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by Dominik
This story is a work of fiction, all characters and plot lines are fictional. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
How I Got Into It remains the property of the author. The story or characters may not be reproduced or republished elsewhere without the expressed written consent of the author.
1– Surprises in the woods
I should have been suspicious.
Almost every day in that hot summer, I used to ride on my bike to my friend Georg’s house and together, we would ride to our secret place by the pond in the woods, to spend the afternoon swimming and, er … playing games. Our classmate Silvio often would join us.
However, that day, when I was just about to leave for Georg’s, I got a phone call from Silvio. He and Georg would have to take a trip to the mall first and wouldn’t be at the pond until around 2.30, so I’d best go straight down there today.
“Oh, and put on your red shorts – you look great in them!” Silvio added. Now that request should have roused my suspicion – after all, Silvio was known for the jokes he played on his friends, and why on earth did he care if I wore red or white or whatever shorts?
As I was already wearing my red satin PE shorts, I didn’t mind.
At around 2.15, I hopped on my bike and rode off. Of course, for such occasions, there was no need to dress up, so I didn’t wear any shirt or shoes. The only thing I had taken with me was a bottle of ice tea, wrapped into a wet towel to keep it cool.
The journey mainly consisted of small farm tracks and paths through the woods, so most of the time I couldn’t ride very fast.
I was slowly rolling into a small clearing in the wood when I saw something that surprised me. At the far end of the clearing there was a boy about my age (13, that is) and – this was weird – dressed exactly like me, that is red PE short and nothing else. (Because of the high grass, however, I couldn’t be sure if he was wearing shoes or not).
Obviously, he was completely engrossed in watching something in the wood.
He was standing behind a small bush, one hand resting on his knee, as if he was hiding from something or someone in the wood yet at the same time watching it.
With all his attention turned towards the woods, he hadn’t noticed me yet. Fortunately, just the day before, I had treated my bike to a bit of a service, that is, some drops of oil on the chain etc., so he didn’t hear me approach him either. I was curious to learn what that kid was doing there. It didn’t look like a good idea to just ask him, so, avoiding any noise, I stopped, laid down my bike and crept to a small bush, which would hide me from him, even if he happened to look in my direction.
After some more moments of observing the woods, he slowly stepped forward and sneaked into them, being very careful with his steps. For a few moments I could see him between the trees; every few yards, he stopped and carefully looked around.
When he had disappeared in the wood there was nothing of interest around anymore, so I mounted my bike and continued on my way to the pond.
I had covered just ten or twenty yards, I suddenly heard a cheerful voice, roughly from where the boy had just disappeared, saying “Hi Rico! Nice to meet you! I’m sure you want to surrender now, don’t you?”
Now I was really curious.
Knowing that part of the woods very well (I had played around them for years), I knew that about one hundred and fifty feet beyond the clearing lay a small hidden footpath that went off from the path I now rode on. This would take me at least roughly to where I heard the voice. It was too narrow to ride, so I dropped my bike again and entered the path.
I thought that if there was someone around who talked of surrendering, I’d be better off seeing him before he saw me, so I advanced slowly and carefully. My bare feet made it easier to avoid treading on branches and making a noise, and the sound of a small creek would also obscure, or at least damp down, any noise I might make.
After some five minutes of careful advancing, I came to another small clearing, which was divided by the creek. But before I entered the clearing, I hid behind a bush and thoroughly checked what I could see of the clearing and the surrounding bushes and trees.
Having seen nothing out of order, I walked out into the open. And what I then saw almost took my breath away! In a corner of the clearing which I had overlooked from my last observation post, near a small bush, lay the boy in the red shorts I had seen before – strictly hogtied and gagged!
Now a nice boy would have been shocked by that sight, but I must admit my feelings were far from that. Among other feelings I’m not going to describe here, I was curious, even more than before; curious to find out how he got into that state.
So, after a few moments of silent admiration, I walked over to him, forgetting all the caution I had shown before. As soon as he noticed me, he started to mmmph desperately into his gag and shake his head no. It was obvious he wanted to tell me something, so I ungagged him.
The result was another surprise to me.
“Dumb ass! It’s a trap! They are still around! Run, now, as quick as you can!”
Another surprise followed immediately.
“He’s right, you know.” said a voice behind me. It was the same cheerful voice I had heard before near the clearing.
I jumped to my feet and turned in the direction the voice came from – and looked into the face of Stefan, a boy who attended my parallel class. Wearing only a pair of cutoffs, he was an awesome sight with his blonde hair that fell into his face and his sun-tanned body.
What amazed me, however, was what he had brought along. In his left hand, he carried a water pistol, in his right a length of rope that looked like a lasso to me. Some bandanas and more ropes were stuffed under the belt of his cutoffs.
“But” Stefan continued, “You should forget what he said about running – you wouldn’t get far, not at that distance” – he was some ten feet away from me and slowly coming closer – “I cannot miss you with my gun, and then you’d have to obey the rules and surrender anyhow. So, if you don’t want it the hard way, you’d better surrender right now.” All that in a relaxed, casual tone, as if we were talking about computer games or the weather.
“And even if he misses – I won’t.” I looked behind me from where this new voice had come and saw – Silvio, in the same outfit as Stefan, also with a water pistol in his hand and a mean grin in his face.
“What on earth are YOU doing here? And what rules?” I asked him as soon as I had regained my senses.
“What I’m doing here? Well – hunting!”
“Hunting what?”
“YOU!”
The same moment, I felt a coil of rope tighten around my arms and body, and I was pulled forward. A moment later, I lay face down in the grass, with Silvio – who had grabbed my legs the very moment Stefan had thrown the lasso at me – sitting on my thighs and Stefan kneeling on my shoulders. Each of them grabbed one of my wrists, pulled it behind my back, and I felt a rope wrapped around my wrists several times and then carefully cinched off.
“After all, we didn’t come here to talk, did we?” Stefan said.
“What flipping rules are you talking about?” I asked while Silvio was tying my feet. (Of course, I didn’t say “flipping”)
“The rules of the game, stupid!” Silvio replied.
“What game? I don’t know about any game!”
“Nice try!” Stefan grinned.
“Honest! I have no idea what you’re tammmmph!”
“As I was saying: we didn’t come here to talk.” Stefan knotted the bandana he had stuffed into my mouth (which felt as if a rubber ball was rolled into it) behind my head. To further secure it, he placed another bandana over my mouth.
“Wait a moment” Silvio said. “we’d better place him on the other side of the creek, so they cannot reach each other to get themselves out of the ropes.”
“You’re right.” Stefan grabbed my shoulders, Silvio my knees, and I was unceremoniously carried across the water. They dumped me down on my stomach, my feet were pulled upwards, and the hogtie was completed.
“Oh, Rico, I almost forgot” Stefan moved over to the other boy. “It wouldn’t be fair if you could talk to Dominik and he couldn’t reply, would it?”
Rico didn’t reply, and soon he couldn’t anymore – Stefan had thoroughly re-gagged him.
“All right boys” Stefan resumed his casual tone, “As soon as we’ve got time we will come back and take you to our camp where you will be accommodated a bit more comfortably – maybe. But don’t expect us too soon – there are still some of you out there. Meanwhile, have fun and don’t go anywhere!”
“Have a nice afternoon!” Silvio added with a broad grin and patted on my bare shoulders. I swore that for that grin alone, I would get him.
“Two down, and fi… four to go! Great start!” I heard Silvio saying when they disappeared in the brush.
© Copyright Dominik 2007
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