06 - Nancy's "Screen Play"
Story index at the bottom
By Burke
Mon Jan 1 01:18:55 EST 1996
Our sister, Cathy, and Nancy were close friends - almost as close as Billy and I, and we were twins. For the most part, they liked the same things, but there were differences. For instance, Nancy was active in the community Little Theater; Cathy had trouble standing up and reading aloud in school. Even the mere mention of standing up in front of an audience of any kind, sent Cathy up a wall. Look up "stage fright" in the dictionary, and you'll find a picture of Cathy.
For the last two weeks or so, Cathy and Nancy had been seeing a lot of each other - more so than usual. There was also a tell-tale twinkle in Cathy's big brown eyes, which told us that we had better watch our backs - especially Ray. Cathy felt she still owed him for that camera incident.
Nancy had come over, and she and Cathy had closeted themselves in Cathy's room. We had finished our morning chores, and were headed out to find some friends, and waste away the day. Ray was with us, figuring there was strength in numbers, if the girls tried anything. We had not yet cleared the driveway, when Cathy called from her window, and said she had something to show us. Ray wanted to ignore her, and keep going, but we turned back to see what she wanted. Ray reluctently followed, after being assured that there were three of us and only two of them, and that they would be unlikely to do anything.
Nancy had come up with a play of sorts, that she wanted to act out, as though putting on a performance. Cathy had agreed, provided it was just the five of us, and now, the chore was to talk Ray, Billy, and me into playing along.
Ray's first reaction, was "No way in hell!!" even though he was cast as the "hero" of the piece. (Billy and I were cast as the victims, and Nancy and Cathy would be the villians.)
Billy and I thought it looked interesting, and suggested a few changes here and there. We were surprised at how readily Nancy agreed, as that was not like her at all. Meanwhile, Ray had slipped out the door, and was playing "tag" with Jeff and Mark next door.
We called him back, and I guess he wanted more protection, as he brought Jeff and Mark with him. Billy and I said that Nancy had a good idea, and that we should go along, but Ray was still reluctant. However, Mark and Jeff thought it sounded neat, and wanted in. Nancy said it wouldn't be a problem, and that she would write them in as victims, along with Billy and me. Mark said "We can get Chuck, too. If Ray won't play the hero, Chuck will!" At that, Ray finally agreed to join. Despite being four years Chuck's junior, he figured he could do anything that Chuck could do. Nancy accepted, and told Mark and Jeff to get Chuck anyway. There could be two heroes. The planned cast of five, was now eight.
Because of the way the play was written, adding three additional characters was not a problem. From what we read, there wasn't a lot of dialogue, and what there was, could be ad libbed. We figured it would take about an hour to do it, but preparations would take much longer.
On to the play: Cathy and Nancy would take the roles of "Cerebro" and "Mento," two nutburger doctors, who wanted to experiment with twins, and transplant their brains into gorillas. Ray and Chuck would keep their names, and be military officers, assigned to locate and capture these two maniacs. Mark and Jeff, and Billy and I, would play the roles of twins, kidnapped from our beds in the middle of the night, and held captive until the mad doctors could perform their brain transplants. With that set, all we needed now, was a place to act this all out.
Now, we needed a location. We couldn't do it in our house, as the number of kids that could be hear at any given time, was six, and Mom and Dad would toss a bloody fit if all eight of us were there. Nancy's house was out, and so was Chuck's, Mark's, and Jeff's. We had a solution, but we did not think the girls would like it.
Our solution was the old Myers house, about two and a half miles out of town. There wasn't anything anywhere near it, and it had been abandoned for at least 10 years. It was also supposed to be haunted - at least according to most of the adults we knew. (Personally, I thought they took some sadistic delight in watching our eyes bug out and our jaws drop, as they spun yarns about ghosts, murders, and children that had vanished off the face of the earth.)
The Myers house was, to us, the perfect site for Nancy's play. It had a damp basement, which could be used for the mad doctors' lab, and several second floor bedrooms, from which we could be "kidnapped." The only trouble, was that the girls were scared of the place, and when we brought it up, the reaction was loud and negative: Not only NO!, but HELL NO!!"
We prevailed upon the girls to go out with us one day, just to see the place. They had plenty of misgivings, but after much coaxing, and calling them "chickens," they agreed. The following morning - Saturday - just after 9:30 AM, we mounted our bikes, and headed out.
We got through the fence through a rusty old gate, and stowed our bikes. We entered through a basement window, and, after our eyes got used to the dark, we began to look around. We pointed out that we could move a few things around, and make the basement a lab, and suddenly, the girls were starting to warm up to the idea.
The next stop was the first floor, a wide area with the master bedroom, a huge living room, some utility rooms and closets, and a room that was the kitchen, with nothing but an old sink.
Upstairs, there were about eight bedrooms of varying sizes. Some had two beds; others had one, and all had dusty old mattresses with holes, that smelled like month old laundry.
By the time we finished showing off the place, the girls had changed their minds, and said that this would do. In fact, they said it would be the ideal place to act out Nancy's play.
Of course, we had to keep this a secret. If any of our parents got wind that we were playing in this old place, there was little doubt that we would get the stanadard lectures about the place being dangerous, haunted, and that it didn't belong to us, along with the admonition or orders to stay the hell away.
But kids will be kids, and for us - especially us six boys - this old "haunted" house, out in the middle of nowhere, was a facinating and wonderful place where we could play, be left alone, and allow our imaginations to run wild. But first, there were some things we needed.
Since Jeff, Mark, Billy, and I were to be "kidnapped from our beds in the middle of the night," we would have to pretend to be asleep, and lay on the beds. Laying on those smelly old mattresses did not appeal to us, so we needed something to cover them. No problem. Sheets were 35 cents at the Goodwill store, and we had enough to get at least four. With that problem solved, we turned to costuming.
Outfitting Cathy and Nancy wouldn't be a problem. We found some black cotton pants that would fit the girls, and a couple of lab coats, all for about a quarter each.
Now it was time to costume the rest of the cast. Since Ray and Chuck were supposed to be military officers, they had to be in some kind of uniform. Chuck suggested his scout uniform, but ours were too big for Ray, and Cub uniforms were too small for Chuck. The solution to that, was to find a uniform at the troop's and pack's uniform exchange. Sorry, but no small scout uniforms, but we did find a Cub uniform that would fit Chuck, if we let the pants down. Chuck, at 14, was not that thrilled to have to wear a Cub uniform - one for kids four years younger than he was, but with no other choice at the moment, he relented. Of course, that meant changing the setting from the 1930's, to the 1880's, but Nancy's script was flexible.
Last, but not least, came the four of us - the two sets of twins. Since we were now set in the 1880's, Nancy said we should wear nightshirts. All four of us balked. NO WAY!! They looked like long dresses, and there wasn't a way in hell I was going to wear one, even if they were only a dime at the Goodwill store.
After our loud refusals, Nancy gave in, and said no nightshirts, but that we would have to wear pajamas. The four of us didn't like this, either, but it was better than wearing the nightshirts. We did demand a vow of silence, which was given, and Chuck also demanded one for the cub uniform, which was also given.
For the next week, we packed away props and costumes, and shuttled them out to the old Myers house. Finally, the big day had arrived, and under a bright blue sky, the eight of us pedaled out to enact Nancy's adventure.
We recovered our costumes, and got ready. Cathy and Nancy were already wearing their black pants and white shirts, so all they had to do, was grab their lab coats from a bag. Ray and Chuck took the master bedroom on the first floor, while Mark and Jeff, and Billy and I, took separate bedrooms on the second floor. When we were ready, we banged twice on the floor with a shoe.
A few seconds later, there was an answering signal from Mark and Jeff, then a third signal from Chuck and Ray. The curtain was going up.
Billy and I were wearing dark blue ski pajamas - the kind with the pullover shirt and the snug cuffs at the wrists and ankles. Outside the door, we heard a creak, and knew one of the girls was about to enter. It was Nancy, although we half expected it to be Cathy.
She walked over to Billy, since he was the closest. She rolled him on his back, and held a water pistol to his nose. "Not a sound!" she hissed. Billy nodded, and through half opened eyes, I watched, as she made him roll over on his stomach, then pulled his hands behind him, and tied them together with a rope from her coat pocket. After tying his hands, she gagged him with a bandana, then tied another piece around his arms, to the bed board. I was next.
Nancy repeated the procedure with me, except that she tied my ankles. When she was done, she went back to Billy, and untied him from the bed board, got him on his feet, blindfolded him, and marched him out the door.
A few minutes later, she was back for me. My ankles and arms were untied, and and the blindfold applied. I was taken out the door, and down two flights of steps to the basement, where I was told to sit. I did as I was told, and Nancy tied my ankles again. Then, for good measure, she tied my arms and legs, before removing the blindfold.
I looked around, and say that Billy and I were tied identically, except for our gags. Mine was red, his was blue. Cathy had been a litle easier on Mark and Jeff. They had not been tied around the legs. Unlike us, they were wearing regular pajamas - with the button-up shirts, and the wide cuffs at the wrists and ankles. Both were gagged with red bandanas.
Out of the corner of my eye, I say Ray and Chuck, in their blue uniforms, at the top of the stairs. Rescue was at hand! Cathy and Nancy were rubbing butter knives together, and making comments about how much smarter we'd be, when our brains had been exchanged with gorilla brains. I nudged Billy, and nodded in the direction of the staircase. Then, I started to struggle, and make loud "Mmmmppffffs" through my gag. Billy, Jeff, and Mark took the hint, and did the same.
This attracted the attention of the girls, who came over to us, and told us that we had better settle down, or they would hogtie us. To do that, they had to turn their backs on the staircase, and Chuck and Ray quickly came down the steps. "Get away from them, you fiends!" yelled Chuck.
In mock surprise, the girls backed off. Held at the point of Ray's water gun, the girls were handcuffed with plastic toy handcuffs, and made to sit in chairs across the room. Ray and Chuck turned their attention to us, and started across the room to free us. Just as they got to us, Cathy had freed herself with a key hidden in her back pocket. "Not so fast, you two!" she said, pointing another water gun at Chuck and Ray. "Now, get my sister loose!"
Chuck stood with us, as Ray walked over and used his key to free Nancy. Nancy clamped the handcuffs on Ray, and sat him down in the chair. Cathy looked at Chuck, and said that she wasn't taking any chances that he had an extra key, and he would be tied.
Cathy took a short piece of rope, and tied Chuck's hands behind him, then tied his ankles, arms, and legs. She got one more piece, and said "This is for trying to interfere with our experiments." and used it to hog tie him. Lastly, she pulled a yellow and blue neckerchief out of one of the rope bags, and tied it tightly over Chuck's mouth.
Nancy looked at Ray, and said "I've got one for you, too!" and gagged him with a red and yellow neckerchief. "Maybe I'll transplant your brain into a moose." she said, and laughed.
Nancy looked at Cathy, and asked if he should be tied, or if he would be OK handcuffed. Cathy said that she had all the keys, and that he would be OK. "Just put him in the other chair, where we can keep an eye on him, and tie his ankles. We'll use him for bear bait."
(Moving Ray to the other chair was a part of Nancy's script. Ray had another extra key and a squirt gun, taped to the bottom of the chair.)
From across the room, we could see that Ray was up to something, and thought it might be a good idea to take the girls' attention away from him. Again, we started to struggle and make noises. The girls made good on their threat to hogtie us, but while they were doing that, Ray had gotten the hidden key, and was working on his ankles. Once loose, he produced the squirt gun, and ordered "Cerebro" and "Mento" to untie us.
Cathy and Nancy complied, and soon, we were standing around, wring our hands with delight at what we were about to do. Since the toy handcuffs were all but useless, and there were probably still some extra keys floating around, the two girls were now about to pay. Chuck and Ray got their hands tied, then Mark, Jeff, Billy, and I joined in, and wrapped them up with as much rope as we could find. The girls had overlooked the several pieces of stripped linen, but we did not. The girls were tightly and thickly gagged, now prisoners, and ready for justice to be served.
Since Cathy and Nancy were all wrapped up with all the rope, they couldn't walk, so we carried them upstairs, and laid them down on the floor. Chuck became the judge, and the rest of us were the jury. "How do you plead?" he asked. All he got from the girls, was some loud "Mmmppfff's."
We found "Cerebro" and "Mento" guilty of spitting on the sidewalk, jaywalking, and practicing medicine with expired licenses, and sentenced them to 500 years in jail, or life, whichever came first.
There, Nancy's script ended, but we thought it might be a good idea to leave them tied as long as we had been tied, which was the better part of 45 minutes. However, we showed them a little mercy, and freed them after about 30.
Outside, the bright blue sky of a couple hours ago, had turned dark. We heard thunder in the distance, and saw that a light rain was falling. Nancy said that if she had known it was going to rain, she'd have staged the "play" to coincide with the rain, since rain, thunder, and lightning always seemed to be present when mad doctors were in their laboratories. About then, there was a bright flash, and a loud clap of thunder. The light rain became a downpour.
We figured we'd be stuck for another two hours or so, and decided to play "hide and go seek" until the rain let up enough for us to go home. (Nancy wanted to do the play again, but was voted down.)
With eight of us, the game was played with two "its." They would be tied up, and the rest of us had until they got loose, to hide. When "it" caught someone, he/she was taken to the "base," and tied up. If the captive could get free, he/she could run and hide again, but a captive could not have any help. He/she had to get loose on his own, and if he/she got help, then everybody in the game got a penalty on the captive and two on whoever helped him/her.
For the first game, Ray and Nancy won (or lost), and were selected as "it," while Billy and Chuck won the right to tie them up. The rest of us scattered through the big gloomy house, made even more so, by the continuing rain and thunder.
We played for the next two and a half hours, until the rain finally stopped, and the sun returned to chase off the clouds. Seeing our chance, we started out to get our bikes, when the girls started laughing uncontrolably. "What's so funny?" asked Billy. The girls continued to laugh, until Cathy blurted out "You're going home like that??" I looked down, and saw stockinged feet. No shoes. Then it dawned on me. Billy and I were still in our pajamas, and so were Mark and Jeff. Chuck and Ray were still in their blue uniforms. Crimson-faced, we retreated to the bedrooms, and changed back into our jeans. The girls were in hysterics.
We got dressed, and packed up the costumes, props, ropes, and bandanas, and headed home. It was only mid-afternoon - around 3:00 PM, and there was always something we could do to while away the rest of Saturday afternoon.
END
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Burke's stories
- 01 - Hogtie the Rustler (m+/m+)
- 02 - Sister Act (f/m, m/m, m/f)
- 03 - The Camera Caper (mm/f)
- 04 - Penalties and Disguises (*/*)
- 05 - Bandages, Bedsheets and Other Oddities (mmm/f, ff/mmm)
- 06 - Nancy's "Screen Play" (ff/m+, m/ff, ff/m)
- 07 - The Eyes Don't Lie (m+f+/mmm)
- 08 - Grounded! (f/mm)
Index of all stories in the "Archive for Everyone" section