Family Ties

Kelly and her mother were having a playful argument in the kitchen when Uncle Sylvester walked in, living alone and next door, Sylvester would enter without warning, but he was such a kind and gentile man the family was always glad to see him, despite his oddness.

“What’s all this then,” Sylvester said in his completely unidentifiable accent.

“Uncle Sy” the women said in unison.

“One at a time ladies,” said Sy, as he was called by the family, “why don’t you start Kelly.”

“The twins are coming home from college for the summer, and I can’t wait to see them, but I was trying to explain to Mom the occasional challenges of being the baby sister with those two.”

“Kelly,” Sy responded, “your 18, your not a baby anymore, you’re a beautiful young lady.”

“I know Uncle Sy, and I love Ken and Kyle, but I’ll always be the little sister.”

Kelly was definitely her mother’s daughter, but with a compact curvy athletic body. She liked her black hair a few inches below her shoulder though it rarely found its way out of a pony tail.
 
“And what’s your side of the story Janice.”

Janice was a stunning woman and her 47 years did not reveal itself to the observer, five foot eleven with shoulder length jet black hair, olive complexion and perfect slender figure, there was no doubt where Kelly got her looks.

“I was just pointing out that she has two amazing brothers that love her, O. K. they like to play games once in a while, but it’s always in good fun, and as someone who grew up largely alone I sometimes envy the life she has.

Sy thought for a minute, “I think we have a good understanding of the problem, and I think I have a solution.”

To say Sy was a man of unusual abilities was an understatement, but whenever a serious family problem arose a solution often revealed itself without explanation, but he was not above occasional playful shenanigans. Sy turned two stools from the breakfast bar to face each other and asked the two women to sit down.
“Now close your eyes, I want both of you to completely relax and clear your minds,” as Sy spoke he placed a hand on each woman’s head.

Janice was feeling a great calm at the touch of Uncle Sy, her mind began to drift through endless open space, and then a brief feeling of intense dizziness and everything felt normal. Janice opened her eyes and was in a state of confusion, she thought for a moment she was in front of a mirror because she was looking at herself. Both women looked at Sy and asked what had happened.

“Janice, you’re now Kelly, and Kelly, you’re now your mother, for each your consciousness now resides in the other’s body.”

“How is this possible?” asked Janice.

“Explanations can be so tedious,” Sy responded, “but it is possible, and don’t worry, nothing bad can happen, which reminds me of why I came over, I have to go out of town for a few days.”

“You’re just going to leave us like this,” Janice barked.

Confused at not being able to meet Sy eye-to-eye, Janice looked down expecting to see her three inch heels, but instead seeing blue and yellow striped socks which were doing nothing to enhance her current five foot one stature.

“You both will be fine,” assured Sy, “and the effect will automatically reverse at midnight Sunday night, but once I have gone you won’t remember anything about how this happened,” and with that Sy was gone as fast as he arrived.

Both women looked at each other for a minute.

“Mom, what’s going on, I’m me but I’m looking….at me.”

“I don’t know, let me think a minute.”

“Mom, were home!”

Janice heard the twins announce their arrival from the foyer and instinctively ran her hands down her front to check her appearance.

“I’m not wearing a bra!”

“Mom, your 18.”

“I am a forty…” Janice began, “go up there and greet them.”

Kelly turned to head toward the front room to greet the boys. “Well Mom, you wanted to experience my life, here’s your chance.”

As Janice stood in the kitchen she heard the twins yell ‘MOM’.

“There’s your sister” Kelly announced as she pointed to her mother, each twin gave Janice a big bear hug lifting her several feet off the floor in the process. Janice couldn’t believe how small she felt next to her sons, each six foot with athletic builds. After some small talk and catching up with both girls doing a good job with continuity, Kelly made a suggestion.

“Why don’t we go for pizza down on Lake Road for dinner?”

Both boys immediately agreed while Janice looked puzzled as to where this was going.

“It’s still early, so I am going to do some grocery shopping and I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“I’ll go with you” announced Janice.

“Don’t be silly; boys take your sister upstairs and spend some time together and I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Sounds like a plan Mom” said Kyle who then yelled “Fire drill” while Ken grabbed Janice and threw her over his shoulder.

“O MY GOD PUT ME DOWN!” Janice yelled, with Ken repeating “fire drill.”

Janice heard the words “have fun” as the boys reached the stairs.

“Damn kids” Kelly whispered under her breath as she put away the last of the food. Her mother had already made an extensive shopping list, and her embellishments didn’t help, requiring two carts and folding down the rear seat on the Subaru and after the fifth trip from the car she thought someone would come down to help.

Time to go upstairs and see what there doing, Kelly thought, but first an emergency to deal with, she sat on a chair at the kitchen table and kicked off the three inch heels she inherited from her mother, how she wears these things all the time Kelly had no idea, they were killing her.

Laughter was drifting down the hall as Kelly reached the top of the stairs and when she arrived at the source she found the three of them sitting on the floor in Ken’s room having a great time. All three looked up and greeted their mother and Janice began telling Kelly how much fun they were having.

“Oh Mom, do you need any help with the groceries?” asked Janice with a slight grin.

“No no, it’s all taken care of, thanks for asking,” Kelly responded with a smirk, “are you guys ready to go?”

They all replied they were starving and Kelly told them to meet her downstairs in five minutes. Kelly needed the time to go to her mom’s room and ditch the clothes; she removed the dress and stockings and began looking for jeans until she remembered her mom doesn’t own jeans, turning Kelly’s attention to the closet where she found a print sundress and a pair of sandals.

Dinner went very well, and they went down to the lake and watched the boats return for the evening as each woman became more comfortable with their reversed roles. They had been home for a couple of hours now and Kelly was in the den bored with TV. She decided to surf the internet for a while from the big leather sofa she currently occupied but needed her computer from her room.

Kelly froze at the sight that greeted her on her bedroom floor. She saw her mother, still wearing the t-shirt, shorts and socks Kelly had put on that morning, on her stomach on the floor in a tight hogtie, a red bandana filled her mouth. Janice began making moaning noises as Kelly stood looking, only after a minute or two did she sit on the floor next to Janice’s head and pick the knot loose on the back of her neck. Kelly pulled the gag out of her mother’s mouth to find a large knot tied in the middle of the bandana. Janice stretched her jaw and asked Kelly what she waited for.

“Sorry, I’ve never seen myself hogtied before, so how does it feel to be overpowered Mom?”

“No, I agreed to this and it’s not that bad, they’ve been very gentile, it’s just a harmless game the boys like to play.” said Janice defending her boys.

Kelly replaced the gag while reminding her mother that Kelly had agreed to play while her mother rolled her eyes.

“Me finding you tied up for once,” as Kelly tightened the knot on the gag, “your right Mom, this isn’t that bad.”

Kelly grabbed her laptop and as she passed her mom on her way toward the door she briefly considered telling her but decided not to be a spoiler.

She hadn’t been on the computer very long when Kelly wondered why she was struggling to keep her eyes open, she closed the browser and saw her reflection in the darkened screen and thought that’s right I’m old now. When Kelly got upstairs she headed for the master bedroom, which was hers for the weekend, when she decided to check on the others.

The house they lived in was large and the second floor hallway Kelly was in had four bedrooms, each with its own bath, the hall came to a T with a guest room and bath to the left and to the right led to a large room over the three car garage and a back stair to the kitchen. Kelly could see the doors to the main bedrooms were all open and looking in each found them empty; searching every room and the basement would take too long, the game must be over she thought as she fought back a yawn and headed for bed.

Down in the basement Janice was gagged with her hands and feet tied and rolled up in an old blanket that was trussed up with ample amounts of rope while even more rope secured her to a metal frame cot. Janice was doing the only thing she could right now, staring down her tightly wrapped and trussed body toward the bare feet that were now the focus of Ken and Kyle who were armed with a feather and an artist paint brush respectively. When the tickling started it was like a shock wave rolling across her body from the soles of her feet, which were paralyzed while uncontrollable laughter forced its way past her gag. When it was over Janice lay on the cot untied and exhausted, she had never felt anything like that and had no idea her daughter was that ticklish, as she drifted off to sleep Janice felt bad about tickling Kelly as a baby, but her reaction was just so adorable.

Janice rubbed her eyes and sat up; she was in Kelly’s bed still wearing the same clothes except for the blue and yellow socks now on the floor in front of the dresser. Sunlight was filling the room, “10:30” she whispered as she got out of bed, “the days half over” talking to herself as she looked through the closet for a dress, before remembering her daughter doesn’t own any dresses. Janice contemplated a dash to her bedroom but on this body her dresses would look like Dumpy from Snow White, she settled for another pair of shorts, a short sleeve shirt and socks with a cartoon character she did not recognize, laying them on the bed she chose some under things and entered the bath.

Descending the back stairs to the kitchen Janice immediately noticed something wrong, it was spotless, implying they must be waiting for her to feed them. She found the three of them sitting in the sun room off the kitchen, called that because it was completely enclosed on the exterior by glass panels with a Spanish tile floor and decorated with rattan furniture and large potted ferns; it was Janice’s favorite room. Kelly got up and wrapped her arms around Janice.

“Sleep well baby” she said and planted a big kiss on top of Janice’s head.

Still having no idea how she ended up in that bed, Janice replied “Ya, fine” as she pushed back from Kelly.

“So, did you all eat breakfast?”

“Mom made us awesome waffles,” Ken declared.

“Did she now,” responded Janice, now staring at Kelly.

“I’m sorry baby, you were sleeping so beautifully and I didn’t want to wake you.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Kelly placed her hand on Janice’s shoulder and turned her toward the door as if to walk side by side, then gave her a gentle push and in the same compassionate voice, “go make yourself a bowl of cereal honey.”

The four had a good time together through the early afternoon, Kelly made them all a light lunch and as they ate Kelly suggested going to the beach since it was such a beautiful day and it wouldn’t be crowded on a Friday. They all agreed and Kelly told them to get ready then load the car while she cleaned up the kitchen. Finally everyone was outside, the boys were using the Jeep and Kelly smiled as she looked in the back window. After a short drive to the lake they carried their towels and a couple toys and found a spot. The boys were beach ready with tank tops and board shorts, Kelly removed a beautiful flower print wrap to reveal her mothers gorgeous black one piece swimsuit. Janice was wearing an oversize short sleeve shirt she removed to reveal her daughter’s one piece aqua suit with a fish scale design on the lower half Kelly wore on the swim team. Odd to the boys since Kelly never missed an opportunity to show off her toned athletic body at the beach. Then Janice realized they were all starring.

“What!” Janice nervously replied, “This was on top.”

Kyle took his sister’s hand and dragged her away for a run down the beach. Now alone with Ken, Kelly asked about the shovel in the car.

“You can’t go to the beach without burying someone, its tradition Mom.”

The two devised a plan where the girls would play Frisbee in the surf while the boys dug a hole.

The girls were laughing and joking while tossing the Frisbee and splashing in the water when they both stopped and watched two guys jogging toward them. Their bodies were chiseled from stone with the faces of leading men. As they passed one of them looked back as both women took in the butt shot with their mouths open.

“I scored a look back,” said Kelly.

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Did not!”

“He looked right at me,” Kelly insisted.

“Hello, you look like his mother.”

“Hello, you look like Charlie the tuna.”

With that both women began chasing each other and laughing hysterically.

Janice chuckled at the construction project completed in their absence, the boys sat her down with her legs in the hole, “I guess I’m getting buried.”

“First things first,” said Ken as he pulled his sister’s arms behind her and secured her wrists with a cable tie, he passed one to Kyle who secured her ankles and Ken eased her into the hole. Kelly took a position on one of the beach towels as the boys filled the hole up to Janice’s waist and poured in the first pail of water, then to the top of her shoulders and the second pail of water which ensured the sand was packed down firm around her body. They finished off by burying her to the top of her neck.

“A professional job!” proclaimed Kelly.

Kyle sat cross leg in front of his sister and asked her how it felt.

“I can’t even wriggle my toes.”

“That’s what the water is for, packs the sand like concrete,” Kyle explained.

Ken said he was thirsty from the work and asked Kyle to walk with him to the concession stand down the beach and would bring back drinks for the girls.

“I’ll go too,” said Kelly, “she’ll be fine, well be right back, and it’s just down there.”

“What am I supposed to do?” asked Janice.

“We’ll bring you a soda,” Kelly said as she patted the top of Janice’s head with her foot.

As they walked away Kelly turned back and fished a pair of sunglasses out of the beach bag and placed them on Janice.

“Weekend at Bernie’s,” the three began laughing as they walked away.

Dinner was over and everything was cleaned up, and Kelly found herself alone in the den again, and TV was boring again. Her mind returned to the beach, she giggled as she recalled the hour it took to dig her mom out of that hole, then the boys didn’t have anything to cut the thick cable ties so she had to ride home tied up in the back seat. That was after Kyle carried her in to the water to wash off the sand. She had never seen her mother laugh so hard, she was acting like…

Kelly then began wondering where the three of them were and what they might be doing now. She started to get up to look for them then stopped. What am I doing she thought, am I jealous?

Kelly lay down on the sofa and closed her eyes and soon her mind had traveled back in time, she was twelve and the boys were babysitting. They made dinner but Kelly wanted to watch a movie, the fact that the movie was on DVD and could be started after she ate was not relevant and she stormed off. Shortly after she heard Ken say something about being a baby as he picked Kelly up in a fireman carry and headed for the kitchen, when Kelly saw the old high chair that had been resurrected from some forgotten corner of the house, she began to struggle but soon enough she was securely tied into the chair with sufficient rope to ensure resistance was futile. After the replacement of the tray and the application of an adorable bib, Kelly was spoon fed. When the boys had finished eating and cleaned up they announced she could now watch the movie, Ken and Kyle each took a side and carried the chair to the TV and started the player. A few minutes into the film Kelly began shouting to the boys to come back because she couldn’t get out by herself. Ken came up behind her and smoothed a piece of duct tape over her mouth, telling her to enjoy the movie as he left. Life was good.

Saturday found the family lounging around the house. Lunch was over and everyone had scattered to different parts of the house. Kelly entered the sun room where the boys were. Ken began telling his mother how the college semester went and how good it was to be home. Kelly told Ken how excited his sister gets when they come home. During the conversation Kyle was on the phone and hung up smiling.

“Mom, you remember Chris and Dave?”

Kelly stuttered a minute, “The Wilson’s sons, yes, lovely boys.”

Kyle explained Chris just heard the twins were back and invited them to a party this afternoon in their parent’s back yard, all the guys from school are coming and Kelly was invited.

“Isn’t that the house with the large pool? Kelly asked.

“Yes,” answered Kyle, “Mom, would it be O. K. if we take Kelly.”

As much as Kelly wanted to go to that party, awkward would be an understatement given the current situation.

“Absolutely”.

“I can’t wait to tell her,” said Kyle, getting up.

“Hold on a second,” Kelly holding up a hand, not wanting to waste an opportunity this rich, “remember when you took your sister to that bonfire party at the Carter’s last year?”

“We kind of kidnapped her,” said Ken.

“She talked about that for days, she loved it,” Kelly laying it on.

“She got the blindfold off halfway there so it wasn’t really a big surprise,” added Kyle.

“You need to up your game,” said Kelly, “there’s that big ice chest in the garage.”

“Can you imagine,” laughed Kyle, “everyone would think we were bring soda or something, and then open it next to the pool.”

“And throw her in,” added Ken.

Janice was upstairs on the bed in Kelly’s room reading the latest issue of Architectural Digest, she was getting used to that room. She was wearing the same clothes she slept in, a Hello Kitty sweatshirt and pink pajama pants with a cartoon character she did not recognize she found in her daughter’s dresser, barefoot with her hair in a pony tail. Before Janice could react, the boys were on the bed duct taping her hands behind her back. They rolled her over and placed several long strips of tape over her mouth and then taped her ankles. Standing her up they wrapped tape around her chest and waist pinning her arms, then it was over Kens shoulder for the trip to the garage.

The chest was cleaned and open in the middle of the garage floor; the Jeep was backed up to the garage with the tailgate open. Janice was struggling and moaning through her gag when she saw the chest, but she was helpless as she was lowered in, one final long wide eyed moan ended as the latches snapped, locking her inside. As the boys slid the chest into the back of the Jeep and closed the tailgate, ensuring the little door on the lid of the chest was cracked open for air, Kelly came out and handed Kyle a canvas bag. Kyle gave is mother a questioning look.

“Towel, bikini, sunscreen, sandals and camera, have fun,” replied Kelly.

“You’re getting devious in your old age Mom,” answered Kyle.

“You have no idea,” Kelly said waving as the Jeep pulled away.

The tradition on Sundays in this house was you were on your own, no family meals were prepared, eat when you’re hungry and clean up your mess. Kelly was up first having gone to bed before the twins and Janice got home. She had coffee and went back upstairs; Kyle saw her in the hall and brought her into Ken’s room where he was at the computer.

“You have to see this Mom,” Kyle said as he and Kelly looked over Ken’s shoulders as Ken started a video.

Kelly watched the twins carrying the chest to the pool, as a crowd gathered the top was opened. There was a short period of laughing and joking and Janice was lifted from the chest, even with all the tape the look of embarrassment was clear, she was then heaved into the pool, several guys were positioned in the water and brought her to the edge, rolling her onto the cement patio. The three of them were laughing at the video.

“Mom, remember when Kelly would show off and swim laps with her hands and feet tied? Check this out,” Kyle said.

Kelly watched another video start; Janice was now wearing the bikini Kelly had packed and standing on the diving board with her toes hanging over the end, her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were tied together, the camera was too far away to capture sound but she appeared to be yelling “wait.” Kelly almost choked as she watched the girl behind Janice pushed her off. At first it looked like she was drowning, but then motion was seen below the shimmering water and her head broke the surface half way across the pool swimming as graceful as a mermaid until she reached the steps at the other end where she beached herself and waited for rescue.

“Almost half a million hits already,” Ken told his mother.

 Kelly asked how the rest of the party was.

“It was great Mom,” Kyle said, “most of the guys from the varsity team were there, and we had a blast.”

“What about your sister?”

“She had a great time; this guy was hitting on her,” said Ken.

“What happened!” asked Kelly.

Ken turned to Kyle to confirm the guy’s name. “Charles? We just call him Bling Bling because he wears gold chains and a sweater with some yacht club patch on it.”

“What happened?” Kelly demanded again.

Kelly had a previous encounter with this creep and was on Ken’s bed rolling with laughter as Ken finished recounting the dressing down his sister had delivered that referenced a social gathering at the assisted living center. Go Mom Kelly thought.

Ken continued, “She did hit it off with a couple of the guys girlfriends, and a small group of us drove into town and went to I-Hop after the party.”

Janice entered the room as the boys described the restaurant portion of the evening.

“Wait,” Kelly interrupted, looking at Janice, “you went to I-Hop in a bikini?”

“David’s mother put my clothes in the dryer,” Janice coldly replied.

“You went to I-Hop in pajamas?”

“No biggie Mom, all the girls do it,” Janice replied sarcastically.

Later Kelly found herself alone when the twins decided to visit the mall and took Janice. She ended up in Ken’s room watching the videos a few more times when the phone rang. It was a friend of her mom, Mrs. Porter, who had an emergency and asked if Kelly could watch her kids. Kelly told her she would call right back and called Kyle’s cell phone. Kelly explained the problem and told the boys to drive their sister to the Porter’s, then called Mrs. Porter and told her Kelly was on her way.

The twins returned home and told their mother how grateful Mrs. Porter was and that Mr. Porter would drive Kelly home. After watching TV together for a while, Kelly asked to see the videos again. Ken brought his computer to the kitchen table and Kelly got some cookies. “It never gets old!” Kelly exclaimed after a few more viewings when Kyle’s cell phone chimed, checking the text he said Sis will be home in an hour.

“You know what would really be funny,” Kelly said to the boys, “your sister coming home and finding me tied up.”

“You want to be tied up Mom?” Ken asked.

“That would be funny,” added Kyle.

“We’ll go in the dining room, she won’t see me when she comes in,” Kelly suggested.

When the boys had finished, Kelly was seated in a high back wooden chair with her arms behind the chair and her entire upper body tied to the back rest, each leg was tied to a front chair leg at the ankle and upper calf, she was blindfolded and gagged with a cotton head scarf. The boys did not notice Janice when she came in and she went right upstairs. One of the kids had spilled chocolate milk on her; it was getting late so she put on a pair of pajamas she took from her daughter’s dresser.

Janice was tired; she got on the bed and flipped through the magazine she was reading when she got kidnapped by the twins. In the front room the grandfather clock began to chime midnight. Upstairs; Janice could no longer focus on the pages, she felt like the room was spinning and suddenly she could not move or see. As she regained her awareness she realized she was tied up.

Kelly opened her eyes and found she was lying on her bed in her room and she was back in her own body. That meant her mother must be tied to the chair. As she left her room, she surprised the boys as they stepped out of Ken’s room and they questioned her about her arrival. Kelly told them to never mind all that; get some rope and meet her in the dining room.

 As Janice’s blindfold was removed she saw her daughter tied to a chair exactly as herself, her gag was removed and the boys left, leaving the girls toe to toe facing each other.

“What were you thinking?” asked Janice, tugging at the ropes.

“I just wanted to get tied up because you were having all the fun,” replied Kelly.

“I was supposed to be having fun, I was the kid,” Janice said.

“I did get jealous, you were spending time with Ken and Kyle and I was left out, I’m sorry,” Kelly told her mother.

“I’m sorry too,” her mother said, “I had forgotten what it was like and got caught up in the moment.”

“What do you mean you forgot?”

“Who do think the boys tied up before you were old enough?” Janice asked.

“You let Ken and Kyle tie you up?”

“It was just game they enjoyed,” Janice explained, “and it wasn’t anything new to me.”

“What do you mean; you always said you grew up alone?”

“Back in the day, I was the most popular babysitter on the block,” Janice explained, “and there was summer camp. When you were ready you jumped right in, never missing a chance to get yourself tied up and I just let you have fun.”

“So Mom, you really had fun this weekend?”

“I had a great time Kelly.”

“I think this summer is about to get a lot more interesting Mom.”

”I can’t wait to see Uncle Sy, he’s going to love this story.” 

 

You can also leave feedback & comments for this story on the Plaza Forum

10.07.13

story continues in Family Ties 2: Let the Games Begin

o0o