Don Turtelli
Registered User
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2001
- Messages
- 33
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I decided that I would go. Here I was, twenty three years of age, had dropped out of college one year previously, and had just left my recent job in a local building society. I wanted to save money to travel the world while I was still young, before I settled down into a routine in life. My aunt Abby had never really settled down; never married although she did have a few relationships over the years, and she had moved house a few times. She was now aged about fifty. As well as English, she spoke fluent Spanish, French and Italian, or so she claimed anyhow, I never entirely believed it. Anyway, a friend of hers was supposed to be moving temporarily to China for work reasons and had rented out a place in the country on a six month contract. Because of illness, the friend had decided not to go. Thus, two tickets to the country plus accommodation were available to whoever wanted. My aunt Abby, perhaps bored with life in general, had decided to take the offer. None of Abby's friends were interested in taking the second ticket. I, wanting to see new places, began to really consider accompanying my aunt. I spent about a week thinking about it and came to a decision; I decided that I would go.
So there we were, myself and my aunt, on a fine day of May, boarding a plane for China. I was actually really excited, there were no feelings of apprehension. Abby was the same, she said that she really needed a six month holiday. The flight took twelve hours, and it was quite exhausting. We arrived at about six in the morning to a bustling metropolitan airport, the name I can't recall. The city Anshan was in the north east of China and held about four million people. From the airport we took a taxi to our chalet. The taximan spoke no English so we just showed him a piece of paper with the address writen in Chinese. We drove for about an hour and a half, going well outside the city, through two villages, and finally to the outskirts of a very small village. We paid the taximan two thousand yuan.
The chalet was of moderate size, made of fine oak and painted a cream colour. The window frames were dark red as was the front door, which was at the top of a stairway. There was just one floor level, the chalet elevated perhaps as flood insurance. "It's so nice Derek" said Abby to me. "I agree". We went inside, unpacked our bags and made the beds. There were two bedrooms. I insisted on my aunt having the bigger one, after some debate. We both decided that sleep was the best thing for now.
As I drifted off to sleep I began to plan out how to spend these next few months. I would try to learn some of the language, and I would buy a car or a bike and travel about, see the province, meet the people, make the most of these next few months before I go back home and find a permanent job....
I woke up at about twelve noon the next day. I walked to the kitchen, a small basic room. My aunt had prepared breakfast which I finished in about thirty seconds. "You feel like walking to the village" asked Abby. "Sure why not?" I replied. We both got changed and made the ten minute walk towards the village.
It is quite apparent, to me anyway, that myself and Abby are aunt and nephew. Her hair is dark blond in a ponytail whereas my hair is dark, kind of short, but we are both tanned and have dark eyes and are somewhat tall. We really noticed how small this village was as we entered it. There were three buildings of two stories and four or five market stalls. The locals eyed us suspiciously as we walked through, but did wave back anytime we waved. We discovered that one of the buildings was a pub, so we decided to have a few beers. We had great fun trying to ask for the beers in the first place because of the language barrier, but once the barman understood, the beers kept coming. We were the only customers in the pub throughout the day. We joked and talked; myself and Abby got on quite well. We had a bit of banter with the barman also. He even gave us free drinks before we left. As neither one of us had on a watch, we didnt realise how long we had spent in the pub. It was dark as we left. The barman gave us a torch as we went. The village was lit up ok, but as we descended the road towards the chalet we needed the torch. Back to bed and I slept soundly till the next morning.
I didnt have any hangover whatsoever when I woke up, and neither did Abby, even though we did drink a good amount. Just after noon we decided to go up to the village again to get some food. We discovered that one of the other buildings was a restaurant. We went inside and sat down at one of the four tables. No other customers in the restaurant. A young local man asked us for our order. Luckily he spoke a small amount of English and we were able to order; duck for me and chicken for Abby. The food was quite tasty, and our appetites were good as we ate the food quickly. The waiter brought us the bill, with a friendly smile. I went to pay when I noticed a mistake; we were being charged fifteen thousand yuan, about one hundred fifty dollars, for the lunch. I said it to the waiter. He, however, was insisting on us paying what was on the bill.
Neither myself nor Abby like to be taken for fools. 'These people think we are just stupid rich tourists' I said to Abby. 'They can think twice' said Abby defiantly. One characteristic that we certainly both share is stubborness, and we were not going to be literally robbed. 'We're not paying it' said Abby. The waiter looked at us both very angrily before walking into the kitchen. Myself and Abby left three thousand yuan on the table, which was quite generous and got up to leave. What happened next is a bit of a blur, but the room flooded with local people. We were grabbed, hoods thrown over our heads and dragged down steps. I felt my wrists and ankled being tied down to what felt like leather. We both struggled, but to no avail; there was too many people holding us.
The commotion then stopped. Our hoods were taken off by the waiter, who was now alone with us. Abby and I were strapped down to a leather table each, side by side, about one foot apart. Our arms were above our heads, held by thick leather straps, and our ankles were also held by thick leather straps. We both struggled violently, screaming curses at the waiter. He just smiled however as he proceeded to remove our shoes and socks, and then cut away clothing under our arms and at our ribs using a scissors. He then left the room. The room was small, lit by a single bulb, the walls dark cream. The door was made of thick wood. As we struggled against our bonds, we realised that we were trapped; the straps were unescapable. We were both quite anxious but also angry. I tried not to show any fear in front of my aunt. She certainly did not seem afraid, she was completely defiant.
The door swung open suddenly. A Chinese lady entered the room. She was short and squat, about forty years of age, and had short hair to her shoulders. She had a key in her hand which she used to lock the three of us together in the room. She spoke broken English. "My name is Lin, and my job is to now torment and torture you both. You will both be severly disciplined. You will do exactly as I say; refuse to obey and you will be very very sorry. You come here and disrespect this building; well you are both mine now. And remember as I unbearably torment you both that escape is absolutely impossible".
to be continued
So there we were, myself and my aunt, on a fine day of May, boarding a plane for China. I was actually really excited, there were no feelings of apprehension. Abby was the same, she said that she really needed a six month holiday. The flight took twelve hours, and it was quite exhausting. We arrived at about six in the morning to a bustling metropolitan airport, the name I can't recall. The city Anshan was in the north east of China and held about four million people. From the airport we took a taxi to our chalet. The taximan spoke no English so we just showed him a piece of paper with the address writen in Chinese. We drove for about an hour and a half, going well outside the city, through two villages, and finally to the outskirts of a very small village. We paid the taximan two thousand yuan.
The chalet was of moderate size, made of fine oak and painted a cream colour. The window frames were dark red as was the front door, which was at the top of a stairway. There was just one floor level, the chalet elevated perhaps as flood insurance. "It's so nice Derek" said Abby to me. "I agree". We went inside, unpacked our bags and made the beds. There were two bedrooms. I insisted on my aunt having the bigger one, after some debate. We both decided that sleep was the best thing for now.
As I drifted off to sleep I began to plan out how to spend these next few months. I would try to learn some of the language, and I would buy a car or a bike and travel about, see the province, meet the people, make the most of these next few months before I go back home and find a permanent job....
I woke up at about twelve noon the next day. I walked to the kitchen, a small basic room. My aunt had prepared breakfast which I finished in about thirty seconds. "You feel like walking to the village" asked Abby. "Sure why not?" I replied. We both got changed and made the ten minute walk towards the village.
It is quite apparent, to me anyway, that myself and Abby are aunt and nephew. Her hair is dark blond in a ponytail whereas my hair is dark, kind of short, but we are both tanned and have dark eyes and are somewhat tall. We really noticed how small this village was as we entered it. There were three buildings of two stories and four or five market stalls. The locals eyed us suspiciously as we walked through, but did wave back anytime we waved. We discovered that one of the buildings was a pub, so we decided to have a few beers. We had great fun trying to ask for the beers in the first place because of the language barrier, but once the barman understood, the beers kept coming. We were the only customers in the pub throughout the day. We joked and talked; myself and Abby got on quite well. We had a bit of banter with the barman also. He even gave us free drinks before we left. As neither one of us had on a watch, we didnt realise how long we had spent in the pub. It was dark as we left. The barman gave us a torch as we went. The village was lit up ok, but as we descended the road towards the chalet we needed the torch. Back to bed and I slept soundly till the next morning.
I didnt have any hangover whatsoever when I woke up, and neither did Abby, even though we did drink a good amount. Just after noon we decided to go up to the village again to get some food. We discovered that one of the other buildings was a restaurant. We went inside and sat down at one of the four tables. No other customers in the restaurant. A young local man asked us for our order. Luckily he spoke a small amount of English and we were able to order; duck for me and chicken for Abby. The food was quite tasty, and our appetites were good as we ate the food quickly. The waiter brought us the bill, with a friendly smile. I went to pay when I noticed a mistake; we were being charged fifteen thousand yuan, about one hundred fifty dollars, for the lunch. I said it to the waiter. He, however, was insisting on us paying what was on the bill.
Neither myself nor Abby like to be taken for fools. 'These people think we are just stupid rich tourists' I said to Abby. 'They can think twice' said Abby defiantly. One characteristic that we certainly both share is stubborness, and we were not going to be literally robbed. 'We're not paying it' said Abby. The waiter looked at us both very angrily before walking into the kitchen. Myself and Abby left three thousand yuan on the table, which was quite generous and got up to leave. What happened next is a bit of a blur, but the room flooded with local people. We were grabbed, hoods thrown over our heads and dragged down steps. I felt my wrists and ankled being tied down to what felt like leather. We both struggled, but to no avail; there was too many people holding us.
The commotion then stopped. Our hoods were taken off by the waiter, who was now alone with us. Abby and I were strapped down to a leather table each, side by side, about one foot apart. Our arms were above our heads, held by thick leather straps, and our ankles were also held by thick leather straps. We both struggled violently, screaming curses at the waiter. He just smiled however as he proceeded to remove our shoes and socks, and then cut away clothing under our arms and at our ribs using a scissors. He then left the room. The room was small, lit by a single bulb, the walls dark cream. The door was made of thick wood. As we struggled against our bonds, we realised that we were trapped; the straps were unescapable. We were both quite anxious but also angry. I tried not to show any fear in front of my aunt. She certainly did not seem afraid, she was completely defiant.
The door swung open suddenly. A Chinese lady entered the room. She was short and squat, about forty years of age, and had short hair to her shoulders. She had a key in her hand which she used to lock the three of us together in the room. She spoke broken English. "My name is Lin, and my job is to now torment and torture you both. You will both be severly disciplined. You will do exactly as I say; refuse to obey and you will be very very sorry. You come here and disrespect this building; well you are both mine now. And remember as I unbearably torment you both that escape is absolutely impossible".
to be continued