My life changed (part 2)

-- read part 1 here --



On a Saturday in December, I visited Mariella for the first time, along with Jane of course. Mariella was Jane's best friend, and Jane liked to show me off to her. During breaks at school, Jane would sometimes call me over to where she and Mariella stood, and tie my hood completely shut. She would then say: "You'll stay like this until the end of lunch break. If you even touch the drawstrings, I'll tell mum you took your hood off." And to Mariella: "You see, I can make her do whatever I want. If she doesn't obey, I'll tell mum to punish her. Isn't my new 'sister' lovely?" And then they'd walk away, leaving me blind until finally the bell rang and I could open my hood. I knew Mariella was fascinated by this, but I had no idea what she was up to that Saturday.

I was wearing my winter clothes by then: white ski pants, red Moonboots, a thick knee-length red down jacket (hood up and tied, of course - I was never allowed outside anymore without my sweatshirt hood and jacket hood both up and tied), white heavy mittens, and a long white scarf. The scarf had been Jane's idea; she had suggested to Cyrilla that I had to tie it tightly over my lower face at all times. This way I couldn't speak, which further isolated me at school. Before all this, I'd had a lot of friends. At first they had wondered why I started wearing a hood all the time, but not much had changed. But Jane did her best to make me stand out more and more, and since I had to wear the scarf I was soon ignored by most of my classmates. After all, who wants to hang out with someone who doesn't speak, and who starts to dress really weird? I really stood out wearing Moonboots in dry weather well above the freezing point, and my down jacket was so big, bright and shiny. And then there was the hood of course, always worn up, always bound tight, turning my head into a big red watermelon on top of my fluffy body.

And what could I do about it? I dared not argue with Cyrilla again, or refuse her. Nor did I talk to anyone about it. One day, Cyrilla had showed me pictures of what she called a 'Glosssuit'. She said if I told anyone that my way of dressing wasn't my own choice, she'd buy two Glosssuits for me. One to wear outside, and another one which I'd wear at home. Except the second one would have no hood opening at all, and I'd have to wear it night and day while home. I was horrified. So I saw no other way than to obey Cyrilla and Jane without comment, whatever they told me to do. As time went on, people got more used to me just being weird and left me alone. I was too ashamed to search much contact myself, and I had to wear my scarf during break times, so I soon became a social outcast at school. This of course made it even more impossible to talk to someone about my situation, if I had found the courage to do so.

So that Saturday, right after lunch, we visited Mariella, whose parents weren't home that day. I knew we were going to sleep at Mariella's, and go home on Sunday morning, but I had no idea what they intended to do. But whatever they had planned, Jane seemed very excited about it, and apparently so was Mariella. As she opened the door, she had a big grin on her face. "Hi Jane," she said brightly, "come in quickly! I can't wait to get started!" Jane walked in and started taking off her jacket, but she told me to keep everything on.

"Jane, I've bought something for Nina. You'll love it. One moment, I'll go grab it!" Mariella dashed upstairs to her room, and came back seconds later, showing Jane something made of black rubber with a long tube. "It's a pumpable gag," Mariella beamed. "Let's try it out right away." She took off my scarf and the hood of my jacket. "Open your mouth, Nina," she commanded. I was afraid of the gag but dared not disobey her. I opened my mouth and she put the gag in. "Okay. Now close it again." While I stood there nervously with the rubber thing in my mouth and the long tube sticking out of it, Mariella tore long strips off a roller of heavy black adhesive tape she'd also brought. With a knife, she carefully cut a hole in the middle of each strip. Then she placed each strip over my mouth, pulling the tube through the hole in the strips, then wrapping the strips of tape snugly around my cheeks and sweatshirt hood, covering my head all the way around. When she was satisfied I wouldn't be able to open my mouth anymore, she attached a little hand pump to the end of the tube and started pumping. Soon my cheeks were hurting, and I flailed wildly with my arms to make her stop, but she only did when my mouth was filled completely and my cheeks were bulging out under the tape. Then she removed the tube and put my hood up again, tying it tight with only my eyes and a bit of my nose showing, so nobody could see the tape. Finally she wrapped my scarf around me again.

Mariella and Jane looked at me in fascination, as I stood there mutely, breathing deeply through my nose. I desperately tried to find a way to make the gag in my mouth more comfortable, but it filled my mouth completely, and the tape further immobilised my face, so I was helpless to do anything about it. Then Mariella tied some short ropes around each of my wrists, outside my mittens, so I couldn't remove them anymore. She also tied the drawstring at the hem of my coat tighter, so I had to take smaller steps.

When all was ready, Mariella and Jane took me out into town. They dragged me into one shop after another, where I had to stand around uselessly, while people commented on my outfit. "Eskimo," some guy taunted right behind me, and "God, it's freezing in here, isn't it?" I heard a woman say. But most people just looked at me, although now and then someone burst out in laughter at the surprise of seeing me like that. I felt humiliated, and Jane and Mariella did nothing to improve my situation. Sometimes they ordered me to walk back and forth through a shop, sometimes they simply ignored me, sometimes they said things like "Nina, why don't you take your hood off? It's really not cold inside!" in a loud voice so people would hear.

Later that afternoon, they took me to the movies. It was even warmer there, and the gag made my mouth dry, but I could only look while Mariella and Jane bought large cups of ice-cold coke for themselves and left me to sweat it out. As soon as the lights went out, Jane closed my hood completely so I wouldn't even have the movie to divert my mind. Blind, and with the sound muffled by my hoods, it was impossible to follow the story, so I just sat there for two long hours, with sweat dripping inside my clothes and my jaws aching.

At last, we went back to Mariella's, and Mariella took off my mittens. I thought they would let me out now, but I was wrong. They told me I could go to the toilet, but I had to keep my jacket on and the hood up, and I couldn't take longer than necessary. When I was done they put me back into my mittens and tied them in place again. Then they took me upstairs, where Mariella spread a large down-filled sleeping bag on a bed. "You'll get to rest a few hours now, Nina," she said, while she put me into the bag and zipped it up, "you must be tired after this afternoon, and you'll need your strength for the big finale tonight. Meanwhile, we'll have pizza. We'll see you in a couple of hours!" With that, she closed my jacket hood and the hood of the sleeping bag, leaving me in darkness, wondering what else they could have planned for me.

---

I woke up when my hoods were opened again. Had I really slept? It seemed impossible, especially with the gag hurting my cheeks, but apparently I had. I blinked groggily at the light. Mariella helped me out of the sleeping bag and herded me downstairs. There she removed my jacket hood and, mercifully, the gag. Then she took off my mittens as well and gave me a large bowl of soup. "Your dinner," she said. "Hurry up, we want to leave soon. Jane is just finishing her make-up." Now I noticed Mariella had also put on some make-up and was wearing a pretty dress. I didn't say anything though and started spooning up the soup. It was hot, but I was hungry and thirsty so I quickly ate it all. By then, Jane had entered, with a layer of make-up on her face (I told you about the acne). When I finished my meal, they told me to put on my hood and mittens again, and I quickly did so, glad that I didn't have to wear the gag anymore. They also didn't bother with my scarf.

Mariella told me to go outside and call them when the taxi arrived. Once it did, they took their time coming out of the house, but eventually we all got in the back of the cab. Jane and Mariella both wore skimpy dresses with a short, fur-lined jacket on top. I sat between them, still in Moonboots, ski pants, mittens and the huge jacket with the hood up. We went to a club, and at the entrance they both took off their short jackets but I had to keep mine on. Once inside, they allowed me to take off my hood and mittens and unzip my jacket, but I had to keep my sweatshirt hood up. Wearing a hood, the large jacket, the ski pants and the Moonboots, I still stood out from the crowd. They told me I had to dance for them. It was ridiculous, especially because of the Moonboots, which made dancing pretty much impossible, but I had to do it all the same. Meanwhile they were flirting with some guys, but they didn't forget to urge me on if they thought I was slacking. Every now and then they allowed me a break and gave me some money to get myself a drink. Obviously the guys at the bar had seen my ridiculous dance in Moonboots, and I was still wearing my jacket and my sweatshirt hood, but I was so thirsty I didn't care much. The breaks were short though, and I was soon exhausted.

At some point, Jane called me over to where she was sitting in a guy's lap. "This is Nina. And she has to do whatever I say," she giggled. I could tell she was getting a bit drunk. "Bend over, Nina, and let us see how sweaty you are." I did, and Jane felt at my hood, which was soaked with sweat. "I told her to dance, so she has to do that. And she has to dress like that," Jane smiled. The guy seemed impressed. "Wow. You made her dress like that? She must be so warm in that!" Jane grinned at him. "This is nothing. Watch this." She turned to me and said: "Nina, you've had enough rest now. Tie your sweatshirt hood tighter, then zip up your jacket, put your hood up and tie it tight. Put your mittens back on and start dancing again immediately." In front of the amazed boy, I executed her orders, tying my hoods so tight only my eyes were showing.

Half an hour later, I was simply to tired to dance anymore. I had lost track of Jane and Mariella too. I stumbled across the dancefloor and found a place to sit. Jane and Mariella were nowhere to be seen, so I would rest for just a minute, then I'd start dancing again. Suddenly a guy was sitting next to me. "Hi, I've been looking at you the whole evening. You look stunning in that jacket. Can I get you a drink?" Although I was very thirsty, I refused. I dared not open my hood enough to drink without Jane's permission. I was also weary of the guy's intentions - who could think I looked stunning like this? I thought he was mocking me. But he remained friendly and talked some more and eventually I realized he was actually honest. How he could like me in these clothes I didn't know, but it seemed true.

And then Jane and Mariella appeared. "What do you think you're doing?" Jane shouted. "We're going home right now. Mum will hear of this!"

Five minutes later we were in a cab going back to Mariella's. It turned out that both their guys had dumped them, and they were very angry with me for apparently having found a guy. And of course, I had stopped dancing without Jane's permission. Back home, they put me in my sleeping bag again, and tied my hoods shut. "Just wait till tomorrow," Jane said once more, "I'll tell mum how naughty you've been. I can't wait to see what she'll do to you!"



Overview

My life changed (part 1)

My life changed shortly after my seventeenth birthday. That's when my new mother, Cyrilla, and her daughter Jane moved in. Jane was of my age, and I suppose that under different circumstances, we might have ended up as good friends, as sisters perhaps, and I'm sure that's what dad had in mind. A new, happy family. Unfortunately, that's not how it went for me.

But let me start from the beginning. I'd lived together with my dad for thirteen years at that point. I was an only child, and my mother died in a car accident when I was young. It was probably not the happiest childhood one could imagine; my dad was always a taciturn man, and more so after mum's death. Still, he took good care of me and I lacked for nothing. Then at some point he met Cyrilla, and things started changing. At first, the changes seemed good; he smiled more and seemed more energetic. So I was happy for him. But after I met Cyrilla a few times, I started realizing she didn't like me much. She never openly showed it, and acted friendly enough, so it was hard to pinpoint why exactly I knew she disliked me - but I knew it was true. To be honest, I wasn't even sure she loved dad, and secretly suspected she wanted my dad for his money, although I'm not certain of this. Dad has a high position in his company and earns a high salary, which over the years has accumulated to us being quite wealthy. Anyway, dad was head over heels in love with Cyrilla, so talking to him about it was pointless - he would never believe a bad word about her. As for Jane, I can only conclude that she was simply jealous of me. And if you think about it, it wasn't that unreasonable. I don't want to brag, really, but the fact is that I 'had it all': I was attractive, intelligent and rich (at least, my dad was rich). Jane isn't ugly, exactly, but neither is she attractive; and at the time she suffered a lot from acne, which didn't help.

So as I said, Cyrilla and Jane came to live with us. I wasn't really happy about it, but there was nothing I could do or say to dissuade dad. Maybe I would have tried harder if I knew just how my life was going to change, but I doubt it would have made a difference. Anyway, it happened as it did, and I now had a new 'mother'. Cyrilla insists that I call her 'mum', but in my mind she'll always be Cyrilla. But that's not the only thing she's adamant on. From day one she also interfered with my clothes. I liked wearing dresses that accentuated my good looks, but she would have none of it. She claimed I had to be more modest, and that I was also not appropriately dressed for the weather. It was September at the time, so it wasn't exactly cold, but from then on I had to wear long, baggy pants with a long-sleeved shirt and a thick, hooded sweatshirt over the top, thus obscuring most of my pretty body. And every excuse was good to have me wear the hood of my sweater - whenever it was a bit cool, or cloudy, or windy, Cyrilla would tell me to wear my hood. But that wasn't all: she had a strict rule that every time I wore my hood, it had to be tied around my face. A tied hood looks ridiculous, and I'm sure that was her intention. Jane and I went to the same school and walked together every day, so there was no way I could take my hood off without Cyrilla knowing. Even during breaks at school I had to wear my hood up every time, with Jane watching me like a hawk and checking if it was tight enough. I complained to dad, of course, but it was pointless. It seemed as if dad had completely lost his wits, at least on the subject of Cyrilla.

After a week Cyrilla took me shopping, because I needed more 'appropriate' clothes. We were out the entire afternoon, with Cyrilla bossing me around, telling me what to try on, and deciding what to buy. With my dad's credit card, of course. But there was nothing I could do about it; I protested often, but she just brushed off my protests in her sweet, soothing voice (how I hate that voice) while making it clear that if my dad got involved, he would side with her. Although the day was bright and sunny, she made me wear my hood the whole time, even while inside the shops. I only got to take it off when trying on another sweatshirt - of which I then had to put the hood up immediately, every time. After we had acquired enough sweatshirts, Cyrilla said I needed a proper raincoat as well. Eventually she found something to her liking (but not mine!): a raincoat, rain pants, and rubber boots, all in bright yellow. She made me put everything on right there, and put the hood up and tie it, of course. When I had everything on, she walked me over to a mirror and said, again in her horribly sweet voice: "Don't you look nice in that, dear? You'll be so well protected from the rain. From now on, you'll get to wear this outfit on every rainy day, Nina. And you'll get to keep it on the whole day. Because every time I tell you what to wear, you stay like that the whole day. Every break, every time you're outside. So even if it's not raining, if I tell you to wear your rainclothes, you'll wear them the whole day. Understood, missy?"

Aghast, I stared at my own reflection. This was just too much for me. I looked ridiculous, like a five year old kid dressed up for the rain. I untied the tapes of the hood and took it down. "I'm not gonna wear this," I shouted angrily, as I took off the raincoat and threw it on the floor. "Forget it. Not in a million years!" Cyrilla calmly looked on as I kicked off the rubber boots and pulled the rainpants off. "Oh no?" she said with her friendly smile. "I'll make you an offer, Nina. Either you take those clothes to the counter like a good little girl, so I can pay them, and then we go home. Or you keep throwing a tantrum, and then we'll also buy those rainclothes, but you'll get to wear them the rest of the day. Which is it gonna be?" Wear those rainclothes? With this nice weather? "You're crazy," I hissed, and turned away to stalk out of the shop. I didn't get far. After I took two steps she grabbed my arm and forced me to face her. "Now think very well on what you're going to do or say, missy. I can do whatever I want, and you know it. I can cut your allowance. I can ground you for a month, or longer. While denying you access to computer or television. Woud you enjoy that? If I tell your father you're to be punished, he'll believe me. I could make up whatever story I wanted, and he'd accept it. You know it's true, don't you? Or do you want to find out the hard way?"

I stared at her evil, smiling face, and my anger ebbed away. Only now did I realize how dangerous Cyrilla was. She was right. She could do any of those things. She could make my life hell. Just imagine, every single day not getting to do anything other than going to school. No free time, ever. No computer or television to divert my mind. She could do it. I had never felt so utterly defeated, and she saw it in my eyes. Her grin widened, and in a voice dripping with honey, she said: "Now dear, why don't you pick up your rainclothes, and we'll go up to the cashier. Then after that, you can put on your lovely new rainclothes right away, you lucky girl." And so it happened. My mind blank, I picked up the clothes and carried them to the counter. "Don't put them in a bag, please. Nina wants to wear her new clothes," Cyrilla said, and as soon as the rain pants were checked she handed them to me. Without a word, I put them on, followed by the rubber boots. Finally I donned my yellow raincoat, put the hood up and tied it over my sweatshirt hood. The cashier could only stare at me open-mouthed, but said nothing.

Of course, we didn't go straight home after that. Cyrilla walked me in and out of some more shops, although she bought nothing else. Finally we had a drink on a terrace out in the sun. The whole time, people were staring at me and commenting on my outfit, as though I was no longer a person who could hear them, but just a curiosity, an odd-looking object. While we were having our drink, Cyrilla told me: "You see, you don't like it when I have to punish you. Let this be a lesson for you. You will never refute me or argue against me again. The only thing you'll accomplish is punishment. You also won't complain to your father about this ever again. You wouldn't sway him anyway, but I don't want you nagging him all the time. If I hear you've been talking to him about me or the way I treat you, you'll be punished much harder than today - harder than you can imagine. In fact, if you complain against anyone, you can expect the same punishment. A teacher, a friend - it doesn't matter. If I ever find out you tell people that you don't like how I treat you, you'll be very sorry. If anyone wonders about your change in clothing style, you'll pretend it's your own choice and you're happy about it. Have I made myself clear?"

Dejectedly, I nodded. I felt like a trapped mouse.
"Say 'Yes, Mum'," Cyrilla urged.
"Yes, Mum."
Smiling, Cyrilla leaned back in her chair.



-- on to part 2 --







Overview

The Silver Dream

It's Saturday at last. I have nothing to do so I can finally do what I've been longing to do all week: enjoying my love of warm winter clothes. Since five days it's been freezing, and there's a thick layer of snow on the streets. I look forward to walking outside, dressed up in layers of clothing, and watching what other people are wearing and what's available in the shops. I know I'm a bit weird in that aspect, but I just can't help myself.

So I waste no time and start getting dressed. Underwear, shirt, trousers,... that's the boring part. It only really begins when I put on my sweatshirt: a nice grey sweatshirt with a cozy hood which I immediately put up and tie around my head. On my legs I put a pair of ski pants, white like the snow outside. Beautiful and warm. And Moonboots on my feet to top it off. They are shiny black, with white printing, and so large and thick and stiff they make walking a bit harder. But I don't mind, because they keep my feet hot no matter the conditions outside. Next I put on my black down jacket and tie the hood until it covers the sweatshirt hood. And then on top of that, my other down jacket, which is light blue and comes down almost to my knees. I tie this hood so tight only my eyes and a bit of my nose are showing, so that nobody can see the hoods I'm wearing underneath. I finish my outfit with two pairs of mittens: one in thick white wool, the next in black waterproof nylon but with a warm fleece lining. Ready to go!

I spend the whole morning walking around, observing the other people, and checking out the stores to see more winter clothes. I'm not intending to buy anything; I can't afford to buy stuff on a whim. But then I come across such a beautiful down jacket which tempts me very much. It's silver in colour, knee length, incredibly thick, and the material feels quite stiff to the touch. Best of all, the hood is extremely large. Fascinated, I take the jacket of its hanger and study it intently.

"Beautiful coat, isn't it?" a voice says beside me. I'm startled, I didn't see the shop assistant approach me, focussed on the jacket as I was. "Oh yes, definitely," I say truthfully, once I've recovered, "it looks wonderful." "Would you like to try it on?" the shop assistant asks with a friendly smile. I hesitate. I'm acutely aware of how I'm dressed. I've taken down my hoods inside, but they form a pile behind my head. The inner down jacket isn't visible to the casual observer, as it's hidden between the sweatshirt hood and the outer down jacket, but it does make my hood look overly large. I've stuffed both pairs of mittens in the pockets of my down jacket, but they stick out a bit (as my wallet and house keys are also in these pockets) and add to my bulky look. I wasn't planning to try anything on, as I don't want to reveal the fact that I'm wearing two thick down jackets.

On the other hand, I've just said that I like the jacket, and I can't really think of an excuse why I wouldn't try it on. And I really would like to wear it. It's the most attractive jacket I've ever held. The shop assistant probably noticed my doubt, and she gently takes the jacket, saying: "Here, let me hold this for you, so you can take your coat off." Now I can find no way out, so I unzip my light blue jacket and take it off.

"Oh, you are wearing two coats," the assistant exclaims, "that's quite smart actually, with the freezing cold outside. And when you came in, I saw you wearing the hoods all up. With the sweatshirt hood as well, that makes three hoods. I guess they kept you warm and snug, didn't they?" I blush, I wish she didn't talk about my clothes like that, although she says it all in a friendly way, not mocking. I do wish she didn't talk so loud, though. I try not to let my embarrassment show too much and say: "Yes, they did." Meanwhile I take off the black down jacket as well. The shop assistant takes both jackets and hangs them over the rack.

"Well if you like thick down jackets, you'll love this one," she says, while she holds it open for me. I obediently put my arms in and she wheels to the front and does the zip up for me. Before doing it all the way up, she takes my sweatshirt hood and pulls it over my head, then she does the same with the silver down hood. "If you're going to wear the hood, you should try the hood before you buy it. You wear your hoods tied, yes?" she asks. She has apparently seen me when I entered, so I am forced to mumble a "yes" to that question, but she doesn't really wait for that. She is already tying my sweatshirt hood snugly around my face, and then she does the same with the silver hood.

"Beautiful!" she says when she has finished. She turns me towards a mirror. "I bet this jacket can keep you as warm as the two you were wearing! Do you like it?" "Yes, I do," I say, because it's true. The down jacket is great, and I strongly consider buying it, even though it isn't cheap. The shop assistant starts undoing the hood strings again. "Now you should try it with the other coat underneath," she says. "If you're going to wear it on top of the other one, you need to know if it fits." In no time her quick hands have unzipped the jacket again and taken it off. Now she holds out my black down jacket for me. I can't really think of something to say, and I kind of want to try the silver jacket on top of my other one, so I let her put it on me. Immediately she puts the hood up, on top of my still tied sweatshirt hood, and ties this one as well, just like I had earlier.

Then she takes the silver jacket again. But before I can put my arm in, she has another idea. "Oh! Perhaps you should try three jackets! That way you'll be even warmer. It would be good to know if this coat fits over both your jackets!" And without asking she puts the silver one away again and holds out my light blue jacket instead. I am a bit hesitant: "I don't know... I've never worn three jackets. Won't that be too bulky?" "There's only one way to find out," she says, and now she pulls the sleeve over my arm. Soon I am in my second down jacket, and she ties my hood as tight as I had, so the hood underneath doesn't show. She sees the mittens sticking out of my pockets and takes them out. "Two pairs of mittens as well! You were well prepared for the cold. You should put them on as well, so you will be in your full outfit. With your Moonboots and ski pants as well, you are perfectly protected!" She helps me into both pairs of mittens and then turns to pick up the silver down jacket.

"Now for the big one," she says with enthusiasm. As my arms are stuffed into the sleeves of the silver jacket, I'm starting to wonder if this is a good idea. My arms are so bulky already I don't think they'll fit in. "This won't work," I say, but she ignores me and simply pulls harder. And slowly my arms slide through the sleeves. "Don't worry, I'll get you in it," she says. When my whole arm is in it, only the top of my mittened hand pokes out of the sleeve. She repeats this with my other arm. "There, that was easy, no? Now we can zip it up." She bends down to my knees and connects the zipper. "Hmm, your light blue jacket is slightly longer unfortunately, that doesn't look so nice. But I can stuff it under this one, I'll just need to tighten this a bit. Can you put your feet together?" I obey, putting my feet as close together as the Moonboots will allow. I feel how the drawstring at the bottom of the silver coat is tightened just above my knees. Then she zips it up further. And then everything goes fast: she zips up the jacket, puts the hood up and ties it shut almost completely. There's only a tiny gap in front of my eyes, a slit only a couple of centimeters wide and high.

"All done! Now what do you think?" I look at the mirror again. This time I just see a fat figure in a silver down jacket and blue Moonboots. The arms stand to the sides a bit, with just the top of the black nylon mittens showing at the end of the arms. But on top of the silver figure is an enormous head, like a silver, fluffy cannonball. In front is just a little dark opening, but nothing can be seen of the person inside. I try to say something but no sound comes out; the three collars are too tight over my mouth to allow speech, and the three down hoods muffle the little volume I can produce. "So would you like to buy it?" the shop assitant asks. But how can I reply? I can't speak and I can't even nod or shake my head, which is immobile under all those hoods!

"Come," she says. She takes me by the arm and walks me through the shop. What is her plan? I don't know, but there's nothing I can do about it. The drawstring around my knees restricts my steps so I shuffle along beside her. Occasionally I catch a glimpse of other customers staring at me with their mouths open. Soon I have no idea where I am, as my lack of vision has disoriented me. But suddenly I see the store entrance ahead of me.

"Here's my offer," she says. "You can try out the coat for a while. See, I have your wallet and keys here - they fell out of your jacket when I took the mittens out. But don't worry, I'll keep them safely with me. This way I can be sure that you'll return, since you need to pay for the jacket if you wish to keep it. So have a walk around, and decide whether you want to buy the jacket, then come back to me. All right?"

She takes a look at her watch. "It's five to twelve, my shift ends in five minutes," she says, "and I've taken a few hours off this afternoon so I won't be here at first. I'll be here from 4 till 6 though, so just come back during that time. Meanwhile, you can enjoy the coat. See you!"

And with that she's gone. I shuffle out onto the street, knowing that at least for the next four hours, I won't be able to escape my padded prison. And I can't help wondering: once I get back at 4 o'clock, will she let me out then?

Overview

Experiment 91 (part 3)

-- read part 1 here --
-- read part 2 here --

Sophie had no idea the clothes one wore could have such an influence on one's life. From then on she was not only uncomfortably hot the whole time, but also stared at by everyone. And avoiding people was simply impossible. Every day she had to leave her house for at least six hours. So she had no choice but to make long walks, go to shops, visit friends, and so on. Her clothes also hindered her: her walk was clearly strange with the diaper, thick down pants and Moonboots, her vision was severely limited with just the small zippered opening in front of her eyes, even her hearing and speaking were muffled by the thick hood. And handling everyday objects like money or keys was now five times harder because of the mittens, more so because she couldn't see much.

She had felt like an alien even when she was walking through the corridors of the research center, and when she went up to the desk at the entrance to get back her personal belongings. But that was nothing compared to how she felt when she was outside, taking the bus home. She could feel every eye on her. At least her hood blinkered her view so she couldn't see most of the people. But it was still a very unpleasant experience, and she hurried home and didn't leave again that day. Of course, the next day she wouldn't have that option. Nor any of the 150 days after that.

There were more inconveniences. Eating was difficult, as she had to open the zipper in front of her mouth. But because the zippers were connected, this meant closing the one in front of her eyes. So she had to eat blind. Another thing Sophie had to get used to was using her diaper. At first she tried to hold it back but she soon learned that she couldn't avoid it. Her first nights were hot and restless. For sleeping she closed the eyes zipper as she could breathe better when the mouth zipper was open.

On the first day of the experiment, Sophie stayed indoors in the morning. She only made a brief visit to the stores because humans need to eat after all. She was very embarassed to walk outside like this, and even more to go into a store. But she knew she had no choice, she would have to do this many times so she'd better get used to it. In the afternoon she decided to make a long walk through the forest. At least there she wouldn't meet many people. She left at 2 pm. But the heat trapped inside the down clothes made it all quite exhausting. It was simply not possible to walk around for six hours like that. At 5 pm she arrived back home, very tired after the long walk. But even after her morning visit to the stores and the afternoon walk she still had to be out of her home for 2,5 hours. What to do now?

Luckily at that moment her friend Nadja called and invited her to go see a movie tonight. Because Sophie had to get out anyway, and she didn't feel like making another long walk, she accepted. Although she was quite worried about what Nadja would think and about sitting in a heated room with many people.

At 8 pm Sophie arrived at the theater and soon she found Nadja who was waiting for her. Like everyone else, Nadja was staring at the purple figure wearing thick down clothes and Moonboots, and a hood that only left a small slit around her eyes open. Her eyes widened in amazement when the figure walked straight at her. "Hi Nadja," Sophie said. "Sophie? Is that you?" Nadja stammered, trying to get a good look at the little bit of her face that was visible. "Yes, it's me," Sophie confirmed. Nadja was shocked. "Wow, you are heavily wrapped up. Is there a blizzard raging that I'm unaware of?" "It's a long story," Sophie sighed. "Look, can you get the tickets first? I don't like to face people the way I'm dressed. Let's go inside and I'll explain it then."

Five minutes later the girls were seated. Nadja took off her jacket but Sophie of course didn't have that luxury. The seat was soft and deep, so she sank back in it and could only look straight ahead because of the hood. This made talking to Nadja a bit weird, as she couldn't look at her. Nadja noticed this and said: "Sophie, take at least your hood off! It's really warm in here, and I can't even properly see you." "I can't, Nadja, I'm not allowed to take it off." Sophie explained about experiment 91, and how she had to stay dressed like this for five months. "Five months? Oh Sophie, what have you gotten yourself into!" Nadja exclaimed.

Then the movie began so they couldn't talk anymore. Sophie was thankful that the lights were out so people couldn't see her anymore. After the movie Nadja offered to have a drink. Sophie was very thirsty, as she sweated a lot, so she said yes. They went into a nearby café. Nadja was amazed when Sophie showed her she had to close her eyes zipper every time she wanted to drink.

Most of Sophie's friends reacted in much the same way as Nadja. The only exception was Tanika. The first time Tanika saw Sophie's clothes, she said: "Waw! That's a nice outfit Sophie! Where did you buy it?" Sophie then of course had to explain all about the experiment again. Tanika seemed excited about the whole project. "And you can't even take the hood off for a moment? You must be so hot in those clothes. And what are these zippers for?" Tanika wanted to know everything about Sophie's situation.

Tanika seemed to enjoy being around Sophie in her down clothes. She spent a lot of time together with Sophie on her long walks. They also went shopping together, although Sophie had protested against this at first. "I don't like to go to busy places. All the people will look at me," she had said. But Tanika had convinced her. "Nobody knows who is under that hood anyway, Sophie. And why would you care what others think?" Despite this, Sophie didn't feel comfortable when she was in the shops or on the crowded street. Tanika didn't seem to mind. She proudly led Sophie from one shop to another. And when she met a friend she showed off Sophie's outfit and she demonstrated the use of the eyes/mouth zipper.

Tanika also came with Sophie to the research center after the first week. She appeared very interested in the experiment. After the tests Sophie got to change into her other outfit, so they could clean the first one. It was identical except for the colour: instead of purple, the Moonboots, down pants, mittens and jacket were all bright red.

Gradually Sophie got used to this big shift in her life. But after the first month, they had another surprise for her...

-- on to part 4 --







Overview

A (very brief) explanation of my blog

As you can see, and as the name implies, this blog serves as a place to put various fetish stories I've written online. My hope is that by putting them here, I may reach an audience with preferences similar to mine. I think it's quite clear from my stories what my fetishes are.

Currently I have no idea whether my blog is actually being read by anyone who's interested in these things. I'm aware that there are many varieties in fetishes, and for some people only some of the things I write about will be of interest, while other subjects do nothing for them. But even then, I would like to hear from people who enjoy my stories, even if only partially.

So if this blog is of any interest to you, make yourself heard. After all, if I get no response out of this, the blog will eventually die a quiet death. If that's not what you want, just leave a reply anywhere on this blog.

I sincerely hope someone out there enjoys my stories - and I'd love to know!

Kuomu



Overview

Experiment 91 (part 2)

-- read part 1 here --



It was the last day of October. Sophie took the bus to the research center, where she had an appointment at 2 pm. She was a bit nervous when she walked in. She explained to the girl at the desk that she was the test subject for Linda's project. The girl looked at her computer screen and found Sophie's name. "Ah, experiment 91, I see. You will be receiving new clothes today. Please put all your personal belongings in this plastic bag; you will get them back when you leave. Then you can take a seat over there, someone will come for you."

Sophie tried to read some magazines, but she couldn't keep her attention on them. She wasn't sure what was going to happen today, and she couldn't cope well with that feeling of uncertainty. Then someone came to her and asked her to follow. Sophie was disappointed, she had expected it would be Linda. The girl explained they would do some routine medical tests so they could compare the later test results with the values from before the experiment.

An hour later, they had finished the tests. By now Sophie was more relaxed, nothing special had happened. The girl said: "Now it's time to start the experiment. In a moment Linda will be here with your clothes. Please take off all your clothes and put them in this bag. Then attach this card to the bag, and drop it in here. It will then automatically go to the laundry. When you come back here in five months, you will get them back so you can wear them home. In the meantime you don't need them because you'll only be wearing the clothes that are part of the experiment. Good luck with it!" The girl smiled and left.

Sophie did as she was told. With a thud she heard the bag drop in the metal container. Now she stood there stark naked and very nervous again while she waited for Linda. After five minutes she began to worry. What if Linda didn't come? She couldn't get to her clothes anymore. She was all alone and naked in a small room without even something to sit on.

Finally the door opened. Instinctively Sophie crossed her arms over her breasts. Linda came in carrying some large bags. "Hi Sophie. I'm so excited to get started on the experiment. Are you ready for it?" "Yes," Sophie said more bravely than she felt. "Okay. I have your clothes here. Before we get started let me once more explain that they all contain microchips to check whether you are wearing them. You can only take them off for half an hour each day. So when we're finished, you'll be in these clothes at least until tomorrow." "Yes, I know that," Sophie said impatiently. She wasn't comfortable standing there naked before Linda so she wanted to get started. "All right. We'll get you dressed in the next room, this one is a bit small. Follow me." Linda took the bags and went out the door. Sophie had no choice but to follow her into the corridor and to the next room. Luckily there was nobody to be seen. Linda didn't seem to care that Sophie was naked.

"Lay down on the couch for a moment." Sophie did so and looked at what Linda took out of the bag. "What's that?" she exclaimed in surprise. "A diaper, of course. You only get out of your clothes once per day, remember. So you'll need a diaper and some rubber pants against the leaks." Five minutes later Sophie could stand up and walk around in the diaper. It made her ass huge, she noticed uncomfortably. Wouldn't people see that, even through her clothes?

"Every week we'll give you new diapers, so you can put on a clean one every day. Now, put these on." Sophie received an outfit completely in black wool: pants, socks, a body with a turtleneck collar, gloves, and finally, a balaclava. The balaclava had a circular opening that barely left her mouth, nose and eyes free. "Is that really necessary? I look like a robber," Sophie said. "Yes, of course. You must be well protected, remember."

At that point, Linda's phone rang. She answered the call: "Yes? ... Now? ... Okay, I'll be there in a minute." Then she turned to Sophie. "I have to leave urgently. This bag contains the rest of your clothes. Just put everything on and then you can go home. See you in a week!" And with that she was gone.

Curious to see the rest of her clothes, Sophie opened the bag. A mass of down came out. After sorting everything out, it turned to be a pair of down pants, a down jacket, mittens, and a pair of Moonboots. With the exception of the white letters on the Moonboots, every single piece was completely purple. Such warm clothes, Sophie though, looking at the incredible thickness of the jacket and the pants. Outside the temperatures were still well above zero. She was going to stand out immensely, with such a thick jacket, down pants and Moonboots. But there was no way back, of course. She had signed the contract. Resigned to her fate, she started putting on the down pants. Then she sat down and put the large Moonboots on her feet.

Standing up, she felt the warmth around her legs already. Wow, those pants were thick. She stepped around awkwardly in the Moonboots, diaper and down pants. She couldn't really walk normally in this. And those few steps heated her legs even more. She wasn't even wearing the jacket yet! Let's get this over with, Sophie thought, and took the purple jacket. There was something weird about it though. She held the jacket up and inspected it. The zipper went all the way to the top of the hood. But that in itself wasn't so special, she had seen that before. The really strange thing was that it ran from top to bottom. So it started at the hood, and it would close the hood completely before you even started zipping the rest of the jacket. How could she see out then?

Puzzled, Sophie turned the jacket around in her hands. Then she noticed something at the back of the hood. There were two short zippers there, connected by a piece of hard plastic. The zippers ran in opposite directions, so at any time one of them was closed while the other one was open. Right now the top one was open. What was this for? Why would one need an opening at the back of the head? While there was no opening on the front...

Then she noticed the pockets - also on the back. And she understood. What she thought was the back of the coat, was in fact the front. The zipper was at the back. She still didn't understand the point of such a weird jacket, but now she knew how to put it on. She put her arms in and then put the hood, which was in front of her, over her head, adjusting it so that the opening was in front of her eyes. Then she reached behind her and found the zipper, pulling it slowly down. With some bending she managed to close the jacket all the way down. Now there was only the small hole in front of her eyes, with a zip that could close it.

It was astonishing how little sight she had left, with the thick hood covering almost her entire face. Peering through the opening, she eventually located the mittens and put them on. The moment the second mitten was in place, there was a "beeeep" sound that startled her.

Then she realized what it meant. All her clothes were in place. She was no longer allowed to remove them. Experiment 91 had officially begun.


-- on to part 3 --







Overview

Experiment 91 (part 1)

Bzzzzzzt!

Sophie woke up at the sound of her intercom. Someone at her door, who could that be? Sleepily she looked at her clock. 10 am. Probably not important, she decided. She turned her head and tried to go back to sleep.

Bzzzzzzt!

They'll leave, Sophie thought.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

Sighing, Sophie sat up and got out of bed. Who could be so insistent to visit her this early? Since she had lost her job, Sophie slept late every morning, and her friends knew this. So who had decided to wake her up today? "Hello?" she asked the intercom in a tired voice. "Hi Sophie, it's me, Linda. Sorry if I woke you up. Can I come in?" "Sure," Sophie yawned, and pushed the button to open the door and let Linda into the building.

Two minutes later, Linda knocked at her door and Sophie opened. "Wow, you look disheveled," Linda exclaimed. "Yeah, what do you expect, when you call me out of bed so early. How come you are here? Don't you have to work today?" Linda was a researcher at a medical institute. So Sophie was quite surprised that Linda visited her when she was supposed to be at work.

"Yes, but that's why I'm here. It's about my work. I have something important to discuss with you." Sophie was intrigued. "Well come in then, take a seat."

When both girls were settled, Linda started explaining. "I'm currently doing research about the influence of clothes on the resistance of the human body against viruses and bacteria. There are several popular beliefs about this. For example, it is generally seen that people are more vulnerable to illness when they are exposed to cold or wet weather without proper protection. On the other hand, some also believe that being overprotected decreases the resistance of the body. Although these are commonly held beliefs, there has been suprisingly little actual scientific research in this area. So that's what I'm doing now."

"That's nice and all, Linda, and I'm sure it's an interesting subject, but did you wake me up just to talk about your project? What does it have to do with me?"

"I'm getting to that. For my research I need a test subject. This person would be dressed the same way for five months. Because it has to be scientifically correct, we cannot allow a single deviation from the prescribed clothing, even for one day. Every week we will then do a check-up to see how the body responds to that, and you'll have to fill in a short questionnaire. And as the test subject I thought of you, Sophie. Because you don't have a job, you are free to perform the experiment for us. Also, there's a nice financial aspect to this. At the end of the five months, you'll receive 1500€ for your troubles. And all you have to for that is wear what give you, follow our rules, and come to us for a weekly check-up. What do you think?"

"Well, I don't know. The money does sound nice. But how can I wear the same clothes for five months? Surely that's not hygienic? And what kind of clothes are they?"

"We will have two sets of clothing. So every week when you come for the check-up, you will change. We will make sure the other set is cleaned. So it's very easy for you, you don't have to worry about anything. As for what you will wear, we are still working out the details. But the core idea is that you will be well protected, since we want to study the effects of this on the human body. The experiment runs from November until March. If you accept, we'll make sure that you won't be cold this winter. Then there is one more thing: you'll have to be outside your home at least six hours each day. Going to shops and things like that count towards this, even going to the movies or visiting friends, so it shouldn't be that much effort. This rule exists because if you sit alone at home all the time, you are not exposed to other people and any bacteria they might carry. So that would make our experiment quite useless."

"I must say it doesn't sound bad. Not getting to choose what I wear isn't fun, but the money certainly makes up for that. And it really seems like easy money. All right, I'll do it."

"Great!" Almost instantly Linda pulled a set of papers from her bag. "This is the contract. I'll run it over with you. The first point establishes both parties of the contract; so that's the research center and you. The second point says that you agree to wear the clothes we give you every day from November 1st until March 31st. Every day you have half an hour of "free" time so you freshen up. The third point says that you will be in public areas or at social gatherings at least six hours per day. The fourth point says that you allow us to monitor you constantly to make sure that you actually do as stated in the second or third point. This means that your clothes will have certain electronics in them so we can be sure that you wear them, and a GPS to check whether you're at home or not. The fifth point states that you agree to visit the research center weekly for routine tests and a questionnaire. This will only take about two hours. Finally, the last point says that the research center will pay you 1500€ assuming you don't breach the contract. However, in case you breach the contract, you have to pay the research center 1500€ to make up for their costs. But of course it should never come to that, you just have to follow these simple rules and you get to walk away with the money."

And that's how Linda talked Sophie into signing the contract. Of course, the girl had no idea what she was in for.



-- on to part 2 --







Overview

Doctor's Advice (part 3)

-- read part 1 here --
-- read part 2 here --



It was two weeks later. Meanwhile Sandra had gotten used to her new dresscode, but she had no idea Myriam was already planning more for her. She still felt awkward walking on the street and even worse when sitting on the train in her bright red coat, with her hood up and tied tightly so that the fur ruff left only a small opening for her eyes. Her hands, useless in several pairs of thick mittens, usually lay in her lap. And everyone could see the small padlock that clearly said she was unable to take off her own hood. Sandra couldn't help wondering what people thought of her.

The first day had been the worst. Not only because it was simply the first time she wore such extravagant clothes in public, but also because she had to face her coworkers for the first time in her new attire. When she arrived at the office, everyone she met just stared at her in disbelief, not even knowing who this person was. All they saw was a bright red thick down mantle with shiny black Moonboots underneath. With her hobbled feet, Sandra had slowly made her way through the office.

When she had arrived at her normal place, she had found her desk gone. At first she had thought she was on the wrong place. After all, her vision was so limited that she could have become disoriented. But after taking a 360 degree turn on the spot, she knew for sure that she was where her desk should be. Not knowing what to do, she had just stood there in confusion.

At that point her boss had come in and called everyone's attention. She had taken Sandra's arm and turned her to face all her colleagues. Then she had explained about Sandra's condition. Sandra was glad that she didn't have to explain to everyone herself, but she wished her boss had let her out of the mantle first. The mystery of her missing desk was also solved: Sandra's desk had been moved to be right next to the heating.

After the announcement, Veronica, Sandra's best friend at the office, had come up to her. "I had no idea it was you in those clothes! I hadn't expected to ever see you wearing a down mantle like that. But it looks nice, Sandra. It suits you really well. Let me help you out first. Oh! There's a lock on the drawstrings and the zipper."

"My friend Myriam did that, to make sure I don't take the hood off. The key is in the left pocket. Please let me out now."

Veronica had helped Sandra out of the down mantle, and then she had taken off the heavy down mittens. She had been amazed to learn that Sandra didn't have the key for the sweatshirt hood, and that she was forced to wear Moonboots, down pants, the white turtleneck sweater and the black hooded sweatshirt all day. The collar of the turtleneck was partly visible inside the black hood, so everyone could see how warm she was still dressed. And from then on, she had to sit right next to the heating all the time.

But now, two weeks later, Sandra had gotten more or less used to her situation. And that's when Myriam wanted to increase her restriction.

Myriam had arranged for Ann, the 'doctor', to come around again. She had the results of the blood analysis. Because they were so important, she wanted to deliver them herself. They had found the virus that caused the reaction to be present in high concentration. It was quite possible, Ann said, that exposure to cold could directly lead to death.

Sandra was shocked. "Is there nothing you can do? Some sort of medication?" Ann said no. "We have no way to destroy the virus. So especially when you are outside, I advise you to make absolutely sure no cold can touch you. The good thing is that as long as you do that, you should have no other negative effects from it."

When Ann left, Sandra sat in a daze at first. Myriam comforted her. "Don't worry Sandra. I'll take care of everything. We just have to keep you wrapped up, and then nothing bad will happen."

The next Monday Myriam woke Sandra half an hour earlier than normal. When she asked why, Myriam said it would take a bit longer to get her dressed, and she wanted to make sure Sandra got to work in time.

After showering, Sandra put on her usual clothes: leggings, down pants, Moonboots, a turtleneck sweater and a hooded sweater. She then went to Myriam to get her collar and have her hood drawstring locked to it. This had become a normal routine for Sandra. After that, they had breakfast, and then Myriam prepared Sandra to go outside. But today this last part was a bit different, as Myriam had some extra protection for Sandra.

First Sandra was put into the huge mittens again. But then Myriam showed her a down mask. This would cover Sandra's entire head. It was, of course, in black nylon, overfilled with down.

"It zips at the back and has an integrated collar that I can fasten around your neck," Myriam explained. "It has two small eyeholes but they are blocked with clear plastic lenses so you can see out, but the cold air can't get in. Because the mask doesn't let air in, there is a breathing tube inside. Around the breathing tube is a pumpable gag. By pumping this up, we make sure that the breathing tube remains in your mouth, and also that you breathe through the tube, rather than in the mask, where you would run out of air soon. The breathing tube connects to a hole in front of the down mask. There we can attach another tube that leads out of your hoods. Now, open your mouth so I can insert the gag with the tube."

Sandra didn't want to be gagged again, but she saw no other way. If the virus was indeed lethal, she needed full protection. So she opened her mouth and allowed Myriam to put her into the mask. Myriam zipped it at the back and did up the collar. Sandra found she could breathe normally, and her mouth wasn't filled too much. She relaxed, it wasn't too bad.

Next Myriam came with a shiny black, heavily filled down suit. Was this really necessary, Sandra thought. But she couldn't object very well with the tube in her mouth, so she just allowed Sandra to first put her feet in, then her arms. Of course the suit had attached mittens - as though her hands weren't covered enough already! It zipped up at the back, but even weirder was the hood. It only had two slits for the eyes and one for the mouth - or in Sandra's case, for the breathing tube that would be inserted there.

When she was in the heavy down suit, Myriam started pulling her arms through the sleeves of the red down mantle. Sandra didn't think this was going to work. The suit was just too thick to allow the mantle over it. But Myriam managed to get her hands into the attached mittens, and then she slowly zipped it up, stuffing the black down inside as she went up. The hood was up over the suit's hood already. Before doing it up all the way, Myriam had to take care of the breathing tube and the gag. She took a small hand pump and attached it through the mouth hole of the down suit to a valve in the down mask. With this she pumped up the gag so it would fill Sandra's mouth completely. After a while Sandra's arms started to flail wildly, as this was the only way she could try to ask Myriam to stop pumping. But Myriam wasn't mollified; she pumped a couple more times before taking the pump off.

Next was the breathing tube. She held it up in front of Sandra's face, although she wasn't sure the girl could see well enough to know what it was. "As you see, the breathing tube has a bag attached to it. It consists of two layers of nylon with down between them; the purpose is to preheat the air you breathe in. Here on this side, it has a small opening to let in fresh air. So when you breathe in, you will inhale the heated air in the bag. Because of the resulting underpressure in the bag, fresh air will stream in. When you breathe out, the bag will fill up, causing overpressure, and part of the air in the bag will stream out. This means that you will be partly breathing in the air you exhaled. That's good because the air will be warmer that way. Unfortunately it also means you'll get a bit less oxygen, but you'll still get enough, so there's no danger. You do need to take slow and deep breaths all the time, otherwise the bag won't work. If you take shallow breaths, there won't be enough fresh air in the bag. So it's very important that you take deep breaths."

Sandra didn't want this, she was afraid she would suffocate. But she was completely helpless as Myriam attached the breathing tube to the down mask. The breathing bag had a strap with velcro attached to it. She wrapped this around Sandra's left upper arm to secure the bag in place. It slowly puffed in and out with Sandra's breathing.

Finally Myriam closed the collar of the red down mantle and pulled the chain drawstrings a little - not too much, so that the breathing tube wasn't hindered and her eye slits weren't covered. She locked them to the zipper and put the key in Sandra's pocket, like every day. And so Sandra was on her way, dressed like she would be every day of the coming winter.

And that's why, if you sit on the train in the morning or evening, and an enormous red down figure shuffles inside and takes a seat opposite you - or, if the train is too crowded, she has to stand up, because she takes two seats by herself - you needn't wonder about the extreme way she's dressed. Not even about the black down hood that only has eye slits that you see inside the red hood, and not even about the black bag that's connected to her mouth and shows clearly every breath she takes. You now know why. Poor Sandra has been tricked by her friend Myriam, and she honestly believe it's necessary for her health.

The people that see her every day don't know this, though. They can only stare in amazement. And maybe there are some that even find the sight erotic. Maybe there are some that dream about being locked in such an outfit themselves, or having someone else wear it. Maybe, people like that exist.




Overview

Doctor's Advice (part 2)

-- read part 1 here --



After a little over twenty-four hours, Myriam decided that Sandra had stayed in her hot prison long enough. Once she had opened the sleeping bags, she helped Sandra stand up and then directed her towards the bathroom. Sandra, still deaf and blind, and sleep-drunk after lying semi-conscious in the sleeping bags, had no idea what happened. Myriam had put the heating in the bathroom at the maximum for the last couple of hours, so it was quite hot in there now. After all, when Sandra would emerge from her sweaty clothes, cooling down too quickly would certainly trigger her illness. Or at least that's what Sandra believed now.

Myriam helped Sandra out of the mittens, sweatshirts and leggings. She had already filled a hot bath. "Just take a nice long bath, and I'll bring you something to put on afterwards."

Sandra did as Myriam told. She did feel a lot better. She was hungry which was a good sign; her fever felt gone. After the bath Myriam brought her ski pants and a down jacket. "This is the only thing I could find," she said. "All my sweatshirts are in the laundry now, and you really don't have anything warm. So you'll have to wear these." So Sandra, put the down jacket and pants on, with only her underwear underneath. Myriam also brought her Moonboots for her feet. And of course Sandra had to wear the hood.

Gradually Sandra recovered from the illness. The next day, the 'doctor' came again and was pleased to see how well Sandra was cared for. She could go back to work next day. Also, Ann took a blood sample from Sandra for further analysis.

Sandra always went to her office by train. She took a 15 minute walk to the station. The train ride was about 25 minutes, and then she had to walk just 5 more minutes. When she worried about what she had to wear now, Myriam put her at ease. "I've taken care of everything already. I just need to do some small modifications, then your outfit will be ready." But she refused to answer any of Sandra's questions about her outfit. "You'll see tomorrow."

When Sandra woke up the next morning, she was a little nervous. Myriam had a completely different taste in clothes. For Myriam, winter clothes had to be as thick as possible. She favored hooded sweatshirts and down jackets, while Sandra didn't like such clothes at all. She liked to show off her slender body, and she didn't want to hide her pretty face under a hood. She was a bit afraid Myriam would want her to wear down clothes and a hood. If the girl had any idea what she was in for, she would have been much more worried.

Sandra still had to sleep in the two down bags, and had to wait for Myriam to let her out. Then she was told to take a quick shower, and Myriam would bring her clothes. When Myriam entered the bathroom with a bundle of clothes, Sandra was already waiting for her, wearing just her underwear. Sandra first handed her a pair of leggings and thick white turtleneck sweater. Next was a black hooded sweatshirt. When Sandra had it on, she noticed there were thin black gloves sewed to its arms. "Those keep your hands at least a little warm, but you can still work normally," Myriam said. Sandra thought that was actually a good idea, but she didn't understand why they had to be sewed to the sweatshirt.

Myriam then put the sweatshirt hood up and pulled it tighter. Sandra saw that the normal drawstring had been replaced with a thin chain. "What's that for?" Sandra asked in a worried voice. "Well, I know you'll want to take your hood off. But it's really better if you keep it up, even inside. So to make sure you wear the hood, I'll put this collar..." - she took a leather collar that was about 10 cm wide - "...around your neck, and now I can attach the chains of your hood to it, and lock the whole thing." She performed the actions as she spoke. With the collar and the chain-drawstring locked in place, there was no way for Sandra to take off her hood.

"But what will my coworkers think when I wear a hood all day!" Sandra protested."You'll have to explain that it's for health reasons. I've already called your boss; she is very understanding of your situation. I have explained how important it is that you remain warm at all times, and she has agreed to see to it. Now wait here while I get the rest."

Myriam left the bathroom and returned with a pair of brand new down pants and Moonboots. The pants were very thick, the down-filled rings bulging out. And they were in shiny red nylon. "Do I really have to wear those?""Yes, Sandra. From now on you will only wear down pants. Remember what the doctor said. Come, I'll help you."

After the down pants were on, Sandra was put in shiny black Moonboots with black fur at the top. Myriam sat down and used another chain to secure the Moonboots, looping it under the fur, "because I know you'll want to take them off inside, but you mustn't." When she was finished, Sandra looked down. "Hey! You have connected them with the chain!" "Ah, yes, I only have one piece of chain, so I had to use it for both. But it's okay, the chain is long enough, you can still walk." It was true, but the chain still limited her steps a bit. She could take steps of about 30 cm, but no more.

"These will be the clothes you'll wear indoors from now on. Even in the office, you won't be able to take down your hood or your Moonboots. Because your down pants are inside your Moonboots, you can't take those off either, but you can lower them enough to go to the toilet. Now we will have breakfast and then I'll put you in your mittens and jacket."

So when it was time to leave, Myriam handed Sandra a pair of enormous black nylon down-filled mittens. They went up to her elbows and were secured with a drawstring and a zipper. It took about five minutes to get them properly done up. Sandra noticed how incredibly thick they were; she couldn't even close her hand into a fist anymore.

"Now you only lack a coat. One moment, let me get it. I found this fantastic down mantle for you!" When Myriam held up the down mantle, Sandra's mouth dropped open. "You can't be serious! I'm not going to wear that!" she exclaimed. The coat was just gigantic. It came down to just below the knees, but it was so thick Sandra thought she wouldn't fit through a doorway wearing it. It even had attached mittens, and of course a huge, fur-trimmed hood. Worst of all, it was again in a bright shiny red colour. Sandra was afraid every head would turn towards her when she wore that coat outside.

"Well you'll have to wear it, Sandra. I threw away your old jackets. With your current condition they are useless. You can't go outside without a jacket, or you'll be ill for a month. And you have to get to work. So what choice do you have?"

None, of course. So Myriam helped Sandra into the coat, zipped it up all the way and tightened the hood. Here, too, she had inserted a thin chain, which she connected to the zipper with a padlock.

"I'll put the key for the lock in this pocket, Sandra. When you get to the office, you can ask someone to let you out. I'll keep the keys for your sweatshirt hood and Moonboots, so you can't take those off. Now off you go, or you'll miss the train!"

She opened the front door and shoved the reluctant Sandra outside.



-- on to part 3 --







Overview

Doctor's Advice (part 1)

Sandra was ill, which wasn’t a surprise at all to her roommate Myriam. So many times she had told Sandra to dress sensibly for the weather. But Sandra always ignored her well-meant advice. Now she lay in bed with a high fever. Maybe now she would wisen up, Myriam thought. Then at least some good would come of it. “I feel so bad, Myriam,” Sandra moaned. “Could you call the doctor for me?”

Of course Myriam did. But when she picked up the phone, she had an idea. She stood thinking for a few moments, while a plan formed in her mind. Instead of a doctor, she called her friend Ann.

Five minutes later, she was back with Sandra. “The doctor will come in an hour or so. Meanwhile, you should rest, and I think with the fever it’s best if we keep you warm.” She placed a thick down sleeping bag on the sofa. Soon Sandra was zipped into it. She protested weakly when Myriam tied the hood tightly, leaving only a small gap around her nose. To make sure Sandra didn’t open the bag or the hood, Myriam tied the hood drawstring to the zipper, then tied the cords behind her neck where she couldn’t reach them. “There now, just sleep a bit until the doctor comes. I’ll come and give you some water every now and then.”

When the bell rang, Myriam quickly answered the door. “Hi Ann. Ready for your role?” “Of course,” Ann grinned.

Ann entered the room where Sandra lay, still in her sleeping bag with little more than her nose showing. She tried to move her head so she could see the ‘doctor’, but the tight hood prevented that. “Myriam? Can you help me out?” came out of the bag.

Myriam untied the hood and opened the zip so Ann could pretend to examine the patient. She did a really good job, Myriam thought. She acted like a genuine doctor.

When Ann was finished, she sat down and looked at Sandra gravely. “I have good news and bad news. You aren’t terribly ill now, but it could get worse. It seems that your body has had a bad reaction to cold, and it could happen again. It’s very important that you keep yourself as warm as possible. This way the illness will be over soon. But afterwards, even when you feel healthy, you should take care not to expose yourself to cold again. If your body reacts badly to cold again, it’s likely to be much worse than now. You could be ill for weeks, even months.”

Sandra was frightened. “So I have to avoid the cold?”

“Yes. I suggest you wrap yourself up very well whenever you go outside. Even when it’s not that cold, a breeze at the wrong time could be enough to trigger your body’s reaction. So it’s better to overdress than to be exposed. Sometimes you may feel uncomfortable because you’re too hot, but you’ll just have to live with that. Unless you want to spend a month in bed with high fever.”

Sandra was intimidated, Myriam could tell. Ann made a very convincing doctor. “In two days you should feel better, if you stay warm. I’ll come back to check on you then.” After she left, Myriam went to her bedroom cupboard and selected some clothes. “I think you should heed the doctor’s advice. I’ve taken some of my clothes, since you hardly have anything warm. We’ll need to get things for you when you’re healthy. For now, you can borrow mine.”

Sandra looked at the pile of clothes. “Do I have to wear all of those? There are three sweatshirts here.” “You heard what the doctor said, you need to be kept warm.”

Myriam helped Sandra with the clothes. Two pairs of leggings, a jogging hose, two pairs of wool socks. Then she put two pairs of thick woolen mittens on her hands, and finally the three hooded sweatshirts.

“Hey! You have put this one on the wrong way!” Sandra exclaimed when the hood of the third sweatshirt appeared in front of her. “Yes, Sandra. When you sleep, you don’t need to see. So you can as well wear the backwards hood then.”

Myriam tied all the hoods in place, so Sandra was blind. She then helped her into the sleeping bag and tied it securely again.

Half an hour later, she went to check on Sandra. “Sandra? Are you awake?” “Yes,” came the muffled voice from under the hoods, “I’m so hot in here.” “It has to be like that,” Myriam reassured her, “I’ll let you out for a moment so you can drink.”

She opened the sleeping bag partly and then untied the backwards hood. Sandra blinked at the light. “Look Sandra, I designed something for you. Open your mouth wide.” Sandra didn’t understand but she did as told. Myriam put something big in her mouth, and Sandra felt straps being tightened over the two sweatshirt hoods. She tried to say something but couldn’t.

“See, it has a tube through it, so you can drink. Try it.” Sandra sucked and felt water stream into her mouth. “Good, isn’t it? Oh yes, I forgot you can’t talk with that in your mouth. But now you can drink without me removing the hood. See, I’ll put the hood up again, and I can lead the water tube through the opening at the back.

Sandra was left alone for some time - she had no idea how long. Suddenly she felt the sleeping bag being opened again. Not sure what was happening, she squirmed in the backwards hood. "Calm down, Sandra, it's me. I'll take off your leggings for a moment. It won't take long." Still blind, Sandra had no idea what Myriam was doing, but she couldn't ask of course. So she just lay back and waited.

Myriam explained while she worked: "I have bought adult-sized diapers for you. Since you can't speak, you can't tell me when you need to go to the toilet. Also I'm not going to be in the same room at all times. This way you don't need to the toilet anymore." Sandra was not happy to be put in diapers, but what could she do? What Myriam said was true; if she wasn't there, Sandra couldn't get to the toilet herself.

When she was finished, Myriam said: "I brought something else as well. I will have to take your hoods off now." She took the backwards hood down, then took the gag holding the water tube out of Sandra's mouth so she could take the two other hoods down as well. They were both soaked with sweat. When the hoods were down she quickly put the gag back in Sandra's mouth. "I'll do this under the hoods, so I can secure it tighter to make sure it doesn't slip out. I also brought ear plugs, so you can sleep quietly and you won't be disturbed when I watch television."

After the ear plugs were in Sandra's ears, Myriam put her back in the hoods and then in the sleeping bag again. Then, with some effort, she managed to get her in a second thick down-filled sleeping bag. Finally she used straps to secure the sleeping bag to the sofa, so she couldn't fall off.

Although Sandra couldn't hear her anymore, Myriam spoke to her: "You won't need food today, you are too ill. So you can stay like that and rest for a good long while. I think I'll leave you in for the next twenty-four hours. Good night, Sandra."



-- on to part 2 --







Overview

The Dropping (part 2)

-- read part 1 here --



If the night was cold, Susie never knew it.

She was sweating like a pig as she stubbornly kept walking. Her initial feelings of despair and shock had been replaced with anger and resolve. She was going to get her revenge on that treacherous Katarina. It had been Katarina's plan all along of course. She had been afraid that this athletics champion might be a real threat to victory, and she used Susie's naivety to cripple her. But despite this, Susie was going to try to win - that would be the best vengeance possible. She was realistic enough to know it was nearly impossible, given the way she was restricted, but she would give it her best shot. So she plodded along the path. Her steps were small, because of the tight drawstring around her ankles, so she took quick little steps. It was exhausting, but she was in perfect condition, and she was committed not to give up.

When the van left, she had found herself at a crossroads of two dirt tracks in a forest. It was dark, and as the van's tail lights left her, there was only the moon to see by. She had briefly considered which way to go. She figured they'd want both contestants to start at roughly the same distance, so following the van was likely to get her neither closer to her goal, nor farther from it. So she had to take one of the directions perpendicular to it. In the end she just picked one at random. Susie knew that if it was the wrong road, she was now walking away from her target, but she had to take a chance.

So now she was doing that quick shuffling walk, and she realized it was hopeless. Susie's slow progress was frustrating. She could not see her feet, as her head was kept immobile by all the hoods, so she could only look straight ahead through the narrow opening in the pink hood. But she guessed her steps were only about ten centimeter; the drawstring at the bottom of the coat pretty much tied her ankles together. She calculated that even if she could do a hundred of those steps per minute, she made ten meter per minute, or 600 meter per hour. So if she had to walk, say, six kilometers to get out of this forest, it would take her ten hours! She felt desperate.

And yet... there was another feeling, mixed in with the despair. While every tiny step reminded her of her restriction and helplessness, and every drop of sweat reminded her of her hot prison, which she couldn't possibly escape... she was getting horny. But her arms were kept straight by her sides, with her hands locked in the pockets and the thick layers of down preventing any arm movement. So there was nothing she could do about the undeniable wetness in her crotch. And that excited her even more.

Susie slowly kept going... and she enjoyed it.

---

It was almost noon when Susie finally reached a village. She was absolutely exhausted; she had walked more than twelve hours, bundled up in down clothes, and her sexual excitement had worn her out even more. It was a mild and sunny winter day, with temperatures well above the freezing point, so her incredibly thick down clothes turned some heads as she walked through the town's main street. But how was she going to get out of her clothes? She couldn't make a sound through the hoods and the tight scarf, and she could make no visible arm movement. She could make a ten centimeter movement with her Moonboots, that was all. So she couldn't just stop someone on the street. She had no way of communicating.

In the end she entered a bakery and hoped they would figure out something was wrong. There were two customers in front of her so she had to wait a bit. Then the young woman behind the counter turned toward Susie: "Yes?" So Susie just stood there, of course, as there was nothing she could do. "What would you like, please?" the woman asked now. There were three more customers inside now, and although Susie couldn't see them because her hoods blocked all side vision, she knew they must all be staring at her. The girl repeated her question, clearly very confused - what were you supposed to do when a customer didn't answer?

The moment dragged on, and Susie was very embarrassed, and oddly, very aroused again. Here she was, standing in a bakery full of people, dressed in the most ridiculous way possible, and completely helpless! The girl eventually solved her problem saying: "Just tell me when you've made your choice," and turned towards the next customer. So Susie just stood there, neglected, and now she realised just how hard it was going to be to get out of these clothes. She had focussed all her energy on reaching the village, always kind of assuming that the first person she met was going to help her out spontaneously. Now she thought it might take a lot longer, and that she'd have to face a lot more people, before she'd get out. Perversely, that thought excited her even more, and suddenly she came to a climax, despite not being able to touch herself. Thanks to her heavy, restrictive clothing the people in the bakery couldn't even see she was coming. They could only see her bend through her legs a bit.

But whether someone had noticed or not, after coming, Susie was much more ashamed, and she quickly - well, slowly, in fact - shuffled towards the door. Her excitement gone for the moment, she didn't want to enter another shop; it was too embarrassing. But eventually she realised it was her best chance of getting help, so she repeated her performance in two more shops. However, she got no better result there.

Dejected, she moved on again, but then a young man who had been in the last shop caught up with her - which was easy of course - and asked if she needed help. Susie looked straight at him and batted her eyelids once, clearly. "Does that mean yes?" he asked, a bit unsure. She repeated the sign. "Look, I live right around the corner. I'm not sure what you need but I think it's easiest if you come with me to my flat, and I'll try to help you there. Is that okay for you?" Susie again batted her eyelids once.

She walked with the young man to his flat. He had to go very slowly to allow her to keep up. It took them twenty minutes to cover the distance; he normally did it in two minutes probably. The guy unlocked the front door and immediately went up the stairs. When he was almost at the top he looked down and saw Susie, still standing at the bottom of the stairs. She had tried to lift up her foot, but she could only bring it up halfway the first stair. The man came down again.

"You can't get up? Uhh... I'm afraid there's no elevator here." He scratched his hair, not sure what to do now. Susie knew though. She'd have to hop up the stairs. The problem was that she couldn't see her own feet. So she carefully made sure that the tips of her Moonboots touched the first stair. Then she jumped on it. She shuffled forwards again until she felt the second stair. Slowly, she advanced on the stairs.

Finally, they entered the young man's flat. Susie was so tired now, she immediately hobbled towards the sofa and let herself fall on it. At least she could rest. The man didn't seem sure what to do next. After a while he asked: "Don't you want to take off that coat?" I sure do, Susie thought. She batted her eyes. "But you can't take it off?" the guy guessed. Yes. Correct. "Do you want me to help you?" Yes, her eyes said.

About sixteen hours after Katarina had knotted them, the young man undid the drawstrings of the pink hood. He opened the collar and took off the hood. He saw the scarf wrapped tightly around the blue down hood and unknotted it. He opened the collar of the blue hood and pushed it down.

"Thanks! Thanks a lot!" Susie exclaimed. "Could you get me some water please? I'm terribly thirsty." She was also very tired, hungry, and she needed to use the toilet. But most of all she was very thirsty.

The friendly man put a glass of water at her lips and she drank. Her hands were still tied in the pockets, and she was still wearing three hoods, but she felt free already. "So what happened?" he asked. Susie told him the whole story.

After that, he freed her hands, and even offered to drive her home. Susie was glad this whole adventure was over... but in a way, she wasn't. In the next few days she found herself more and more wanting to be dressed in heavy down clothes, unable to take them off. But there was nobody she could tell this, so there was nobody to lock her in her clothes.

---

Susie wondered what Katarina thought when she saw Susie's name on the list of participants for another dropping. Probably she'd expect that Susie wanted revenge and would try to beat her. Her amazement when Susie arrived was comical. Susie was wearing the long pink coat. It was open, so that the blue down pants and arctic jacket were visible underneath. Underneath, Susie was wearing a jacket she had newly bought. It had a long snorkel hood, which would come out of the opening left by the pink hood and restrict her vision even more.

But she wasn't wearing her hoods yet, of course. She stepped straight at Katarina.

"Hi Katarina," she said heartily, "Can you help me with my clothes again?"




Overview

The Dropping (part 1)

The dropping would start at 8 pm, and Susie had to take a twenty-five minute walk into account. Remembering Katarina's advice, Susie wanted to take her time to consider what she would wear, so at 7 pm she started to get dressed. "When in doubt, err towards warmer clothes," Katarina had said. "You can always take something off, but you can't summon another jacket if you need it!" Susie saw the truth in those words, so she made sure to wear enough layers. First she put on thick socks, leggings and a jogging hose. Now she needed a warm sweatshirt. She found her two warmest hooded sweatshirts and debated for a moment which one she was going to wear. She decided to play it safe and put both on. Then she put her jacket on: a trendy black down jacket which usually kept her warm enough in the winter.

To keep her legs warm, she had thought of a good idea: down pants. Again, this was based on what Katarina had said: "Down clothes are the best of all. They always keep you warm, and they weigh almost nothing." However, Susie didn't own any down pants. But her niece Yolanda often went trekking to arctic regions, so Susie had visited her the day before, and asked if she could borrow hers. That hadn't been a problem, and Yolanda had even offered her the matching coat as well. Susie had refused, saying it wasn't necessary, but Yolanda gave them anyway, "just in case". After all, she wasn't going to need it any time soon.

Soon enough, Susie had slipped into the down pants. Wow, she thought, those really are warm. Her legs weren't going to be cold in those! She put her feet in dark blue Moonboots. They weren't the most practical garments to be walking around in, but she definitely wouldn't get cold feet, and that was important. She looked in the mirror. Her appearance had changed a lot. Her black coat wasn't thin at all, but compared to her now enormous, shiny light blue legs, her upper body now seemed underdressed, despite the three hoods bunching up behind her. Maybe she should wear Yolanda's coat after all. It would make the complete outfit more balanced...

She took the big down jacket, put it on, and zipped it up to her breasts. It was light blue as well, matching the pants. Yes, this looked better. If she was too warm she could always unzip the jacket. But with all this, she was running out of time. She grabbed her mittens and left in a hurry.

After a few minutes she already noticed she was getting hot, and she unzipped the expedition jacket. Oh well, at least she wouldn't get cold tonight. But by the time she reached the meeting point, she thought she might have exaggerated a bit. None of the others was dressed remotely like her, and she felt a bit ridiculous. This was the first time she participated in one of these droppings, and she was very unsure if she had been right to follow Katarina's advice.

But then she saw Katarina and she calmed down again. She was wearing black down pants and a matching black down jacket. They weren't as thick as her set (of course, hers were suitable for an arctic expedition) but that wasn't all. On top of those she was wearing a really striking piece: a very thick, bright pink, nearly ankle-length down jacket. She had left it completely open, revealing the black lining. Unlike Susie's, Katarina's black down jacket underneath didn't have a hood, but Susie thought the pink hood would do fine by itself: it was a massive pile of down that stood up behind her head by itself. A red woolen scarf, draped in large circles around her neck, completed Katarina's outfit.

If Katarina was dressed like this, she felt justified in her own choice of clothing. After all, Katarina was very experienced in these droppings. Susie was grateful she had so kindly helped her out. After all, this dropping wasn't just an ordinary one - it was an exclusive game, organized by some rich guy, and a nice amount of cash was on the line. Susie didn't know any of the organizers or participants, but she had gotten a special invite, being a local athletics champion. So despite her inexperience, she could be a very real candidate here.

There were sixteen participants; they would be brought to their starting points in little closed vans. Each van would take two of the players. Katarina and Susie stepped into one of them together and soon they were on their way. The vans were empty inside; they sat on the floor facing each other.

They talked about various things at first, but after about twenty minutes Katarina said: "It's time we prepare ourselves for the start." Susie didn't know what she meant though. "Well, you know, make sure we're ready to go. Like, do up our clothes properly. Wait, I'll help you." Katarina stood up and came over to where Susie was sitting.

"I see you've taken my advice about the clothes, that's good. First, let's put your sweatshirt hoods up." She unzipped Susie's black down jacket, then put the first sweatshirt hood up and tied it firmly. She repeated this with the second sweatshirt hood. "Do they really need to be tied so tight?" Susie asked. "Of course. If you start running and your hoods just fall off all the time, you'll lose a lot of time." Katarina zipped up the black jacket again and put the hood up. She tied this one tightly as well. Susie thought her head was covered pretty thoroughly now.

Katarina now zipped up Susie's larger light blue jacket. "I wasn't going to zip that up," Susie protested, "it's too warm like that." "Nonsense," Katarina said, zipping the collar over the girl's mouth, "in the woods it'll be a lot colder. And if you leave it open it's just going to flap around and hinder you. Here, put your mittens on."

Susie put her warm black mittens on. Meanwhile Katarina took off her pink coat. "Why are you taking it off? Shouldn't you get ready for the start too?" Susie asked. But Katarina just shrugged and held the jacket up: "I'm not going to wear this. Can you stand up a moment?" Confused, Susie stood up.

Katarina took her left arm and pulled the sleeve of the pink coat over it. "I brought this for you, not for me," she said, while she turned behind Susies back and quickly helped her into the other sleeve as well. "What! But I don't need - I already have - I'll be too hot!" Susie stammered. The collar, wich was zipped tightly over the three hoods she was wearing, muffled her speech a bit, further weakening her protests.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be wearing so much already, to be honest," Katarina said, while she calmly zipped the long coat up. Because Susie wasn't as tall as Katarina, the bottom of the coat just touched the tips of her Moonboots. Katarina continued: "I thought you were going to neglect my advice, like most beginners do, so I brought this just for you. I guess it's not exactly necessary now, but since it's here now, you'll just have to wear it. And anyway, as I said, it's better to have a layer too many than to have one too few. You can always take it off if it's too hot."

Stunned, Susie looked down at the enormous coat she was wearing now. She looked like a fluffy pink pillar with arms. And behind her triple-hooded head she could feel the two large down hoods standing up. Katarina had arranged the light blue hood so that it more or less fit into the pink hood. She tried to find the right words to protest; this was just too excessive. But before she got anywhere, Katarina exclaimed: "Oh! I nearly forgot!" From the pockets of the pink coat she dug up two mittens. They were easily twice as long as Susies hands, and probably twenty times as thick. Katarina took one of Susies already mittened hands and started pulling the larger mitten over it. She then pulled the drawstring around the wrist as tight as she could and knotted it. She then took Susies other hand - Susies tried to pull away, muttering incoherent excuses, but Katarina grabbed it easily - and repeated the process.

"There you are," Katarina said, stepping back admiring her handiwork with a broad smile, "I'm sure you won't get cold in that." Susie helplessly tried to tug at her mittens, but it was to no avail. Her hands were almost useless. "I can't get these mittens off," she complained. Katarina came up to her again. "I'll help you with those in a minute," she said, "but I just want to see you wear this nice blue hood for a moment." While she said that she pulled the hood of the arctic down coat over Susies head and fastened the Velcro flaps. They covered her entire lower face. In the opening of the hood one could only see Susies eyes, the two sweatshirt hoods just above them, and a large part of the black down hood. Katarina pulled the drawstrings of the hood until all the hoods underneath were hidden as well, and only a small hole for her eyes was left.

"Please let me out of this. I'm really way too hot like this Katarina. Please help me out of these mittens." "I've had enough of your complaints." Katarina took her red scarf and wrapped it over the big blue down hood where Susies mouth was. She wrapped it tightly around the girl's face, again and again, before knotting the ends.

Susie could now only manage a faint "Mmmph! Mmph!" while her hands tried to grope the scarf. But there was really no way those thick mittens could get any grip on the tight folds of the scarf. Katarina calmly pushed the pink hood over the rest, and zipped the coat up the rest of the way, brushing aside Susies useless hands. Because the coat was way too large on Susie, she managed to zip it to the top even over all the hoods and the scarf, but it wasn't easy. She also did up the button flap of the pink coat and tied the hood as tight as she could, leaving Susie just a miniscule slit to see through. Finally she did up a drawstring at the bottom of the coat, doing it up so tight that she almost tied Susie's ankles together.

Katarina sat down again and watched in amusement as the pink figure in front of her struggled with her clothes, trying desperately to take off a mitten or a hood, but there was nothing she could do. Two sweatshirt hoods and three down hoods, all tied tight. She must be getting pretty hot in there, Katarina thought. And I guess she'll have to stay like that for quite a while.

After a while Katarina thought of something. She got up saying: "Okay that's enough. I'll help you out." She took one of Susie's hands as though she was going to undo the drawstring. But instead she pushed the hand in one of the pink coat's deep pockets. She tied the mitten's drawstring to the zipper of the pocket, and closed the zipper as far as it went. She then grabbed Susie's other hand, despite the girl trying to pull away now, and without much trouble she repeated the process on the other side. This way Susie wouldn't be able to attract anyone's attention easily. With both her hands and her mouth disabled, it would be very hard to make it clear to someone that she wanted to be helped out of her clothes.

Eventually the van stopped. The driver opened the rear door and said: "One of you can leave from here." "You can go first, Susie," Katarina said kindly. She took the girl's arm and led her out of the van. Then she gave her some mockery of a kiss, putting her lips against what she knew were many, thick layers envelopping Susie's head, and wished her good luck. Katarina stepped back in the van and the driver closed the door and set off to Katarina's starting point.



-- on to part 2 --







Overview