A Cinderella story

 On a beautiful day in early October, Marina Jones met her new neighbours for the first time. The four young women seemed nice and pleasant to Marina. When she had opened the door, the tall woman with the curly brown hair - Veronica - had been in front, and she had made the introductions. Clearly the leader of the group, a woman who knew what she wanted and was used to getting it, was Marina's first impression. She wore simple, well-fitting jeans and a white shirt. Next to her was Sally, of average height, blonde and stunningly beautiful, dressed in a pale red summer dress with a matching silk scarf draped carefully around her neck. Then she introduced Susan - dark hair, glasses, dressed in dark pants and a round-neck grey-and-black sweater. And finally Yasmin, who they usually called Mini, the shortest girl of the group, standing at the back in a very thick looking yellow down jacket with the hood up and tied around her face.

Marina invited them in, and offered a refreshment. The women sat down - Veronica on a chair, the three others on the sofa. Yasmin had untied her hood and taken it off, but remained in the thick jacket, which looked even bulkier while she sat down. She had short light brown hair and looked a bit flustered. Meanwhile Marina learned that the girls had met in uni, and after finishing their studies they had decided to hire a house together, since they were all still single. Veronica and Susan did most of the talking, with Sally occasionally making herself heard, but quiet "Mini" in her down jacket just sat there and sipped from her hot chocolate. Marina Jones, who was a retired teacher, found this group of friends quite intriguing.

When they left, Marina noticed another peculiar thing. The girls stood up and Veronica was saying goodbye, but meanwhile she saw how Susan immediately grabbed the hood of Yasmin's jacket and pulled it over her head again. Then she took the drawstrings and tightened them, not simply pulling but roughly yanking them tight before knotting them.

During the next few days, Marina saw how the girls settled into their new place. She didn't want to be that typical old woman spying on her neighbours (she was 64 and in perfect health, but admittedly a bit lonely at times ever since her husband had died), she found them quite interesting to watch. In particular that curious, silent girl Yasmin. Every time Marina spotted Yasmin outside, she was dressed in either the yellow down jacket she had worn on that first visit, or an orange down jacket that looked just as thick. And always with the hood up and firmly tied, despite the pleasant autumn weather. Did she have some kind of illness? And there were other things Marina noticed. It seemed like it was always Yasmin doing the grocery shopping, always alone. It was also Yasmin raking the fallen leaves or putting out the garbage. And however briefly she had to go outside - always with her head buried deep inside the thick hood.

One evening, several months later, Marina saw a taxi arrive at the neighbour's house. After a moment Veronica, Susan and Sally emerged from the house, all clearly dressed for a fancy night out. There was no sign of Yasmin.

On a whim, she decided to pay her remaining neighbour a visit. She walked the short distance to the their front door and rang the doorbell. Nothing happened. She rang again, longer now. She knew Yasmin had to be inside, why didn't she answer the door? She rang a third time and finally the door was opened, but only slightly, so she could not see anything inside.
"Yasmin?" she asked, "it's Marina Jones, your neighbour."
"What is it?" The girl's voice was shy.
"Can I come inside? It's cold out here."
Silence.
"Yasmin? Can I come in?"
"Okay." The door was opened further, revealing Yasmin. She was dressed in a red heavy one-piece down suit. The hood left an opening just big enough for her face; everything else was covered as the suit had attached mittens and socks with the same thick filling as the rest of it.

Marina followed the red fluffy person inside, and meanwhile she noticed that the suit zipped up the back.
"Isn't that quite warm to wear indoors?" she asked.
"Yes."
"So why don't you take it off?"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because they've tied the zipper at the end, so I can't open it."
"So they left you stuck in this suit, while they went to party? Why?"
"I said I wanted to go too," Yasmin said, sounding genuinely ashamed for having suggested such a thing.
"Well that's perfectly normal. Why wouldn't you be allowed to go?"
"They said I could go if I wanted. So I was really happy. Then they all got dressed up and I asked what I could wear, because I don't have nice dresses. Veronica told me they had a beautiful red dress for me. I had to strip to my underwear and then go to my room. I did and then I found this on my bed. They all burst out laughing at my reaction. And then they put me in the suit and tied the zipper at the end so I couldn't get out. Then Veronica asked if I still wanted to come with them."

Marina was shocked at the cruelty of the other girls. "I could help you out of the suit," she offered. "And then you could even go to the party."
"I have nothing to wear though. And no way to get there."
"I can fix both of those. I still have some clothes from my daughter. You're about the same size as her, I think they should fit you fine. I'm sure you'll find something you like. And I have a car. I'll take you there."

And so Marina helped to transform Yasmin into a beautiful young lady. She brushed her hair, helped her select a dress, found fitting high-heeled shoes and applied a bit of make-up. Then she brought the girl to the city.
"I'll come back to pick you up at midnight, okay?"
"That's great. Thank you so much."
"Enjoy yourself."

---

Yasmin emerged from the building, clearly in a hurry. She seemed to stumble along as she headed toward Marina's car.
"Hurry, let's go please, quick," she begged as she got into the car.
Marina immediately started the engine. "What's the problem?"
"They're leaving. Veronica, Susan and Sally. They're going home, I saw them. We need to get there before them, or I'll be in a big trouble."
"Don't worry. We'll make it, you'll see." Marina sped up. It was snowing by then, but that was fine. She was confident she could get them home quickly and safely, and it would slow down the other girls.

"Did you have a good time?" she asked Yasmin when she'd caught her breath.
"Yes, it was great, I - oh! I'm so sorry! I lost one of the shoes when I left!"
"Don't worry about that, it's only a shoe. Tell me about the party."
"There was this really nice guy - Jamie. I danced with him and we talked and, well, I liked him a lot."
"That's great. Did you get his phone number?"
"No, but I told him where I live, and he said he'd come visit me soon."

Marina brought Yasmin home and helped her back in the down suit, tying the zipper like before. Then she went back to her own house with the clothes Yasmin had worn, well in time before the taxi with the others arrived. She was happy and pleased with herself. It's like a fairytale, she thought. She hoped that Jamie would show up and take Yasmin away from those wretched women she lived with.

Not every tale has a happy end though.

---

Veronica opened the hood of the sleeping bag and the one of the down suit below, revealing a bit of Yasmin's sweaty face.
"Had a good night?" she asked sarcastically.
"No," Yasmin whispered. "Please let me out. It's so warm." She tried to move, but the thick down-filled bag had been tied securely to the bed, and the ropes around it had kept her immobile all night.
"But maybe your memory is a bit better than it was last night now. So I'll ask again: did you have any visitors yesterday?"
"Yes, our neighbour came over."
Veronica smiled. A nice and uncomfortable night did wonders to help the truth. Of course the neighbour had come over - they had seen the fresh footprints in the snow.
"Why?" she asked.
"She wanted to borrow some milk," Yasmin said.
Veronica's smile disappeared abruptly. Did the girl think she was stupid? It had only started snowing when they left the party at midnight. No way that old woman had come to borrow milk at that time. And besides, there must be a reason Yasmin hadn't wanted to tell that woman was here. There was more to this.
"I think we'll have to give you the rest of the day to think about it some more," she said as she started closing the suit's hood again.
"Shall I get a heavy blanket so she doesn't get cold meanwhile?" Sally suggested.
"No, please, no!" Yasmin thrashed around her enclosed head as much as she could. "I'll tell everything! Really!"
"Everything? No more lies, nothing left out?"
"Yes! Please, open it again!"
Veronica considered for a long moment, then she opened the down suit's hood again. "Last chance, Mini," she said. "You'll tell everything now or I swear you'll be in this the rest of the day and the next night."

---

When Jamie came over later that day, Susan answered the door.
"Hello, handsome," she said, leaning against the doorframe in a lazy, gracious pose.
"Hi, I'm here for Yasmin."
"Yasmin? We have no Yasmin here. It's just Veronica and Sally and me."
"Really? But... I met her last night and she gave me this address. I wanted to bring back her shoe, she lost it last night."
"She must have tiny feet," Susan said, examining the shoe. "I'm sure it wouldn't fit me, nor Veronica or Sally."
Jamie looked crushed. "Then I must have gotten the address wrong. If there's nobody else here..."
"Well do come in then, and you'll see there's nobody else here."
"No, I mean, I believe you of course, I didn't mean..."
"Don't worry, come in and meet the others, and have a look around."

"Sorry to disappoint you, it's just the three of us here," Veronica said after Susan had explained the situation. "And Mini of course."
"Mini?" Jamie asked.
"Our mannequin. We like to put our excess clothes on it. We call it Mini. See." Veronica opened a wall-high cupboard, and Jamie saw an expedition-quality down suit. The hood had been tied shut completely, and judging by how thick and tight everything was, there must be many more layers under the suit. Several straps were needed to hold the whole thing up apparently. On the mannequin's hands were huge mittens and its feet were in oversized Moonboots.
"Well, Mini won't get cold," he said.
"No. But I'm afraid she's not the one you're looking for either," Veronica said, pointing at the enormous Moonboots. "Those feet wouldn't fit that small shoe of yours either."
She closed the cupboard and locked it, leaving the mannequin in its darkness.

Aisha

Life is full of coincidences, and the way Ingrid and Aisha met is a perfect illustration of that. Had Ingrid not fallen at that exact moment, just when Aisha was the only person around, they would never have known each other and everything that follows would never have happened. And the fall itself was caused because Ingrid was distracted by a crossing cat, and lost her footing on the icy pavement. So in a way, we have the cat to thank for everything that comes next.

As said before, Aisha was the only witness of Ingrid's tumble, and that little coincidence was critical as well, because if anyone else had been there, Aisha would have hurried on instead of helping Ingrid. Aisha is not a particularly selfish person, however. The problem was how she was dressed at that moment. She was wearing her black, knee length down jacket, with the hood up and tied quite tightly, leaving just her eyes and nose showing. But the really weird thing, the thing that excited her but caused her to avoid contact with other people, was that she was locked in the hood. She had replaced the drawstrings with small chains, attached a padlock and left the keys at home. The padlock was covered by her long white scarf, but still...

So when Ingrid fell, Aisha's first impulse was to let somebody else help her, but with nobody around, she had no other choice than to approach the woman who was clearly hurt quite badly.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, and immediately realized it was a stupid question. Yes, she was hurt.
"Should I call an ambulance?"
The woman on the ground considered this, then said: "No, I live right around the corner. It will be easier to have the doctor come over. Better than sitting here in the snow, too. I just need to get home. Could you help me?"
"Sure. Where are you hurt?"
"Left ankle seems sprained, I won't be able to stand on it. And my left wrist hurts really bad. I think it's broken. Can I use your scarf as a sling?"
Aisha's face suddenly felt very warm under her hood. Taking off her scarf! She hesitated but there was really no possible explanation for refusing. She just had to hope the woman wouldn't notice the padlock. So she unwrapped her scarf and knotted it, creating a makeshift sling which she carefully hung around the woman's neck so she could rest her painful hand.

Next, Aisha helped the woman up. She stood on her right foot, with her right arm around Aisha's the base of Aisha's thick hood for support. Then they slowly advanced, the injured woman hopping on one foot, trying to be very mindful of more slippery patches. Aisha had her arm around the woman's waist, so she could catch her if she should fall again.
"I'm Ingrid by the way. And thanks for helping me."
"I'm Aisha, and no problem. How far is it to your house?"
"It's really close, just around the corner. The second house, number 23."

Once they reached Ingrid's place, Aisha, who was now carrying Ingrid's purse as well, found the keys and unlocked the door. Then she helped Ingrid inside, where she dropped down on a sofa. Aisha put Ingrid's bag next to her.
"Thanks again. Could you just do one more thing for me? I have ice in the freezer. Can you get it? And also a towel to put it in."
Aisha was feeling pretty uncomfortable in her tight down hood, but you can't really refuse in such a situation. So she went to the kitchen, and returned a moment later with the ice and the towel. Meanwhile Ingrid had managed to take off her shoes. Aisha handed her the towel - and then the dreaded question came.
"Thanks. Won't you take off your coat? Or at least the hood?"
Aisha's face (thankfully almost entirely hidden) turned scarlet. "I, uh, I,..." she stuttered.
"You can't take it off because it's locked?" It was more a statement than a question; Ingrid wasn't blind, after all, and the padlock had been right in front of her eyes when Aisha handed her the towel.
"Uh, yes..."
At that moment, when Aisha thought she couldn't possibly be more embarrassed, another person entered the hallway.

Sheila entered the living room and stopped as abruptly as if she had ran straight into a brick wall. Picture the scene she arrived at: her friend and roommate Ingrid is sitting on the sofa, with one foot bare and her arm in a makeshift sling. Standing in front of her is a person in a thick black down jacket, with the hood up and tied tight. The person turned towards her, and amusingly, the expressions on both faces were identical: fear. Sheila's first impression was that Ingrid had been beat up by a robber, who would now lunge at her. Aisha felt as if she'd just been caught masturbating in front of strangers.

The moment passed, however, and Sheila realized her first impression was wrong. She was still shocked, however, and she wanted to ask "What happened?" but somewhere between her brain and her mouth the words got changed to "Who are you?" at the hooded person. It was Ingrid who answered though, and told her about the accident she had.

Aisha, meanwhile, just wanted to escape from the humiliating situation, and realized that, now that Sheila had arrived, it was time to bolt.
"Well, I really need to go now, so..."
"Yes, okay, thanks a lot Aisha. Please, can you just write down your phone number before you go? I'd like to call you again later."
Aisha did this, without the faintest idea about the consequences of that innocuous act.

---

A week after that incident, Ingrid called Aisha. They talked for a bit about Ingrid's injuries. (The ankle was better, she could pretty much walk normally. The broken wrist was in a cast.) Then Ingrid said she had a present for Aisha, to thank her for her help. Aisha said that wasn't necessary, but Ingrid insisted that it was something special for her, and she hoped Aisha would enjoy it. Aisha's curiosity was roused, and she agreed to come over on Saturday.

Of course this time Aisha didn't wear her lockable down jacket, so she was able to take off her hood and jacket. Ingrid and Sheila were both there, and the three girls talked for a couple of minutes before Sheila brought in the cardboard box that contained Aisha's present. She opened it and revealed a bright red long down coat. But, as Ingrid quickly explained, it wasn't an ordinary coat. Just like in Aisha's other jacket, they had replaced the hood drawstring with a chain so it could be locked. In addition, they had done the same with drawstrings around the waist, at the hem, and around the wrists. These last ones had been done in such a way that they could be led through loops in a matching set of mittens, making those also impossible to remove. And finally there was a pair of Moonboots, also with chains and locks to prevent them being taken off.

"So now you can be locked into your complete outfit," Ingrid concluded. "What do you think?"
Aisha was stunned. Not only had Ingrid noticed the lock on her hood and known what it meant, apparently she had taken the idea one step further. And why? To mock her? To please her? On one hand Aisha was embarrassed that someone knew her secret (two persons, actually); on the other hand she had to admit that she was excited to wear these clothes. In the end though, it was just her upbringing that kicked in and made her smile and thank them. When you got a present, that was the only correct response, her parents had taught her, even if you had your doubts about it. And she sure had her doubts. She was very uncomfortable about her secret being out.

But there was nothing she could do about that now. And of course she had to try everything on. A minute later she was dressed in the knee length down coat, the Moonboots and the heavy, down-filled mittens. Everything in a fiery bright red. Then, one by one, the chains which were worked into the garments were pulled tighter and locked with padlocks. One on each of her Moonboots. Then those around her wrists, which also kept the mittens on her hands. Next the one on her waist. And finally the one at the hem of the coat. This one Sheila pulled very tight, nearly forcing her knees to touch, before she locked it.

Aisha wanted to say that was too tight, she couldn't walk this way, but then she realized that didn't really matter. She wasn't realistically going outside like this anyway. All of those locks were clearly visible. She said: "It's a really nice outfit, but you know I can't go outside in it, right? Everyone would be able to see the locks." "Right! We've thought of that!" Sheila said, and quickly left the room. Aisha was momentarily puzzled, until Sheila returned with a green rubber raincape. Without a pause, she put it on Aisha. "There, all covered!" she grinned.

It was true. The cape was slightly longer than the down coat, so it even hid the odd position of her knees. It had no armslits, so her arms were entirely under it.
"Oh, one more thing," Sheila said. She pulled up the back of the cape and took Aisha's right arm. She did something with the padlock on her wrist, pulling her arm backwards a bit while she did this. Then she suddenly took her left arm as well, and before Aisha knew what happened, they were locked together on her back.
"Hey!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"With your arms under the cape, they're useless anyway. Might as well lock them together, while we're at it." Sheila said.
"But I don't want that! Unlock them, please!"
Ingrid stepped in. "Don't worry, Aisha, we'll unlock them afterwards. Now it doesn't really matter, does it? With those mittens locked on and under the cape, you couldn't do anything with your hands regardless."
While that was true, Aisha didn't think it made her any happier.

Aisha tried a few tentative steps. "I can hardly walk like this, with my arms on my back and my knees  together. I feel like I'm tied up."
"Yeah, you are pretty well tied up," Sheila said. "Just one more thing." And suddenly she had something in her hand that made Aisha really afraid.
"W-what's that?" she stuttered, although she knew what the red ball that dangled on the leather strap was for.
"As you said, you're essentially tied up now, so it's only fitting that you get a gag as well," Sheila grinned, and ominously walked up to her. Aisha tried to step back but found herself stopped short by her hobble. Sheila was holding the gag right in front of her face now.
"No, no, I don't want a gag. Listen, I..." Aisha babbled, but that wasn't very smart. With her mouth open, Sheila could easily push the gag in, and she buckled up the strap and locked it. Aisha protested but nothing intelligible came out.

Then Sheila put Aisha's hood up and pulled it tight to hide the gag. Only her nose and eyes remained visible. She used a scarf to cover everything up further, and finally pulled the rubber hood of the cape over it all and tied that in place. It still left a good amount of the red hood visible.

"Okay, let's go," Ingrid said as both girls put their jackets on. Aisha shook her head as much as the hoods would allow. She didn't want to go out like this, all tied up and gagged! But they each put an arm around her and gently but firmly pushed her towards the door, ignoring the wild shakes of her hooded head and the pathetic grunts in her gag.

That was the first time Aisha went out completely tied up and gagged - but of course it wasn't the last time. Once her initial panic subsided, she enjoyed the afternoon, and Ingrid and Sheila took good care of her. So if you ever run into these three girls, one of which stays covered under her coat and cape, with the hoods up and tied tightly, always silent and never moving her arms - you'll know you've found Aisha. Go say hello to her; I expect her face will turn red while she lowers her hooded head to escape your attention.