Tickle Street Chapter 36 – “What goes around...”

By Strelnikov
Copyright 2005 by the author


Dramatis Personae (in order of appearance)

Sara Rosen
She’s an 18-year-old adrenaline junkie and risk-taker. She’s built like Dolly Parton, a small girl with a slender waist and amazing upper body development. She has long dark brown hair, beautiful green eyes, and a fit, toned body. She’s extremely ticklish. She’s an enthusiastic tickler, on the principle that it’s more blessed to give than to receive.

Nicole Wade
A little beauty, 20 yrs old, with crystal blue eyes and bright blonde hair, and a very trim and shapely body. Nicole is a Pre-Med student at Commonwealth University. She’s horribly ticklish, but until this summer not an active participant in the Tickle Street action. Now, though, she’s making up for lost time...

Candice Wade
Nicole’s 18 yr old sister. A little shorter than Nicole, with ash blonde hair, but the two girls have the same cute shape, delicate features and crystal blue eyes. An extrovert and sensualist, she loves to be tickled and get in ticklish situations, but if the tickling goes too far, she's out of control. Her lust to be tickled has grown and grown over the past year, and now she'll do anything to get tickled. She's lived with her parents and sister on Tickle Street since she was five.

Amanda Mason
Amanda is a little cutie, just turned 18 years old, a petite girl with a trim and shapely figure. She stands an inch or so over five feet tall in her bare feet. She has curly dark brown hair, brown eyes, dark brows and long, dark lashes. She’s new to Tieson City, and will start at Tieson City High School as a Senior in the fall. She’s impossible not to like, and lots of fun to tickle.

Julie Budanov
Julie is slender with long, bright coppery red hair. She has just turned 18. She has high cheekbones, exotic eyes inherited from a distant Tatar ancestor, and skin so fair that it seems almost translucent. Her eyes are that indeterminate shade that sometimes appears blue or gray, sometimes green or hazel. She’s great fun to tickle – she has the most ticklish feet in the neighborhood.

Joanna Shaw
Joanna has lived all of her 18 years on Tickle Street. She has always been the perfect female athlete – her room is filled with trophies. She’s extremely fit and very attractive, with blue eyes, dark brown hair cut in a page bob, and freckled fair skin. She always felt invincible due to her greatness in sports, but if she gets tickled, she loses it.

Vicky and Veronica Righetti
Joanna’s cousins – their mothers are sisters, identical twins. Like their mom and aunt, they’re “mirror twins” – identical, but Vicky, the leader, is a lefty (Latin “sinister”) and Veronica is right handed. They’re 21 yrs old, medium height, with very trim and fit figures that they maintain by martial arts. They have wavy dark brown hair worn shoulder length, dark brows and lashes, brown eyes. They’re extremely ticklish, but since they’re a team, they don’t get tickled much.


Sadistic Siblings…

Joanna’s Little Sister
Jamie Shaw is quite the little imp, 13 yrs old, who loves to sneak up on her older sister and tickle her. Like her sister, she has brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles.

Julie’s Little Sisters
Jenny Budanov is 16 yrs old, blonde and blue eyed, a younger version of older sister Alex. Katie Budanov is the youngest, age 13. She’ll look like Alex and Jenny when she fills out a little more.


********************


Sara Rosen’s grandparents, like most Jewish people of their generation, detested Richard Wagner’s music for its association with Hitler. But Sara was only 18, and lacked the connection. In all truth, she wasn’t very observant – being Jewish was part of her cultural identity, but didn’t otherwise impinge on her daily life. Her attendance at shul could most charitably be described as “irregular”. Her cell phone ring tone was “Ride of the Valkyrie”, and that was very much of a piece with her personality.

Sara was an admirer of early 20th Century travel writer Rosita Forbes, who had been born too late and the wrong gender, but had nevertheless tried to emulate explorers like Mungo Park or Sir Richard Francis Burton. She was an adrenaline junkie and risk-taker – even the guys thought she was over-the-top. Sara was built like Dolly Parton, a small girl with a slender waist and amazing upper body development. She had long dark brown hair, beautiful green eyes, and a fit, toned body. She worked at her parents’ drugstore, but since it was Sunday morning, the place was closed. She wore jeans shorts, flip-flops and a slightly too-small sleeveless pink top that bared her midriff.

“Bye, Mom!” she called out on her way out the door. “I’m going to Candice’s house.”

“Shouldn’t you call first?” her mother asked.

“Don’t want to wake Nicole up. She likes to sleep in on Sundays.”

Unlike her older sister, Candice Wade was an early riser. Candice had been Sara’s best friend since they were little girls. She was nominally a Methodist, but her family wasn’t much more observant than Sara’s. They’d find something to do... Sara snorted in amusement. Candice loved to be tickled, and (even better!) had great reactions. Sara was extremely ticklish herself – she was an enthusiastic tickler, on the principle that it’s more blessed to give than to receive.

Tickle Street was quiet as Sara walked toward her friend’s house on the cul-de-sac at the end. We’ll fix that, she thought. Candice has a pretty soprano tickle laugh – I’ll make her sing!

Candice’s house was quiet too. Sara circled around to the back yard. Aha! There was Candice, sunning herself on a blanket spread on the lawn with her bikini top undone. Candice was a little beauty with delicate china-doll features, crystal blue eyes, blonde hair and a very trim and shapely body. Her face was turned away from Sara’s direction. A sneak attack would be just the thing to start the day – Sara slipped off her flip-flops and glided toward her friend on silent bare feet.

Sara flipped the edge of the blanket over her friend and rolled her up like a burrito, with just her head and feet sticking out.

“Hey!” her victim protested. “Let me go!”

Candice’s older sister Nicole! The girls were the same size and physical type. The sun had bleached Candice’s hair to a shade not much different from Nicole’s. It was an easy mistake to make.

Sara rolled Nicole onto her back. “Where’s Candice?” she asked.

“Went to get Amanda,” Nicole answered. “She took my car and left about 5 minutes ago. She said the three of you were gonna get together today.”

“Oh yeah – we talked about it yesterday. It completely slipped my mind,” Sara confessed.

“Well, she should be back soon,” Nicole said. “C’mon, Sara, let me go – I’m not in the mood.”

Sara grinned. “Nope.” She stroked Nicole’s sole with a single well-manicured fingernail, and was rewarded with a giggle. “This is just the thing to pass the time while I’m waiting.”

“NOOO! Ple– hehe! –ease! Haha! Don’t tickle me– hehehe!” Nicole giggled and begged. Like Sara, she much preferred to tickle than to be tickled.

Sara sat at Nicole’s feet and trapped the blonde’s ankles in a leg lock. “Think of it as aerobic conditioning,” she said, and dug in. Nicole arched her back and laughed at the top of her lungs.

Sara spread Nicole’s left little toe from its neighbor and tickled in between. She repeated the tickle between each pair, getting a wild burst of laughter each time. She held Nicole’s toes back and tickled side to side under all ten toes, while a steady stream of laughter poured out of Nicole. Sara released the toes and tickled Nicole’s soles two-handed. Those were the sweet spots, where Nicole’s feet were unbearably ticklish – Nicole laughed her head off, toes twitching and curling, tears of laughter running down her cheeks.

Sara tickled down Nicole’s arches, fingernails flicking and scratching. She drew counter-rotating circles on the ticklish heels. Nicole laughed like a crazy woman as Sara switched to figure-eight’s, then overlapping circles back up the arches again. Sara circled two nails in Nicole’s arches just behind the soles – Nicole bucked and squirmed, laughing her head off. She tried desperately to pull her feet away – she knew what was coming next.

“Sara! Leave Nicole alone!” Candice yelled. “You’re supposed to tickle us, not her!”

Nicole blinked away tears, still laughing like crazy – her sister was back with her new friend Amanda Mason.

“But she’s fun to tickle!” Sara said. She speeded up, tickling Nicole’s soles and onto the arches behind – Nicole’s toes twitched and curled as she laughed and laughed. “More of a challenge – you two are easy!”

Sara held Nicole’s toes back again and tickled the stretched out soles, side to side. Nicole’s laughter went off the scale as Sara tickled the exact center of her right sole, along the crease. She tickled the balls of both feet at once – Nicole was losing it, red faced, hair messed up, laughing at the top of her lungs. Sara finished on Nicole’s left sole, and tickled Nicole’s breath away.

“Not too shabby, girlfriend,” Amanda said. “Warming up for us?” She was a little cutie, just turned 18 yrs old, a petite girl with a trim and shapely figure, curly dark brown hair, brown eyes, dark brows and long, dark lashes. She stood an inch or so over five feet tall in her bare feet. Like Candice, she wore jeans shorts and a midriff-baring sleeveless top.

“Right the first time,” Sara said. She released the leg lock and stood up. “Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did,” she said.

“That was mean, Sara,” Candice said, a little steamed. “Nicole isn’t like me – it drives her crazy!”

Sara grinned again. “I know. That’s what makes it fun.”

“You are... so... gonna... get it!” Nicole gasped out.

“You’ll have to catch me first!” Sara said. She stepped into her flip-flops. “C’mon, let’s play at my house. See ya, Nicole!”

***

Amanda and Sara left together, giggling and poking each other in the ribs. Candice unrolled Nicole. Nicole’s top had come adrift – she found it put it on. She wiped away tears and raked her fingers through her hair. Her feet still tingled, and she felt the aftereffects in her ribs and abs, but Sara’s tickle attack hadn’t been too bad. She’d had much worse done to her.

“You OK, sis?” Candice asked.

“I’m fine,” Nicole said. “Compared to Vicky and Veronica, this was easy.”

Nicole had never much liked being tickled – as a first-born overachiever, she had hated the loss of control. She had tickled her weird little sister for years, because Candice so obviously enjoyed it, but the play had never been reciprocal. That had changed last year. Nicole was still not an enthusiastic ticklee, but she didn’t mind if it happened to work out that way. And sometimes... well, the less said about that, the better. She still wasn’t completely comfortable with it.

“Well, still...” Candice said irresolutely.

“Go on,” Nicole said. “Have fun with your friends. Sara ought to be good and warmed up by now.”

“OK. ‘Bye,” Candice said, and Nicole was alone.

Might as well wash the car, she thought – she’d been neglecting it lately. She went inside and pulled a pair of gray gym shorts on over her bikini bottom. She got the dust-buster and a trash bag out of the garage and set to work cleaning the car out. By the time she finished, she had had to empty the little hand-vac twice, and had filled the bag with an amazing amount of trash.

Now the outside. Nicole filled a bucket with soapy water and got to work, washing from the top down. She had just finished the windshield, ready to rinse, when Julie Budanov sprinted up the driveway and past the car on the opposite side, her long red hair trailing behind her like a flag. Julie’s 13 yr old sister Katie and her friend Jamie Shaw were in hot pursuit, whooping like Comanches. Nicole knew that if they caught her, Julie was in for some serious tickling.

Nicole blasted the younger girls with the hose. They shrieked and stopped running, soaking wet, hair plastered to their faces. Julie kept running – she disappeared around the corner of the house and into the back yard.

“Oops! Sorry!” Nicole said insincerely, and winked at them.

“You did that on purpose!” Jamie said furiously, shaking her head to get her long dark hair out of her face.

“Of course she did,” Katie said. She grabbed a handful of silvery blonde hair and wrung it out. “We’ll never catch Julie now. Let’s go back to my place.”

Jamie stuck her tongue out at Nicole. Nicole waited until the younger girls were walking away, and let Jamie have it in the butt with the hose. Jamie squealed, and both girls took off. They didn’t slow down again until they were out of range.

Julie came back. “Thanks, Nicole,” she said. “I owe you one. Want some help?” She was slender with long, bright coppery red hair, high cheekbones, exotic eyes inherited from a distant Tatar ancestor, and skin so fair that it seemed almost translucent. Her eyes were that indeterminate shade that sometimes appears blue or gray, sometimes green or hazel. She was barefoot, wearing white shorts and a top with spaghetti straps, in a shade of green that only a redhead could wear.

“Grab a sponge out of the garage,” Nicole said. “You’re looking to hide out here ‘til they lose interest, aren’t you?”

“Yup,” Julie said cheerfully. “If I don’t, they’ll give me the same treatment Sara gave you just now.”

“And I thought it was my stimulating company,” Nicole said with a crooked grin. “Oh, well...” A thought occurred to her – by one definition, Sara had been “stimulating” company. Hmm – this bears thinking about...

With two of them working, it didn’t take long to finish. Nicole dumped and rinsed the bucket and put it away. “You look a little pink,” she said.

Julie checked her shoulders and arms. “Damn! Should’ve known better,” she said. “I don’t tan at all. I don’t even freckle – I just burn. I better get out of the sun.”

They went inside. Julie sat at one end of the couch, facing sideways, legs drawn up. Nicole got two glasses of ice water, handed one to Julie and sat at the other end.

Nicole checked a bare sole. “I think Sara tickled ‘em clean!”

Julie grinned. “That’s what Katie and Jamie said they were gonna do to me.” She stretched out her leg and poked Nicole with her big toe. “Good thing you blasted ‘em. They tickled me so much yesterday, I almost wet my pants.”

“I know the feeling,” Nicole said sympathetically. Her apartment house neighbors were tickle maniacs, one and all.

“Hey, you don’t know the half of it,” Julie said. “All three of my sisters are tickle fiends, and I’m lots more ticklish than they are.”

She’s got pretty feet, thought Nicole. Pretty tickle laugh too. It wouldn’t really be mean to tickle her silly, Nicole rationalized – Katie and Jenny would’ve got her for sure if I hadn’t hosed ‘em down. It won’t do her any harm, any more than Sara’s tickle attack did me. “Pay It Forward”, just like the movie title – works for me!

Nicole lunged, grabbed Julie’s ankles in an arm lock and stood up. Suddenly, Julie was sprawled backward, with her feet in the air and gravity working against her, laughing her head off as Nicole tickled her soft pink feet.

“Kitchey koo, Julie!” Nicole said.

Julie had the most ticklish feet in the neighborhood, so everything Nicole did drove her wild. Nicole tickled both arches, using just her nail tips, not making much contact but tickling like crazy. Julie laughed helplessly as Nicole switched to overlapping circles in the right arch, then figure-eight’s on the left. Nicole tickled at the back of both arches and onto the heels behind – Julie squirmed like a worm, laughing at the top of her lungs, tears running from her closed eyes.

Nicole tickled a zig-zag path up Julie’s arches then side to side just behind Julie’s soles – Julie was helpless, laughing like a wild woman. The sensitive soles were next. Julie’s toes twitched and curled as she laughed and laughed – reflex action, she was no longer capable of coordinated movement.

Nicole shifted her grip and quickly sat down on the couch. She trapped Julie’s ankles – resting on Nicole’s right thigh, left thigh over with the left foot tucked behind the right calf to lock it in place. Julie lunged forward, trying to grab Nicole’s hands. But Nicole held Julie’s toes back and tickled side to side on the soft skin underneath. Julie laughed her head off and collapsed onto her back, completely overcome by the tickling sensation, unable to move or even form a coherent thought. Her fair skin was flushed from laughing – tickled pink.

Nicole made a claw of her hand and raked it down the right foot, drawing four parallel zig-zag lines and making just enough contact to tickle unbearably. Julie’s laughter went off the charts as Nicole got on her heel and lingered, drawing circles and other tickling shapes. Nicole repeated the whole foot tickle on the left foot, then right, left, over and over. She kept it up, holding Julie in the zone, letting her get just enough air to laugh like mad. She tickled from toes to heels, over and over, fingernails dancing on the ticklish flesh, getting great reactions and wave after wave of wild helpless laughter.

She saw movement across the cul-de-sac. Katie and Jamie had left the house and were walking up the street together.

“Hey Julie, it’s safe to go home now,” Nicole said. She made a motion like chording a guitar on Julie’s heels – Julie laughed her head off at the top of her lungs. “They’re gone. And so are you!” Nicole finished in Julie’s arches, just behind the soles, tickling at warp speed – Julie lost it and laughed herself breathless.

Nicole released Julie. “Ever hear the saying, “tickled pink”? Well, I did it to you,” she said. “And such a pretty pink too! We’ll have to do this again, real soon!”

***

Julie gasped for air. She was sweaty, red faced, hair messed up, cheeks streaked with tears. Her ribs and abs felt like she had taken a beating. Her feet still tingled from the tickling.

“You’re... a fiend... Nicole,” Julie said. She took a deep breath, sat up and winced. “Woo! My toes feel like they’re gonna fall off.”

“I enjoyed it too,” Nicole said, and playfully tickled a foot.

“Hehehe! Quit!” Julie said, and tucked her feet up under her. She checked her watch. “Now that they’re gone, I probably ought to leave. I need to finish the book I’m reading, so I can take it back to the library tomorrow.”

“Well, OK,” Nicole said, sounding a little disappointed.

Julie sat there until her heart rate and breathing were normal again – well, almost – then left for home. Despite the tickle torture, she wasn’t the least bit upset with Nicole. This was just one of the normal hazards of living on Tickle Street, so Nicole got this one for free. But Julie’s blood was up. She felt like tickling someone until she didn’t know her own name. Her sister Jenny didn’t know it yet, but she was gonna get it!

But Julie came home to an empty house. Jenny’s bicycle was gone out of the garage, her mom and dad had gone off somewhere, older sister Alex was at her job at Squander Mall. Katie had left a note: Gone to Jessica’s house. Back later.

The neighborhood was quiet again, the day was beautiful, bright and sunny. Fortunately, the back yard was shaded by a huge oak tree. Julie selected a book and grabbed a folding lawn chair off the porch. The grass felt soft under her bare feet. She settled in under the tree and opened her book.

“Hey Julie!”

She looked up. Joanna Shaw from down the street, the Righetti girls’ cousin. She was the perfect female athlete, extremely fit and very attractive, with blue eyes, dark brown hair cut in a page bob, and freckled fair skin. She wore a blue t-shirt with a red-and-yellow Supergirl S, red shorts and leather sandals.

“Hi, Joanna! What brings you here?” She stood up and laid her book on the chair.

“Looking for Jamie. She has her phone turned off, or the battery’s dead. Have you seen her?” Joanna’s little sister Jamie was Katie’s new best friend, and another tickle fiend. If Jamie was with Katie, somebody was guaranteed to get tickled before long.

“Nope, just got home myself,” Julie said. “I’ve been... visiting... with Nicole.”

“Was that you laughing?” Joanna asked. “You were pretty loud.”

“Yah, she gave me a singing lesson,” Julie answered. She grinned. “I sing pretty good, don’t I?”

Joanna grinned back. “You sure do,” she said. “You’ll have to sing for me some time. Well, I guess I’d better keep looking. Maybe she went to see Aunt Kathy. See ya.”

Joanna turned to leave, and that gave Julie her opening. She grabbed Joanna’s sides and lobster clawed them. Joanna yelped and collapsed in a heap, laughing herself silly. Julie followed her down – her tickling hands never lost contact. She yanked Joanna over onto her tummy, sat on her and went to work on her ribs, poking and tickling. Joanna laughed like mad as the redhead got on each rib and in the ticklish spaces between.

Julie tickled down Joanna’s sides, savoring the ticklish laughter, then under her tummy. Joanna tried desperately to buck Julie off, but the tickling was sucking away her strength. Julie kept her seat like a rodeo cowboy, hands working the ticklish abs. Joanna laughed and laughed, helpless to resist the well-techniqued tummy tickling.

Julie was a foot tickler too – this was fun, but she could do better lower down. She lobster clawed the fit sides again and dismounted, still tickling. Quickly, she threw a leg over her victim again and sat on Joanna facing aft. Julie grabbed both ankles, pulled, and wrapped a leg around the brunette’s shins in the figure-four leg lock. Joanna had lost one sandal in the struggle – Julie pulled the other one off and tossed it aside. Joanna had just enough time to take a breath, then she was laughing harder than before as Julie tickled her upturned feet.

Joanna’s laughter filled the air as Julie tickled her soles, her toes twitching and curling. Julie kept it up, tickling side to side across both soles while stream after stream of helpless laughter poured out of Joanna. Joanna laughed wildly as Julie drew circles, squares and other tickling shapes on her heels and arches. She spider-walked her nails up Joanna’s arches, scrabbled her nails on the soles while Joanna laughed like a maniac. Then tickling in both arches, just in front of the heels, and Joanna’s laughter went off the scale.

“Looks like fun,” Jenny said. “Can I tickle her when you’re finished?” She was a young Slavic beauty, 16 yrs old, blonde and blue-eyed, dressed in shorts and t-shirt.

Julie looked up. “How long have you been watching?” Joanna was laughing really hard. Julie eased off a little – it would be bad form to tickle Joanna out too soon.

“A minute or two – I just got back.” Jenny answered. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Maybe,” Julie said. She speeded up again, tickling the sweet spots. “How about it, Joanna?”

Joanna’s only response was a solid stream of ticklish laughter.

“Huh. I guess not,” Julie said. “Sorry, sis!”

“Might as well stay and enjoy the show,” Jenny said, and sat down cross-legged to watch.

Joanna laughed helplessly as Julie’s tickling fingernails explored her sensitive soles. Julie used all of her fingernails to tickle between all of Joanna’s toes at the same time. Joanna howled with forced mirth as Julie held her toes back and tickled the soft skin underneath. Julie tickled the stretched out soles next, side to side, then released the toes and covered Joanna’s arches with tiny nail flicks that tickled like crazy.

The heels were next. Julie covered them with counterrotating circles – Joanna laughed like a crazy woman, completely overcome by the tickling, unable to do anything but laugh. Time to finish her off, thought Julie. She speeded up, tickling up into Joanna’s arches. She tickled at the back of the arches, tickling onto Joanna’s heels. Joanna laughed at the top of her lungs until she ran out of air.

“Good one, Julie!” Jenny said.

“I try,” Julie said with false modesty. She got off and sat next to Joanna.

Joanna rolled onto her back and shuffled her feet on the grass to get the tickle off. “That... was... mean. Why’d... you... do... that?” she managed to say.

Julie grinned. “Needed some ten-finger exercise,” she said. “And you had it coming – you and Brittany have been teaching my sister Alex tickle-techniques, haven’t you?”

Joanna sat up and winced – her ribs and abs were a little sore. “Busted,” she said, and blotted tears with the collar of her shirt. “Would’ve taught you too if you’d asked.” She felt her tummy and winced again. “Not that you need any.”

“That’s for damn sure,” Jenny said emphatically. “Last night, she...”

“Always something new to learn,” Julie interrupted. “Want something to drink?”

Joanna stood and gave Julie a hand up. “Nope, I’ll get something from Aunt Kathy,” she said. She found her sandals and stepped into them. “I really do have to find Jamie. But call me – let’s gang up on Brittany some time. Maybe Alex too.”

“I’ll do that,” Julie said. “Thanks for coming.”

Joanna gave her an odd look. “Not this time,” she said. “But almost.”

***

“Hi, Joanna,” her aunt said. “Brittany’s working – she won’t get home ‘til suppertime.” Aunt Kathy was Mom’s twin – it ran in the family, like dark hair. Like Mom, she was trim and attractive in her mid-40’s, brown-eyed, her dark hair showing just a few streaks of gray. This was how Vicky and Veronica would look in another 20 yrs or so.

“Hi, Aunt Kathy,” Joanna said. “I’m looking for Jamie, not Brittany.”

“Haven’t seen her,” the woman said. She plucked some grass out of Joanna’s hair. “You look a little... rumpled,” she said, grinning. “You’ve been playing with the Budanov girls, haven’t you? Well, come on in and tell me about it.”

“Just Julie,” Joanna said. “That was enough.” She kicked her sandals off inside the door – a house rule here, just like it was at home. Brittany’s dog Spanky came into the kitchen, tail wagging – he was a medium sized, brindle-colored mutt with floppy ears and a good disposition. Joanna reached down to scratch his ears. “Ribs, sides, tummy and feet. She just about tickled me to death.”

“Yah, I heard. Takes me back, it does.” Like Mom – and for that matter, every female member of her extended family – Aunt Kathy was a tickling fool. Both women had been stay-at-home moms when the girls were small, and they had spent a lot of time together. Their noisy tickle fights featured in some of Joanna’s earliest memories.

Joanna got a glass out of the cabinet. She filled it at the tap and drained it in one long draft. “Aah! Much better!” she said. “Getting tickled sure works up a thirst.”

“That it does,” her aunt agreed. “I’m sure Jamie’s close by. Want to call around?”

“No, I think I’ll...”

A distant burst of laughter – upstairs, from the sound of it. One of the twins. They tickled Brittany and Joanna at every opportunity, but they practiced on each other. They practiced a lot.

Aunt Kathy grinned again. “Veronica’s getting it,” she said. “That’s her rib-tickle laugh. Vicky plays her like a piano. Just like your mom did to me.”

Joanna made a fast decision. “I think I’ll join ‘em,” she said. “Like you said, Jamie couldn’t’ve gone far on foot.”

“Go ahead – they can take care of themselves,” the woman said. “Have fun!”

Joanna glided upstairs, staying close to the wall to reduce the possibility of stair squeaks – not that they’d hear it, as hard as Veronica was laughing. She slipped into Brittany’s room, stuffed a compact and two pairs of torn nylons (recycling at its best!) into a pocket, and stripped the case off the pillow. Then back down the hall toward the twins’ room and the sound of laughter, and she used the mirror in the compact to peek cautiously around the open door.

Both twins were peeled down to bra and panties – the sort of tickling they did was hot work. Like their mother and aunt, they were “mirror twins” – identical, but Vicky was a lefty and Veronica was right handed. They were 2 yrs older than Brittany and Joanna, medium height, with very trim and fit figures. Their dark brown hair was wavy, shoulder length, over dark brows and lashes and beautiful brown eyes.

Veronica was hogtied on her bed, on her side, laughing her head off. Her eyes were closed, tears running down her cheeks, her hair in tangles around her head. Vicky’s tickling hands roamed up and down her twin’s sides – playing Veronica like a piano, just like their mom had said.

Vicky switched to tummy tickling – Veronica’s laughter went off the charts as she squirmed and struggled. Vicky’s hands moved in circles, poking and stroking the fit abs and getting great reactions everywhere. Joanna knew all about tummy tickling from the inside – it didn’t get any better than this.

Veronica bucked and squirmed and managed to roll back onto her tummy – anything to escape the tummy tickles! It didn’t even slow Vicky down. She shifted her hands onto her sister’s sides, grabbing and lobster clawing, then down Veronica’s butt to the back of her thighs. Vicky tickled from Veronica’s knees to her butt and back, forcing a wild stream of ticklish laughter. Then she tickled Veronica’s feet, well-manicured nails flicking in both arches and onto the ticklish heels behind. Veronica arched her back and laughed at the top of her lungs.

Joanna pulled the mirror back out of sight. Veronica was laughing harder now – that should cover any noise Joanna might make until it was too late. She gathered up her nerve and ran into the room. Vicky was still tickling Veronica’s feet, enjoying Veronica’s helpless laughter, paying no attention to anything but inflicting maximum tickle torture. Joanna yanked the pillow case down over Vicky’s head and shoulders, shoved her forward onto her tummy, scrambled after and sat on her.

“Hey! Goddammit, Brittany, I’m gonna tickle you to death!” Vicky said furiously, struggling against the muffling folds of cloth.

Veronica twisted around, blinked away tears and tossed her hair out of her face. “It’s... Joanna...” she gasped out.

“The very same,” Joanna said, grinning ear to ear. She pulled the nylons out of her pocket and tied Vicky’s hands behind her back. “I’m gonna get some payback – I’ll tickle you to death. No, I’ll make you wish I did.” She passed a nylon leg under Vicky’s tummy and tied it to anchor the bound wrists.

“Might as well give it up, sis,” Veronica said – she had her breath back again, but not for long. “She’s got us. Keep struggling, and you’ll just start off tired.”

“Good thinking, cuz,” Joanna said. She shifted around and tied Vicky’s ankles together, then got off and finished the hogtie. “I always thought you were the smart one.”

“At least take the bag off my head,” Vicky said.

“That, I can do,” Joanna said, and did so. She pushed Vicky next to Veronica and looped their ankles together, all four upturned feet lined up. “Now who wants it first? Or both together?”

“Tickle me,” Vicky said. “Let Veronica recover a little more.”

“Nah, I’m tough,” Veronica said. “Tickle us both.”

Joanna gathered some implements off Vicky’s dresser and laid them on the bed. “Both together it is,” she said, and kneeled behind the twins, facing their bound feet. She picked up a paint brush in each hand from the pile on the bed and gently brushed Vicky’s soles with the right-hand brush, then Veronica’s with the left – side to side, then up and down. Both twins started giggling, a steady stream of girlish giggles.

“MUA-HA-HA!” Joanna laughed villainously, and started brushing in circles. The twins lost it – they laughed like maniacs in two-part harmony, tears of laughter rolling down their cheeks.

Vicky and Veronica laughed and laughed as Joanna flicked the brushes back and forth across their toes and soles, up and down from toes to heels and back again, then figure eight's on both pairs of feet. Joanna started brushing in big circles covering both feet, and that was the worst, because once on every circle it got THE SPOT – the arches just in front of the heels, and onto the heels behind. Every time the brushes flicked the sweet spots, Joanna gave them a few extra quick strokes, and their laughter went off the chart. Both twins laughed their heads off, red-faced, streams of laughter pouring out of them.

“I like it when you girls do things together,” Aunt Kathy said from the open door.

Joanna quit and grinned at her aunt. “Kind of a role reversal, isn’t it? Fun though – I wish I’d gotten into this a lot sooner,” she said. “Care to watch?”

“Sure,” the woman said. “Maybe I can give you a few pointers.”

“MO-OM!” the twins protested in chorus.

“Serves you right – what did I tell you about situational awareness?” their mother said. “But it sounds to me like Joanna’s doing fine all by herself. Have fun, girls!”

“Time to laugh some more,” Joanna said, and tickled both pairs of feet. The tickling bristles flicked their soles, side to side, up and down. Veronica and Vicky arched their backs and howled with forced mirth. They were past being able to struggle, unable to resist the fiendish tickling or even form a coherent thought. Their toes twitched and curled as they laughed and laughed.

Joanna stopped. “I need a break,” she said.

“YOU need a break!” Veronica gasped.

“Break’s over,” Joanna said. She flicked her well-manicured nails up and down Veronica’s right sole, along the crease.

“Hehehe! No– haha! –more!” Veronica begged and giggled. “HAHAHA-HAHAHA-HAHAHAHA!”

“Vicky, don’t think I’ve forgotten about you,” said Joanna, and gave her the same treatment with her other hand.

“Eep!” Vicky squealed. “WA-HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHA-HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Ooh! I guess that really, really tickles!” Joanna said. She tickled side to side across both pairs of soles, over and over. Her tickling fingernails flicked and scratched the sensitive soles – the twins laughed like madwomen, their stereo laughter filling the room. She kept it up for another five minutes, then paused again.

“Hanging in there?” Joanna asked cheerfully.

“Oh Ghod!” Vicky gasped. Joanna was right-handed – Vicky had gotten the worst of it. But Veronica wasn’t much better off.

Joanna grinned. “Well, good, ‘cause I’m just getting started. Let’s see...” She picked up a hair brush in each hand, the sort with round plastic knobs on the bristle ends, and scrubbed the twins’ soles. Both twins laughed helplessly at the top of their lungs.

“Not bad, huh?” Joanna said. “There’s lots more where that came from.” She kept it up for a few minutes, then stopped, dropped the brushes, bent to pick up two more items. The girls giggled, breathless and sweaty, coming down off the tickle high.

“Hey!” Vicky said. She blinked away tears and took a long deep breath. “Is that my tooth brush?”

Joanna had an electric tooth brush in each hand. “Yup,” she said cheerfully. “Relax, I’m using the extra tips you bought just for this.” She flicked them on – they buzzed menacingly.

“NOOOO!” the twins wailed. “HAHAHA-HAHAHA-HAHA-HAHAHA!”

Joanna ran the bristles up and down the creases in the middle of both left soles. Vicky and Veronica laughed their heads off, tears of laughter running down their cheeks. She made sideways figure-eight’s on the balls of both pairs of feet, covering every square inch of ticklish flesh with unbearable tickling. Joanna ran the brushes between their toes, tickling between each pair – they let out a wild burst of helpless laughter each time.

Joanna tickled the middles of the right soles, across to the middles of the left soles, while the girls laughed and laughed. Joanna tickled zig-zag paths down their arches, then figure-eights covering their heels, tickling mercilessly while stereo laughter poured out of them. She finished them off – circling on the sweet spots on all four feet – and tickled their breath away.

“I bet that really tickled,” Joanna said with mock-sympathy.

“You have... a talent... for understatement,” Veronica said breathlessly. She took a deep breath. “You’re a fiend, Joanna!”

“Guilty as charged,” Joanna said. She stood up, found Vicky’s balisong on the dresser and cut the bonds on Veronica’s wrists.

“I’ll let you get yourselves loose,” Joanna said. “Take your time – even if you rush, I’ll be long gone by the time you finish.”

Joanna left them and went downstairs. She said goodbye to her aunt, found her sandals and went outside. She spotted Jamie in Julie’s back yard with Katie and red-headed Jessica Luke from down the street. Jessica was as bad as the others. Three Musketeers? More like Three Stooges, Joanna thought. Julie and Jenny were nowhere in sight – they had wisely made themselves scarce.

“Hey squirt!” Joanna called out. “Mom wants you home. Rustle yer stumps!”

“My master’s voice,” Jamie said sourly. “Bye, Katie – gotta go. See ya, Jessica.”

“Where were you?” Joanna asked. “I’ve been looking all over.”

“Jessica’s house mostly,” Jamie said. “What were you doing at Aunt Kathy’s?”

“Tickling the twins,” Joanna answered with a satisfied look on her face.

“And you didn’t invite me?” Jamie said indignantly. “You fink!” She gave Joanna a double rib poke – the older girl squealed and jumped.

“You’re gonna get it now!” Joanna said, and grabbed at Jamie. Jamie avoided it, kicked off her sandals and sprinted for home with Joanna in hot pursuit. Joanna’s sandals slowed her down just enough – Jamie got away.

This time.

***

“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t let Joanna get the jump on you,” Veronica said, rubbing her wrists. “Next time, pay attention.”

“I was paying attention,” Vicky said. She was sitting beside her twin on the bed, legs drawn up – she shuffled her feet on the bedspread to get the tickle off. “To you. I had no idea...”

“That’s right,” Veronica interrupted. “You had no idea. You were so focused on tickling me, she could’ve had a trumpet fanfare and you still wouldn’t’ve heard her.” She raised a hand to cut off her sister’s protest. “Well, it’s a new world, sister-mine. It’s not just Joanna or Brittany. They’re all getting frisky. Or have you forgotten how our little caper crashed and burned?”

“Hey, I still think the Red-Headed League was a good idea,” Vicky said. “We did pretty well, right until the end.”

“Yah, that’s what they said about the guy who fell off the Empire State Building.”

Vicky laughed. “Point taken. Well, it didn’t kill us, and what doesen’t kill you makes you strong. C’mon, let’s get dressed.”

They decided on bubble-gum pink t-shirts with Double Trouble on them and khaki cargo shorts. Vicky put her knife and a few other items in a pocket. “It pays to be prepared,” she said with a grin.

Spanky was whining and scratching the door, back teeth floating, when they got downstairs. “Dog wants out,” Vicky observed. “Want to take him for a walk?”

Veronica got a roll-up leash and two pairs of heavy-duty sandals with truck tire soles out of the hall closet. “Let’s take him out in the Hundred Acre Wood,” she said. “Won’t have to clean up after him that way.”

“Good thinking,” Vicky said. “Let’s go down to the bridge – we could all stand the exercise.”

It wasn’t 100 acres, of course – it was actually about a mile square. But the neighborhood kids had called the wooded area north of Tickle Street the Hundred Acre Wood years ago, and the name had stuck. It was a patch of suburban forest, home to the smaller forest creatures and a playground for young people in the neighborhoods nearby. The area was hilly, rocky, heavily overgrown with second growth forest. Owl Creek entered it from the south before turning northeast between steep banks. An old railroad grade, long disused, crossed it diagonally from southeast to northwest.

The twins headed north into the woods. A trail started a few yards in – they followed it due north until it crossed another. The trails were all good ones, well-traveled, beaten down nearly as hard and level as sidewalks. They heard voices to their left – Candice Wade and a little brunette, the new girl at the drugstore, moving away westward.

The others hadn’t seen them. “There’s someone we need to tickle,” Vicky said, indicating the brunette.

“First things first,” Veronica said. “We’ll get her some other time.” She unclipped the dog’s leash and reeled it in. Spanky immediately ran to the nearest tree and irrigated it.

The west fork ran more or less parallel with Tickle Street and came out on Johnson’s Ferry Road. The east fork led to the bank of Owl Creek and continued on the other side. Vicky whistled for the dog to follow, and they continued straight ahead, on the trail that ran along the bank of the creek – close sometimes, more distant where it took short cuts across bends in the stream.

The trail forked again. The left fork led to a clearing, they knew. They continued along the creekside trail, following it until it intersected the railroad grade.

The trains hadn’t run in years – the tracks and crossties had been taken up. The iron truss bridge that had carried the trains over Owl Creek was still there, though. The near-side bank was steep, on the outside of a curve – the opposite bank had a gentler slope. There was a pool just downstream from the bridge, scoured out by the stream flowing between the abutments, with a knotted rope tied to an overhanging tree branch. There had been more rain than usual lately – the flow was fairly strong, it filled the air with the sound of rushing water.

Vicky stopped Veronica just short of the bridge with a touch on her arm. She signaled for silence with a finger to her lips and pointed to the bridge. Sara Rosen was in the middle of the bridge span, leaning her elbows on the downstream handrail and gazing at the water foaming over the rocks.

Fortunately, Spanky wasn’t given to indiscriminate barking. Veronica motioned to the dog, and they faded back along the trail, keeping Sara in sight through the trees. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Veronica whispered.

“How long have we known each other?” Vicky whispered back. “Of course I am. They’re all getting frisky, but Sara’s downright cocky.”

Veronica snorted with amusement. “We can fix that,” she whispered, and slipped off her sandals. “Sara’s not very tough. Let’s get her!”

Vicky nodded and did likewise. Then back toward Sara, taking maximum advantage of cover and concealment. They stopped behind a tree right at the end of the bridge. Sara still hadn’t spotted them – hadn’t even turned around.

The twins started forward again, moving silently on bare feet. They were within 20 yards when the dog trotted toward their intended victim, tail wagging. Vicky made a grab for his collar and missed.

Sara heard Spanky’s nails clicking on the bridge deck and looked over. She spotted the twins and turned to run – she knew no good could come of this. Vicky and Veronica abandoned stealth and ran after her.

Spanky must have had some border collie in the mix. He ran ahead of Sara and rounded on her, heading her off. She stopped to avoid running over him, and it was all over. The twins grabbed Sara and bulldogged her down onto her tummy.

“Please! Let me go!” Sara begged.

“I don’t think so,” the twins said in chorus.

“How should we do this?” Veronica asked.

Vicky produced a handful of the old nylons from a cargo pocket. “Tie her wrists to one of those bridge beams, I think,” she said.

“What about her feet?”

“We’ll tie her ankles together. Let’s see...” Vicky looked around. “One of these planks is warped – see it? We’ll jam the other end of the ankle bonds under it.”

Veronica considered. “Yah, that oughta do it.” She grabbed Sara’s wrists and pulled her arms up over her head. “Roll her first.”

“HELP!” Sara yelled, straining against the restraining hands.

“Save your breath,” Vicky said. “You’re gonna need it.”

“Nobody will hear you anyway,” Veronica added. “We’re all alone out here.”

Vicky grabbed Sara’s ankles. Quickly, the twins tied her wrists and ankles. Sara squirmed and struggled, but the twins were a lot stronger than they looked. They shifted her, tied her bound wrists to a rusty upright I-beam, slipped the free end of the ankle bonds under the slightly-raised plank and pulled it tight. She was stretched out crosswise on the bridge, like the silent movie damsel-in-distress tied to the tracks.

“Please! Don’t tickle me!” Sara begged desperately. “I’m too ticklish – I can’t stand it!”

Veronica grinned and pulled off a sneaker. “That’s what makes it fun,” she said.

“For us,” her twin added, and pulled the other sneaker off.

“Why are you doing this?” Sara asked. “What have I done to you?”

Vicky pulled off a sock. “We got the shit tickled out of us today,” she said. “It put us in a tickling mood.”

Veronica got the other sock. “Nah, that’s not true, sis.”

“Then why?” Sara asked plaintively.

“Just because,” Veronica answered, and traced a figure-eight on Sara’s left heel with one perfectly manicured fingernail.

“Hehehehe! Sta-haha-ap!” Sara begged. “That tickles!”

“It’s supposed to tickle, silly!” Vicky said.

“You go first, sis,” Veronica said.

Vicky straddled Sara’s hips. “Relax,” she said, “you’re gonna be here for a while.” She started gently stroking her fingernails in Sara’s exposed armpits.

“Noooo! Hahaha-HAHAHAHAHA-hehe-HAHAHAHA-HAHAHA!” Sara laughed and giggled as Vicky tickled.

“Stop playing with her,” Veronica said.

“Help me out,” Vicky said.

“How’s this?” Veronica asked, and tickled her sister’s upturned sole.

“Hehehe! Quit! Tickle her, not me!”

“Couldn’t resist,” Veronica said, and joined in on Sara. She tickled down the back of Sara’s thighs from her butt to her knees, then up the front to her hips. Sara’s helpless laughter went up a notch. Vicky pushed up the bottom of Sara’s shirt and dug in, working Sara’s ribs. Sara arched her back and laughed her head off.

“Have fun, sis,” Veronica said. “I’ll get our shoes. Save some for me.”

“You can have her feet,” Vicky said. She gave Sara a dozen rib pokes – Sara squealed and bucked and laughed like mad.

“Best part anyway,” Veronica said. “But to each her own.

Vicky used different techniques, trying for the best tickle reactions. The ribs were good – she rubbed the skin against them, then got in the ticklish spaces in between, while Sara laughed like crazy. The sides were even better. Vicky grabbed and lobster clawed up and down Sara’s sensitive sides – Sara squirmed like a worm, laughing like mad. Tummy tickles had always worked great on Sara, Vicky recalled, so that was next, tickling side to side. Suddenly Sara was struggling, bucking, laughing her head off. Vicky’s tickling fingers speeded up, and Sara laughed like a crazy woman, streams of ticklish laughter pouring out of her.

Veronica came back and dropped the sandals on the bridge deck. “That’s more like it!” she said. “Tummy tickles always did work good on her. Almost as good as feet.”

“Better. Care to join me?”

“Later. Enjoy yourself.”

Vicky picked up the pace. Sara howled with forced mirth as Vicky tickled her flat abs, one hand following the panty line and the other the rib cage. Vicky tickled in circles around Sara’s navel, watching the muscles jump and twitch. Then side to side, hand over hand, crossing over and back to the ticklish sides. Sara was incapable of resistance, all of the fight tickled out of her. All she could do was lay there and laugh like mad.

Vicky tickled up and down Sara’s ribs, lobster-clawed the fit sides, onto the tummy. She circled a single fingernail around Sara’s navel until Sara thought she would go crazy. Then tummy tickles again, faster now, and Vicky reduced Sara to gasping, red faced silent laughter.

Vicky dismounted. “Your turn,” she said to her twin.

“We haven’t tickled her feet yet,” Veronica said. “Ready for some more, Sara?”

“Nooo… please… ” Sara begged. “Enough… no more tickling…”

“She’s got enough breath to beg–” Vicky said.

“–so she’s got enough to laugh some more,” Veronica completed the thought. She kneeled facing Sara’s feet. “This should do it,” she said, and scrabbled her fingernails on the sensitive soles of both feet.

Sara went wild, squirming, bucking, trying desperately to pull her feet away, laughing at the top of her lungs. Veronica was tickling the sweet spots – on the balls of Sara’s feet, just behind her big toes.

“Check it out!” Veronica said. “Like I said, this is as good as the tummy tickles!”

“Have fun!” Vicky said, and sat down to watch. She was an upper body tickler by preference, but she recognized art when she saw it – foot tickling didn’t get much better than this.

Though the sweet spots were the best, Sara’s feet were incredibly ticklish all over. Veronica tickled Sara’s soles, watching the toes twitch and curl. She drew circles, squares, figure-eight’s and other tickling shapes in the arches. She scratched and scrabbled on the heels. Sara laughed and laughed, her struggles getting weaker as all resistance was tickled out of her.

Upper body tickle preference or not, this was just too good to pass up. Vicky joined in on the foot tickling, keeping pace with Veronica. Sara laughed helplessly as the flying fingernails scratched and scrabbled, tears of laughter streaming down her face. The twins spread her toes and tickled between them, held the toes back and tickled the soft skin underneath, then onto the stretched out soles. Down the arches, onto the heels, back up to the toes again. Then four-hand tickling, all over both feet, while time expanded and the tickling filled Sara’s universe. Finally, they held back Sara’s toes and flicked their fingernails on the balls of her feet, fast as they could, and Sara’s laughter went off the scale. She laughed herself breathless for the second time.

“Good one!” Vicky said. “Hey Sara, did that tickle?”

Sara caught her breath. “Yes... oh Ghod yes... please… no more…” she gasped out.

“Let’s double-team her next – top to bottom,” Veronica said.

“NOOOO!” Sara yelled.

“Don’t you wish!” Vicky said.

The twins faced each other across Sara’s body. Vicky reached across and tickle tortured Sara’s sides, grabbing and lobster clawing. Veronica joined in, rib tickling, and Sara arched her back and laughed like mad. They tickled back and forth across Sara’s tummy, four handed, tickling in circles. Veronica circled the girl’s navel with a single fingernail while Vicky kept up the tummy tickling, back and forth from side to side. Sara laughed helplessly, tears of laughter streaming down her face.

The twins tickled down Sara’s tummy to her hips, onto her thighs and down to her knees, then twice up and down, each with one hand on the front and the other on the back of a thigh. Then foot tickling again – nothing fancy, fingernails flying on the sweet spots, fast as they could. Veronica spider-walked her nails on Sara’s right sole, four fast nail strokes repeated three times a second. Vicky held Sara’s toes back and flicked the left sole like chording a guitar. The fiendish tickling was more than Sara could bear – she laughed herself breathless for the third time.

“OK, that’s it,” Vicky said. She dismounted, flicked her balisong open and cut Sara’s bonds.

“You’re a lot of fun to tickle, did you know that?” Veronica said. She helped Sara sit up, gasping for breath.

Sara sat there, wobbled, steadied herself with a hand on the bridge deck. She blinked away her tears, trying desperately to get her breathing and heart rate normal again.

“Nothing to say?” Vicky said. “Want to laugh some more?”

“No. Yes. Please, what do you want me to say?” Sara begged.

“I think we got her attention, sis,” Veronica said. She brushed her feet off and put her sandals on, tossed Vicky’s to her twin. “Let’s go home – our work here is done.”

“Just a little more tickling?” Vicky asked playfully, and made tickling motions at Sara.

Sara jumped up, abandoned her shoes and ran for it.

“Now look at what you’ve done,” Veronica said reproachfully. She stood up and extended a hand to her sister. “Poor Sara!”

“Poor Sara my ass,” Vicky said.

Veronica snickered. They high-fived each other.

“Woo-hoo! Ain’t no stoppin’ us!” they chorused.

***

Sara stepped on a sharp rock, yelped, stumbled and stopped running, breathing hard. Her ribs and abs ached from laughing. She looked down her back-trail – no sign of pursuit. Either she had outdistanced the twins – not likely – or they were finished tickle torturing her.

For now, anyway.

She inspected her foot – it wasn’t cut, but it was starting to bruise. It was probably safe to go back for her shoes by now. She needed them – smooth as it was, the trail was too rough for her tender city-slicker feet. She started back the way she came, limping a little. What had Vicky said? That someone had tickled them silly, so that was why they tickled her. Veronica had told the truth of the matter, thought Sara – “just because” was all the reason they had ever needed to tickle anybody.

But why me? What did I ever do to them?


***THE END***

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