Emma’s Thrall.
Chapter 9 — Saturday; It’s still morning; Man, lots happening today!
Okay, a joke.
WW2 is ending and a ship containing solders from the war is pulling into the harbor at New York.
The wives and families of the returning soldiers line the wharf.
As the boat gets closer, one women spots her husband on the ship and calls out to him:
“E F!”
He calls back to her: “F F!”
She returns with: “E F!!!”
And he yells back to her: “F F!!!”
This goes on for a while, finally another woman next this woman asks, “What are you guys yelling at each other?”
And the woman says, “Well I’m saying, “Eat First!”
Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that breakfast was little cold by the time we got out of the shower. So the moral of the story is, “eat first” I guess.
Me, Emma and Bonnie sat on her bed eating luke-warm eggs, bacon and toast. Fortunately the coffee was in carafe, so it stayed pretty warm. Emma and Bonnie remained nude, but I kept on Emma’s giant robe. I wasn’t quite there yet. I know, after we just did I should be, but there’s still something that makes being uncomfortable naked around other people, unless I’m fucking them apparantly. I am resolved to have Emma fix that in me.
“So what’s on the agenda today?” I asked between mouthfuls of toast.
“Today,” announced Emma, “we atone for our carnal sins.” And she winked at Bonnie.
“Is your calendar free?” she asked me.
“Yeah, I’m good all weekend. What are we doing?” I asked.
“Do you want to know or do you want to be surprised?” Emma asked.
“You know what...surprise me.” I said.
After breakfast we got dressed and Emma took us to the Dressing Room.
The Dressing Room was Emma’s mini-costume shop. The walls were lined with all sorts of exotic outfits. Dresses, suits, but also more elaborate outfits. One wall was covered with masks, hats, and crowns. There was another wall of cubby holes filled with puppets and stuffed animals. In the middle were a few dressing dummies and her work table with it’s sewing machine and supplies.
Bonnie headed right to a section that was labelled Bonnie. She began to get undressed again. I saw her pull out what looked like a wolf costume. I guess she was Bonniewolf after all. She removed her wig. Wow. Really, completely bald. Kind of beautiful in a way, though shocking to see.
While Bonnie was suiting up as the big bad wolf, Emma had pulled something for me. It was a dark two-piece outfit. Two shades of midnight blue. Very tight leggings and sort of a long-sleeve billowy blouse. Long ribbons trailed from the sleeves to give it some added drama. It also had a very Zorro-esque mask also in a dark blue.
“I made this for Lily,” Emma said. “But she’s not confident enough to wear it yet. So I made some adjustments to fit it to you.”
“I don’t remember you taking my measurements.” I said.
“No, you wouldn’t.” said Emma. “You follow amnesia suggestions very well, Liz. Truly you’re quite gifted at trancing. Do you remember when I turned you into a mannequin in the dressing room?”
“Yes,” I said. “I remember that quite well. Being frozen while you posed me.”
“Yes, well what you don’t remember is that I took your measurements. I didn’t want you to know that I was making something for you.”
She pulled out all the elements of the costume and went over to the puppets shelf. I got undressed and slipped on the outfit. It did fit perfectly. A little tight in butt, but I’m sure that was no accident. A strange thing though...the right arm of the blouse was stuffed with material and there was a stuffed glove on the end.
“Hey Emma,” I called over. She was coming back with a what looked like stuffed animal. I looked over at Bonnie. She was almost completely transformed into Bonniewolf. It wasn’t as terrifying as I’d imagined. The outfit retained her curves, but otherwise looked very werewolf-y. Over the crotch was a torn bit of fabric to hide the suit’s non-existent genitalia.
Emma helped me with my outfit. The right arm was fake. There was a hole in the sleeve where I could stick out my real arm, upon which Emma placed a stuffed dragon puppet. It looked, real, but not scary. Fur instead of scales, but it had large wings, realistic looking claws and impressive teeth. The fake arm attached to the puppet. Pretty clever actually.
Emma gave me some instruction with puppet. Moving my hand would open and close the mouth, but in my other hand there was a wired device that let me control the puppet even further. I could open and close the eye lids and moving my left hand about would control the movement of the eyes. One finger tip touch let me move the wings up and down. I’m sure by now you’ve guessed that this was the prototype for the My Pet Dragon toy.
I asked Emma where she got this. Turns out she made it. Apparently one of the people inside her is a brilliant engineer. And a seamstress. And a costumer. This was just one of the things that made Emma eventually very wealthy. Not that she wasn’t wealthy already.
Emma tied the mask on me, and then fitted me with a dark blue cloak. She led to the mirror and then I realized who she was dressing me as.
I got one look at myself and started laughing. I’m Shadowcat! Aka Kitty Pryde! No wonder her nickname for me was “Kitten”. And this dragon on my arm...this was Lockheed! Too funny. Bonnie walked over next to me, now fully ‘wolfed’. Thankfully, the mask only covered the back and sides of her head. Her face was still there, though still a little ‘wolfish’, with a fake wolf nose. She opened her mouth and showed me her wolf teeth.
Emma ushered us out. She had to get dressed herself. She told us to go down in library where Bonnie could help me practice puppeteering Lockheed.
Walking downstairs we went past Emma’s mother. She seemed delighted that we were dressing up. Not surprised though. She told us she wanted to get some photos.
Bonnie ran me through some of the tricks of working Lockheed. How to position the puppet to make eye contact to whomever you were talking to. How to make some growls and roars. I asked her what we were going to do, but she refused to divulge the secret.
Shortly Emma came down. She looked absolutely radiant. All in white of course, but his outfit had silver trim all over. White boots, a white mini-skirt, blouse, tuxedo jacket, and a floor length cape that fastened with a silver chain between two silver medallions Each medallion was a round circle with 3 spikes protruding upward inside. Fur (well fake fur anyway) ran along the edges. On her head was a tall white top hat, giving her even more un-needed height. On the front of the hat was a round disc with a black and white spiral pattern.
She walked down the stairs dramatically, stopping to pose every so often. Her mother came down and passed her.
“Oh don’t you girls look divine!” she exclaimed. “Those kids are going to just love you!”
Kids! This was my first clue as to what might be happening. A kid’s birthday party? That seemed unlikely.
Mrs. Snowe took some photos of Emma as she descended the stairs. Then she ushered us outside so she could get some group shots. I have some of those photos. So bizarre. A werewolf, a girl with a dragon, and this elegant amazon queen.
Emma got us to the car and we were off. I practiced with Lockheed in the back seat. Bonnie liked to duck down at stoplights and then pop up and growl at passing cars. At one light there were some kids in the backseat who were looking at my dragon. I patted Lockheed, had him give out a big yawn and then fall asleep on my arm. The kids were very excited having seen a real baby dragon.
Finally we arrived at our secret destination, and frankly I wasn’t really surprised. It was the PNW King’s Hospital. I’d kind of figured this was the most likely destination. As we parked in the lot I was a little surprised, though not completely surprised, when we were approached by a bear and nearly as large a dog wearing a vest. I’m sure you’ve guessed this was one of the boys, and yes, it was. Nicky. I hadn’t spent much time with Nicky, certainly no time outside of school, but he was a very easy-going guy. And I don’t want to stereotype fat guys as jolly, but Nicky kind of fit the bill. Jolly, carefree, and fearless. I mean, the kind of guy who would dress up like a bear to make some kids happy.
With Nick the Bear was Victoria, the proper English Mastiff. For reference, the same dog as the one in Sandlot. Victoria was like Nick in almost every way, except with more slobber. Just a playful beast full of love. She wore a ‘comfort animal’ vest. I wondered if Nick should wear one as well. He looked like a real bear, and he could move like one. He’d stand on his hind legs and walk a little awkwardly the way you’d imagine a bear might.
And unlike Bonnie’s human face, Nick was complete bear. A full bear head that Emma had also engineered. The mouth could move up and down and the eyes blinked periodically
Nick the Bear walked up to me and gave me some sniffs. Then he looked at Lockheed.
“Rawr?” he growled.
“Roar!” I had Lockheed say and Lockheed gave him a kiss on his bear nose.
Emma interrupted these introductions. “Avengers!” she exclaimed. “Assemble!”
I turned to Nick the Bear. “Wait, we’re the Avengers?”
“Rawr.” he said.
“Got it. Just an expression.”
We paraded into the hospital, Emma leading the way.
And I have to tell you, the way we were greeted, the way people light up when they saw us...this is what set me on my path to working charity all throughout my life. I know that’s kind of selfish way to see it, but I’m being honest here.
They must have been expecting us because there were a bunch of kids in the lobby, waiting. The ran up and gave hugs to Emma, Nick, Bonnie, and Victoria. Nick dropped down on all fours so kids could hug his face. One of them climbed up on his back like it was a perfectly normal thing to do.
One girl...she was probably six, maybe seven came up to me and asked, “Is that a real dragon?”
I knelt down to get to eye level. “It is a real dragon. His name is Lockheed. Do you want to pet him?” And I began to move Lockheed a little closer. I opened his eyes and gave him a big yawn. I flapped his wings once. Her eyes lit up at this and she tentatively gave him a little pet. I nudged his head into her hand.
“Can he talk?” she asked.
“Well, he can’t I talk human speech.” I said. “He only speaks dragon. Do you have a question? I can translate if you like.”
“Ask him what he likes eat.”
I moved Lockheed so he could whisper in my ear. I seemed shocked by what he was saying.
“What?!” I exclaimed. “You eat poorly behaved little children! Lockheed that’s a horrible thing to say! What! You were only joking! Lockheed!”
I turned back to the little girl who was amazed by this interaction. “He says he is a vegetarian mostly, but also fish.”
“Wow...”
And so this was our morning. Playing with the children. They’d come up to to talk to Lockheed, take turns riding Nick the Bear. Playing tag with Bonniewolf. Emma did some magic tricks and later took up on the piano in the lobby. She did a number of familiar kids songs. An older fellow walked up to her and asked a request. Immediately she went to a beautiful rendition of “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire.” Such a beautiful singing voice. Pretty soon she was beset requests as more patients, and some hospital staff started lingering around the piano; sometimes singing-along, sometimes just listening. I was amazed she knew all these songs. And then she did Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque...which is not an easy piece...and it just transformed the lobby. It’s fantasy piano, as I call it...meaning...there’s something magical about it. And when she played...everyone grew still and quiet to listen. Even the kids stopped being rambunctious to listen.
While she played I thought about the Emma that was playing. I mean, when I looked at her, it didn’t look like her. It looked like someone else was in her body for a time, playing that for all of us. Like she was the puppet.
There was applause when she finished and then she announced, “Who wants to go to the circus?”
Every kid raised their hands, and some of the adults.
“Okay...”she continued.”Who wants to be in the circus?!” And everyone raised their hands, including me.
“Right,” she said. “Follow me!” And she lead everyone into the common room just off the lobby. Victoria the mastiff and Nick were in there now. Some of the kids had decided it was nap time and they were using both of them like big furry pillows. They stirred when everyone came in.
Emma went to the front of the room and sat on the chair up there. The kids sat down in front with some of the grown-ups, mostly parents. Along the wall there were some hospital staff.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Emma said with some fanfare. “Boys and Girls, monsiuers and mademoiselles...welcome to the Circus Magnifique! I am Emma Snowe...the Ringmaster! And I bid you all welcome to this most wondrous circus!” She scanned the crowd in front of her. “Now I know many of you have been to this circus before...but it looks like there are some first timers here...” She pointed to young boy up front. “Tell me young man...what’s your name and what’s your favorite thing about the circus?”
The young boy was not shy. “My name’s Teddy and I like the cotton candy!”
Emma laughed. “Okay Teddy! Well it’s going to be your job to make and sell the cotton candy! I want you to find a place to set up your booth! Maybe over there!” She pointed to a space by the wall.
“Wait, am I really going to make cotton candy?” he asked.
“Well,” Emma admitted. “As much as I’d love to have a real circus...I’m afraid that would be a little taxing on the hospital’s resources...so what we are going to do is have a make-believe circus, Teddy. You’re going to pretend to make cotton candy... BUT!” Emma raised a finger dramatically. “One thing I know about children...and many adults...is that they have very powerful imaginations. And...if you imagine hard enough...it will seem like the circus....is real.”
A little girl interrupted her “I want to be a clown again!”
“Yes Julie, you will be clown!”
The girl next to her exclaimed, “I want to be a ballerina!”
“Yes!” exclaimed Emma. “There are ballerinas at this circus, Sophia!”
Five girls exclaimed they wanted to be ballerinas. Soon children were shouting about all sorts of circus jobs. Some wanted to be clowns, others acrobats, a few wanted to be lion tamers, others wanted to be lions. A bunch of kids exclaimed which animals they wanted to be. We got tigers, giraffes, horses, all sorts of things. I shouted out that I wanted to be a dragon tamer. A nurse next to me said she wanted to be a tight-rope walker. A doctor next to her joked, “Well I guess someone’s gonna have to clean up all this animal poop, I guess I’ll do it. I mean, that’s show business right?”
Pretty soon everyone had declared their circus jobs and Emma settled them down again. I was amazed that she remembered every person’s name. Later she would tell me that one of the personalities in her was dedicated to just learning people’s names. She never forgot a name or a face.
Emma began to wave her hands about up front and everyone grew hushed.
“Okay,” she said. “It is time for me to cast my magic spell and transform this room and the people inside it into a circus. In a moment I am going to say the magic words that will activate my magic hat and all who are in its presence will find themselves at the circus doing the circus jobs you wished for. So what I want you all now is to close your eyes and imagine the circus. Think about what it looks like...think about the sounds, the calliope, the crowds....imagine the smells of the cotton candy...the popcorn...even the animals...get a clear picture in your head as I say the magic words....Circus Magnifique Realitie! And now open your eyes and look at your Ringmaster!”
I opened my eyes. Emma had brought the lights down a bit and now was standing at the front of the room. The door to the lobby was closed. The round spiral disc on her top hat was spinning now...and glowing....like magic. It was transfixing. I stared at it...along with everyone else. The room was dead silent.
“Yes...”she continued,”All eyes upon me and my magic hat. The longer you stare it, the more the magic will work on you. You cannot look away from it. Even if you tried, you will find that you cannot. It’s magic is so powerful and overwhelming. The magic draws your eyes to it and you listen to my words. The words of the Ringmaster who controls this circus. As you stare at it deeper and longer, you will find that your eyes will grow heavy and tired...that’s good...that means the magic is working just the way it is supposed to....it is a very powerful spell and all of you who have decided to join my circus are so eager for the magic work on you....so eager to let your eyes grow heavy and droop...so wanting your eyelids to just close, so the magic will wash over you and you will be transformed....”
I wanted to look around the room and see how people were reacting, but I found that I couldn’t look away from the spinning disc on the hat either. I found myself fighting to keep my eyes open, they just wanted to droop and close...
“Yes...many of you have closed your eyes now...and in your mind’s eye you can still see the spinning disc, whirling and taking you deeper...and the rest of you...it won’t be long now...I can see those heavy eyes among you all....and now I am going to count to three...and those of you who still have your eyes open....when I reach three you will find that you will no long be able to resist keeping them open...and it will feel so good to just close them and give in to the spell of the Ringmaster....one...two....three.”
It felt so good to finally be able to close my eyes. I tried to see if I could resist, but I knew I couldn’t. I could still see the spinning disc.
“Good....good..all of you under the Ringmaster’s spell...and now I want you to think about your job at the circus. Maybe you are an animal...maybe you are an animal trainer, or a clown, or a ballerina, or the person who cleans up the trash...whatever that job is, get a picture of it in your head. Picture yourself at the circus, doing that job. It’s a very important job and you want to do it well....”
I’d said that I wanted to be a dragon tamer. I imagined myself...with Lockheed here as a real, but more dangerous, dragon. I thought it would be funny if that were the case when I opened my eyes. I was dying with curiosity to see what would happen to everyone when they opened their eyes.
“I’m going to count to three again,” she continued, “and when I reach three you will open your eyes and find yourselves at my circus, doing the job you are supposed to do. It’s very important to do this job, as there will be a lot of kids who will want to come to the circus and have a good time. Get your circus job pictured in your mind. See yourself doing it. One...two.......three. Open your eyes, my circus performers.”
I opened my eyes. What the fuck? I was at the circus. I mean, I wasn’t in the common room anymore. I was outside. There were circus tents. There were people walking around. And I was holding a dragon on my arm. I real dragon.
“Lockheed?” I asked it. And Lockheed looked back at me and smiled. A small puff of smoke came out of his mouth and he flapped his wings. A small crowd of people came up to me and started looking at the dragon. Some wanted to get pictures (which cost $.50), some wanted to hold him, but I wouldn’t allow that...far too dangerous. I was amazed that Lockheed had come to life, but at the same time I didn’t question it. I completely believed it was all real.
Emma would later tell me that her ‘spell’ worked on every kid in the room and on all but one of the adults, just the doctor who joked about cleaning up all the animal poop. Many of the kids and adults in the room had done this with her before, they were easy to trance. But sometimes new people weren’t quite as susceptible
Emma told me how stunned the doctor was as the nurse next to him suddenly transformed into a tight-rope walker, making her way across the room very carefully. Emma walked right up to him and said, “So what do you really want to be in the circus?”
“I...I don’t know.” he stuttered out. “I never really...uh....how are you doing this?”
“Magic.” she said. And then she quickly passed her hand over his eyes and they closed. “Sleep,” she commanded him. And he fell back against the wall. She quickly pressed herself up against him to keep him from slipping down.
“You’re at the circus doctor...”she said. “In fact you are the circus doctor. You make sure are the animals are healthy and well fed and that the people are also taken care of. When I snap my fingers, I want you to do your job.”
She snapped her fingers, and immediately the doctor set about doing his job. Emma tells me the animals were very receptive since he was their doctor anyway. I could see him checking on the kids who were walking about on all fours, next to the animal trainers who were giving them commands.
Emma told me that Nick and Bonnie and the same experience as I. Nick became a dancing bear and as so did Bonnie, which was a relief since the terror of Bonniewolf could have been awful. Emma told me they danced together.
She let this go on for a good 30 minutes or so...letting the ballerinas dance, the clown act goofy, the acrobats tumble about the floor. She watched Teddy make cotton candy, although it looked like he was eating plenty of it himself.
Then she called out, “It is I, the Ringmaster! All eyes on me!” I stopped showing off Lockheed and looked at the Emma. I could see her and the glowing spiral on her hat.
“The circus is coming to a close and soon it will be time to return back to the hospital!” she commanded. “When I count to three you will close your eyes and you will be transported back to the hospital. And when you open them again, you will find that everything is back to normal, but you will remember your time working at the circus. You will remember how happy you were to make so many people happy as well. And...when you’re feeling sad...or maybe uncomfortable...or in pain...you can always think back to the circus and the good times you had there. One....two...three.”
I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to leave the circus. But I knew I had to.
“Open your eyes.” she said. I opened my eyes and I was back in the common room. Lockheed was a puppet again. I looked around, a little surprised to be back. Everyone seemed to be having the same reaction as me. Emma’s hat was back to normal now. So many kids were coming up to her to give her hugs and to say thank you. She gestured for me to come to her.
There was little girl hugging her tight. Her name was Amanda. Maybe 10 years old.
“Amanda, show Shadowcat your finger.” Emma said.
She pointed her index finger at me. It was made of shiny white plastic.
“Now close your fist.” Emma said. As she closed it, the finger curled next to the other fingers on her hand.
“This is a prototype prosthetic I made.” Emma said. “It’s nothing very special, except that it’s made very cheaply compared to most prosthetics. Like a snap-together model you might buy of a car or an airplane for a few dollars. In the kit you can resize to fit almost any finger. The patent is pending right now. It’s my intent to give it away so these kits can be made and sold cheaply all around the world.”
Then Emma got very close to me. She whispered in ear. “I wanted to show you...I wanted to remind you. That for every debauched thing I do, for every questionable thing I do, that I balance it out...however, I need you to know the reverse it true as well. And after all this joy and good will I’ve generated, I’m craving depravity. Are you still with me?”
I looked up at her and put my hand on the side of her face. “I’m with you forever, Emma. Heart and soul. And I will plumb those depraved depths with you willingly.” And then I kissed her. And yes, I know it was a cheesy thing to say, but here I was dressed like Shadowcat next to a power-mad Ringmaster. I felt the moment needed some solid comic-book dialog.
“Wonderful,”she said. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to jerk-off a bear.” She looked at Nick with decadent eyes.
“Rawr?” he growled, as he looked about to see if there was some other bear she might have been talking about.