Vada looked out the window from her upstairs room. She sighed. *It's raining* she thought. She had planned to go bike riding with Thomas J today, but it looked like she couldn't. Climbing down the stairs, she picked up the phone and dialed the Sennet's number.
*Ring, Ring!*
"Hello?"
"Hello, Mrs. Sennet? Is Thomas J home?"
Thomas J. grabbed the phone off his mother. "Vada, I'm here. Come over quick and see the new present I got!"
"Okay, be right over!" Vada said. Putting the phone back on the hook, Vada swung by the
basement and opened the door a crack. "Dad, I'm gonna go to Thomas J's house for a while, all right?"
"All right, sweetie, just don't be late for dinner! Arthur, hand me the ..."
Vada closed the basement door and looked at it dejectedly. *Don't be late for dinner*?? Dinner was still 7 hours away! Sometimes, she wished her dad would pay more attention to
her. But then, she brightened. *I wonder what Thomas J got?* she thought, as she got her bike out of the garage and rode over to his house.
"Vada, you're here!" Thomas J. greeted her as he opened the door. "Come on up and see my new present!". He led Vada upstairs. "Remember how I wanted to be a Magician?" he asked as he opened the door to his room.
Vada climbed the stairs two at a time and followed Thomas J. to his room. On the floor was a brand new magic set, complete with everything. "Hey cool!" she said, walking over and picking up the magic set, looking at it. "When'd you get this?" she asked. "Your birthday's not till next month."
"My uncle sent it all to me from Texas, I'd been begging him for it for ages!" Thomas J. said excitedly. "But you haven't seen the best bit" he said, pointing to the corner of the room. Over there was a large black box, up on poles about a metre off the ground. The box was long enough to fit someone into. It had a lid at the top that opened on hinges, there was a slit down the middle of the lid so it opened in two parts. At one end of the box was a hole, and the other end two smaller holes. On the side of the box was painted in gold 'Magic Box'. "I've been reading these cool tricks to do, want to help me do some, be my assistant?" Thomas J. said enthusiastically.
"Sure!" Vada said, her grey eyes lighting up. For a moment, she looked enviously at the present. "You are so lucky, Thomas J." she said, as she walked over to the Magic Box. "Dad would never buy me anything like this." Stepping into the box, she said excitely, "Okay, what trick are we gonna do?"
"Well, I'll tell you once I've set it up" said Thomas J. "so you'll be surprised". He smiled as he helped Vada position herself in the box. Once her legs and head were in the right holes, he shut both lids and flipped the box so Vada and the box were now lieing horizontal to the ground, with Vada's head sticking out one end and her feet out the other. "Now for
this trick to work, it's important that you can't escape" he said, as he pulled out two padlocks. As he locked the first lid he couldn't help smiling a mischevious grin. *She doesn't suspect a thing* he thought to himself, quickly wiping the grin off his face before she could see. He used the other padlock to lock the second lid. He stepped back to admire his handiwork. "Oh, almost forgot something" he said, going over to his bed and grabbing a pillow. He went over and placed the pillow under Vada's head so she would be more comfortable. "Okay, I think we're about ready to start".
"Wow, what are we gonna do?" Vada asked. She adjusted herself to a more comfortable position. "Okay, this definitely feels weird," she said. "Kinda like.." she stopped to think up a situation. "Kinda like being in the Middle Ages in that whatchamacallit and about to be sawed in half, or somethin' like that," she laughed. But she was curious about what Thomas J. was about to do, and she was never really any good at being patient. "Com'on, Thomas J," she pleaded. "What's the surprise? You can tell me."
Thomas J. had just put on his magician's cape and hat. "Oh, one more thing" he said, and went over to the bedroom door and locked it. "The book said that it's important for a magician to keep his secrets. I don't want my Mum walking in and hearing how about the magic tricks". He surveyed the scene. *This was too good to be true* he thought to himself. He slowly walked back over to the box. Standing at the foot end of the box, he leaned onto the box and looked Vada in the eye. "Well Vada, this first one I've learnt isn't exactly a trick as such. The book tells me that this box has many magicial powers. One of these is a truth
power. Combined with a 'magicial' technique done by me, the powers of the box will make you tell the truth about anything I ask" he paused for a second to let the information sink in. "For example, you remember a couple of weeks ago when my genuine Babe Ruth baseball card went missing, and you told me our dog Honey ate it, and I didn't believe you? Well, I''m going to use my powers to get you to tell the truth". Realising she might be a little scared, he flashed her a little smile to reassure that it wouldn't be that bad.
"Heh! Yeah right!" Vada scoffed. "I don't believe a word you're saying, Thomas J. This box doesn't make people tell the truth!" Most of her believed what she'd said, but still, there was a tiny part of her that had its doubts. She wasn't about to tell that to her best friend though. Instead, she decided to go along with Thomas J., so that when the "truth magic trick" failed, she could tease him about it. "Okay, Thomas J., try me," Vada said with a grin. "Let's see what this magic box can do."
The noise of a car engine starting came from out the window. Thomas J. went over to the window and looked out. "Oh that's right, Mom had to go shopping for a couple of hours" he said as he watched the car drive off down the road. "Well, that definately means no one will find out the secrets of the magic box" he added as he walked back to the magic box. Standing at the foot end of the box again, he glanced down at the cute clogs that Vada was wearing today, which were sticking out the end of the box. *This is going to be so much fun* he thought to himself as he looked Vada in the eye again and gave the most sly grin he could muster. Maintaining eye contact with Vada, he continued talking. "Okay then. Now the box contains many powers, but they are not enough on their own, so I need to use a magical technique as well. The book suggests several techniques that I could use" he said, at the same time removing one of the clogs Vada was wearing and placing it on top of the box, where Vada could see it. "But there's one technique I knew would work well" he said, placing a hand on Vada's other shoe. "Any idea what that technique might be?" he said, removing Vada's other clog and holding it up for Vada to see.
"What?" Vada asked suspiciously. Actually, a realization was slowly starting to dawn on her what Thomas J. was going to do. "Oh no!" she cried. So that's
how the "magic" box worked! "Thomas James Sennett, don't you dare!" she shrieked.
Thomas J. flashed that sly grin again. "One more thing before we start" he went over to his pile of magic stuff. Coming back with a small piece of thread he said "Got to have some magic thread now don't we!" smiling as he used it to tie Vada's big toes together. Then, propping himself up on the magic box again, he looked Vada in the eye once more and with the
most triumphant grin he had ever had in his life, asked the question Vada had no doubt been
dreading. "So tell me Vada. Would you by any chance, happen to
be........ticklish?"
"Thomas J, you let me outta this thing!" Vada demanded shrilly, as Thomas J.'s last comment accompanied by that smile confirmed Vada's suspicions. She hated being tickled more than anything else in the world, even more than she disliked her dad liking Shelly. Inwardly, she sighed. *Ohh, just wait till I get my hands on Thomas J.!* But first she had to find a way to get out before Thomas J. tickles her to death. Maybe it's time to change tactics... "Thomas J, you're my best friend in the whole wide world," Vada said, trying not to oversweeten her voice. "So you wouldn't blackmail your oldest and bestest and most wonderfullest best friend, would you?" Vada gave him her best sad puppy face. There, that ought to do it!, she thought with satisfaction. If that didn't make Thomas J. feel some guilt, at least enough to let her out, then nothing would.
Thomas J. smiled again. He knew that she would try this. "This isn't blackmail Vada, it's magic! Now where is my babe ruth baseball card?" and with that he started lightly tickling the sole of Vada's left foot with his hand.
Before she had a chance to react or think, Thomas J. started tickling her foot. Shrieking half with anger and half with laughter, Vada tried to pull her foot away. "Thomas J., don't! Ha ha THOMAS J.!! Ha ha ha! Okay, okay! OKAY!! Ha ha ha! OKAY!!" Vada tried to catch her
breath. "Your dumb baseball card," Vada thought fast, "I gave to Judy for her birthday, okay? Now, STOP TICKLING ME!! If you let me outta this thing, maybe we can go over ta her house and see if she'll give 'em back. Okay?"
*So that's what happened to it* Thomas J. thought to himself. "Well, we'll do that in a little while" Thomas J. said to Vada, still tickling her foot. "But first there's a few other questions I'd like to ask you" he flashed that grin at her again. "Besides, you said you wanted to see what this magic box could do, so I'm showing you!" he laughed as he increased the speed of his tickling. "Now tell me, who is the coolest kid in school?".
"But Thomas J.-" Vada said between gasps of laughter. "Judy said - she might - sell - the card - to - this one dude - who - likes and collects - baseball cards!" Vada tried to pull her feet through the holes that they were stuck in, but couldn't quite get it. *Somebody's really gonna get it! Especially someone with the initials T.J.S.!* Out loud, she managed to get out between peals of laughter. "We'd - better go an' - get it!"
Thomas J. smiled to himself. The card didn't really matter that much to him. He hadn't mentioned to Vada that it was a fake. He watched Vada struggling and was glad he had tied her big toes together, otherwise she would likely have gotten her feet through the holes by now. "This is much too important to wait Vada" he said, smiling at her again. He stopped his tickling for a brief minute to let Vada get her breath. "Now tell me Vada, who is the coolest kid in school?". And with that he resumed the tickling, and brought his other hand over, made it into a claw, and began to rake Vada's other bare sole with it.
Vada groaned. She could tell Thomas J. didn't plan on letting her out of this dumb box until she answered all his dumb questions. She sighed. "You, of course!" Vada said, crossing her fingers secretly.
Thomas J. laughed. He knew she was joking but it was still funny to hear her say that. "I knew it!" he said out loud. Still vigourously tickling Vada's feet, he added "Vada, what are you groaning at! You wanted to see what the magic box could do!" He laughed as he increased the tickling a little more. Then abruptly he stopped. Thomas J. thought about things for a minute. He hoped Vada wasn't too mad at him. He had only done this for a bit of fun, and to get her back a bit for some of the times she had bullied him. But he didn't mean to annoy her too much. Then he thought some more, about how Vada had scoffed at him when he had talked about 'magic. *I bet she would have teased me a lot worse if the 'magic' hadn't worked* he thought to himself. A plan formed in his mind to tease Vada some more. "So Vada, do you like nursery rhymes?" he said to her.
"Huh?" Vada asked, surprised. His question caught her off guard. *Why is he suddenly asking me about nursery rhymes?* she thought, looking at Thomas J. very carefully. For a second, she thought he looked thoughtful, then that infuriating grin had come back. "What do you mean 'do I like nursery rhymes'?" Vada asked with a touch of suspicion in her voice, also some panic. She'd always been the one who picked on Thomas J, and usually got away with it. It was all in fun, of course. Was he actually paying her back for it? *Don't be silly, Vada, of course not!* she reassured herself. Meanwhile, Thomas J. had increased the tickling. Suddenly, the ringing of the telephone could be heard downstairs.
RING! RING!
*Yes, I'm saved!* she thought. While Thomas J. went to answer it, she could have some descent time to think about how to get herself unstuck from this mess.
Thomas J. went downstairs to get the phone, and was back almost as quickly as he left. This time he brought his dog Honey in with him. He smiled at Vada as he locked the door behind him again. "That was my Mom to say she's going to a friend's for lunch, so she won't be back for a good few hours" he said, unable to contain the glee on his face. "Now, about that nursery rhyme, I'll teach you a good one". He grabbed Vada's big toes and started tickling
them. "These little piggies went to market..." Thomas J. started, moving down the toes, until he got to the last ones. On "These little piggies ran all the way home" he resumed his tickling of Vada's soles, this time occasionally calling out "Cootchie Cootchie Coo!" and looking Vada in the eye to see her reaction. He hoped she realised he wasn't really doing this to be mean, it was actually kind of important to get her back for some of the teasings she had given him. "So Vada, do you believe in the powers of the magic box yet?" Thomas J. called out, closely followed by more "Cootchie Cootchie Coo!".
A/N: Not finished yet, more to come
*Ring, Ring!*
"Hello?"
"Hello, Mrs. Sennet? Is Thomas J home?"
Thomas J. grabbed the phone off his mother. "Vada, I'm here. Come over quick and see the new present I got!"
"Okay, be right over!" Vada said. Putting the phone back on the hook, Vada swung by the
basement and opened the door a crack. "Dad, I'm gonna go to Thomas J's house for a while, all right?"
"All right, sweetie, just don't be late for dinner! Arthur, hand me the ..."
Vada closed the basement door and looked at it dejectedly. *Don't be late for dinner*?? Dinner was still 7 hours away! Sometimes, she wished her dad would pay more attention to
her. But then, she brightened. *I wonder what Thomas J got?* she thought, as she got her bike out of the garage and rode over to his house.
"Vada, you're here!" Thomas J. greeted her as he opened the door. "Come on up and see my new present!". He led Vada upstairs. "Remember how I wanted to be a Magician?" he asked as he opened the door to his room.
Vada climbed the stairs two at a time and followed Thomas J. to his room. On the floor was a brand new magic set, complete with everything. "Hey cool!" she said, walking over and picking up the magic set, looking at it. "When'd you get this?" she asked. "Your birthday's not till next month."
"My uncle sent it all to me from Texas, I'd been begging him for it for ages!" Thomas J. said excitedly. "But you haven't seen the best bit" he said, pointing to the corner of the room. Over there was a large black box, up on poles about a metre off the ground. The box was long enough to fit someone into. It had a lid at the top that opened on hinges, there was a slit down the middle of the lid so it opened in two parts. At one end of the box was a hole, and the other end two smaller holes. On the side of the box was painted in gold 'Magic Box'. "I've been reading these cool tricks to do, want to help me do some, be my assistant?" Thomas J. said enthusiastically.
"Sure!" Vada said, her grey eyes lighting up. For a moment, she looked enviously at the present. "You are so lucky, Thomas J." she said, as she walked over to the Magic Box. "Dad would never buy me anything like this." Stepping into the box, she said excitely, "Okay, what trick are we gonna do?"
"Well, I'll tell you once I've set it up" said Thomas J. "so you'll be surprised". He smiled as he helped Vada position herself in the box. Once her legs and head were in the right holes, he shut both lids and flipped the box so Vada and the box were now lieing horizontal to the ground, with Vada's head sticking out one end and her feet out the other. "Now for
this trick to work, it's important that you can't escape" he said, as he pulled out two padlocks. As he locked the first lid he couldn't help smiling a mischevious grin. *She doesn't suspect a thing* he thought to himself, quickly wiping the grin off his face before she could see. He used the other padlock to lock the second lid. He stepped back to admire his handiwork. "Oh, almost forgot something" he said, going over to his bed and grabbing a pillow. He went over and placed the pillow under Vada's head so she would be more comfortable. "Okay, I think we're about ready to start".
"Wow, what are we gonna do?" Vada asked. She adjusted herself to a more comfortable position. "Okay, this definitely feels weird," she said. "Kinda like.." she stopped to think up a situation. "Kinda like being in the Middle Ages in that whatchamacallit and about to be sawed in half, or somethin' like that," she laughed. But she was curious about what Thomas J. was about to do, and she was never really any good at being patient. "Com'on, Thomas J," she pleaded. "What's the surprise? You can tell me."
Thomas J. had just put on his magician's cape and hat. "Oh, one more thing" he said, and went over to the bedroom door and locked it. "The book said that it's important for a magician to keep his secrets. I don't want my Mum walking in and hearing how about the magic tricks". He surveyed the scene. *This was too good to be true* he thought to himself. He slowly walked back over to the box. Standing at the foot end of the box, he leaned onto the box and looked Vada in the eye. "Well Vada, this first one I've learnt isn't exactly a trick as such. The book tells me that this box has many magicial powers. One of these is a truth
power. Combined with a 'magicial' technique done by me, the powers of the box will make you tell the truth about anything I ask" he paused for a second to let the information sink in. "For example, you remember a couple of weeks ago when my genuine Babe Ruth baseball card went missing, and you told me our dog Honey ate it, and I didn't believe you? Well, I''m going to use my powers to get you to tell the truth". Realising she might be a little scared, he flashed her a little smile to reassure that it wouldn't be that bad.
"Heh! Yeah right!" Vada scoffed. "I don't believe a word you're saying, Thomas J. This box doesn't make people tell the truth!" Most of her believed what she'd said, but still, there was a tiny part of her that had its doubts. She wasn't about to tell that to her best friend though. Instead, she decided to go along with Thomas J., so that when the "truth magic trick" failed, she could tease him about it. "Okay, Thomas J., try me," Vada said with a grin. "Let's see what this magic box can do."
The noise of a car engine starting came from out the window. Thomas J. went over to the window and looked out. "Oh that's right, Mom had to go shopping for a couple of hours" he said as he watched the car drive off down the road. "Well, that definately means no one will find out the secrets of the magic box" he added as he walked back to the magic box. Standing at the foot end of the box again, he glanced down at the cute clogs that Vada was wearing today, which were sticking out the end of the box. *This is going to be so much fun* he thought to himself as he looked Vada in the eye again and gave the most sly grin he could muster. Maintaining eye contact with Vada, he continued talking. "Okay then. Now the box contains many powers, but they are not enough on their own, so I need to use a magical technique as well. The book suggests several techniques that I could use" he said, at the same time removing one of the clogs Vada was wearing and placing it on top of the box, where Vada could see it. "But there's one technique I knew would work well" he said, placing a hand on Vada's other shoe. "Any idea what that technique might be?" he said, removing Vada's other clog and holding it up for Vada to see.
"What?" Vada asked suspiciously. Actually, a realization was slowly starting to dawn on her what Thomas J. was going to do. "Oh no!" she cried. So that's
how the "magic" box worked! "Thomas James Sennett, don't you dare!" she shrieked.
Thomas J. flashed that sly grin again. "One more thing before we start" he went over to his pile of magic stuff. Coming back with a small piece of thread he said "Got to have some magic thread now don't we!" smiling as he used it to tie Vada's big toes together. Then, propping himself up on the magic box again, he looked Vada in the eye once more and with the
most triumphant grin he had ever had in his life, asked the question Vada had no doubt been
dreading. "So tell me Vada. Would you by any chance, happen to
be........ticklish?"
"Thomas J, you let me outta this thing!" Vada demanded shrilly, as Thomas J.'s last comment accompanied by that smile confirmed Vada's suspicions. She hated being tickled more than anything else in the world, even more than she disliked her dad liking Shelly. Inwardly, she sighed. *Ohh, just wait till I get my hands on Thomas J.!* But first she had to find a way to get out before Thomas J. tickles her to death. Maybe it's time to change tactics... "Thomas J, you're my best friend in the whole wide world," Vada said, trying not to oversweeten her voice. "So you wouldn't blackmail your oldest and bestest and most wonderfullest best friend, would you?" Vada gave him her best sad puppy face. There, that ought to do it!, she thought with satisfaction. If that didn't make Thomas J. feel some guilt, at least enough to let her out, then nothing would.
Thomas J. smiled again. He knew that she would try this. "This isn't blackmail Vada, it's magic! Now where is my babe ruth baseball card?" and with that he started lightly tickling the sole of Vada's left foot with his hand.
Before she had a chance to react or think, Thomas J. started tickling her foot. Shrieking half with anger and half with laughter, Vada tried to pull her foot away. "Thomas J., don't! Ha ha THOMAS J.!! Ha ha ha! Okay, okay! OKAY!! Ha ha ha! OKAY!!" Vada tried to catch her
breath. "Your dumb baseball card," Vada thought fast, "I gave to Judy for her birthday, okay? Now, STOP TICKLING ME!! If you let me outta this thing, maybe we can go over ta her house and see if she'll give 'em back. Okay?"
*So that's what happened to it* Thomas J. thought to himself. "Well, we'll do that in a little while" Thomas J. said to Vada, still tickling her foot. "But first there's a few other questions I'd like to ask you" he flashed that grin at her again. "Besides, you said you wanted to see what this magic box could do, so I'm showing you!" he laughed as he increased the speed of his tickling. "Now tell me, who is the coolest kid in school?".
"But Thomas J.-" Vada said between gasps of laughter. "Judy said - she might - sell - the card - to - this one dude - who - likes and collects - baseball cards!" Vada tried to pull her feet through the holes that they were stuck in, but couldn't quite get it. *Somebody's really gonna get it! Especially someone with the initials T.J.S.!* Out loud, she managed to get out between peals of laughter. "We'd - better go an' - get it!"
Thomas J. smiled to himself. The card didn't really matter that much to him. He hadn't mentioned to Vada that it was a fake. He watched Vada struggling and was glad he had tied her big toes together, otherwise she would likely have gotten her feet through the holes by now. "This is much too important to wait Vada" he said, smiling at her again. He stopped his tickling for a brief minute to let Vada get her breath. "Now tell me Vada, who is the coolest kid in school?". And with that he resumed the tickling, and brought his other hand over, made it into a claw, and began to rake Vada's other bare sole with it.
Vada groaned. She could tell Thomas J. didn't plan on letting her out of this dumb box until she answered all his dumb questions. She sighed. "You, of course!" Vada said, crossing her fingers secretly.
Thomas J. laughed. He knew she was joking but it was still funny to hear her say that. "I knew it!" he said out loud. Still vigourously tickling Vada's feet, he added "Vada, what are you groaning at! You wanted to see what the magic box could do!" He laughed as he increased the tickling a little more. Then abruptly he stopped. Thomas J. thought about things for a minute. He hoped Vada wasn't too mad at him. He had only done this for a bit of fun, and to get her back a bit for some of the times she had bullied him. But he didn't mean to annoy her too much. Then he thought some more, about how Vada had scoffed at him when he had talked about 'magic. *I bet she would have teased me a lot worse if the 'magic' hadn't worked* he thought to himself. A plan formed in his mind to tease Vada some more. "So Vada, do you like nursery rhymes?" he said to her.
"Huh?" Vada asked, surprised. His question caught her off guard. *Why is he suddenly asking me about nursery rhymes?* she thought, looking at Thomas J. very carefully. For a second, she thought he looked thoughtful, then that infuriating grin had come back. "What do you mean 'do I like nursery rhymes'?" Vada asked with a touch of suspicion in her voice, also some panic. She'd always been the one who picked on Thomas J, and usually got away with it. It was all in fun, of course. Was he actually paying her back for it? *Don't be silly, Vada, of course not!* she reassured herself. Meanwhile, Thomas J. had increased the tickling. Suddenly, the ringing of the telephone could be heard downstairs.
RING! RING!
*Yes, I'm saved!* she thought. While Thomas J. went to answer it, she could have some descent time to think about how to get herself unstuck from this mess.
Thomas J. went downstairs to get the phone, and was back almost as quickly as he left. This time he brought his dog Honey in with him. He smiled at Vada as he locked the door behind him again. "That was my Mom to say she's going to a friend's for lunch, so she won't be back for a good few hours" he said, unable to contain the glee on his face. "Now, about that nursery rhyme, I'll teach you a good one". He grabbed Vada's big toes and started tickling
them. "These little piggies went to market..." Thomas J. started, moving down the toes, until he got to the last ones. On "These little piggies ran all the way home" he resumed his tickling of Vada's soles, this time occasionally calling out "Cootchie Cootchie Coo!" and looking Vada in the eye to see her reaction. He hoped she realised he wasn't really doing this to be mean, it was actually kind of important to get her back for some of the teasings she had given him. "So Vada, do you believe in the powers of the magic box yet?" Thomas J. called out, closely followed by more "Cootchie Cootchie Coo!".
A/N: Not finished yet, more to come