The big game was approaching and Ally was already worried. She loved being in the cheerleader squad and always performed well in rehearsals but for some reason whenever she went out in front of an audience she went to pieces.
Fortunately her troupe leader, Miss Furr, was a kindly and observant soul and knew just what to do to sort out her student’s problem. After the Friday night practise, she took Ally to one side.
“Well done Ally, another great practise, you’re coming along in leaps and bounds.”
“Thankyou Miss Furr but I have to confess, I’m absolutely terrified about next week’s game. I know I can do all the moves but everything goes wrong when I’m in front of a crowd. I’ve always suffered from stagefright and I just don’t know what I can do about it.” :stiffdrink
“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t noticed but if you’re up for a special practise session this evening, I know exactly what to do to help you perform to the very best of your ability.”
Ally’s reply was immediate and to the affirmative.
“Marvellous!” declared Miss Furr, “I have to warn you that my methods are a little……..unorthadox but…”
“I don’t care!” exclaimed Ally, “If it will help me with my performance then I will do anything.”
“Really?” said Miss Furr slowly and quietly. ” Ok, come to my house at 7.30, in your outfit and I will give you a night that will change your life forever.”
With a new found spring in her step, Ally departed for a quick bite to eat before undertaking the short walk to her instuctor’s house. Without pausing she marched up to the front door, smoothed out her skirt, adjusted her top and rang the wrought iron pull bell.
“Good evening Miss Furr.” said Ally slightly bemused at her host’s attire which was predominately black leather as she was ushered through the collosal doorway into an even larger reception area.
“Hello Ally, we’re not at college anymore so please call me Lucy, this way please.”
“As I said, my methods are a little unusual but I have a one hundred per cent success rate so please bear with me.”
“Anything you say,” was Ally’s reply as she followed Lucy down a set of stairs and into her cellar.
Ally stopped in her tracks as Lucy opened the door to the basement. The bare brick walls were adourned with ropes, chains and a plethora of leather straps and other ominous looking paraphernalia.
“Don’t be shy, you said you’d try anything.”
“I guess I did.” said Ally as she was led to the only piece of furniture in the room. A large wooden table with an assortment of holes drilled through it in various places.
“Up you get.” said Lucy as she helped her hapless student onto the table. “Lie down please.”
Ally complied as Lucy strode over to one of the plain brick walls, returning moments later with a handfull of chains and manacles. Ally did nothing to resist as her left wrist was clamped tightly into a steel manacle and locked shut. Her arm was pulled away from her body and stretched out to the corner of the table. Lucy fed the attached chain through a conveniently placed hole and locked it to something under the table. The same proceedure was applied to her right wrist.
Lucy moved down to the foot of the table.
“Time to make you a little more comfortable.” she said with a grin as she untied Ally’s trainers, removed them along with her little white socks and carelessly discarded them. She took a steel shackle and clasped it shut around Ally’s left ankle, again stretching her leg out to the corner, feeding the chain through a hole and fixing it underneath. Ally was not surprised to find the same thing happening to her other leg. Despite her initial intimidation at being spread-eagled out on a table in her teacher’s cellar, a strange excitement was stirring deep iside her. She was also surprised to find that she wasn’t too bothered by the fact that her skirt had moved slightly higher up her thigh than she would normally have liked. She waited in anticipation of Lucy’s next move.
“Lift your head up please dear.” said Lucy as she inserted a large black rubber bit gag between her teeth, fastening it tightly behind her head. Ally was getting a little anxious by now but the taste of rubber was not as unpleasant as she had anticipated and for some unfathomable reason she found herself more intrigued as to what was happening to her.
“One last thing before we start your training.”
Lucy approached with two short lengths of thin rope and tied the end of one tightly to one of Ally’s pig-tails. She fed the other end through a hole to the side of Ally’s head and pulled gently to take up the slack before tying it off underneath. When the same was done to her other pig-tail, Ally found that she was unable to move her head from side to side and was forced to look straight up at the old beams in the ceiling.
“OK I think we’re about ready to start.”
Ally burst into hysterical laughter and writhed around frantically as Lucy tickled the soles of her bare feet with a previously unnoticed feather. After a short while she stopped.
“Your only problem is all in your mind, you have no self-control. We are about to undertake an exercise in mind over matter. Why are some people ticklish and some aren’t? You have the ability to tell yourself that it doesn’t tickle, allow your mind to wander elsewhere, it only tickles when you think about it. We shall try again and this time I want you to think only about the moves you have to perform in the sequence that the troop have rehearsed. I do not want to hear a single sound come out of your lips and you are to remain completely motionless. Do you understand.”
Ally tried to nod but her pig-tail restriction somewhat hindered her attempt. Again she screamed with laughter and violently jerked at her chains feeling the pull on her hair with each involuntary movement.
“Oh dear.” said Lucy. “I can see that you need a lot more practise at this. I’ll return in an hour and we will try again. If you fail, we will re-try an hour after that and so on until you are able to master your own self discipline. I’m sure you’ll get it in the end, as I said, I have yet to fail with a student and we’ve got all weekend…see you later…”

Sorry people, got carried away again!