Monica had grown up terrorized by her uncle Scott. Ever since she was about eight years old He would relentlessly tickle her until she screamed and cried uncle. The attacks happened almost daily. She didn’t mind. She loved Uncle Scott like a father, in fact she was closer to him than any other adult. When she grew older and started to develop physically the attacks stopped but she remained close. She loved the fact that she could talk to him about anything at all. He was wise, genuinely interested in her life and never judged her when she made regrettable decisions. But sometimes she missed the childhood attacks.
When she reached adulthood and left the village to acquire a trade or find a husband she missed her uncle even more. One weekend she went to see him and as they sat by the fire at night, Monica giggled and reminisced about the daily childhood attacks. “I miss those days sometimes” she said.
“Me too.” Her uncle Scott said smiling. I never got over how pleasantly surprised I was to find how much you enjoyed it and never really asked for me to stop… At least not in a way that led me to believe that you really meant it anyway.” He chuckled.
“It’s a shame that you did” Monica quipped.
“You were turning into a young woman, it wouldn’t have been appropriate.” Her uncle said.
Monica sighed and said “yeah, I know, it’s still a shame though.”
“Do you remember when you would cry uncle and I would tell you that you had to be tougher and take more tickling or I would throw you into the tickle meadow, where there is no release until the sun goes down?”
“Yes!” Monica squealed with a belt of laughter. “That threat gave me nightmares for years!” A meadow with living conscious, man consuming vines, tentacles with fingers really, the way you described them that hungered and craved the sound of laughter to grow, but they would only feed while the sun was up, at night you were safe.”
Uncle Scott embellished the story, “and because humans were the only animals that laugh, it made them man hunters.”
Monica continued. “That’s right she giggled, and because they were easier to capture and hold down, women and children were particularly vulnerable. Making me a prime meal.”
They watched the fire and the stars for a long while, then Monica said, “That story about the meadow both terrified me and tempted me for years Uncle Scott, I bet you never could have imagined how much that would impact me.”
“No I couldn’t. I started to realize though when I saw how tough and compliant you would become when I mentioned it. You would go from crying uncle to allowing me to tickle you for several minutes without a break and without saying a word.” I’m sorry if I got carried away and went too far sometimes.”
“It’s ok” Monica smiled as she playfully punched him on the shoulder. “Every time you threatened to throw me into the meadow, I would pretend that you did and that begging would be useless. I would just laugh and take it and pretend that if I laughed enough, maybe the meadow would get its fill and let me go.”
Uncle Scott said almost to himself “It wouldn’t, it would only let go when the sun had set.”
“You say that as if it was a real place.” Monica laughed.**“I’m not a child anymore Uncle Scott, It doesn’t scare me anymore.”
“If only you knew” her uncle said with a grin.”
“What do you mean?” Monica asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me If I told you.” He said.
“Are you really saying there is a real, magical tickling meadow somewhere uncle?”
“It’s after dark, and like you said, you’re not a child anymore. I can show you now.”
Monica immediately stood up and dared her uncle. “I’m game, let’s go.”
Uncle grew a bit serious, and said, “I’m not fooling, the meadow is real, it’s several hours up river, if I take you, you must give yourself to it from sun up to sundown, no chickening out if it’s real. I must also warn you, it tickles much better than I ever did.”
Not knowing her uncle to ever be serious she said “and if you are pulling my leg, what do I get?”
“Enough walking around money to make you blush and fear for your safety.”
“It’s a bet!” Monica almost shouted and thrust her hand out toward her grinning uncle.*
Scott, reached out and firmly shook her hand and said “it’s a bet then, let’s get you fed and hydrated I’ll pack a little liquid courage for you too, to keep you from getting cold feet and we’ll be off.
Her uncle cooked her a lovely meal. They had a great evening talking about anything and everything and when the conversation again turned quiet, her uncle went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a flask and said “Better be going if we are going to beat sunrise, let’s go.”
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Monica walked with him and helped him get the canoe to the bank of the river and jumped in.
About an hour later, her uncle was humming to himself as he rowed, Monica started to think he might be serious.
“How far is it uncle?” she asked, not quite so brave anymore.
“About two more hours.” The river winds around and will take me almost right back home.”
“You’re leaving me there?” Monica asked somewhat startled.
“Of course.” Her uncle said. “You said you were tempted by the meadow. I took that to mean it was a challenge you were tempted to take. Am I mistaken?”
“No.” Monica honestly answered.
“Then I should not be there. If you really want to test yourself, here is what you do. After I leave you will remove all of your clothes at the edge of the meadow and walk to the middle. Lie down and just before sunrise, spread your arms and legs and wait. Once the meadow takes you it will be too late to do anything but accept that you will be tickled until the sun sets, and its summer so….”
“It’s going to be a long day.” Monica finished the ominous sentence.
Scott burst out in a loud belly laugh.
“What?” Monica asked defensively.
“It’s just the way that you said that.” Scott chuckled “sounds like you believe that this is really going to happen. It also sounds like you’ve decided to do what I’ve suggested. Are you really going to take your clothes off and be completely exposed?”
“Well,” Monica said sheepishly, “I don’t think you would paddle all this way in the middle of the night for a joke. I’m trying to remember how we even got to this point. I don’t think you even started it… and yes, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it all the way. Why, is there something I should be worried about?”
“Well, you’re not going to be penetrated if that’s what you are asking, but you may react in ways you didn’t expect.”
Monica said “ewe, gross” trying to make it sound like she wasn’t thinking about sexual possibilities, but she was. His answer was a relief, she did not want to be taken by a plant but also, Her uncles answer led her to believe that he had at one time done this before and had become sexually exited which gave her a visual that she did not want. She went dead silent and just watched the moon and mentally lived out the day that she imagined awaited her. She had in fact imagined this many, many times before but the idea that it was really about to happen made it a hundred times more scary and exciting. Mostly scary though.**She opened the flask and started to drink.
About three or four hours had passed since they set off. The moon had crossed over half of the night sky. It must be around three in the morning Monica thought. The night air was cool, no cold but the flask of liquor had made her warm inside and giddy. She was buzzed and braver than she was earlier in the night. Scott said “It should be close.” He aimed the canoe at the shore and ran the canoe up onto it.
A lump immediately formed in Monica’s throat and a knot in her belly. Her uncle led her through the trees like he remembered where he was and the tree cover made it very dark and scary. Monica grabbed and held on to her uncle and felt scared and vulnerable.
Finally after walking for two or three miles. Uncle Scott stopped and said “there it is.”
“Where?” Monica asked.
“There, up the path.” He answered.
She looked up the path and could see that it opened up to something.
“I won’t hold you to this, if you change your mind, I’ll take you home but you need to decide now. What would you like to do sweetheart? He said compassionately.
Her uncle was comforting and understanding but Monica didn’t think turning back would sit well with her if she chickened out, and she halfway suspected that her uncle would tease her about it later also. It would also be horrible to find out he was kidding about it the whole time just to see her at precipice of a lifelong fantasy just to chicken out and walk away from it. No, she was committed. She was going to do it and do it all the way.
She looked at him in the eyes and said “when will you be back?”
“I’ll leave when the sun touches the trees” so a couple of hours after sunset. That will give you time to gather yourself, rest and get dressed.”
She gathered all the courage she could muster, hugged her uncle and said. “See you then.”
Uncle Scott squeezed her tight. Kissed her on the forehead and said “see you then, you’ll be fine.”
With that he walked off back towards the canoe, and disappeared into the darkness. When Monica could no longer see him she turned back the other way and looked toward the opening. Wanting to get out of the dark which gave her a creepy feeling like she was being watched she set off down the path.
The opening was further away than it looked. It took about twenty minutes to get there which meant that she had walked a little over a mile.
Indeed, the path did open up into a large meadow. Under the night sky it was a little brighter which made Monica feel better. She kicked off her shoes and stepped into the meadow halfway expecting to be grabbed, wrapped up and attacked but it didn’t happen. What if it was just a joke? What if she just has a full day to sit alone and feel like a fool? Oh well. “If I’m a fool, then a fool I will be” she said out loud to herself. And with that she removed the rest of her clothes and walked out into the open.
The ground was very soft. There were no thistles or thorns, nothing itchy or scratchy. Just soft leaves and a lot of vines. The vines, though soft, completely covered the ground and they were both thick and thin and there were thousands of bulbs on the vines with soft but firm bristles coming out of them, some of the bristles were extremely thin, like little hairs and some were much sturdier like the bristles on a brush. Just walking through the meadow tickled the bottoms of her feet and again she found herself believing her childhood story was all too true and she would know for sure all too soon.
She sat down in the middle of the meadow and looked around. She was two to three hundred yards away from the tree line in any direction. She knew that if the story is true that come sunrise there would be no escape, nobody to hear her scream and even if they could, no way to get to her without being captured themselves, and she was completely naked to boot.
After about an hour of stargazing and agonizing anticipation. She became sleepy and laid down. She spread herself out as if she was staked down spread eagle and thought “ok, take me.” Before falling asleep.
Monica woke up to the sensation of vines wrapping around her ankles, and wrist. The vines, once secure with a firm grip of her receded into the ground pulling her tightly to it. More vines secured her knees and elbows making her completely immobile. She lifted her head and saw that the sky just over the trees ahead was turning pink.
“Ok… Here we go.” She said knowing that it was going to be a very, very long day.
When she reached adulthood and left the village to acquire a trade or find a husband she missed her uncle even more. One weekend she went to see him and as they sat by the fire at night, Monica giggled and reminisced about the daily childhood attacks. “I miss those days sometimes” she said.
“Me too.” Her uncle Scott said smiling. I never got over how pleasantly surprised I was to find how much you enjoyed it and never really asked for me to stop… At least not in a way that led me to believe that you really meant it anyway.” He chuckled.
“It’s a shame that you did” Monica quipped.
“You were turning into a young woman, it wouldn’t have been appropriate.” Her uncle said.
Monica sighed and said “yeah, I know, it’s still a shame though.”
“Do you remember when you would cry uncle and I would tell you that you had to be tougher and take more tickling or I would throw you into the tickle meadow, where there is no release until the sun goes down?”
“Yes!” Monica squealed with a belt of laughter. “That threat gave me nightmares for years!” A meadow with living conscious, man consuming vines, tentacles with fingers really, the way you described them that hungered and craved the sound of laughter to grow, but they would only feed while the sun was up, at night you were safe.”
Uncle Scott embellished the story, “and because humans were the only animals that laugh, it made them man hunters.”
Monica continued. “That’s right she giggled, and because they were easier to capture and hold down, women and children were particularly vulnerable. Making me a prime meal.”
They watched the fire and the stars for a long while, then Monica said, “That story about the meadow both terrified me and tempted me for years Uncle Scott, I bet you never could have imagined how much that would impact me.”
“No I couldn’t. I started to realize though when I saw how tough and compliant you would become when I mentioned it. You would go from crying uncle to allowing me to tickle you for several minutes without a break and without saying a word.” I’m sorry if I got carried away and went too far sometimes.”
“It’s ok” Monica smiled as she playfully punched him on the shoulder. “Every time you threatened to throw me into the meadow, I would pretend that you did and that begging would be useless. I would just laugh and take it and pretend that if I laughed enough, maybe the meadow would get its fill and let me go.”
Uncle Scott said almost to himself “It wouldn’t, it would only let go when the sun had set.”
“You say that as if it was a real place.” Monica laughed.**“I’m not a child anymore Uncle Scott, It doesn’t scare me anymore.”
“If only you knew” her uncle said with a grin.”
“What do you mean?” Monica asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me If I told you.” He said.
“Are you really saying there is a real, magical tickling meadow somewhere uncle?”
“It’s after dark, and like you said, you’re not a child anymore. I can show you now.”
Monica immediately stood up and dared her uncle. “I’m game, let’s go.”
Uncle grew a bit serious, and said, “I’m not fooling, the meadow is real, it’s several hours up river, if I take you, you must give yourself to it from sun up to sundown, no chickening out if it’s real. I must also warn you, it tickles much better than I ever did.”
Not knowing her uncle to ever be serious she said “and if you are pulling my leg, what do I get?”
“Enough walking around money to make you blush and fear for your safety.”
“It’s a bet!” Monica almost shouted and thrust her hand out toward her grinning uncle.*
Scott, reached out and firmly shook her hand and said “it’s a bet then, let’s get you fed and hydrated I’ll pack a little liquid courage for you too, to keep you from getting cold feet and we’ll be off.
Her uncle cooked her a lovely meal. They had a great evening talking about anything and everything and when the conversation again turned quiet, her uncle went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a flask and said “Better be going if we are going to beat sunrise, let’s go.”
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Monica walked with him and helped him get the canoe to the bank of the river and jumped in.
About an hour later, her uncle was humming to himself as he rowed, Monica started to think he might be serious.
“How far is it uncle?” she asked, not quite so brave anymore.
“About two more hours.” The river winds around and will take me almost right back home.”
“You’re leaving me there?” Monica asked somewhat startled.
“Of course.” Her uncle said. “You said you were tempted by the meadow. I took that to mean it was a challenge you were tempted to take. Am I mistaken?”
“No.” Monica honestly answered.
“Then I should not be there. If you really want to test yourself, here is what you do. After I leave you will remove all of your clothes at the edge of the meadow and walk to the middle. Lie down and just before sunrise, spread your arms and legs and wait. Once the meadow takes you it will be too late to do anything but accept that you will be tickled until the sun sets, and its summer so….”
“It’s going to be a long day.” Monica finished the ominous sentence.
Scott burst out in a loud belly laugh.
“What?” Monica asked defensively.
“It’s just the way that you said that.” Scott chuckled “sounds like you believe that this is really going to happen. It also sounds like you’ve decided to do what I’ve suggested. Are you really going to take your clothes off and be completely exposed?”
“Well,” Monica said sheepishly, “I don’t think you would paddle all this way in the middle of the night for a joke. I’m trying to remember how we even got to this point. I don’t think you even started it… and yes, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it all the way. Why, is there something I should be worried about?”
“Well, you’re not going to be penetrated if that’s what you are asking, but you may react in ways you didn’t expect.”
Monica said “ewe, gross” trying to make it sound like she wasn’t thinking about sexual possibilities, but she was. His answer was a relief, she did not want to be taken by a plant but also, Her uncles answer led her to believe that he had at one time done this before and had become sexually exited which gave her a visual that she did not want. She went dead silent and just watched the moon and mentally lived out the day that she imagined awaited her. She had in fact imagined this many, many times before but the idea that it was really about to happen made it a hundred times more scary and exciting. Mostly scary though.**She opened the flask and started to drink.
About three or four hours had passed since they set off. The moon had crossed over half of the night sky. It must be around three in the morning Monica thought. The night air was cool, no cold but the flask of liquor had made her warm inside and giddy. She was buzzed and braver than she was earlier in the night. Scott said “It should be close.” He aimed the canoe at the shore and ran the canoe up onto it.
A lump immediately formed in Monica’s throat and a knot in her belly. Her uncle led her through the trees like he remembered where he was and the tree cover made it very dark and scary. Monica grabbed and held on to her uncle and felt scared and vulnerable.
Finally after walking for two or three miles. Uncle Scott stopped and said “there it is.”
“Where?” Monica asked.
“There, up the path.” He answered.
She looked up the path and could see that it opened up to something.
“I won’t hold you to this, if you change your mind, I’ll take you home but you need to decide now. What would you like to do sweetheart? He said compassionately.
Her uncle was comforting and understanding but Monica didn’t think turning back would sit well with her if she chickened out, and she halfway suspected that her uncle would tease her about it later also. It would also be horrible to find out he was kidding about it the whole time just to see her at precipice of a lifelong fantasy just to chicken out and walk away from it. No, she was committed. She was going to do it and do it all the way.
She looked at him in the eyes and said “when will you be back?”
“I’ll leave when the sun touches the trees” so a couple of hours after sunset. That will give you time to gather yourself, rest and get dressed.”
She gathered all the courage she could muster, hugged her uncle and said. “See you then.”
Uncle Scott squeezed her tight. Kissed her on the forehead and said “see you then, you’ll be fine.”
With that he walked off back towards the canoe, and disappeared into the darkness. When Monica could no longer see him she turned back the other way and looked toward the opening. Wanting to get out of the dark which gave her a creepy feeling like she was being watched she set off down the path.
The opening was further away than it looked. It took about twenty minutes to get there which meant that she had walked a little over a mile.
Indeed, the path did open up into a large meadow. Under the night sky it was a little brighter which made Monica feel better. She kicked off her shoes and stepped into the meadow halfway expecting to be grabbed, wrapped up and attacked but it didn’t happen. What if it was just a joke? What if she just has a full day to sit alone and feel like a fool? Oh well. “If I’m a fool, then a fool I will be” she said out loud to herself. And with that she removed the rest of her clothes and walked out into the open.
The ground was very soft. There were no thistles or thorns, nothing itchy or scratchy. Just soft leaves and a lot of vines. The vines, though soft, completely covered the ground and they were both thick and thin and there were thousands of bulbs on the vines with soft but firm bristles coming out of them, some of the bristles were extremely thin, like little hairs and some were much sturdier like the bristles on a brush. Just walking through the meadow tickled the bottoms of her feet and again she found herself believing her childhood story was all too true and she would know for sure all too soon.
She sat down in the middle of the meadow and looked around. She was two to three hundred yards away from the tree line in any direction. She knew that if the story is true that come sunrise there would be no escape, nobody to hear her scream and even if they could, no way to get to her without being captured themselves, and she was completely naked to boot.
After about an hour of stargazing and agonizing anticipation. She became sleepy and laid down. She spread herself out as if she was staked down spread eagle and thought “ok, take me.” Before falling asleep.
Monica woke up to the sensation of vines wrapping around her ankles, and wrist. The vines, once secure with a firm grip of her receded into the ground pulling her tightly to it. More vines secured her knees and elbows making her completely immobile. She lifted her head and saw that the sky just over the trees ahead was turning pink.
“Ok… Here we go.” She said knowing that it was going to be a very, very long day.
