The Third Eye
Esmeralda pulled away instinctively.
”You?” she asked. “Are you sure?”
Patrisa nodded offering a small curtsy. “Yes. I am the one and only Tickle Scourge. At your service.”
“Why am I not rolling on the floor begging for mercy?” Esmeralda asked still trying to keep out of tickling range.
“Because I was once a tenderfoot myself and I like showing tenderfoots the ropes and how to survive in this world,” she said holding her hands up to demonstrate she had no intention of tickling. “That trio of elflings would have kept you prisoner for years tickling you at their leisure and draining you of all your magic.”
“What magic?” Esmeralda asked. “I have no magic.”
“Of course you do. And you have quite a bit of it,” Patrisa said looking at Esmeralda from head to toe. “You would have been the find of the century for those elflings.”
“What are you looking at?” Esmeralda asked trying to cover her body with her hands but not sure what Patrisa was looking at in the first place.
“Your aura,” Patrisa replied. She pointed to the rune on her forehead. “You can see auras with your third eye.”
“What third eye?” Esmeralda asked. “I don’t have one of those.”
Patrisa laughed. “Of course you do. You just haven’t opened it yet.”
“I’m confused,” Esmeralda complained rubbing her eyes with her palms and hoping she’d just wake up.
“Too much information and excitement for one day,” Patrisa said comprehensively. “Let’s go someplace safe and get some rest. We’ll talk more of this when we are away from the Mushroom Wood and its prying inhabitants.”
* * * * *
They walked through the forest together taking sudden turns and backtracking among the toadstools. Patrisa maintained a steady pace and kept looking back over her shoulder from time to time. Esmeralda struggled to keep up, but she was able to match her pace. She asked if Patrisa thought that they were being followed and she simply replied: “You can never be too careful with sneaky elflings.”
Finally after an hour or so hiking through the forest they reached their destination. It was a hole in the ground which had barely a 2 ft diameter. It was right next to a huge bluish toadstool. It looked cold and wet and dark.
“This safe house is my favorite,” Patrisa said very proud of herself for reasons still unknown to Esmeralda.
She whispered a few words in the same language Lea and Gabrielle had used.
Rodo ot ym meho nepo, rodo ot ym meho tel em gruthoh.
The entrance to the hole glowed for a brief moment and then the radiance quickly faded.
“Come on in,” Patrisa said invitingly as she dived head first into the hole and disappeared.
Esmeralda looked as far into the hole as she could but she could neither hear nor see anything. She felt uneasy about dragging herself through the hole, but she felt even worse staying around in the Mushroom Wood. So she gathered all her courage and dived into the hole.
At first it was just a cold, wet and dark hole. And the suddenly it got smoother and smoother and as she advanced until it became slippery and she began to slide. It was certainly less effort than dragging herself through the hole, but after a while she noticed the slant started to become more and more steep until she could not stop her decent. She was going faster and faster and no matter how she tried to hold onto the walls of the hold she slid faster and faster until she finally discovered that she was in a free fall.
She screamed, terrified that she was going to crash into a hard floor at any moment. She was certain that she had somehow made a wrong turn and was going to be squashed like grape between two fingers.
What a way to go, she thought to herself while still screaming.
Having made terms with herself and her fate, she waited for the impending doom.
And she kept on waiting.
She had stopped screaming after the first minute and after five minutes she began to grow bored. The falling was not accelerating so after a while she got used to it.
Doom did not come upon her as she had expected. Her fall became less of a free fall and more of a slide that slowly lost more and more momentum until she saw a point of light that grew bigger and bigger as she drew near.
The light became an exit to a chute and she was flung out of the chute from where she fell upon a large soft cushion that was put there to receive people falling from the chute.
She looked around and she seemed to be in a very large elegant room with marble walls and columns. Although elegant, it has a cozy feeling to it. There were paintings of landscapes on the walls, a roaring fireplace, and a dining room table filled with food of all kinds. There were no windows or doors however and all the light came from the fireplace and some magical lamps the glowed in the corners of the room. There was a pair of cozy looking beds in one corner and in the other a very large steaming bath was waiting with bubble bath and all the fixings.
Patrisa was preparing the bath.
“Shoes off,” she said pointing to a rack next to the cushion where her own sandals were hanging. “I don’t have an automaton broom here to tidy up.”
Esmeralda did not understand what that meant, but she pulled off her sneakers and put them next to Patrisa’s sandals.
“I bathe always upon arrival,” Patrisa said as she strapped off her armor and placed it on the side. She wore dark brown underwear underneath which she quickly removed as well and she calmly submerged her naked body under the warm water and bubbles.
“It helps me relax after a hard day. You’re welcome to bathe as well,” Patrisa said. “In fact, I insist. An elfling can smell you a mile away. It’s no wonder you got caught.”
Esmeralda stared at the water longingly, but she also felt very uncomfortable about being naked around someone she had just met.
“Oh please,” Patrisa said covering her eyes with her hands. “Come on in. I won’t peek.”
Esmeralda appreciated the gesture and stripped. She stepped naked into the warm water and sighed in relief as the water soothed and relaxed her.
“Great, isn’t it?” Patrisa said removing her hands and watching Esmeralda’s worries melt away. “It cost a pretty penny to have a safe house like this I must admit, but tickling is hard work and I deserve to pamper myself from time to time.”
“Your work is tickling?” Esmeralda asked.
Patrisa shrugged. “I am the Tickle Scourge. It kind of comes with the name.”
“You get paid for tickling?” Esmeralda asked conjuring images of a Tickle University set up to prepare professional ticklers.
“Of course,” Patrisa said. “But not in any kind of coin you would know, tenderfoot. I get paid in the only currency people are interested in here: Magic!”
“You said I had much magic and you could see it with that mark on your head.”
“Yes,” she said touching the rune on her forehead. “The third eye. You can channel magic in and out of your body through this. Only tenderfoots don’t have the mark because they have never had their eye awoken.”
“How did I get to your world? How can I get back?” Esmeralda asked suddenly beginning to feel nervous again.
“Hold it right there,” Patrisa said harshly. “This is YOUR world now, you went to sleep in another world and you woke up here as a tenderfoot who doesn’t know her left from her right. There is no going back. I’ve never hear of any tenderfoot nor veteran returning to where they came from, so you mind as well get used to it or you’ll never stop being a tenderfoot.”
“But I have to finish college and start my career,” Esmeralda said feeling sad all of a sudden.
Patrisa smiled.
“I was just like you when I got here,” Patrisa said. “I was to be married and have children and raise those children. Instead I am here, a tickle warrior, and I do not regret it for one moment.”
Esmeralda felt confused and discouraged.
“Like it or not,” Patrisa said. “This world is your new home.”
Esmeralda pondered for a moment and then took a deep breath. “Where do we start with me adapting to this world?” she asked.
“You need to open your third eye!” Patrisa said excitedly.
“How is that done?” Esmeralda asked touching her forehead.
“I have to tickle you of course to stimulate your magic and channel some magic out of your body,” Patrisa explained. “Then your third eye will be open. It is the first step on the journey every tenderfoot must take.”
“How do I know it is not just a trick to tickle me?” Esmeralda asked suspiciously.
Patrisa shrugged. “I could have tickled you at the toadstool when we met. You would have been easy pickings and a decent reward. The elflings had left the table set.”
Esmeralda paused and thought about the terrible tickling sensations earlier in the day and the prospect of doing it again. If this was a dream, she would sooner or later wake from it, she thought. But if for some reason it wasn’t, she mind as well learn more about this world if she meant to survive on her own in it.
“Tell me what to do,” Esmeralda decided.
“Let’s step out of the tub,” Patrisa said. She tossed Esmeralda a white bath robe and towel and took one of each for herself.
They both stepped out of the tub and dried themselves off.
“Step to the center of the room,” Patrisa commanded as she went for the fighting sticks Esmeralda had seen strapped to her back. Esmeralda pulled her hair into a ponytail and obeyed.
“This is Ash and this is Oak,” Patrisa said introducing each of the sticks to Esmeralda. “They are magical and they will hold you still so you don’t hurt me or yourself.”
Sha kaet reh klanes, kao kaet reh stwirs!
Patrisa said the words and the end of the sticks glowed and the points grew like branches. One stick’s branches reached for her wrists and the other for her ankles. They held her firmly and they spread her ankles and her wrists apart.
Esmeralda began to lose her balance and she fell backwards, but the sticks hovered and lifted her in the air spread eagle and hovering about the height of Patrisa’s waist.
Esmeralda’s heart beat quickly in fear and anticipation.
“This is all about trust,” Patrisa said. “If I tickle torment you to open your third eye you will lose much energy and you will take very long to recover. You must want me to tickle you. You must tell me where you feel you are most ticklish.”
Esmeralda’s face burned in embarrassment.
“For this to work well you must trust me and feel totally comfortable with your ticklishness. If you fight it, it will be torment. If you accept it, it will be pleasant. Tickling can be beautiful too, you know.”
“Frank, my boyfriend,” Esmeralda said slowly. “He used to find this real sweet spot in my rib cage. It's just a spot though and a little hard to find. He’d have me laughing like silly if he found the right spot.”
Patrisa nodded and reached a hand under Esmeralda’s bath robe and slid her expert fingers and fingernails over her ribs. Frank could take 5 minutes to find “the spot”. Patrisa took five seconds.
She kneaded her fingers into Esmeralda’s special tickle spot and the restrained girl had no choice but to break out in laughter.
“You’re fighting it,” Patrisa observed watching Esmeralda’s body struggle and twist as she tickled. “Relax. Let go. I am controlling your body. I am making you laugh at my whim. Gently but authoritatively. Accept that. Embrace that.”
Esmeralda tried to relax. She tried to feel comfortable with what Patrisa was doing to her. Her touch was perfect. It was nor too hard nor too soft, nor was it probing. Her touch knew exactly where and how to tickle Esmeralda to extract the maximum amount of laughter.
Esmeralda continued to laugh as the tickling continued. The more she relaxed, the more she laughed and the less stressful the tickling ordeal became.
“You have a beautiful laugh,” Patrisa commented listening to the tone and timbre as if it were music. “It is a deep and robust laughter but very clear and very cheerful. If you ever find a tickle mate, that person will be a very lucky person.”
Esmeralda could hear what Patrisa was saying but she was unable to answer. Her laughter continued and it entered a crescendo as Patrisa left her right hand on Esmeralda’s ribcage and she reached over to place her other hand on Esmeralda’s bare foot.
Esmeralda did not scream or gasp. Patrisa simply touched the sole of the foot as if to calm Esmeralda and let her know her intention and then she softly explored the foot quickly finding the special spot that Gabrielle had found.
There was no screaming or struggling. Her body was comfortable with the tickling and her foot did not struggle violently as it did with the elfling.
The laughter grew and grew in intensity until Esmeralda felt she could no longer breathe. She began to feel faint and she felt herself blacking out. As she did, she noticed a bright red flash and a bright red ball of energy appearing above and between her eyes, much more bright than the one she saw taken from Lea’s forehead when the elfling brother and sister tickled her.
Esmeralda watched Patrisa take the energy ball and felt Ash and Oak slowly take her to a standing position and release her. She was exhausted but at the same time ecstatic.
“Did it work?” she asked eagerly.
Patrisa took a looking glass and held it up for Esmeralda to see.
Esmeralda saw that she also bore the same mark Patrisa and the elflings had.
“I feel different,” Esmeralda replied. “I feel so tired.”
”I sapped an important amount of magic from you. Had you been tickled by those Elflings they would have taken more and you would not be able to stand or do anything else for that matter,” Patrisa explained. “You must sleep immediately so you recover for tomorrow.”
“I’m tired,” Esmeralda admitted, “but I couldn’t possibly sleep. There is so much more I want to know.”
“Sit down on the bed,” Patrisa ordered. “We’ll talk for as long as you can stay awake.”
Esmeralda did as told and sat on the edge of the bed as more questions came to her head. “How can I use the third eye? Where did you get those magical sticks? Where are we exactly?”
Patrisa stood in front of Esmeralda counting softly. “Five, six, seven…”
“Why are you counting?” Esmeralda asked.
“Eight, nine and ten.” Patrisa finished counting.
Esmeralda fell instantly asleep and fell back on the bed snoring gently.
“Slumber beds are the best,” Patrisa said as she lifted Esmeralda a bit so she rested over the entire bed. “A tickler needs her beauty sleep and insomnia will never do. Save your questions for tomorrow, tenderfoot.”
Patrisa slipped into the other bed and counted slowly.
“five, six, seven, eight, nine…”
She never got to say ten. She was sound asleep in an instant.
* * * * *
Esmeralda awoke refreshed. She thought for a moment that she had awoken at the dorm, but her memory came back to her as she discovered she was where she was last night.
Patrisa was dressed in her leather attire sitting at the dining table. She was eating fruit and drinking wine.
“Good afternoon, sleepyhead,” Patrisa said biting into an apple. “You slept past noon.”
Esmeralda yawned and stretched. “I feel so refreshed. I don’t think I’ve had such a good sleep in all my life.”
“Slumber beds do that,” Patrisa commented. “You won’t awaken until you are fully rested. You should get out of the bed though or you’ll be taking cat naps every few minutes.”
Esmeralda got out of the bed and looked at the food on the dining room table. She felt her stomach rumble belligerently.
“Come and get something to eat. It’s all fresh,” Patrisa said gesturing that Esmeralda should sit down.
Esmeralda sat down next to Patrisa and gingerly took a piece of fruit that looked like something between an apple and a pear and bit into it. It was delicious. It was sweet and unlike any fruit she had tried before. She ate three pieces of the fruit and felt totally satisfied. She washed it down with wine and she felt very pleased and content.
“What is next?” Esmeralda asked feeling refreshed and ready for the new challenges to come.
“You need to stop looking like a tenderfoot,” Patrisa said looking at her from head to toe. “Your eye is just opened, but there are many ways you can give away that you are a tenderfoot and make yourself a target for every tickler in the realm.”
Esmeralda looked down at herself in the white bathrobe disapprovingly and then looked around the room for her clothes.
”Where are my clothes?” Esmeralda asked.
“I burned them,” Patrisa said matter-of-factly. “You look like a dumb and vulnerable tenderfoot in them.”
“What am I supposed to wear then?” Esmeralda asked.
”We’ll get you some new clothes at the Wundermarket,” Patrisa replied.
“What is that? A Wal-mart?” Esmeralda asked angrily. “And what am I going to pay with? I don’t have any money. Not even a credit card.”
Patrisa smiled. “Yes you do have with which to pay. It’s better than money.”
Esmeralda was about to rebuke when Patrisa produced a small ball of bright red energy from her belt pocket and placed it on the table for both of them to see.
”It’s Magic, tenderfoot. Your Magic,” Patrisa said draining the last of the wine from her glass. “I’m ready. We’re off to the Wundermarket!”
To be continued....
Esmeralda pulled away instinctively.
”You?” she asked. “Are you sure?”
Patrisa nodded offering a small curtsy. “Yes. I am the one and only Tickle Scourge. At your service.”
“Why am I not rolling on the floor begging for mercy?” Esmeralda asked still trying to keep out of tickling range.
“Because I was once a tenderfoot myself and I like showing tenderfoots the ropes and how to survive in this world,” she said holding her hands up to demonstrate she had no intention of tickling. “That trio of elflings would have kept you prisoner for years tickling you at their leisure and draining you of all your magic.”
“What magic?” Esmeralda asked. “I have no magic.”
“Of course you do. And you have quite a bit of it,” Patrisa said looking at Esmeralda from head to toe. “You would have been the find of the century for those elflings.”
“What are you looking at?” Esmeralda asked trying to cover her body with her hands but not sure what Patrisa was looking at in the first place.
“Your aura,” Patrisa replied. She pointed to the rune on her forehead. “You can see auras with your third eye.”
“What third eye?” Esmeralda asked. “I don’t have one of those.”
Patrisa laughed. “Of course you do. You just haven’t opened it yet.”
“I’m confused,” Esmeralda complained rubbing her eyes with her palms and hoping she’d just wake up.
“Too much information and excitement for one day,” Patrisa said comprehensively. “Let’s go someplace safe and get some rest. We’ll talk more of this when we are away from the Mushroom Wood and its prying inhabitants.”
* * * * *
They walked through the forest together taking sudden turns and backtracking among the toadstools. Patrisa maintained a steady pace and kept looking back over her shoulder from time to time. Esmeralda struggled to keep up, but she was able to match her pace. She asked if Patrisa thought that they were being followed and she simply replied: “You can never be too careful with sneaky elflings.”
Finally after an hour or so hiking through the forest they reached their destination. It was a hole in the ground which had barely a 2 ft diameter. It was right next to a huge bluish toadstool. It looked cold and wet and dark.
“This safe house is my favorite,” Patrisa said very proud of herself for reasons still unknown to Esmeralda.
She whispered a few words in the same language Lea and Gabrielle had used.
Rodo ot ym meho nepo, rodo ot ym meho tel em gruthoh.
The entrance to the hole glowed for a brief moment and then the radiance quickly faded.
“Come on in,” Patrisa said invitingly as she dived head first into the hole and disappeared.
Esmeralda looked as far into the hole as she could but she could neither hear nor see anything. She felt uneasy about dragging herself through the hole, but she felt even worse staying around in the Mushroom Wood. So she gathered all her courage and dived into the hole.
At first it was just a cold, wet and dark hole. And the suddenly it got smoother and smoother and as she advanced until it became slippery and she began to slide. It was certainly less effort than dragging herself through the hole, but after a while she noticed the slant started to become more and more steep until she could not stop her decent. She was going faster and faster and no matter how she tried to hold onto the walls of the hold she slid faster and faster until she finally discovered that she was in a free fall.
She screamed, terrified that she was going to crash into a hard floor at any moment. She was certain that she had somehow made a wrong turn and was going to be squashed like grape between two fingers.
What a way to go, she thought to herself while still screaming.
Having made terms with herself and her fate, she waited for the impending doom.
And she kept on waiting.
She had stopped screaming after the first minute and after five minutes she began to grow bored. The falling was not accelerating so after a while she got used to it.
Doom did not come upon her as she had expected. Her fall became less of a free fall and more of a slide that slowly lost more and more momentum until she saw a point of light that grew bigger and bigger as she drew near.
The light became an exit to a chute and she was flung out of the chute from where she fell upon a large soft cushion that was put there to receive people falling from the chute.
She looked around and she seemed to be in a very large elegant room with marble walls and columns. Although elegant, it has a cozy feeling to it. There were paintings of landscapes on the walls, a roaring fireplace, and a dining room table filled with food of all kinds. There were no windows or doors however and all the light came from the fireplace and some magical lamps the glowed in the corners of the room. There was a pair of cozy looking beds in one corner and in the other a very large steaming bath was waiting with bubble bath and all the fixings.
Patrisa was preparing the bath.
“Shoes off,” she said pointing to a rack next to the cushion where her own sandals were hanging. “I don’t have an automaton broom here to tidy up.”
Esmeralda did not understand what that meant, but she pulled off her sneakers and put them next to Patrisa’s sandals.
“I bathe always upon arrival,” Patrisa said as she strapped off her armor and placed it on the side. She wore dark brown underwear underneath which she quickly removed as well and she calmly submerged her naked body under the warm water and bubbles.
“It helps me relax after a hard day. You’re welcome to bathe as well,” Patrisa said. “In fact, I insist. An elfling can smell you a mile away. It’s no wonder you got caught.”
Esmeralda stared at the water longingly, but she also felt very uncomfortable about being naked around someone she had just met.
“Oh please,” Patrisa said covering her eyes with her hands. “Come on in. I won’t peek.”
Esmeralda appreciated the gesture and stripped. She stepped naked into the warm water and sighed in relief as the water soothed and relaxed her.
“Great, isn’t it?” Patrisa said removing her hands and watching Esmeralda’s worries melt away. “It cost a pretty penny to have a safe house like this I must admit, but tickling is hard work and I deserve to pamper myself from time to time.”
“Your work is tickling?” Esmeralda asked.
Patrisa shrugged. “I am the Tickle Scourge. It kind of comes with the name.”
“You get paid for tickling?” Esmeralda asked conjuring images of a Tickle University set up to prepare professional ticklers.
“Of course,” Patrisa said. “But not in any kind of coin you would know, tenderfoot. I get paid in the only currency people are interested in here: Magic!”
“You said I had much magic and you could see it with that mark on your head.”
“Yes,” she said touching the rune on her forehead. “The third eye. You can channel magic in and out of your body through this. Only tenderfoots don’t have the mark because they have never had their eye awoken.”
“How did I get to your world? How can I get back?” Esmeralda asked suddenly beginning to feel nervous again.
“Hold it right there,” Patrisa said harshly. “This is YOUR world now, you went to sleep in another world and you woke up here as a tenderfoot who doesn’t know her left from her right. There is no going back. I’ve never hear of any tenderfoot nor veteran returning to where they came from, so you mind as well get used to it or you’ll never stop being a tenderfoot.”
“But I have to finish college and start my career,” Esmeralda said feeling sad all of a sudden.
Patrisa smiled.
“I was just like you when I got here,” Patrisa said. “I was to be married and have children and raise those children. Instead I am here, a tickle warrior, and I do not regret it for one moment.”
Esmeralda felt confused and discouraged.
“Like it or not,” Patrisa said. “This world is your new home.”
Esmeralda pondered for a moment and then took a deep breath. “Where do we start with me adapting to this world?” she asked.
“You need to open your third eye!” Patrisa said excitedly.
“How is that done?” Esmeralda asked touching her forehead.
“I have to tickle you of course to stimulate your magic and channel some magic out of your body,” Patrisa explained. “Then your third eye will be open. It is the first step on the journey every tenderfoot must take.”
“How do I know it is not just a trick to tickle me?” Esmeralda asked suspiciously.
Patrisa shrugged. “I could have tickled you at the toadstool when we met. You would have been easy pickings and a decent reward. The elflings had left the table set.”
Esmeralda paused and thought about the terrible tickling sensations earlier in the day and the prospect of doing it again. If this was a dream, she would sooner or later wake from it, she thought. But if for some reason it wasn’t, she mind as well learn more about this world if she meant to survive on her own in it.
“Tell me what to do,” Esmeralda decided.
“Let’s step out of the tub,” Patrisa said. She tossed Esmeralda a white bath robe and towel and took one of each for herself.
They both stepped out of the tub and dried themselves off.
“Step to the center of the room,” Patrisa commanded as she went for the fighting sticks Esmeralda had seen strapped to her back. Esmeralda pulled her hair into a ponytail and obeyed.
“This is Ash and this is Oak,” Patrisa said introducing each of the sticks to Esmeralda. “They are magical and they will hold you still so you don’t hurt me or yourself.”
Sha kaet reh klanes, kao kaet reh stwirs!
Patrisa said the words and the end of the sticks glowed and the points grew like branches. One stick’s branches reached for her wrists and the other for her ankles. They held her firmly and they spread her ankles and her wrists apart.
Esmeralda began to lose her balance and she fell backwards, but the sticks hovered and lifted her in the air spread eagle and hovering about the height of Patrisa’s waist.
Esmeralda’s heart beat quickly in fear and anticipation.
“This is all about trust,” Patrisa said. “If I tickle torment you to open your third eye you will lose much energy and you will take very long to recover. You must want me to tickle you. You must tell me where you feel you are most ticklish.”
Esmeralda’s face burned in embarrassment.
“For this to work well you must trust me and feel totally comfortable with your ticklishness. If you fight it, it will be torment. If you accept it, it will be pleasant. Tickling can be beautiful too, you know.”
“Frank, my boyfriend,” Esmeralda said slowly. “He used to find this real sweet spot in my rib cage. It's just a spot though and a little hard to find. He’d have me laughing like silly if he found the right spot.”
Patrisa nodded and reached a hand under Esmeralda’s bath robe and slid her expert fingers and fingernails over her ribs. Frank could take 5 minutes to find “the spot”. Patrisa took five seconds.
She kneaded her fingers into Esmeralda’s special tickle spot and the restrained girl had no choice but to break out in laughter.
“You’re fighting it,” Patrisa observed watching Esmeralda’s body struggle and twist as she tickled. “Relax. Let go. I am controlling your body. I am making you laugh at my whim. Gently but authoritatively. Accept that. Embrace that.”
Esmeralda tried to relax. She tried to feel comfortable with what Patrisa was doing to her. Her touch was perfect. It was nor too hard nor too soft, nor was it probing. Her touch knew exactly where and how to tickle Esmeralda to extract the maximum amount of laughter.
Esmeralda continued to laugh as the tickling continued. The more she relaxed, the more she laughed and the less stressful the tickling ordeal became.
“You have a beautiful laugh,” Patrisa commented listening to the tone and timbre as if it were music. “It is a deep and robust laughter but very clear and very cheerful. If you ever find a tickle mate, that person will be a very lucky person.”
Esmeralda could hear what Patrisa was saying but she was unable to answer. Her laughter continued and it entered a crescendo as Patrisa left her right hand on Esmeralda’s ribcage and she reached over to place her other hand on Esmeralda’s bare foot.
Esmeralda did not scream or gasp. Patrisa simply touched the sole of the foot as if to calm Esmeralda and let her know her intention and then she softly explored the foot quickly finding the special spot that Gabrielle had found.
There was no screaming or struggling. Her body was comfortable with the tickling and her foot did not struggle violently as it did with the elfling.
The laughter grew and grew in intensity until Esmeralda felt she could no longer breathe. She began to feel faint and she felt herself blacking out. As she did, she noticed a bright red flash and a bright red ball of energy appearing above and between her eyes, much more bright than the one she saw taken from Lea’s forehead when the elfling brother and sister tickled her.
Esmeralda watched Patrisa take the energy ball and felt Ash and Oak slowly take her to a standing position and release her. She was exhausted but at the same time ecstatic.
“Did it work?” she asked eagerly.
Patrisa took a looking glass and held it up for Esmeralda to see.
Esmeralda saw that she also bore the same mark Patrisa and the elflings had.
“I feel different,” Esmeralda replied. “I feel so tired.”
”I sapped an important amount of magic from you. Had you been tickled by those Elflings they would have taken more and you would not be able to stand or do anything else for that matter,” Patrisa explained. “You must sleep immediately so you recover for tomorrow.”
“I’m tired,” Esmeralda admitted, “but I couldn’t possibly sleep. There is so much more I want to know.”
“Sit down on the bed,” Patrisa ordered. “We’ll talk for as long as you can stay awake.”
Esmeralda did as told and sat on the edge of the bed as more questions came to her head. “How can I use the third eye? Where did you get those magical sticks? Where are we exactly?”
Patrisa stood in front of Esmeralda counting softly. “Five, six, seven…”
“Why are you counting?” Esmeralda asked.
“Eight, nine and ten.” Patrisa finished counting.
Esmeralda fell instantly asleep and fell back on the bed snoring gently.
“Slumber beds are the best,” Patrisa said as she lifted Esmeralda a bit so she rested over the entire bed. “A tickler needs her beauty sleep and insomnia will never do. Save your questions for tomorrow, tenderfoot.”
Patrisa slipped into the other bed and counted slowly.
“five, six, seven, eight, nine…”
She never got to say ten. She was sound asleep in an instant.
* * * * *
Esmeralda awoke refreshed. She thought for a moment that she had awoken at the dorm, but her memory came back to her as she discovered she was where she was last night.
Patrisa was dressed in her leather attire sitting at the dining table. She was eating fruit and drinking wine.
“Good afternoon, sleepyhead,” Patrisa said biting into an apple. “You slept past noon.”
Esmeralda yawned and stretched. “I feel so refreshed. I don’t think I’ve had such a good sleep in all my life.”
“Slumber beds do that,” Patrisa commented. “You won’t awaken until you are fully rested. You should get out of the bed though or you’ll be taking cat naps every few minutes.”
Esmeralda got out of the bed and looked at the food on the dining room table. She felt her stomach rumble belligerently.
“Come and get something to eat. It’s all fresh,” Patrisa said gesturing that Esmeralda should sit down.
Esmeralda sat down next to Patrisa and gingerly took a piece of fruit that looked like something between an apple and a pear and bit into it. It was delicious. It was sweet and unlike any fruit she had tried before. She ate three pieces of the fruit and felt totally satisfied. She washed it down with wine and she felt very pleased and content.
“What is next?” Esmeralda asked feeling refreshed and ready for the new challenges to come.
“You need to stop looking like a tenderfoot,” Patrisa said looking at her from head to toe. “Your eye is just opened, but there are many ways you can give away that you are a tenderfoot and make yourself a target for every tickler in the realm.”
Esmeralda looked down at herself in the white bathrobe disapprovingly and then looked around the room for her clothes.
”Where are my clothes?” Esmeralda asked.
“I burned them,” Patrisa said matter-of-factly. “You look like a dumb and vulnerable tenderfoot in them.”
“What am I supposed to wear then?” Esmeralda asked.
”We’ll get you some new clothes at the Wundermarket,” Patrisa replied.
“What is that? A Wal-mart?” Esmeralda asked angrily. “And what am I going to pay with? I don’t have any money. Not even a credit card.”
Patrisa smiled. “Yes you do have with which to pay. It’s better than money.”
Esmeralda was about to rebuke when Patrisa produced a small ball of bright red energy from her belt pocket and placed it on the table for both of them to see.
”It’s Magic, tenderfoot. Your Magic,” Patrisa said draining the last of the wine from her glass. “I’m ready. We’re off to the Wundermarket!”
To be continued....
