The Games
Player – Denim Days
JeanJeanie:
Hi there – I’m told
this is the place where kids that have met the Games Player gather, hang out,
share stories?
IvyTheTerrible:
It sure is – first
timer?
JeanJeanie:
Yeah – I’m Jean, and
I’m ten. You really have met her?
IvyTheTerrible:
Well, him in my case,
but yeah – we all have. So tell us a
little about yourself.
JeanJeanie:
Well, I live with my
Mum and Dad, as well as my seven year old sister Carol and my four year old
brother Billy. We’re not really special
– but somehow, the Games Player wanted to come and rob us.
IvyTheTerrible:
So what happened? Start at the beginning.
JeanJeanie:
Well, it was two weeks
ago, on a Saturday, and Mum and Dad had taken us to the pictures. Actually, we all had one other thing in common.
IvyTheTerrible:
And that is?
ViTheFirst:
Go on Jean, tell us.
JeanJeanie:
We were all wearing
something denim. Take Mum – she had on a
black coat over a white jumper, jeans with the legs rolled up, and black
boots. I was wearing a denim jacket over
a pale blue top, and a short denim skirt over leggings that same colour of
blue, as well as short mud-coloured leather boots.
IvyTheTerrible:
What about the rest of
the family?
JeanJeanie:
Well, Carol had on a
denim jacket over a black and white check dress, and red tights with pink
cowboy boots. Billy was wearing a pink
padded sleeveless thing over a denim shirt, jeans and black trainers, and Dad
had on a black jacket over a jumper, jeans and brown shoes.
ViTheFirst:
All in blue then. So what did you go and see?
JeanJeanie:
Sing 2 – it was Carol’s
choice. Anyway, Dad drove us home, but
he had to go and see someone else, so he dropped us at the front door and we
waited until Mum unlocked it so that we could go in.
Now, we live on
the end of a row of houses, but the house next to us has a high wall round the
front – I don’t know who lives there, but we’ve seen a woman with a scarf over
her hair come out with two kids from time to time. Anyway, we came into the house, and went into
the kitchen with Mum to get a drink – and there she was.
She was as tall
as Mum, and had on a dark jumper and leather jacket, leggings, boots – and
something pulled down over her head that meant we could not see exactly what
she looked like. Mum just stared at her,
before she said something to Mum about a booking.
Well, Mum
looked at us, and told us to go into the front room while she talked to the
lady. Billy took his padded jacket off,
but Carol and me – we kept out denim jackets on as we went into the front room.
ViTheFirst:
Were you scared at all?
JeanJeanie:
Not really – after all,
we had no idea what was going on. So I
turned the television on, so that Billy and Carol could watch Paw Patrol. We all sat on the couch – and a few minutes
later, Mum came back in with the woman.
She had taken her coat off, but she had her hands behind her back.
IvyTheTerrible:
So the game had begun?
JeanJeanie:
That’s what Mum told us
– she said we were all going to play a special game where the woman was
pretending that we had been kidnapped, but she was going to make it as real as
she could – which meant, according to Mum, she had to make sure we could not
escape or try to call for help. That was
when she turned round and I saw that her wrists had been tied together with rope
behind her back.
I was surprised
to see this, and so were Carol and Bobby.
Bobby got off the couch and walked over to look at Mum, touching the
rope with his hands before he asked if we were all going to be like that. Mum nodded, but she said it did not hurt –
and we would all be the same.
The woman
smiled as she told Bobby to put his hands behind her back, putting down a bag
she was holding and taking some white rope from it as she did so. Both Carol and I watched as she folded it
with her gloved hands, and then passed it round Bobby’s wrists as he put his
hands behind himself.
When she had
finished, Bobby tried to move his hands, and then he actually giggled when he
found out he could not. Mum nodded as
she told Carol and me we should stand up and put our hands behind our back as
well, the masked woman nodding as she took two more lengths of rope out of the
bag.
ViTheFirst:
Had you ever been tied
up before?
JeanJeanie:
No – it felt strange
when I felt the rope on my wrists, but as the woman pulled it tight, it
actually felt – nice. Does that sound
bad?
IvyTheTerrible:
Not really, no. What was Clare doing?
JeanJeanie:
Well, she watched as
the woman tied my wrists together, and then I told her it really didn’t hurt as
her own hands were tied together behind her back. She tried to smile, but I told her it was all
right to be a little scared about something new – and we could do this
together.
ViTheFirst:
Good move – so she made
sure you all had your wrists tied together behind her back. What happened next?
JeanJeanie:
Mum sat in an armchair,
and told Bobby and Carol to sit next to each other on the couch, before she
said I should stand next to her. I
watched them both push themselves onto the seat, as the woman took four more
ropes from her bag. Kneeling in front of
them, she folded the first rope over, and then used it to tie Bobby’s ankles
together.
I watched her
as she wrapped the rope round both legs, then separated the ends and took them
between his legs before she tied the ends off.
The next length of rope was tied round his legs, below his knees, as his
feet hung over the edge. He even giggled
as she took that rope between his legs, as I saw the way his jeans looked with
the ropes there.
Carol was next
– the rope rubbed on her cowboy boots and made a squeaking sound, but she was
soon just like our brother, the white band on the red below her knees. They looked at each other, and then at me as
the woman told me to sit in the other armchair.
IvyTheTerrible:
Your turn?
JeanJeanie:
Actually no – it was
Mum’s turn, as the woman asked her to cross her ankles, and then she tied the
rope round them as well. I definitely
heard a squeaking sound as she did that, and then she tied her legs together
below her knees, above the turnups on her jeans.
ViTheFirst:
How did it make you
feel to see this going on?
JeanJeanie:
Honestly? I have to admit, I was starting to feel
excited watching this – my little brother and sister had their hands tied
behind their backs, their legs tied together, but they were laughing and
giggling. As the woman tied the rope
off, Mum twisted her legs round and then nodded as well.
Then it was my
turn – the woman knelt in front of me, and asked me to cross my ankles before I
felt the rope as it was pulled tight round them. It did feel – good, as the rope got tighter
before she tied it off behind my legs.
Another length went round my legs, again below my knees, the white on
the blue as she took it around and between my legs.
When she had
finished, she told us all we had to remain quiet – unless we wanted her to make
sure we would stay quiet. Mum said we’d
talk quietly while the television was on, and the woman nodded as she left us
there.
IvyTheTerrible:
So you, your mother,
and your family were all tied up – what happened while she was out of the room?
JeanJeanie:
Bobby and Carol were
wriggling and giggling, but Mum looked worried as she twisted round. Me? I
tried moving my legs, hearing the squeak as my boots rubbed against each other,
but I was definitely excited about what was happening.
Anyway, a while
later, the woman came back – and she had found some washing line Dad had bought
to hang out back. She had cut open both packs
and cut one into three lengths – the other one she had cut four short lengths
off.
She also had
two pairs of my sports socks, and a roll of white tape that Dad had. Putting them down, she said it was time to
make sure we really could not move – starting with me. She put the other things down and walked
behind me with one of the three lengths, and told me to shuffle forward.
As everyone
else watched, she wound that rope round my arms and body and pulled tight, so
that I really could not move them. It
formed two bands, making my jacket open slightly as I sat there.
She then went
in front of me and tied one of the short lengths between my ankles, then moved
me so that I was sitting to the side of the chair, and my legs were tucked
under me. She then tied the other end of
the short rope to the ropes round my arms, so that I really could not move.
ViTheFirst:
They call that a
sitting hogtie – very comfy if done right. Was It?
JeanJeanie:
Actually – yes. We then watched as she stood behind Billy and
he shuffled forward, using a rope to make sure his arms stayed by his sides,
and then doing the same to Carol. She
then moved their legs so they were on the couch, and like me their ankles were
tied to their backs.
Then it was
Mum’s turn – she used the longest length of rope on her, and I saw the way her
jumper stretched as it was wrapped tightly round her. She looked and me and asked how it felt – I
told her it felt as if she was hugging me, and she nodded as the woman tied the
rope off behind her. She then moved
Mum’s legs so that they were on the seat, and I saw her tie her ankles to the
ropes behind her as well.
ViTheFirst:
So all of you were
unable to get off the seat? Neat – what
happened next?
JeanJeanie:
I watched Bobby and
Carol, but they seemed to be happy as the woman folded one of my socks up – and
then told Mum it was time for her to be quiet.
She looked at all of us, and said in a few minutes, we would all be
quiet – but she wanted us all to enjoy the game just as she was.
Well, we nodded
as she opened her mouth, and the masked woman made sure the sock went all the
way in. As she closed her mouth, she
looked at me and winked while the woman peeled a length of the white tape from
the roll, and then pressed it down on Mum’s jaw. When she stepped back, I could see the shape
of her lips underneath as she rolled the second sock up, and told me to open my
mouth.
I told Bobby
and Carol to let the lady do this, and then…
IvyTheTerrible:
She gagged you.
JeanJeanie:
Yeah – it was a clean
sock, but it tasted funny as she pushed it in, and I could feel it soaking up
all the water in my mouth as I closed my lips.
The tape felt funny as well – it pulled on the skin round my mouth, but
I really could not say or do anything other than mumble after that.
Bobby was next
– he managed to let her push the folded sock in, but his cheeks made him look
like a hamster before she covered his mouth with tape as well. Carol also giggled – and then she went quiet
as her mouth got a sock in it, and the tape over it as well.
ViTheFirst:
So they both looked
like chipmunks?
JeanJeanie:
Yeah – the woman looked
at all of us, and then she switched the television over to Disney+, and put on Turning
Red for us to watch. We hadn’t seen it
yet, as Mum said something like “whllwshthsthgghffrr?”
IvyTheTerrible:
She meant you could watch
it together, right?
JeanJeanie:
Yeah – Bobby and Carol
sat very still, the ropes on their shirt and jacket, as the film started. The woman watched us for a few minutes,
before she said she was going to wait in the kitchen. She also said we should wait for the film to
finish before we tried to get free.
Mum nodded and
winked at me as I settled down. I did
try to see if I could find a knot with my fingers, but they all seemed to be out
of reach – and the ropes were tight so I wasn’t really able to move much after
that.
So we just sat
there – and after a while I saw both Bobby and Carol slowly fall asleep as they
sat there, Bobby managing to lie on his side and Carol with her head back.
IvyTheTerrible:
But you stayed awake?
JeanJeanie:
I did. A little while later, I saw Mum move her head,
and I figured she wanted me to try and come over.
Well, somehow I
managed to get myself kneeling on the floor, as I saw the rope hitting the back
of my legs. Mum nodded as I shuffled
forward, and then put my head on her lap as she looked down at me.
She said
“Hruhhlrht?” I nodded and then we
watched the television together. The
sock in my mouth was soaking wet now, but I didn’t want to try and get free –
it just felt so nice to be like that.
ViTheFirst:
What happened when the
film finished?
JeanJeanie:
I looked at Mum,
wondering if we should try and get free, but I had no idea how we could do
that. The woman had left the remote for
the television on Mum’s lap, so somehow I used my nose to find another film to
watch – and that was when we heard the banging next door.
We both
wondered what had happened, before the front door opened and closed and I heard
Dad call out to ask where we were. Mum
tried to call out – and the look on his face when he came in and saw us!
IvyTheTerrible:
What had happened?
JeanJeanie:
The house next door had
been robbed – Dad went and brought a policeman in, and when Mum had the tape
and sock taken away, the description she gave f the masked woman was the same
as the one who had robbed our neighbour.
When we checked, however, nothing had been taken from us.
IvyTheTerrible:
How did you feel when
they untied you?
JeanJeanie:
I was a bit stiff, and
my mouth was dry, but otherwise I was fine.
Dad untied both Bobby and Carol, but they didn’t wake up until after he
had taken away the tape and socks from their mouths. As for Mum, she hugged me and told me I had been
very brave, but I just felt excited about what had happened.
ViTheFirst:
It sounds like you genuinely
were a game for her – did you all talk about it afterwards?
JeanJeanie:
We did – and we play
the games now as well…
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