"I'm gonna kill Felix for this," Oscar said to himself. He blamed his current situation on his roommate. It all started when Felix decided to photograph a reenactment of the first Thanksgiving, with young children playing the parts of the Indians and Pilgrims. But there was a mix-up at the studio and Felix had to go run an errand at the last minute. He convinced Oscar to take the "Indians" back to their apartment to babysit them until he got back. So now there were four little girls running around the apartment wearing buckskin dresses and feathered headbands. The girls insisted on playing a game of 'Cowboys and Indians' and Oscar stupidly agreed.
So now here he was – tied to a chair in the middle of the room. He allowed the girls to tie him up and now he couldn't move. But he wasn't alone. Murray the policeman was there to help out and he was tied to a chair too. Both of them were wearing cowboy hats which had been forced on them.
The girls were all running around the room, making Indian noises by tapping their hands against their mouths. And to make things even more annoying, one of the girls even had a puppy with her.
"I thought only little boys played 'Cowboys and Indians'," said Murray, as he glanced over at Oscar.
"They're tomboys," Oscar replied, simply.
"How long are they going to keep us tied up?" Murray asked.
Oscar shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe until they get bored."
Murray frowned and tugged at the ropes that were holding back his wrists. "Those kids can sure tie a knot," he remarked.
Oscar didn't even bother trying to struggle anymore. He had tried it several times already and it was useless.
"I think the kids will get tired of playing soon," Murray said, trying to sound optimistic. "Maybe if we wait long enough, they'll all just lay down on the floor and go to sleep."
"Well, if they do, I hope they let go first," Oscar grumbled.
Then a small girl climbed up on Murray's lap and began playing with his long, crooked nose. There was nothing Murray could do to stop her, since his hands were tied behind his back.
Another girl, about eight years old, came close to Oscar and sat down on the floor by his feet. Her name was Amy and she had blonde pigtails. She looked upward and stared at Oscar with big, blue eyes.
"Are you tired?" Oscar asked her.
She shook her head.
"Hey, if you untie me and Murray, maybe I'll let you play in my bedroom," he offered.
"No," said Amy. "Mr. Felix told us to stay out of your room because you have germs."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. By the way, where's that little mutt of yours?" Oscar looked around but didn't see any sign of the puppy.
"Puppy is around here somewhere," Amy said, as she started playing with Oscar's shoe.
"What time is it?" he asked.
"I don't know."
Oscar was wondering how long he had been babysitting. It felt like hours but he wasn't sure since he couldn't look at his watch.
"Are you having fun, Mr. Oscar?" asked Amy.
"No, honey. Ya see, I've been tied to this chair for fifteen minutes and I'm getting kinda bored," Oscar answered, not wanting to hurt her feelings but also hoping to be set free.
Amy cocked her head and gave Oscar a curious look. "Hey…I think I know how to make you happy!" she said, smiling.
Oscar raised an eyebrow, looking grumpily at the young girl.
Then Amy grabbed both of his shoes and pulled them off his feet.
"Hey, hey! What gives?" Oscar demanded, as she threw his shoes across the room.
"I'm going to make you happy," Amy said, as she began tugging at his old, sweaty socks. Oscar tried to hold onto his socks by scrunching up his toes, but Amy still managed to get them off.
"What's the big idea?" he asked, confused.
There was an impish smile on Amy's face as she looked at Oscar's bare feet. She reached up and pulled the long, red feather out of her headband. She held up the feather and twirled it around between her fingers. Then she grabbed Oscar's foot with one hand and lifted it up. The rope around his ankles gave just enough leeway for her to raise his foot off the floor. She could now see the smooth heel and ball of his foot, along with his pale arch.
"Amy, don't!" yelled Oscar, getting very nervous.
But Amy didn't listen. She held onto his ankle tightly, and began gliding the feather up and down the bottom of his foot.
Oscar held his breath and tried not to laugh. He was very ticklish but he didn't want Amy to know that. Sadly for him, the young girl wasn't about to give up. She kept on tickling his foot with the feather, until finally Oscar couldn't take it anymore. His face turned red and he burst into giggles.
"Hahahaha! No! Quit it! Hahahahaha! Cut it out, Amy! Heehahahahahahaha!" Oscar was squealing and giggling like crazy. His foot was wiggling around but Amy managed to keep a grip on it. She began dragging the feather back and forth between his big toe and the next toe. This made Oscar laugh harder than ever.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP IT NOW! AAAHAHAHAHAHOOOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHO! STOP! STOP TICKLING ME!" he screamed.
Amy grinned evilly and continued tickling. She let the feather slide to and fro along his toes, tickling all five of them. Then she tickled every inch of his bare sole.
Murray was getting extremely nervous. He was just as helpless as Oscar was.
"Hey, Eloise! Get that cop!" Amy called to one of her friends. At that, a young girl with long hair came forward and knelt down at Murray's feet.
"Oh no," the policeman whimpered.
Eloise removed Murray's shoes and put them neatly aside. Then she pulled off his black socks and stuffed them into his shoes. Unlike Amy, Eloise was very tidy.
Murray wiggled his bare toes. He was so nervous that he started to sweat. Eloise held up his foot and began tickling it with a feather
Murray burst into hysterical laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH DEAR! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HELP! POLICE! AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OOOHHHH! PLEASE STOP! I'M TOO TICKLISH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Coochie coochie coo," Eloise teased him. She mercilessly stroked the feather up and down Murray's bare foot. Then she tickled each of his toes, one at a time. She also tickled his other foot. Tears of laughter rolled down Murray's cheeks.
The mischievous girls kept on torturing the men's bare feet for what seemed like hours. But finally they stopped.
Both Oscar and Murray were a couple of sobbing wrecks. They gasped for air and slumped over in their chairs with exhaustion.
"Can…you…untie us now?" Oscar asked, as he tried to catch his breath.
"Nope! We're not done yet," said Amy, as she walked over to her friends and whispered something to them. All the girls smirked and agreed to her idea. Eloise ran into the kitchen to get something.
Oscar and Murray looked at each other and shared a worried expression. They wondered what horrible fate was in store for them.
A moment later, Eloise returned with a jar of cold cranberry sauce. She knelt down beside the men's feet and opened the jar.
"Cranberry sauce? That's supposed to be for Thanksgiving. What are you going to do with it?" asked Oscar.
Eloise scooped out big globs of cranberry sauce and began spreading it all over the soles of Murray's feet. Then she did the same thing to Oscar. She made sure their bare feet were completely covered in the sweet, crimson goop.
"I don't understand! What's the reason for this?" Murray asked, whimpering.
Then Amy whistled for her puppy. Within seconds, the young dog came scampering into the room and wagged his small tail, excitedly. "Hello, puppy! Are you hungry?" Amy asked with a smug smile.
Suddenly, Oscar and Murray realized what was going to happen. Their poor feet were about to be…licked.
Both men started yelling for help, only to be devastated when nobody came to save them. The puppy trotted over and began sniffing at their feet, enjoying the delicious aroma of the sweet sauce. It was only mere seconds before the licking and nibbling started.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT TICKLES!" Murray screamed through his laughter, as the puppy licked between his toes.
"YOU KIDS ARE GONNA PAY FOR THIS! OOOH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Oscar shrieked, when the puppy licked his feet next.
The puppy continued lapping up every bit of cranberry sauce from their ticklish feet. Oscar and Murray were hysterical with laughter. Their heads whipped from side to side as they thrashed and convulsed. There were tears flowing down their bright red faces and their ropes were hurting from so much struggling.
The little girls were jumping around with excitement as they watched. They didn't seem to care that the two men were suffering so much. It was all just fun for them.
After about an hour, Oscar began to feel some slack in his ropes. He continued to struggle and finally managed to get his wrists free. When the girls saw this, they all ran away and hid in the bedrooms, taking the puppy with them.
Oscar got up and staggered around, panting and sweating, as he tried to regain his composure. Then he untied Murray who was in equally bad shape.
Just then, Felix entered the apartment and smiled at Oscar and Murray in his usual way. "Well, I'm back. Were the girls any trouble?"
Oscar and Murray folded their arms and gave him a death glare.
"Is something wrong?" Felix asked, his eyebrows raised slightly when he looked down and saw their sticky, bare feet.
Oscar and Murray just stared at him.
"Well, come on! You have to tell me…Did the children behave themselves?"
"Aw, they were sweet as babies!" Oscar said, sarcastically. Then he picked up the half-empty jar of cranberry sauce and poured it on Felix's head.
The End