## A dream?

Post by lasse672000 » Wed May 09, 2012 12:01 pm

“Umm! I’m not totally convinced yet.” I said, as I looked at myself in the mirror. I was in a shop, trying out dresses for my big sisters wedding in a couple of days. The dress I was so unsure about was beige, with lots of ruffles and tulle, from the waist down, and hidden among the ruffles was a hook. I thought it looked like I was stuffed inside a cream-cake, rather than a dress. The top half was a rigid corset. It had long sleeves and a high neck. As it was summer-time, I was sure I’d get a heat-stroke. “Ah, what the hell! She probably won’t get married again anytime soon, anyway! Let’s try it with the jewellery. Maybe I’ll like it better, when I can see all of it together.”
My friend, Maddie, who had accompanied me, and was supposed to give me advice, but had done nothing but look sceptical all the time we’d been there, brought in a bag from outside the cubical. From it, she took out a high collar and two wristbands, all of them made from a silvery-white metal. The collar was connected to the wristbands by chains, just long enough to reach waist-level. It was so high it prevented me from turning my head more than a fraction of an inch, either side. The wristbands were in turn connected by another chain, just long enough for me to hold a book open or eat, albeit with some difficulty. Finally, she took out two more cuffs, these ones in a plain, steely grey colour, which she put just above my knees. These cuffs and a similar pair around my ankles were connected by slightly longer chains, allowing me to walk, hopefully without tripping or falling. I practiced walking around the cubical for while, until I had more or less worked out the technique.
Walking out of the store with our purchases, I commented: “It’ll be quite a heavy ensemble, that. I just hope the day won’t be too hot. Sunny, yes please, but not too warm!”
“Oh, stop fussing, girl!” Maddie said as we sat in her car. “It’s going to be a wonderful day, whatever the weather, and you know it! The bride will wear more steel than you, and I don’t think she’s complaining. Do you?”
“You actually do have a point there! I do feel so much more relaxed by that thought!” I said sarcastically, somewhat disheartened by her lack of sympathy. “And it’s not that much more, and you know it!”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever!” was the only reply I got.
When the big day finally arrived, she helped me get dressed, as I obviously couldn’t do it myself, after all the “jewellery” was put on. She hooked the handcuffs on to the hook, and then helped me get into the limo waiting outside. As the car pulled away she waved good-bye, as she wasn’t invited.
The ceremony itself was uneventful, thank God, as was the reception afterwards. It was when I got home, my troubles started. I discovered the keys to my shackles weren’t where they were supposed to be. I called Maddie and asked her about it, and she cheerfully told me she had them, but was willing to give them to me, on one condition: I’d tell her all about it. I got in a taxi as soon as I could and went over there.
Don’t ask me how, but I managed to climb the two flights of stairs to her apartment, without falling over once, despite my long, and by now very heavy, dress and the cuffs. I knocked on the door, and she must have been standing right on the other side, because she opened it very quickly. She ushered me inside, and I sat down on the sofa and started telling her all she wanted to know.
When I was finished, I asked her: “Could you please give me the keys, so I can get out of these cuffs? They’re starting to get a bit cumbersome.”
“But, sweetie! I don’t have them here. I gave them to a friend of mine, who lives on the other side of town! Are you really sure, you want out of the cuffs and the dress? Because, you know, you look quite stunning wearing them!”
Hearing that, I almost burst into tears. She saw that the tears started welling up in my eyes, and said:”Tell you what: I’ll give him a call and tell him to bring them over here, or better still; to your place. How’s that?”
“To my place, please.” I said. “That way, I can get out of this dress, at the same time.”
“OK, sweetie. You just sit tight, and I’ll be right back.” A few minutes later, she came back, and told me a taxi was waiting to get us there. We very carefully went down to the ground floor and into the taxi.
I was too preoccupied by thoughts of my pending freedom I wasn’t paying much attention to where we were going. You see, we weren’t going to my place at all, but instead to an address on the other side of town!
“Now, wait just a minute! This isn’t the right address!”
“Oh, yes it is,” Maddie said. “As I said; Marcus, a friend of mine, has been taking care of them, and he lives nearby. Come on, you won’t have to climb as many stairs as you did at my place!”
‘Well, thank God for small favours, then!’ I thought.
When we entered his apartment, he right away told us he had the keys, but that I still wouldn’t get out of my jewellery, until he said so.
Instead, he grabbed my arm in a viselike grip, and more or less herded me into a window-less room, slammed the door shut and locked it! I started pounding at it, pleading for anyone to let me go.
The only reply I got was laughter, and Maddie telling me to: “Relax!” and “Don’t worry, it’ll be over real soon. We’re just going to make a few phone-calls, and your new owners will come and get you.”
When I heard that, I started crying. I fell to the floor, and I guess I fainted.
When I opened my eyes, I lay in a bed. After a few seconds I realized it was my own bed! I looked over to my right, and was relieved to see Carl sitting in an easy-chair beside my bed. As he put me in put me in shackles for the day, I said: “Please, never, ever leave me without a key to get out!”
He looked me solemnly in the eye, and said: “Whatever makes you say a thing like that? The spare keys are in the bedside drawer, as they’ve always been.”
When I told him about the dream I had, he just laughed and gave me a hug. “That just emphasizes what I’ve always said. Never leave home without me!”
Whazzzz up!.

### Re: A dream?

Post by Jay Candice » Wed May 09, 2012 8:08 pm

I really like your stories, I try to read all of them. Short, but good. Kind of unlike mine, but I think you are a very unique author.
In the end, it matters not how many breaths you took, but how many took your breath away.
-shing xiong
We are not retreating, we are advancing in another direction
-General Douglas MacArthur
Fall down seven times, stand up eight
-Japanese Proverb