Once upon a time there was a beautiful damsel named Rapunzel who had the longest, loveliest, silky-soft, ash-blonde hair as could be imagined. Her abundant, wavy tresses poured from her head down her back and legs, ending just after the soles of her feet, so that, as a consequence, she was obliged to wear very high heels whenever she went out to prevent her lengthy locks from sweeping the ground behind her.
"Restore your hair's vibrant vitality? Yeah, that's the stuff!" she enthused, tossing a bottle into her shopping cart. Rapunzel was shopping in her local W-Mart Megastore for shampoo, conditioner, and various other hair-care products, for taking proper care of her crowning glory required a considerable portion of her free time, as may well be imagined.
She was dressed comfortably and casually in a light, pastel-blue and off-white windbreaker over a faded, rosé-pink shirt; midnight blue pants that ended up above her ankles; and brown, open-toed, platform sandals. She reached to study a new offering. "Short, sexy hair? No, I don't think so!" she scoffed, tossing the box contemptuously back onto its shelf.
"Hey, baby," The Wolf greeted her, sliding his cart up to hers. He had discovered that cruising along the health and beauty section of the store was an excellent way to meet women.
"Hey, Wolfy!" Rapunzel shrieked happily, as he swept her up in an effusive bear hug.
"Look, I managed to get us those tickets for the opera tonight!" he announced when he put her down. He found the opera about as entertaining as a visit to the dentist's office, but he knew how much Rapunzel loved classical music, so of course he had to pretend he did as well. "Yeah, it's our own private box and everything!"
"How wonderful!" She clapped her hands in delight. "Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi is so beautiful, the way the music moves that version of the old Romeo and Juliet story about forbidden love."
"Hey, dollface, is this young hellion bothering you?" asked a reedy voice as an elderly wolf with a basket under one arm rounded the corner. He glared expectantly at The Wolf. "Well, don't just stand there, boy; introduce me!"
"Grampa, this is Rapunzel Trotwood; Rapunzel, this is my grandfather, Thaddeus Wolf," mumbled The Wolf hurriedly.
"Oh, I'm very pleased to meet you!" responded Rapunzel politely, hugging the old wolf.
"And I'm charmed to make your acquaintance. Trotwood, is it? Are you any relation to Betsy Trotwood?"
"Elizabeth Trotwood is my great-aunt and the person who raised me," explained Rapunzel.
"I haven't seen old 'Hot to Trot' in years," mused the old wolf. "How's she doing these days?"
"Umm, not too well," said Rapunzel, a bit shocked to hear her prim and proper relative referred to as "Hot to Trot." "She been kind of depressed lately, just moping about the house and not acting like herself."
"I'll have to stop by and pay her a visit," decided Thaddeus.
"Yeah, you do that, Grampa," interjected The Wolf. He had spent a moment checking his appearance in one of the store's large mirrors, but now turned his attention back to Rapunzel, putting an arm around her waist where it fit quite nicely. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled to meet you again and discuss old times. By the way, I think you took a wrong turn someplace. You can find the denture cream over in…"
"Don't you try to hurry me off, sonny-boy," interrupted the old wolf, opening his mouth wide to show he still had all his original teeth. "I've got something else I want to say to this young lady."
"Yes, how could you speak so to your own grandfather?" scolded Rapunzel.
"If this sweet-talking grandson of mine is here picking you up, I should inform you that just a minute ago he was over in the next aisle with Goldilocks, where she was buying some liquid sunshine to keep those locks of hers gold. He was making a date with her!"
"Wolfy! Is this true!?" demanded Rapunzel angrily.
"No, baby, I wasn't making a date; I was just being neighborly!" explained The Wolf, giving his aged ancestor a dark look. "Yeah, you see, the thing is, she couldn't reach something off the top shelf, and, well, I just had to help a damsel in distress. Yeah, it would have been ungentlewolfly of me not to have! But that's all that happened!"
"Hey, Wolfy, I'll be seeing you later!" announced Goldilocks, casting a coy look in his direction while she swung her cart by the head of the aisle.
"Wolfy! What did she mean by that?!" challenged Rapunzel. And what was so great about that peroxide princess, anyhow? Her hair only came a short ways down past her shoulders!
"Hey baby, she probably just meant that since she shops a lot in the store and I do too that we'll probably run into one another here again, and she knows she can count on me to help her if she ever needs anything else taken off a top shelf."
"No, she was talking about…" began Thaddeus.
"So, about these opera tickets," interrupted The Wolf. "Yeah, I'll pick you up at sevenish, okay?"
"Yeah, I'll see you around seven," sighed Rapunzel.
___
"Mpfff!" exclaimed Rapunzel in dismay. Winding up bound and gagged was not what she had expected when she had left her bedroom, descending the staircase to arrive into the living room of her great-aunt's enormous old house to show her outfit for the night!
She was dressed in a gradient-blue evening gown of chiffon, strapless, with a sequined bustier and a satin crisscross in front extending around to a bowtie in her back. She wore matching blue high heels and a small, silver tiara. She had painstakingly braided her long hair, gathering it up around her head.
She sat in one of her great-aunt's antique wooden chairs, tied with numerous strands of white rope. Her ankles were bound together and drawn back, tied by a connecting length of rope to a rod running between the back legs of the chair. Her thighs had been circled with rope, and then held down against the thinly cushioned seat with yet more rope, some running under the seat, some running down and tied to the front legs of the chair and some tied to the side connecting rods. Her elbows where bent back against the sides of the chair, so that lengths of rope ran from her wrists, binding them. Lengthier strands of rope likewise ran from just above her elbows. More coils of rope circled her stomach and just below and just above her bosom, running around the back of the chair between wide gaps between the center and the sides.
"Mpfff!" Her mouth was neatly packed with cloth, while her lips, cheeks, and chin were coated with strips of strong white tape her great-aunt had methodically used to silence her. "Mpfff!"
"So, you think you can just go gallivanting off with boys anytime you feel?" demanded Betsy Trotwood, glowering disapprovingly at her great-niece. "And in a positively indecent gown, so low-cut that it shows off to them what they've got no business gawking at. And with your face all painted like some cheap hussy, too. Well, not while I have anything to say about it you won't!"
"Mpfff!" protested Rapunzel, feeling bewildered and betrayed as she struggled vainly against the ropes her relative had used so effectively to bind her.
"And to think I raised you to be a modest girl! I never did any such things when I was your age!"
"Mpfff!" From her conversation with old Thaddeus Wolf earlier that day, Rapunzel was beginning to suspect her great-aunt was having a bit of a convenient memory.
"Carrying on with wild folks, especially those awful Wolfs! That whole pack of them is no good, as I can tell you from personal experience, and that young one you've been seeing is the worst of the lot!"
"Mpfff!" There wasn't a thing wrong with The Wolf, Rapunzel attempted to explain, except for his roving eye when other females were around, and that was something she was sure she could cure him of, once she got him firmly in hand!
"I think the root of the whole problem here is your vanity," mused the elderly woman, stepping carefully to avoid a large loop of rope lying loosely on her thick carpet. She moved to stand behind her great-niece. "If you having nothing to be vain about then I think you'll start taking a more serious and sober view of life once again."
"Mpfff!" Rapunzel realized her great-aunt was slowly unbraiding her hair, which had taken her so long to do up. Why was she doing that?
She had plenty of time to speculate, for after Rapnuzel's long tresses fell down to the floor, Betsy Trotwood silently stalked off, disappearing for several minutes before reappearing with a large pair of barber shears in her hand.
"MPFFF!" Rapunzel's eyes went wide with alarm at this sight as her great-aunt, avoiding another circle of rope on the floor, moved behind her once again.
"Snip, snap," announced Betsy Trotwood. "Yes, I'll cut it all off! Just like in that famous story by O. Henry. We'll see if that won't calm this wild streak you've been developing lately!"
"MPFFF!" Rapunzel just couldn't have her beautiful long locks shorn off like that; she just couldn't! But although she tried twisting and turning she could not get free of her bonds, and her limited range of motion was not enough to evade the large scissors her great-aunt was now moving determinedly towards her….
___
Snip, snip, snip! Betsy Trotwood vigorously opened and closed the scissors as she drew them closer to Rapunzel, who squirmed desperately in the ropes, trying to move out of range. "Sit still!" the elderly woman ordered angrily as she brought the shears to bear on her great-niece's abundant tresses. Rapunzel simply could not avoid them!
Ding-dong!
"It's the front doorbell!" exclaimed Rapunzel as well as her gag allowed her to, which was not very well at all.
Betsy Trotwood lowered the scissors, much to Rapunzel's relief, and slowly left the room.
"Hey, good evening, Ms. Trotwood!" greeted The Wolf politely. He wore his tuxedo and carried a white orchid in one paw. "I had forgotten just how dynamite attractive you are. Now I know where Rapunzel gets her good looks from!"
"Rapunzel is not descended from me, so she can hardly get her looks from me," sniffed the grande dame in reply. "Furthermore, you are forbidden to ever see her again. Leave at once, and if you ever return I shall summon the police and you will be charged with criminal trespass. Good evening!"
"Hey, what?" asked The Wolf in bewilderment, and then, "Ouch!" as he managed to stick his foot (in an impeccably polished shoe) inside just as Betsy Trotwood slammed the door. He then said, "Ouch!" again and then again a third time.
"If you would have the goodness to remove your foot I would succeed in my efforts to close this door," observed Betsy Trotwood hostilely. She jabbed him meaningfully with the sharp end of her long scissors.
"Yeah, if Rapunzel doesn't want to see me then I want to hear her say so herself!" announced The Wolf, boldly stepping into the house.
"What do you think you're doing? I demand you leave this instant!"
"Hey, Rapunzel, baby, you around?" called out The Wolf, ignoring Betsy Trotwood.
"Mpfff!" called out Rapunzel.
"Hey, what's going on here?" demanded The Wolf, and then, getting no reply, moved forward among the strands of rope on the floor. "Yeah, you okay, baby? I'll have you out of this in just a jiffy!"
"Mpfff!" warned Rapunzel, but too late. As The Wolf stepped closer to her, he put a foot into one of the loops of rope on the floor, which immediately tightened around his ankle. With a soft whizzing sound, he suddenly found himself pulled upwards. The end of the rope was tied to the second-story banister. He hung by his foot, suspended upside-down a few feet in the air!
"Hey, put me down!" he protested. He tried to swing himself up to cut himself loose with his long, sharp claws, but he could not quite reach the rope. He tried again and again, while Betsy Trotwood looked on in amusement.
"Well, that should keep you entertained until I'm ready to deal with you," she observed smugly. "Now that you're out of the way, it's time to get back to business!"
"Mpfff!" During the brief respite, Rapunzel had not discovered any means to free herself. There were just so many ropes all around her, and tight knots everywhere, all out of reach! Her great-aunt was coming towards her again, snapping the scissors open and shut, determination written in her fiery old eyes!
___
"Hey, what do you think you're doing? I like Rapunzel's hair all long!" protested The Wolf, trying to distract Betsy Trotwood to keep her from performing her deed. He made another effort to swing his body upwards, but just could not quite reach the rope! "That's all messed up, doing that!"
"Mpfff!" agreed Rapunzel heartily.
"My, the way youngsters mangle the English language these days," murmured Betsy Trotwood, moving the shears towards Rapunzel's long locks once again.
Ding-dong!
"Hey, you'd better get that!" announced The Wolf, welcoming the interruption.
"Now what?" sighed Betsy Trotwood in frustration.
"Hey, dollface, I was hoping I'd catch you at home," announced Thaddeus Wolf, pressing a bouquet of red, red roses into Betsy Trotwood's startled arms. "You see, I have dinner reservations at Rosario's, and there's no one I'd rather have join me than you!"
"Really?" Betsy Trotwood hurriedly ran a hand through her hair. "Um, oh, but this is so unexpected. I'm not dressed to go out."
"Sure, the reservation isn't for awhile yet, so take your time and change into something foxy; I know you still remember how to do that!"
"Sure, handsome, just wait right here!" replied Betsy Trotwood eagerly, disappearing into her house.
Thaddeus Wolf stepped inside, gingerly avoiding the loops of rope strew on the floor.
"Hey, Grampa, do you think you could do something about getting me down from here?" asked The Wolf, spotting his old relative as he entered the large living room.
"Boy! What damn-fool thing are you doing up there?!" demanded Thaddeus Wolf.
"Oh, just hanging around," answered The Wolf, making a weak attempt at humor.
"Good, I approve. Maybe spending some time upside down will send some blood to your oxygen-starved brain and smarten you up a bit."
"Hey, that's kind of harsh, don't you think, Grampa?"
"Mpfff," added Rapunzel.
"Goodness!" exclaimed the old wolf, finally noticing her. "Rapunzel, dear, are you okay? Here, I'll have you out in two shakes of a lamb's tail!"
"Mpfff," thanked Rapunzel.
"I remember 'Hot to Trot' always could tie someone up quite effectively." He used his sharp claws to slice through the numerous coils of rope binding the damsel. "That's how she dealt with a lot of her rivals, you know. Ah, here we are!" With one brief motion, he peeled the layers of tape off her mouth.
"Oh, thank you so much, you old dear!" exclaimed Rapunzel after she removed the cloth from her mouth, giving him a hug. "And thank you too for taking Auntie out. I think she needs a little company to cheer her up and bring her back to her old self."
"My pleasure," purred the elderly lupine.
"Hey, if anyone's interested, I'm still up here," observed The Wolf.
Rapunzel pushed the chair over to him, and climbed up, slowly untying the knot around The Wolf's ankle, causing him to plummet to the ground.
"Oh dear, are you okay?" she asked, helping him up.
"Sure, he'll be fine," remarked Thaddeus. "Don't you youngsters have an opera or something you need to be going to?"
"Yeah, baby, we'd better leave," said The Wolf, straightening himself up. He hunted around for his keys and some handkerchiefs that had fallen out of his pockets while he had been dangling upside down. He found where the corsage had landed after slipping out of his paw and helped Rapunzel pin it on as she quickly attempted to fix her hair. "Let's get out of here before your cra---, I mean, before we miss even one note of that thrilling overture!"
"Where did my girl go?" asked Betsy Trotwood a few minutes later, making her grand entrance. She had changed into a long, sparkly, silver dress. She snapped the scissors, which she still held in her anxious fingers. "In all this excitement I forgot that I need to trim her hair. It'll just take a minute, and then we can be on our way."
"Hey, dollface, you look marvelous," enthused Thaddeus Wolf. "I hope we don't have a problem when I have to beat off the other diners when they see how good-looking you are!"
"But where's Rapunzel and your grandson?" persisted Betsy Trotwood.
"Oh, they had a date, so they had to leave."
"Well, maybe that's just as well," considered Betsy Trotwood, letting Thaddeus Wolf take the scissors away from her and then giving him her arm. "After all, we will need our privacy when we come back home tonight."