| �Good,� said Marcus, beginning to tie Halle�s wrists over her head to the head board. �Is this gonna be fun?� she asked. �Oh I�m sure of it.� After securing her wrists he moved to Halle�s ankles. As he worked, he enjoyed her soles in his face as well as the fact that she constantly wiggled her toes and rubbed her feet together. He finished by tying the slack of the rope to the bed frame underneath, then giving Halle�s arch a quick stroke with his finger. She squealed and curled her toes. �Wow. You seem ticklish.� �I am.� �Well that�s just the tip of the iceberg.� Marcus went back to his dresser and returned with a large feather. �What is that, a pigeon feather?� Halle asked. �Actually it is.� Marcus settled himself in front of Halle�s soles and began lightly stroking them. Halle shrieked and lurched, as if surprised at her own ticklishness. Marcus continued to feather the balls of Halle�s feet, making her toes spread and her back arch. Her cheeks puffed out and her face reddened, attempting to hold in her laugh, but it was no use, finally exploding from her throat in a fit of cackles. Marcus took great interest in the contorting of the set of toes in front of him, which over the next ten minutes took every position possible as Halle�s laugh became more and more hoarse. It surprised him how quickly the hoarseness was overtaking her, but given how hard she was laughing, he figured it was understandable. When Halle started attempting to yank her ankles free of his ropes, he decided it was time to give her a rest. �Well Halle, It�s still mad early, so I�ma go back to sleep,� he said, untying her ankles. �Really?� Halle panted. �Yep.� �You not gonna open the rest of your presents?� �Later. I�m tired.� �Good. I�m tired, too.� As he was untying her wrists, Marcus noticed that Halle�s tank top was drenched with sweat. �You wanna take that top off?� he asked. �It�s soaked.� �Yeah, you�d like me to take it off, wouldn�t you?� she smiled. �You can do what you wanna do.� �I�ll take it off.� As soon as Halle�s hands were free, she did just that. Marcus smiled. Halle smiled. Marcus climbed into bed and lay next to her. They remained quiet and Halle slipped an arm around Marcus� waist as they both drifted off to sleep. |
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| It was around eight-thirty, and Brian was laying in the middle of the living room floot, amidst wrapping paper, toys and games. His expression was blank, having discovered that indeed, none of his gifts could compete with Marcus'. Damn Santa Claus! Damn him! Brian was seriously contemplating trying to find Santa and assasinate him. Brian's mother entered, still in her robe. She grabbed the remote from the coffee table and flicked on the TV. "Brian, what's the matter?" "It's not that I'm not grateful for what you've given me, " began Brian, his tone monotnous, "I'm just really dissapointed in Santa right now." "Come on, suck it up," said his mother , taking a seat on the couch, kicking out of her slippers and curling her toes. "You got a lot of stuff here." "I know. And I truly appreciate it all." The doorbell rang. Brian's mom slid back into her shoes and went to |
| (Kisha) |
| answer the door. It was her sister, Kisha holding a beagle puppy in her arms. The warm Southern Cali weather dictated light dress�which was exactly what Kisha was wearing. The dress was knee-length and made of pink linen, which matched her pink flip-flops. �Hey, Cheryl,� she said. �Hey, Kisha. Look, Brian. It�s your aunt Kisha.� �Hello Kisha,� said Brian, continuing to stare at the ceiling �I think Kisha has something for you,� said Cheryl, as Kisha entered the living room. Brian sat up as Kisha approached him and saw the puppy in her arms. �Is that for me?� he asked. �Yep.� Kisha crouched down and set the dog in between Brian�s legs. �Our dog finally had her puppies and I figured you�d like one.� Brian stroked the little dog�s head and back. �Mom, this okay with you?� �Yeah, she told me about it before she brought it over.� �Thanks, Kisha,� said Brandon, giving his aunt a peck on the cheek. �This is nice. This is actually one of the things I asked Santa for.� �Well, see there?� said Cheryl. �I guess things ain�t all bad.� �I guess not. I�ma go show Marcus.� Without another word, he grabbed his new pet and darted up the stairs to Marcus� room. The first thing he noticed upon entering was Halle�s bare feet poking out from under the covers of his brother�s bed. He walked over to the pair of feet and held his dog in front of her soles. The dog sniffed at them, then began licking. The feet started moving around, the toes began to wiggle and pretty soon, Halle was giggling and squirming around vigorously enough to awaken Marcus. �Brian, what are you doing?� he mumbled. �Look what Kisha got me.� �She got you a dog?� �Yeah. Cool, right?� �Yeah, sure.� Halle�s laughing put a momentary pause to the boys� conversation. �So you gonna open up the rest of your stuff?� Brian continued. �Uh, yeah. I gotta piss first, though.� Marcus got up and headed to the bathroom. �You know, I think you�re the best gift Marcus has ever gotten,� said Brian to Halle. �Really?� she giggled as Brian�s dog continued to lap at her wiggling toes. �You want me to stop my dog from licking your feet?� �Hee, hee. If you don�t mind.� He held the dog up to his chest and to her relief, away from Halle�s feet. |