Tickle Street Chapter 40 – “Motivation”

By Strelnikov
Copyright 2006 by the author


Dramatis Personae (in order of appearance)

Lindsey Thomas
Lindsey is 18, a tiny girl who stands 4 ft 11 in tall in her bare feet and weighs 87 lb soaking wet. She has a cute shape, curly blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. Her feet are off-the-scale ticklish, and it seems that it’s gotten worse since an odd incident last Christmas. Of course, her best friend Tiffany takes full advantage...

Meghan Meyer
The tiniest girl on Tickle Street, just turned 19 yrs old, with strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes and freckled fair skin. She and Lindsey are exactly the same size, right down to their shoes. Until she turned 18, she never knew that she had a nack for tickling. But over the past year, she became an enthusiast. For Meghan, Tickle Street is a target-rich environment, with plenty of opportunities to hone her skill.

Tiffany Kilpatrick
Tiffany is 18, medium height, with a great shape, fair skin, shoulder-length light brown hair, and bright blue eyes. She discovered years ago that she enjoys making her best friend Lindsey laugh. She was always an “opportunity” tickler, careful not to tickle Lindsey too often, or too much. But ever since a certain Saturday night at Lindsey’s lake cottage, she makes her own opportunities – as often as possible.

Candice Wade
A little beauty, 18 years old, with crystal blue eyes and ash blonde hair, and a very trim and shapely body. 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, but she has this one odd quirk...

Sara Rosen
Sara is 18 years old. She’s built like Dolly Parton, a small girl with a slender waist and amazing upper body development. Sara has long dark brown hair, beautiful green eyes, a deep tan, and a fit, toned body. Her ticklishness is her greatest weakness. She’s an enthusiastic tickler, on the principle that it’s more blessed to give than to receive.



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


Lindsey Thomas’s mom dropped her off in the alley behind the toy store. “Bye, Lindsey,” she said. “See you tonight.”

“Bye, Mom,” Lindsey said. “I’ll call you if my plans change.”

Another car dropped off a passenger – Meghan Meyer, Lindsey’s friend and co-worker. They were both tiny girls with curves in all the right places, who stood 4 ft 11 in tall in their bare feet and weighed maybe 90 lb soaking wet. Lindsey had a mop of blonde curls, blue eyes and a summer tan. Meghan had fair skin with a dusting of freckles, strawberry blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. They were exactly the same size, right down to their shoes. Both wore sleeveless tops, short summer skirts and flip-flops. They had graduated from Tieson City High School at the beginning of summer.

“Hi, Lindsey,” Meghan said. “Looks like we beat Mrs. Kilpatrick and Tiffany. Guess they’re running late.”

A car made a hard turn into the alley – a red Fiat 124 roadster, over 30 yrs old, lovingly restored. The driver tapped the horn – it had attitude, dual tuned air horns, loud and brassy.

“Nope, here they are,” Lindsey said. “Or Tiffany, at least.”

Tiffany Kilpatrick drove the Italian roadster the way it was meant to be driven – top down, wide open, with verve and gusto. She came up the alley too fast, braked to a stop and checked her watch. “How’s that, Mom?” she asked. “Four minutes flat.”

“You drive too fast,” Mrs. Kilpatrick said.

“Nah, she just flies too low,” Lindsey said. “I think she’s channeling the Red Baron.”

Tiffany blew a raspberry at Lindsey. “Help me put the top up, you two,” she said.

Mother and daughter got out of the car, and the girls got to work on the top. Tiffany was just 18, and would be a senior at TCHS this fall. She was a pretty girl, about medium height, with a great shape, freckled fair skin, a long light brown pony tail and bright blue eyes. Like the other girls, Tiffany wore a sleeveless top, short skirt and flip-flops.

“See you inside, girls,” Mrs. Kilpatrick said. She was in her 40’s, an older version of her daughter, wearing a collared blouse, jeans and sandals. She had the back door to the shop unlocked by the time the girls finished.

This was Saturday, their biggest day for sales. The girls followed her inside and got the shop ready to open. Meghan was new, but Lindsey had worked here all through high school. She had found the job through the most basic form of networking – Tiffany was her best friend, ever since grade school.

Like the other Main Street stores in this small town, the toy shop wasn’t large. Mrs. Kilpatrick didn’t try to compete with the big discounters on ordinary items. She had specialized, like most of the other downtown shops. She sold imported German toys and puzzles, upscale dolls, collectible model cars, radio control model airplane kits, top-quality model railroad stuff (not toy trains, thank you very much!) and so forth.

The shop opened at 9:30 – they finished with 15 minutes to spare. “I could use some coffee,” Mrs. Kilpatrick said. “Anybody else? OK, Meghan, go across the street to the café and get some for all of us.”

“Anything else we need to do right now, Mom?” Tiffany asked.

“Nope, we’re ready to open.” Mrs. Kilpatrick grinned a crooked grin. “I suspect you and Lindsey can figure out something to do until Meghan gets back.”

Tiffany grinned back. “We sure can,” she said. “C’mon, Lindsey. I feel way too serious – I could use a few laughs.”

“You got it,” Lindsey said. “Weird, isn’t it? The role reversal, I mean.” Tiffany had tickled Lindsey off-and-on for years – she loved to make her friend laugh. Lindsey had tolerated it, but she hated it, and had never seen the attraction in making another girl laugh her head off.

“A little,” Tiffany said. “Too bad we didn’t figure it out years ago.”

Lindsey and Tiffany had invited Meghan to join them at Lindsey’s cottage a few weeks back. Tiffany had underestimated Meghan, and gotten herself tickled silly. Lindsey had joined in – revenge is a powerful motivator. Lindsey and Tiffany had discovered four things. First, that Meghan had the nack for tickling – she took fingernails-on-feet to a whole new level. Second, that Tiffany had a great tickle laugh, and third, that Lindsey had great fun making her laugh. And finally, Tiffany discovered that she enjoyed being tickled – it was even more fun than tickling. They had been making up for lost time ever since.

The stock room at the back of the shop had an alcove with a work bench and shelves – it was used to do gift-wrapping and to store lay-aways for pickup. Lindsey pulled the tall stool out from under the work bench and set it in the middle of the floor. Tiffany kicked off her flip-flops and laid down on her back. She put both legs straight up, legs against a leg of the stool and ankles resting against the edge of the seat. Lindsey retrieved a short piece of rope from a hook on the wall. It had a loop and slip knot on both ends – Lindsey’s invention, she was proud of it. She put one loop around her waist, sat on the stool facing Tiffany’s upturned feet, leaned forward and slipped the other loop around her friend’s ankles. She leaned back, and the loops pulled tight, trapping Tiffany’s feet.

“Any preference?” Lindsey asked, well-manicured nails poised above ticklish soles.

“Just tickle me sill– eee! Hehe! HAHAHA! AH-HAHA! HAHAHAHA-HAHAHA!” she laughed as Lindsey did just that.

Let’s give her the complete treatment, Lindsey thought as she tickled between Tiffany’s toes. The toe-tickles were getting great reactions – Tiffany was laughing pretty hard. She held back Tiffany’s toes and tickled the soft skin underneath – that was good too. The stretched out soles were even better – Tiffany laughed like a maniac, bucking and squirming, tears of laughter running down her cheeks. Lindsey tickled side to side on the stretched out soles, drew overlapping circles on the creases, flicked the balls of both feet. Tiffany’s tickle laugh was like music – kinda like playing a musical instrument, thought Lindsey.

Then down the arches, flicking lightly, forcing stream after stream of ticklish laughter. Just in front of the heels, she hit the sweet spots, where Tiffany’s feet were off the scale ticklish – Tiffany arched her back and laughed at the top of her lungs. Lindsey explored the heels with tickling shapes – the laughter went down a notch. Then back to the arches, tickling the sweet spots on both feet, and Tiffany’s laughter went off the scale. Lindsey tickled mercilessly, getting great reactions and forcing a wild stream of helpless laughter. Tiffany had stamina – she hung in there, red faced and sweaty, laughing like a madwoman – but she was losing it. Lindsey almost had her...

“Time, girls,” Mrs. Kilpatrick said. “I just unlocked the front door.” She shook her head. “You two are weird – that would drive me crazy.”

You don’t know the half of it, thought Lindsey. She suspected her friend was getting off on being tickled, but preferred not to think about it – that was just too weird.

“Fink!” Meghan said after Mrs. Kilpatrick left the room. “You didn’t wait for me!”

Lindsey and Tiffany disentangled themselves from the rope loops. “You coulda… joined in… ” Tiffany said, a little short of breath.

“Maybe later,” Meghan said. “Your coffee’s next to the register.”

“Promises, promises!” Tiffany scoffed. She stood up and found her sandals. “Lindsey just got me warmed up – somebody’s gonna have to help me out.”

Summer wasn’t their busiest season, but they got a steady stream of customers all morning anyway. It tapered off around noon. Lindsey ate like a bird – twice her body weight every day, and never gained an ounce. She started thinking about lunch.

Her boss had the same idea. “What’ll it be today, girls?” she asked. “Fast food? Something from the café?”

“How about the drugstore lunch counter instead?” Meghan said.

“Suits. Let’s make a list, and you and Lindsey can go and bring it back here.”

Lindsey and Meghan walked half a block down Main Street. ROSEN’S REXALL PHARMACY, the sign said, and underneath, Soda Fountain – Soup and Sandwiches. Inside along the left wall was a sales counter with inexpensive jewelry, watch bands, reading glasses and so forth, flanked on each end by a greeting card rack and a magazine rack. Just past the magazine rack was the lunch counter and soda fountain, with two marble-topped tables and bent-wire chairs beyond. The center of the store had the usual drug store stuff – over-the-counter medicines, rupture trusses, corn plasters, liniments, cheap toys, hair goop, sunglasses and sunblock. The pharmacy counter was in the back of the store.

The lunch counter was doing a pretty good business. Lindsey knew one of the girls working the counter – Candice Wade, they had graduated high school together. Candice was a little beauty with bright blue eyes and ash blonde hair, and a very trim and shapely body. She wore a ball cap, a collared white knit shirt with Rosen’s Rx over the pocket, cargo shorts and backless sneakers without socks.

“What can I get you?” the other girl asked. She was a stranger, though Lindsey had seen her around – a new hire, apparently. She was a cutie, a petite girl with a trim and shapely figure, curly dark brown hair, brown eyes, dark brows and long, dark lashes. She was dressed like Candice, and stood an inch or so over five feet tall.

The girls placed their order and sat down to wait. For some reason, the lunch counter suddenly cleared out, down to just Lindsey and Meghan and a few stragglers at the far end of the counter. The brunette got to work putting their order together, while Candice got a bar rag and started mopping the counter.

“Hi, Lindsey,” Candice said. “Meghan, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

“Working, you know how it is,” Meghan said. “I kinda miss our club meetings – you’ve got such a pretty laugh.”

“Who’s the new kid?” Lindsey asked.

“That’s Amanda Mason,” Candice said. “Just hired on a while back.”

“Rooms with a friend of mine, Rachel Griffin,” Meghan added. “You know her, the redhead who waits tables at the café. They have the apartment over the hair place two doors down from here.” She paused, thinking something over, then went on. “Candice, Lindsey’s a pretty fair tickler, and getting better all the time. And Lindsey, Candice is like Tiffany. I discovered the nack by…”

“Tickling me silly, and I enjoyed every second of it,” Candice completed the thought. “And Amanda’s another one like me. Tiffany Kilpatrick too?”

Lindsey nodded.

“Well, we’ll have to get together to play sometime,” Candice said. “Hey Amanda!”

“Just a sec!” Amanda gathered up and bagged the takeout order. “I heard what you said. How about at my place after work? We can get Chinese takeout or something.” She grinned evilly. “Maybe ambush my roomie and tickle the shit out of her too.”

“How about Sara?” Meghan asked.

“Sara’s game for anything,” Amanda said.

“And she’s a tickle maniac,” Candice added. “Couldn’t keep her away.”

Lindsey didn’t know Sara well, but knew all about her over-the-top reputation. This could be fun, she thought. “OK, I know Tiffany will go for it,” she said. “Let’s meet in the alley behind the store at, say, 6:30?”

“Deal!” Candice said.

***

Lindsey and her co-workers met the other three girls in the alley behind the hairdresser at 6:30. They climbed the stairs to Amanda’s apartment. Amanda kicked off her backless sneakers inside the door. “Lose the shoes,” she said. “House rule – floor stays cleaner.”

“Makes tickle attacks easier too,” Meghan said. “Speaking of which…”

But they were disappointed. Amanda found a note from Rachel on the kitchen table: Gone to see Ashley, back later.

“Too bad,” Sara said. “Redheads turn such a pretty pink when you tickle ‘em. I guess we’ll have to make do with Meghan.” She was a small girl, built like Dolly Parton, with great legs, a slender waist and amazing upper body development. She had long dark brown hair, beautiful green eyes, a deep tan, and a fit, toned body. She was dressed like Candice and Amanda, but her shirt looked at least one size too small. Wonder how ticklish she is, Lindsey thought.

They called in their Chinese takeout order. Tiffany found her shoes and car keys – she would make the pickup run for the food.

“I’ll ride shotgun with you, Tiffany,” Sara said.

“D’you feel a need for speed, Sara?” Meghan asked. “Ain’t no slow in Tiff.”

“Warp Factor 5, Mr. Sulu,” Lindsey said. “Oh well, at least with Tiffany driving, the food won’t have a chance to get cold.”

“We’ve got a little time,” Amanda said when the two girls left. “Let’s use it well. Hey Lindsey, wanna make me laugh?”

Lindsey grinned. “Love to.”

“I guess it’s you and me again, Candice,” Meghan said. “Chair tie OK?”

Candice and Amanda ended up sitting side by side in kitchen chairs, hands tied behind their backs, bound to the chair backs around their waists and shoulders. The chairs were bent-cane style, with open backs – the others tied their ankles together and tied them off to the top arch of the canes, feet through the open chair backs, then tied their big toes together with string. Lindsey paired off with Amanda, Meghan with Candice.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Amanda demanded, wiggling her toes.

“Hush,” Lindsey said. “All I want to hear out of you is laughing, and plenty of it.” She flicked her nails in Amanda’s arches, making little contact but tickling like crazy. Amanda threw back her head and laughed like a madwoman.

“Tickle her soles,” Candice said. “It drives her wild! HAHAHA! HAHAHA-HAHA-HAHAHA!” she laughed as Meghan dug in.

Meghan had given lessons to her new friends, and Lindsey was an able and motivated student. She explored, looking for the sweet spots and gauging the results by the volume of laughter. She tickled between Amanda’s toes, two by two, getting a burst of helpless laughter each time. She held the toes back and tickled side to side under all ten toes. The stretched out soles got it next – she covered them with tiny nail flicks, tickling side to side, and Amanda went wild, laughing at the top of her lungs. Aha! The sweet spot, thought Lindsey. She scratched along the creases in the middle, drew figure-eight’s on the balls of both feet, and Amanda’s laughter went off the scale.

It wouldn’t do to tickle her out too soon, thought Lindsey. She eased off, looked over at Meghan and Candice. The little blonde laughed helplessly as Meghan’s nails spider-walked down her arch – tears of laughter ran from her closed eyes, she was turning pink from laughing. Lindsey copied Meghan, covering Amanda’s arches with fiendish tickling. The heels were next, drawing overlapping circles and other tickling shapes while Amanda laughed and laughed. But the soles were best, she figured – let’s see how hard she can laugh!

Lindsey switched to two-handed tickling, flicking both feet with her nail tips and driving Amanda wild. She moved up to the soles again – Amanda’s toes twitched and curled as she laughed like a madwoman. Lindsey flicked and scratched the arches again, drew counter-rotating circles on the heels, forcing a wild stream of ticklish laughter. Then the soles again, tickling at warp speed, and reduced Amanda to gasping red-faced silent laughter.

“Not bad!” Meghan said. Helpless laughter poured out of Candice as Meghan’s nails flicked her sensitive soles. “Let’s trade. See if you can do as well on Candice.” She gave Candice’s feet another burst of nail flicks – Candice howled with forced mirth. Meghan quit – Candice giggled weakly as the tickling sensation faded.

“Not one… of your… better efforts,” Candice said, breathing hard. “Maybe Lindsey can do better.”

Amanda took a deep breath. “Sara and Rachel are better,” she said. “Lindsey didn’t seem very motivated.”

“Hey, you’re a new ticklee for me,” Lindsey protested. “I know where the good spots are now – I’ll do better next time.”

“Too much talk,” Candice said. “Swap, you two, and make us laugh some more!”

“Coming right up,” Lindsey said. “How’s this?” She tickled Candice’s heels two-handed – Candice bucked and squirmed and laughed like mad. Meghan started in on Amanda, and the two ticklees sang a ticklish duet, laughing in two-part harmony.

Lindsey tickled up Candice’s arches and onto the soles – Candice’s toes twitched and curled as she laughed her head off. Lindsey held the toes back and tickled the soft skin underneath, then side to side on the stretched out soles as streams of laughter poured out of Candice. She tickled Candice’s sole in the exact middle, along the crease. Candice laughed at the top of her lungs as Lindsey tickled across the balls of both feet to the other sole crease. Lindsey shifted her tickle target and tickled the balls of both feet, covering every square inch of sensitive skin with unbearable tickling. Those were the sweet spots, where Candice’s feet were off-the-scale ticklish – Candice laughed and laughed, completely overcome by the tickling.

Lindsey looked over at the others – Amanda was laughing her head off, eyes closed, tears streaming, as Meghan covered her feet with tickling nail flicks. Lindsey grabbed Candice’s right foot, held the toes back and made a claw of her right hand. She raked her nails from toes to heel, drawing four parallel zig-zag lines and applying just enough pressure to tickle like mad. She repeated the whole-foot tickle a few times, getting great reactions and a flood of ticklish laughter – Candice’s feet were sensitized by now, it was all good. Then the left foot got the treatment, and Candice’s laughter went off the charts.

“You’ve got her now!” Meghan called out. Give her some of this!” Lindsey glanced over, saw Amanda laughing like a crazy woman as Meghan’s well-manicured nails flicked the sweet spots on her soles. OK, nothing fancy about that. Lindsey tickled both soles along the creases and onto the arch behind – each foot got four fingernail strokes in succession, three times a second. Amanda’s laughter stopped abruptly – Meghan must have tickled her breathless. Lindsey speeded up – Candice’s laughter was off the charts, she was sweaty and red-faced, her face streaked with tears. Surely this would finish her – how could anybody endure this?

“Save some for me!” Sara called from the door.

“Give ‘em a break,” Tiffany added. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”

Lindsey released Candice. She had been that close... Or had she? Amanda had more than her share of endurance, but Candice was in a class by herself. She was sweaty and rumpled, but in absolutely no distress. Was she like Tiffany? Hard to tell without more experimentation…

“Not too bad for a first effort, Lindsey,” Candice said – her voice was a little rough. “Tickle me again after we eat.”

“Hey, what about me?” Amanda asked.

“You can tickle me too,” Candice said, deliberately misinterpreting. “Where’s your plates?”

Ming’s portions were generous. None of the girls had wanted to stuff themselves and possibly founder later on. They shared orders of Kung Pao Beef, General Tso’s Chicken and Hunan Beef, with plain rice and hot tea to dilute the red peppers. Candice and Amanda stifled belches afterward – they must have swallowed some air while they were laughing.

Candice and Lindsey did the dishes, Tiffany dried and Amanda put them away. Meghan gathered up the trash and took it downstairs to the dumpster in the alley – she didn’t bother finding her shoes. Sara was laid out on the couch, her head propped up on pillows – her feet hurt, she said. She closed her eyes, totally relaxed.

Totally vulnerable too. Lindsey saw the door open. Meghan slipped in, put a finger to her lips, and eased over to Sara on silent bare feet. She grabbed up Sara’s ankles in an arm lock and stood up – Sara sprawled backward, feet up and gravity working against her.

“Hey!” Sara said, and tried to pull away.

“Time to laugh,” Meghan said cheerfully, and flicked her nails across Sara’s soles with a motion like chording a guitar.

“OH SHIT!” Sara yelled. “NOOO! HAHAHA! HAHAHA-HAHA-HAHAHA!”

Meghan tickled both arches, using just her nail tips and tickling like crazy. Sara laughed helplessly as Meghan switched to overlapping circles in the right arch, then figure-eight’s on the left. Meghan tickled at the back of both arches and onto the heels behind – Sara squirmed like a worm, laughing like mad, tears running from her closed eyes.

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

Meghan shifted her grip and quickly sat down on the couch. She trapped Sara’s ankles – resting on Meghan’s right thigh, left thigh over with the left foot tucked behind the right calf to lock it in place. Sara lunged forward, trying to grab Meghan’s hands. But Meghan held Sara’s toes back and tickled the balls of both feet – the sweet spots, where it tickled unbearably. Sara laughed her head off and collapsed onto her back, her strength sucked away by the tickling, unable to move or even form a coherent thought.

“Not too shabby,” Candice said. “At least you remembered the sweet spots.”

“Looks like fun,” Lindsey said. “She’s pretty ticklish, isn’t she?”

“Not as ticklish as you, but ticklish enough,” Meghan said. “And she got me started with Candice, so it’s her own fault.” She drew fast, looping figure-eight’s around and on the balls of Sara’s feet, and helpless laughter poured out in a solid stream.

“Give her a breather, Meghan,” Candice said. “Look, she’s turning red.”

Meghan quit. Sara laid there gasping, trying to get her breathing and heart rate normal again. She tried to pull her feet free. “Let me go,” she said. “That really, really tickled!”

“Nope, I said a breather,” Candice said. “You’ve been slacking off lately, girlfriend. We’re not through with you.” Lindsey saw that Candice had a handful of nylon straps and a ball of string. “Let’s hogtie her so she doesen’t get away.”

“Might as well relax and enjoy it,” Amanda advised. “You’re gonna get tickled silly anyway – no point in starting out tired.”

“Shit,” Sara said, disgusted. “OK, ya got me. But I’ll get you for this.” She rolled onto her tummy and crossed her wrists behind her back.

“I’m depending on it,” Candice said. She hogtied Sara, tied her big toes together with string. “Who wants to tickle her next?”

“I thought you did,” Tiffany said.

“Nope, she’s all yours if you want her.”

“Let Lindsey go first,” Tiffany said. “She could use the practice. Meghan’s warmed up, she can tickle me.”

“Sounds good to me,” Lindsey said.

“That just leaves you and me, Candice,” Amanda said. “Ler or lee?”

“Coin toss,” Candice said. She flipped the coin. “Heads, I win. You tickle me.”

“Hey!” Amanda protested. “I didn’t see the coin.”

“But I did, so that’s OK,” Candice said, grinning. “Tie me up. Chair tie, like we did before. OK with you, Tiffany?” Pure lee maybe, Lindsey speculated – Candice hasn’t tried to tickle anybody yet, she just gets herself tickled silly. Maybe she is like Tiffany, only more so…

But that sort of speculation made Lindsey uncomfortable – better just to tickle Sara and enjoy herself. She kneeled behind Sara, one knee on either side of her victim’s to prevent a rollover. She tickled a foot, and was rewarded with a burst of laughter – Sara’s senses were still wide open. She traced circles in Sara’s arches, and Sara giggled like a little girl.

“Hehehe! You gonna– haha! –just play– haha-hehe! –with me? Hehehe!” Sara demanded.

Tiffany and Candice burst into ticklish laughter simultaneously. Lindsey looked over at them – Meghan’s nails flicked Tiffany’s arches and heels, Amanda’s stroked the sensitive creases on Candice’s soles. Both girls were laughing like mad, tears of laughter running down their cheeks.

“Nope, I’m gonna tickle you to death,” she told Sara. She flicked her well-manicured nails on the balls of Sara’s feet, just behind the big toes. Sara arched her back and laughed at the top of her lungs.

Gratified by the response, Lindsey gave Sara a good two minutes of tickle torture. Change of pace – she held Sara’s toes back and scratched lightly under them, tickling the soft skin, and Sara laughed with wild abandon. Lindsey released the toes and tickled both soles two-handed, watching the toes twitch and curl, then down the arches to the ticklish heels. Sara bucked and squirmed and laughed her head off. Her feet were sensitized by the overload of tickling – she didn’t have a sweet spot any more, everything Lindsey did drove her wild.

Lindsey tickled Sara’s heels and arches, getting great reactions and wave after wave of helpless laughter. She tickled up the arches to the soles, watching the toes twitch again, then held the toes back and tickled the stretched out soles. Sara laughed and laughed, musically, helplessly, face red, tears streaming – she was losing it, right on the edge. Lindsey shifted one hand under the right toes, the other to the left heel, and countermarched both hands, tickling from toes to heels and back. Then holding Sara’s toes back again, Lindsey attacked the balls of Sara’s feet, tickling mercilessly. Sara laughed herself breathless.

I’m on a roll, thought Lindsey – tickled four out of five of the others. If I can just get Meghan, it’ll be a clean sweep. And best of all, nobody’s managed to tickle me yet.

The other girls were still at it – Lindsey checked out the tickling scene.

Meghan made a claw of her hand and raked it down Tiffany’s right foot, drawing four parallel zig-zag lines and making just enough contact to tickle unbearably. Candice’s laughter went off the charts as Amanda got on her sole and lingered, flicking her nails down the crease in the exact center. Meghan switched to drawing circles and other tickling shapes on Tiffany’s arches and heels, Amanda made a motion like chording a guitar on Candice’s soles – their victims laughed their heads off at the top of their lungs. Meghan speeded up, and tickled Tiffany into gasping, red-faced silent laughter. Amanda redoubled her efforts – Candice’s laughter went off the scale, but she was in no distress, riding a tickle high.

“Give it up, Amanda,” Sara said – she had her breath back again. “She can laugh like that until your fingers give out.”

“Let me help,” Meghan said, and Amanda considerately shifted to one side. Candice’s laughter went off the charts as Meghan and Amanda covered her feet with four-handed tickling. That finished her – they tickled her breath away.

“Pee break,” Tiffany said.

“Me… too…” Candice said. “Woo! Good one!” A deep breath. “I need more of that!”

“So do I,” Tiffany said crossly. “Meghan, you can do better than that.” Still no joy, Lindsey supposed.

“Hey, if you’re not gonna untie me, at least give me a drink,” Sara said. “I’m parched.” Amanda brought her a glass of water and a straw – Sara practically inhaled it.

“OK, who’s next?” Meghan asked.

Here’s five for five, coming right up, thought Lindsey. “YOU ARE!” she shouted, and jumped Meghan. “Help me, Amanda!”

Amanda joined in, and they bulldogged Meghan down to the floor. They borrowed some of Candice’s straps and string – she had brought plenty – and hogtied Meghan on the living room floor. “I’ll tickle her,” Lindsey said. “You tickle Sara – she should be recovered by now.”

“Oh, hell, go ahead,” Sara said, resigned to her fate. “But tickle the shit out of Meghan too – hearing her laugh will kinda take my mind off it.”

“Glad to help,” Lindsey said. “But let’s put you on the floor next to Meghan – all that squirming you were doing, I almost fell off the couch and busted my butt.”

“Would’ve squirmed harder if I’d known that,” Sara said. “I thought you were gonna tickle me to death!”

Lindsey and Amanda shifted Sara, then paired off. Lindsey kneeled facing Meghan’s trapped feet. She heard Sara’s helpless laughter start – Amanda was giving Sara a real old-fashioned ticklish workout.

“Ready, Meghan?” Lindsey asked.

“You are so gonna get it, Lindsey,” Meghan threatened good-naturedly. “HAHA-HAHA! HAHAHA! HAHA-HAHA-HAHA!”

Lindsey tickled between Meghan’s toes, held them back and tickled under them. She circled a nail around the balls of both feet in a big figure-eight. Twice each circuit, she hit the sweet spot – the exact center of Meghan’s soles, along the creases, where it really, really tickled – and Meghan’s laughter went off the chart. She tickled side to side on the stretched out soles, then released the toes and tickled the arches just behind the soles. Meghan laughed like mad as Lindsey traced tickling shapes in her arches, then scrabbled her nails on the ticklish heels. Her fair skin turned pink as she laughed – tickled pink.

Lindsey felt a presence nearby, looked up from her tickling – Candice and Tiffany were back, watching with practiced eyes. She checked out Amanda and Sara. Amanda was hard at it, fingers flying, flicking and scratching Sara’s heels, her arches, her soles while Sara laughed and laughed. Amanda scratched between Sara’s toes, tickling between each pair and forcing more bursts of helpless laughter. Then on the balls of Sara’s feet, tickling both at once, and Sara howled with forced mirth.

Focus! Lindsey tickled down Meghan’s arches, onto the heels, and back up to the soles, watching the toes twitch and curl as streams of laughter poured out of Meghan. Then holding Meghan’s toes back, tickling the sweet spot on one foot, across to the other, back onto the balls of the feet again. Meghan laughed and laughed as Lindsey tickled from the left to the right and back again, over and over. Then onto the sweet spot again, fingernails flying – Meghan lost it and laughed herself breathless.

“Serves her right,” Sara said from her hogtie position next to Meghan. “Good one, Lindsey.”

“Oh, be quiet,” Amanda said, and tickled a foot. Ticklish laughter poured out of Sara like a flood.

“Quit it, Amanda – you’ve had your turn,” Candice said. “You’re improving, Lindsey,” she continued. “But you need to do better. You could’ve made her laugh harder, or kept her laughing longer.”

“She’s… plenty… good enough… thank you very much,” Meghan said breathlessly.

Sara blinked away tears and took a deep breath. “Too right!” she said.

“Nah, Brittany got better reactions with both of you,” Candice said. “And Vicky and Veronica did a lot better.”

“Some of us enjoy that,” Amanda said. “Candice is right, Lindsey. Your technique needs work.”

“You all talk too much,” Tiffany said. “My turn to tickle Sara, Amanda. Go tickle Meghan.”

Amanda knee walked over to Lindsey and Meghan. “You heard her,” she said. “Go play with Candice.”

“I don’t suppose we can talk you out of this?” Sara said hopefully.

“Not a chance!” Amanda said. “On three, Tiffany. One… two… three!” Amanda and Tiffany started in on Meghan and Sara, not trying for anything fancy, but getting great reactions and wave after wave of wild stereo helpless laughter. They weren’t struggling. All they could do was lay there and laugh – the tickling sensation had sucked their strength away.

Maybe I need another tutorial, thought Lindsey. Meghan wasn’t a bad teacher, she was fiendish and enthusiastic, but… OK, if not Meghan, who?

Why not Vicky and Veronica Righetti? They sure did a number on Tiffany, and she loved every second of it. Maybe they can give me some pointers.

On the other hand, they’ll probably tickle the shit out of me afterward.

On the other other hand, how bad could it be?

“Your friend Tiffany is a real tickle monster,” Candice said, interrupting Lindsey’s thoughts. “Is she always like that?”

“Yah, ever since we were kids,” Lindsey said. “She always did like to make me laugh.”

“Like Sara and me,” Candice said. “Sara’s a good tickler – ought to be after all this time. I spend a lot of time laughing my head off.” She waved a hand toward the tickle torture. “She likes this a lot less – she thinks it’s more blessed to give than to receive.”

Tiffany and Amanda had Sara and Meghan in the zone, fingernails dancing on the ticklish flesh. Sara and Meghan laughed in two-part harmony, tears rolling down their cheeks, singing a sweet ticklish duet. Both of them had pretty tickle laughs – not bad, Lindsey thought.

“She’s always more motivated after something like this,” Candice said. The stereo laughter went up a notch – Candice raised her voice and continued. “She takes it out on me, and that suits me fine.”

“Want some more?” Lindsey asked.

“Is the Pope Catholic?” Candice said. Without warning, she hooked Lindsey’s feet out from under her. She plopped Lindsey down on her tummy, sat on her facing aft and trapped her legs in a figure-four leg lock. Lindsey was laughing her head off before she quite knew what happened. Her tickle laugh was a sweet soprano, wild and unrestrained, and bigger than anyone would expect from someone so small.

“But only after you get your mind right,” Candice added cheerfully, and got to work on Lindsey’s ticklish soles. “Tickle tickle!”

It tickled horribly! Lindsey’s feet didn’t have a sweet spot – they were off-the-scale ticklish all over. Lindsey laughed helplessly as Candice flicked her arches in a guitar-chording motion. Her heels got it next, counter-rotating circles with a single fingernail each that tickled maddeningly. Then flying nail-tips on both soles, two-handed – Lindsey’s toes twitched and curled as she laughed at the top of her lungs.

Lindsey sensed somehow that Sara and Meghan weren’t laughing any more – the others must have tickled them out. “Hey, quit, Candice!” she heard Tiffany call out over her own ticklish laughter.

“Enough of that,” Amanda added.

“Th– thanks…” Lindsey gasped, blinking away tears. “Let me up…”

Amanda ignored her. “Time for a little variety,” she said. “Try using some implements instead. I’ll get ‘em.”

“Better hogtie her like these two,” Tiffany advised. “I’ll get some more straps.” Lindsey didn’t try to get loose – she was hosed, and she knew it.

“D’you two want to be tickled again?” Candice asked. “Sara and Meghan ought to be good and motivated by now.”

“That was the idea,” Tiffany said. “I’ll untie ‘em.”

“Leave Meghan,” Sara said. “I owe her one.”

“Oh shit!” Meghan said. She sighed. “Well, OK, fair’s fair, I guess.”

Candice and Tiffany hogtied Lindsey and shifted her over next to Meghan. Tiffany flopped on her tummy on the other side of Lindsey, and Candice tied her up too.

“Thought you were gonna get away with tickling all of us without getting tickled yourself, didn’t you?” Meghan asked.

“Yah, thought so,” Lindsey answered glumly. “I guess not, huh?”

“Nope,” Tiffany said from her other side. “You’re in for it now. Get her good, Candice – I want to hear her laugh.”

Amanda set a shoe box next to Lindsey’s knees, then kneeled at Tiffany’s feet. “No worries,” she said. “I have confidence in Candice. She’ll do fine.”

Sara took position at Meghan’s feet. “Ready for another dose of misery?” she asked.

Tiffany and Meghan started laughing, the happy result of tickling fingernails on ticklish feet. Candice kneeled behind Lindsey – Lindsey twisted and rolled on her side. “Go easy, huh?” she said. “I thought you were a pure lee – I never expected this.”

Candice grinned crookedly “I’m an Ivory lee – only 99 and 44/100 percent pure.”

Sara gave Meghan’s soles another burst of tickling nail flicks. “You’re about to get the other 56/100,” she said – she had to raise her voice over Meghan’s wild helpless laughter.

Amanda tickled Tiffany’s arches with both hands, just in front of the heels, and Tiffany laughed with wild abandon. “You’re in for a treat, Lindsey,” she added. “She’s good!”

Candice rolled Lindsey back onto her tummy, trapped her there with her knees on either side of Lindsey’s. “Of course I am,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. “After all, I know all about it from the inside.” Barely audible over Tiffany and Meghan’s ticklish laughter, Lindsey heard implements rattle softly as Candice stirred the contents of the shoe box. “So really, I’m helping you to be a better tickler.”

Lindsey heard an electric tooth brush start up – it buzzed menacingly. The other girls laughed and laughed on both sides of her, red faced and sweaty, lost in ticklish delirium. “Just by tickling me?” she asked, desperately trying to prolong the conversation.

“Well, that and practice,” Candice said. “But this’ll help there too.”

“How will it help with practice?” Lindsey asked plaintively. “HAHAHA-HAHAHA-HAHAHA! HAHA-HAHA-HAHAHA!” she laughed as Candice ran the vibrating bristles around the ball of her right foot.

“Why, it’ll motivate you to do it,” Candice said. She spread Lindsey’s toes, two by two, tickling between each pair. Lindsey laughed her head off as Candice ran the brush along the soft skin under the toes. Then an oval in the right arch just behind the sole, a figure-eight onto the left arch and more ovals. Lindsey laughed like mad, eyes closed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

A brief respite, just enough for Lindsey to catch her breath. Candice selected a hair brush from the shoe box, the sort with round plastic knobs on the bristle ends. She brushed Lindsey’s soles, applying just enough pressure to tickle like crazy. Wild ticklish laughter poured out of Lindsey as Candice zig-zagged the bristles down her right foot to the heels, up the left foot to the soles again.

The three ticklees got a short break. Lindsey needed one – her feet tingled, her ribs and abs were a little sore from laughing, her lungs felt like she had run a race. Amanda gave Lindsey some water – she downed it in a single gulp.

Back to work – Candice selected an old-fashioned badger-bristle shaving brush and gently brushed Lindsey’s soles, side to side, then up and down. Lindsey started giggling, a steady stream of girlish giggles. Candice started brushing in circles, and Lindsey lost it. She laughed like a maniac, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks.

Candice plied the brush with artistic flair. Lindsey laughed and laughed as Candice flicked it back and forth across her toes and soles, up and down from toes to heels and back again, then figure eight's, crossing over in the arch. Candice shifted her target – the tickling bristles flicked Lindsey’s soles and onto the arches behind. Lindsey’s laughter went off the chart – she was past being able to struggle, unable to resist the fiendish tickling. Her toes twitched and curled as she laughed, and laughed, and laughed some more.

Another break. Sara and Amanda stopped tickling Meghan and Tiffany and untied them – they giggled as they drifted back from Tickle Hell. The two ticklees were a little the worse for wear but in no great distress. Lindsey was another story altogether – she was very near the limit of her endurance. “Oh… ghod… please… no more… ” she gasped.

In response, Candice spread Lindsey’s right little and next toes. She gently scratched with a single fingernail. “Ple– hehehe! –ease!” Lindsey begged and giggled. “No– haha! –more! HAHAHA-HAHAHA-HAHAHAHA!” she laughed as Candice speeded up.

“Good one!” Sara said. “I taught you well, Grasshopper.”

Candice tickled between each pair of toes, getting a wild burst of laughter each time. She gave up the toe tickling and held the toes back, tickling the stretched out soles until Lindsey thought she would go mad. Candice speeded up, and Lindsey lapsed into ticklish delirium, red-faced, streams of laughter pouring out of her. She had lost all power of resistance, or even coherent thought. It didn’t last forever, but it seemed that way.

“Finish her off,” Lindsey heard Meghan say. Candice released Lindsey’s toes and worked her way down the arches, circled her nail-tips on Lindsey’s heels. She finished in the arches, fingernails flying, and tickled Lindsey’s breath away.

Lindsey just laid there, trying desperately to get her breathing and heart rate normal again. She was soaked in sweat, her hair was a mess, her ribs and abs ached. I’ll get Candice for this if it’s the last thing I do, she thought. It had tickled so much…

“Jeez Louise, I think you killed her,” Sara said.

“Not hardly,” Tiffany said. “She’s tougher than she looks. Right, girlfriend?”

But Lindsey was still too breathless to answer.

“Trust me on this – a little rest, and she’ll be good as new,” Tiffany continued. “Then you can tickle her some more.”

“Oh nooo!” Lindsey wailed. “Please, please, no more!”

“I dunno…” Sara said dubiously, for once the voice of restraint. “She looks wiped out. Maybe I’ll tickle Candice instead.”

“Meghan?” Tiffany offered.

“Nah, Sara’s right,” Meghan said. “Better not just yet.”

“So tickle Amanda again – I’ll tickle Lindsey,” Tiffany said, and kneeled at Lindsey’s trapped feet. “Break’s over. Time to apply some more motivation!” She put the tooth brush to work, running it up and down the crease in the middle of Lindsey’s right sole – it tickled unbearably. Oh Ghod, thought Lindsey, laughing her head off at the top of her lungs. They’re gonna tickle me to death!

They didn’t, of course. And she paid them back later, all five of them, with compound interest. But that’s another story.


***THE END***


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