Auction Part 3 - Bagged & Packed

continues from part two

Part 3 - Bagged & Packed

“So with your advisor away, you’re pretty much free all week, aren’t you Karen?”

Zoe sat across the table from Karen, nibbling at the pasta Karen had made. Zoe’s eyes still had the wicked gleam they had held ever since Karen had released her from the trunk that afternoon. It’s her own fault she ended up in there, Karen thought. Still, she shuddered to think of the revenge that Zoe was surely plotting.

“Yep. I’m actually pretty far ahead with my directed studies project so this will be kind of a relaxing week for me.”

“Interesting,” mused Zoe, as a tiny smile crept across her face. “I’m pretty busy myself so I guess I won’t be seeing much of you.”

“I guess not.”

“Not much at all…”. Again, that mischievous smile crept onto Zoe’s face as she began clearing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen.

After dinner, Zoe disappeared into her room. Karen heard Zoe’s sewing machine start up and assumed she was working on one of her many projects. During the girls limited free time from their schoolwork the girls had both become hooked on design shows like 'Changing Rooms' and 'While You Were Out'. Zoe had picked up many ideas from the shows and become quite a talented seamstress, their apartment was strewn with many of the cushions, curtains and other items she had created to brighten up their apartment. She had learned to always keep a stash of fabric handy in case she got inspired with a new idea. Zoe tended to get very focussed on each project so Karen changed into her pyjamas and settled down to watch TV, knowing Zoe would be busy for awhile.

A few hours later, Zoe emerged and peeked into the living room. “I have a surprise for you in your room. You go get ready for bed and I’ll get it all set up.”

Now Karen was curious, and shivering with excitement at the same time. Quickly, she brushed and flossed her teeth, washed her face, (and made sure to pee ahead of time) then tiptoed down to the door of her bedroom. Her stomach was all squirrelly with anticipation, just like Christmas morning. Timidly, she knocked on the door. “Are you ready?”

Slowly, the door opened, and Zoe stood before her, looking stern but with a twinkle in her eye. The curtains were pulled and the only light in the room came from the many tea light candles that Zoe had set up on the dresser, the nightstand, and Karen’s bookcase. Gently, Zoe took Karen by the hand and led her over to her bed, seating her down softly on the edge of it. Holding Karen’s chin in her hand, Zoe looked down into her eyes with mock sternness.

“That was a very cruel thing you did, locking me up like that.”

Karen tried to look contrite, but couldn’t keep a small smile from crossing her face too. “I’m sorry Zoe.”

“Well, I am going to have to do something about that but that’s not my surprise. Now Karen…”

“Yes, Zoe?”

“I have some bad news. I think there might be a problem with your trunk. I think there’s a hole wearing through on the lid.”

Karen could see that Zoe had hauled the trunk to the far side of the bed, pushing it up so the open side of the trunk lined up with the edge of the bed. As Karen looked at the open lid, she couldn’t see any hole…

“Oh, it’s hard to see from here. But when the lid’s closed you can see light leaking in from the outside. Of course,” she continued, stroking Karen’s cheek with the back of her hand, “you do have to be inside to see it properly”.

Karen gave a little gasp as she felt a shiver creep up her spine.

“The best way is to find out is to look at the underside of the lid when it’s closed and see if you can see any light leaking in. I know you’ll want to check it out to make sure everything’s alright.”

Karen looked up into Zoe’s smiling face.

“You’re right, Zoe. I guess that is the only… sensible thing to do.” Karen was smiling now too.

“Now, I know the inside of that trunk is hard and I’d hate for you to be uncomfortable if something were to happen and the lid were to get… stuck so I brought something for you.” Reaching under the bed, Zoe pulled out a number of cushions and pillows. There were some covered in red velvet fabric, some with tassles, some gold satin; all projects she’d been working on off and on to brighten up their living room. Softly, she began lining the interior of the trunk with them.

“This is ‘just in case’ you know…”

“Yes… just in case”, whispered Karen. She loved how the candlelight danced off the velvet and satin, how the heavy sides of the trunk cast deep shadows into its interior.

“Oh, and one other thing.” Zoe came back around to Karen’s side of the bed and pulled back the covers. “I’d hate for you to get cold so I made something to keep you all cozy and warm.”

With the covers out of the way, Karen saw a large velvet bag, of the same red material used for the cushions. It looked like an oversized laundry sack, with thick red cord (that Zoe had planned to use for curtain tie backs) forming a very secure looking drawstring.

“I made it very strong, I had to triple stitch all the seams to make sure nothing falls out prematurely.”

Zoe reached past Karen and began to spread open the mouth of the bag, then gently lifted Karen’s legs up onto the bed. “Oh, silly me!” she giggled.

“I guess it’s not long enough to be a proper sleeping bag. Well, maybe if you just kneel down inside.”

With that, she guided Karen legs into the mouth of the bag, until Karen was sitting up on her heels with the soft red velvet all around her. As Zoe began lifting the sides of the bag up over her, Karen piped up: “But if I’m in a bag, how will I be able see if there’s light coming through the lid?”

“Oh, I guess you’re right.” Zoe said, continuing to pull the sack up over Karen’s head. “I suppose we’ll just have to put you in again another time to check for that.”

Cupping Karen’s cheeks in her hands she softly kissed her on the forehead, then gently pushed her head down between her knees and drew the mouth of the bag over top of her. Firmly, she pulled the red rope drawstring, sealing the top of the bag, then wrapping the rope around the mouth of the bag two or three times before tying it off, snugly encasing Karen within.

“Okay, my little Houdini. Here we go.”

Carefully, she rolled the velvet ball to the opposite side of the bed, allowing Karen to drop gently onto the cushions which lined the trunk. CHUNK! The lid was lowered. Inside her soft, velvety cocoon, Karen heard the clicks of the latches being closed, the snap of the locks locking, and a strange sort of creaking and tugging. She realized that Zoe had taken the added step of buckling the straps around the outside of the trunk too.

“There. That should be a good test. Do you see any light leaking in Karen?”

A warm, muffled mew from within, “…no…”.

“Oh, well, maybe I was wrong then. But just to be sure, you let me know if you see any light coming in when the sun comes up.”

Zoe patted the lid softly, then blew out the candles as she went out of the room.

“Sleep tight, Karen.”


 

19.11.05

story continues in part four - luggage

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