take a look at getting your garden setup while we visit some more.†My aunt nodded in agreement with my mother. “Yeah, that’s fine. Why don’t you use the sleeper sofa in the living room. You need to get it ready for Jennifer tonight anyways. That way it will be set up and ready to go.†My mother continued the conversation and the two of them reached an agreement on who would do what. My aunt offered to put Amy down for her nap and my mother decided that she was going to start on the dishes. The plan was for Amy to take a nap for an hour or two and afterwards we would head out and do something fun together for the afternoon. A kind of reward for my having to put up with getting dragged into this whole visit and behaving for my mother. My mom asked me to help my aunt get Amy put down for a nap while she got started on the dishes. I agreed to help with the procedure and Amy went along much more easily with me carrying her.
The trip back to the living room was pretty short and my aunt had me hold onto my sister while she undocked the cushions from the sofa one at a time. Next, she unfolded the hidden bed from inside the sofa and began the conversion. My aunt spread out the mattress and set the feet down on the floor of the room snapping everything into place. Once that was done, she left the room and returned a few minutes later with a set of sheets and a few blankets. We set Amy on the floor and let her watch as the two of us took opposite ends of the sheets and made the bed. Getting it ready for her to have a place to take a nap and a place for me to sleep tonight. The process went quickly and pretty soon the converted sofa turned into rather comfortable looking bed. I seated myself on the edge and began lifting Amy up into the bed and laying her down at the far end where the back of the couch and pillows were.
My aunt checked where Amy was laying and pulled the covers up and over her gently making sure she was going to be kept warm. My little sister looked up at the two of us and fussed around for a couple of minutes more. However, soon after she was quickly asleep with her eyes closed on the back of the couch. I looked down at her resting so peacefully on the couch without a care in the world. I didn’t realize that my aunt was looking at me rather than Amy at the moment. “She really is tired isn’t she?†I looked up at my aunt as the question entered the air. I nodded and explained it had been a long card ride down. “You look like you’re a little tired yourself from your whole ordeal of coming here. Maybe you should grab a quick nap too.†My aunt offered. The statement wasn’t being offered as a command, merely a suggestion. I drew in a quiet breath myself and let out a little yawn. I hadn’t realized that I was tired, but the idea of a quick rest was sounding better and better.
“Ok,†I responded, “that sounds like a good idea.†My aunt nodded and told me to go ahead with the planned course of action. She explained that my mother and her would be outside after they finished the dishes and that they would come and get me in a hour or two. I climbed onto the sofa and laid down next to Amy who was already fast asleep next to me. I relaxed myself and tried closing my eyes. Sleep came easier than I had expected it would, but not all that deep of sleep. I laid there in the quiet for about 15 or 20 minutes before I finally woke up again. I really wasn’t all that tired after all, and I wasn’t really dressed for a nap. I tried again for about another 5 minutes, but sleep just didn’t come to me. I was a little anxious about the upcoming surprise event and really I wasn’t as tired as I thought I was. I already knew that the two adults in the house were outside. They wanted some time alone from the kids to chat and visit, and this was meant to provide them with that.
I decided not to bother them and began looking around the room from something to do. My eyes darted among the available options in the room as I looked for a source of entertainment. The television was the first thing that crossed my mind, but that would likely wake my sister and cause a whole lot of trouble for both of us. I decided that I didn’t want to risk waking up Amy and looked for another option. My search was a short one and I found something almost immediately. The ropes that I had been bound with for the ride down to visit my aunt’s were still sitting neatly coiled on the coffee table in the room. I just shrugged to myself mentally, it was something to do and it wouldn’t bother anybody.
I rose slowly from the edge of the sofa bed careful not to disturb my resting sister. Once I was off the edge of the bed, I crossed the room slowly on tiptoe and arrived at my destination. I collected two of the shorter coils of rope from the coffee table and looked for a suitable place to attempt my craft. I desired a location that would be comfortable and at the same time not disturb my sleeping sister on the sofa. I settled for the easy chair that my aunt had been sitting in when we first arrived. It was located to the right of the coffee table and vacant at the moment. I quietly crossed the room again and seated myself with a soft and silent thud on the coushin. Then, I began to uncoil the two coils of rope in preparation for what I had in mind. I wanted to be tied up for a little while even if I didn’t have anyone else to do the tying.
The idea of tying myself up wasn’t all that foreign to me. It crosses the mind of many children who are familiar with the kinds of games that I played with my brothers and sisters growing up. However, I had never been all that good at it as I didn’t get many opportunities to practice. I began by pulling my feet up onto the chair and tying my ankles together with the first coil of rope. I wrapped it around both of them several times. Then I cinched off the middle of the tie and secured it with a knot. I let my feet go back to dangling over the edge of the chair and tried pulling against them. The tie held well as I expected it would. At the age of 11 I was getting much more proficient at the art of tying someone up. I could even tie up Sean so that he had no chance of escape. A few years of practical experience on both ends of the trade had given me the skills and opportunities to hone them to near perfection. Ok, I wasn’t perfect at it, but I was pretty darn good. However, this is where the real problems began.
My problem was the same one most people face when doing a self tie up. I could easily tie my feet together unaided and they wouldn’t get loose without the use of my hands, but tying my hands was another matter. Well, tying them really wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I couldn’t do anything that I couldn’t get out of on my own. I hadn’t refined my technique well enough to prevent myself from escaping. I really hadn’t had reason to at home. If I wanted my hands restrained, all I had to do was ask Scott or Sean and I would have just that. The prior would usually add a hogtie whether I wanted it or not and the latter would listen to my request a little more. Either way, both of my brother could tie me up to prevent most chances of escape from the ropes. So, I really didn’t have much reason to learn to tie myself up. If they were unavailable, Mary was home sometimes and would tie me up as well or I could always use my handcuffs in a pinch. Still, I was currently cut off from most of those options. So, I had to make do with what I had at hand.
I began the process by laying my wrists over each other in an X pattern making them crossed in front of me. I tied one end of the cord off around my left wrist, then I went to work on the binding. I mostly used my teeth and my hands where they could reach the rope passing it between the two of them. I began by wrapping the rope around my hands several time horizontally, then I switched to a vertical wrapping to secure the ropes further. I stopped several times along the way to tighten the ropes by pulling them tighter with my teeth. Once I had absorbed most of the length of the rope, I tied the two ends together with a double knot on top of it. That completed the tie and my hands were bound criss cross together in front of me. I gave the tie a couple of solid tugs and it held well to my struggles. I knew how to properly construct it, and it was quite secure. However, there were problems with it I could visibly see right off the bat.
First of all, the knot still had two tails of rope each a couple of inches long. I could reach them with my fingers, which meant with enough work I could probably release the knot and free my hands. The second and more obvious problem was that my hands were tied in front of me which meant I could free them with my teeth any time that I wanted. I strived to work on these two problems and correct them as best I could. The first one, I began working the two ends of the ropes into tuck on the tie to prevent them from being of so much use. I managed this as best I could. Them I moved onto the second part of the problem. Usually, when one of my brother tied my hands behind my back, they also tied a rope around my waist to keep them there. I was quite flexible at a young age and could bring my hands around to my front it they weren’t tied off to something else behind my back. I would accomplish this by sliding them under by bottom and working them around my feet to the front. There I could use my teeth to usually work a knot free without too much trouble. Inverting this process was not difficult either and a moment later my hands were no longer in front of me. The were crossed and bound behind my back.
The new position was more confining than the first, but I could still manage an escape if I wanted to by bringing my hands back to my front. I struggled for a few minutes gently testing the feelings of the security of my ropes under the circumstances. The bindings held me securely and prevented me from freeing myself without an intelligent effort. After a few minutes of squirming, I was content with the effectiveness of my handiwork. I was comfortably secured and prevented from getting into trouble. The only real problem that I now had was what to do. I was no less bored that I previously was, but now I was tied up and not able to move my limbs. Perhaps a quick nap was in order after all I thought to myself as I let out another quiet yawn. There was just something about being in ropes that helped me to relax.
I drew my feet up from the front of the chair. I laid myself across it sideways in a rather folded up position and rested my head against the arm of the chair. I tried to get as comfortable as the ropes would allow me and gently closed my eyes to drift off for a quick snooze. I had experimented on and off with the idea of sleeping with my hands tied behind my back rather than in front. I could do it for a short duration, maybe half an hour to an hour. However, I couldn’t sustain it long enough to sleep through the whole night. I also couldn’t manage it lying down on my back or stomach. My arms would eventually wake me up and I would have to get back into a new position and drift back off. I would repeat this process throughout a night, and get some sleep. However, it was never deep enough and I would wake up very tired. Still, for a quick snooze, it was comfortable especially if I was half sitting up like I was.
I probably managed about 45 minutes of a nap waking up once to readjust my position. My next awaking came when my mother and aunt Bonnie woke Amy and me up from our little nap. They were a little surprised to find me bound hand and foot in the living room. I gave them a quick explanation and I got a mixed response. My mother just sighed realizing that I was mastering a new skill. My aunt applauded my efforts and the results that they had yielded. They left me tied up while they went about waking up my sister and straightening the bed from where the two of us had been laying. Once that was complete, the four of us began the discussion of what we wanted to do for the rest of the day. It would turn out to be a rather interesting experience to share.
Jennifer.