Father’s Day
A Simple
Game
It was Kary who
showed me the videos on YouTube she’s eleven, the oldest of my four kids, and
she’s always looking for new games for her, her sisters Abby and Rhoda, and my
son Charlie (who just tends to get pulled into these games) with me.
It showed three
kids who had been taped on a chair, and they had to get free. But they had used
Sellotape, and I wasn’t sure if it was completely safe. But she said everyone
wanted to do it even Charlie and I eventually agreed to do it.
So she went to
tall them while I took four chairs from the dining room and set them in a row,
and then went to find the rolls of clear tape. It was Charlie who came in first
he’s ten, and was wearing a blue V-necked sweater over a white t-shirt, tan
pants and light blue sandshoes. I told him to sit on the first chair, and put
his hands on his head, while I peeled the end free from a roll of tape and
wound it round his waist so that he was held against the chair back.
Rhoda is my
youngest daughter, eight years old, and she came in wearing a pink long sleeved
top with a white lace effect trim, blue leggings with white butterflies, and
blue trainers. She sat in the next chair and held her hands up while I taped
her to the chairback, and then watched as I made sure she and Charlie had their
ankles taped together as well.
They were
talking-to each other as Kary and Abby came in. Kary was wearing a light blue
top, blue jeans and black shoes, while Abby (who is a year younger) was wearing
a white peasant top, coloured leggings and pale blue moccasins. They sat on the
other two chairs and watched as I made sure the other kids had their legs taped
together below their knees, and round the chair seat, before I taped their
wrists together in front of them.
I went over to
Rhoda and Kary, and secured their legs together and to the seat first, and then
their wrists, before they both raised their bound hands up and I taped them to
the chair back.
I then wrapped
some tape round the upper arms of each of them, before strips of the clear tape
were pressed down over their mouths so that they could try to talk to each
other well, they could talk to each other, but they pretended to mumble while I
set up a timer.
I mean, they
were happy, they were excited, and they were not scared as I started the timer,
and watched them try to escape. I wondered who would be first
The Visitor
It was a school
holiday, so Soo and I watched as our mother picked up her handbag and spoke to
our father. She was wearing a white tie-neck blouse under a grey checked dress,
and tights with high heels, while Father was wearing a black Nike sweatshirt
and joggers with black socks.
Soo and I ware
twins we’re eleven years old and while I was wearing a long-sleeved red top
with joggers and black socks, Soo was wearing a checked top in the same style
as Mother’s. with a black lace skirt and leggings, and white and pink socks,
while my socks were blue and black. She was playing with Pookie,
her white teddy bear, which she had put a blue striped dress on.
Anyway, we
watched Mother as she left our home, and then father said we could play in the
front room while he took care of some work. So Soo played with Pookie while I put some cartoons on and then we heard the
front doorbell ring.
I could hear
Father opening the door, and talking to someone, and then the door closed as
there were two sets of footsteps down the hallway. I looked at Soo, and thought
nothing of it, until the door opened - only it was not Father who came in. It
was a man, a stranger, wearing a black jumper and pants as well as gloves, and
he had what looked like one of Mother’s stockings pulled down over his head.
I asked who he
was, and he told us that he was an actor who had been hired by Mother and
Father so that he could play a special game with us. Soo asked what sort of
game, and he said Hostages he was pretending to rob s, and he had already made
sure Father was playing the game and now it was our turn.
Soo hugged Pookie, and asked what he was going to do so he said if she
wanted to see, he would do it to her bear first. As I watched her talk to Pookie, she then nodded and he asked her to sit down with Pookie on her lap. He then put down a bag he was carrying,
and took from it a length of cord, and then he tied it round Pookie’s arms to hold them against her sides. He then used
the same cord to tie Pookie’s paws together in front
of her, and then used two more lengths of cord to secure her legs together.
Soo looked at Pookie and asked her if it hurt, and then she nodded and
said the man could do it to her - so long as we then got to be with father. The
masked man said that was the plan, as he took a longer length of rope, and then
tied it round Soo to hold her arms against her sides, and then her wrists
together so that she could hold Pookie.
He then used
another length of rope and tied me up I felt as if I was being hugged, but it
was tight, and I could not move my wrists apart. He then asked us to walk to
the bedroom with him and when we walked I, we saw Father was lying on the bed.
He had his arms and wrists tied in the same way as us, and we could see his
legs and ankles were tied in the same way as he had done to Pookie.
He looked at us
and told us to lie either side of the bed, next to him, and then the man would
make sure none of us would get off the bed. I walked over and lay down as
Father looked at me and smiled, and then watched Soo lie on the other side,
while the masked man took more ropes and tied our ankles together, and then our
legs below our knees. I tried to wriggle them round as the man looked in his
bag, and then took out a roll of brown plaster, from which he took a strip and
then pressed it down over Pookie’s mouth and then a
second strip over Soo’s.
He then walked
round and pressed a length down over my mouth he said as he did so to lie still
for a while, and then I could try to get free. It tugged on the skin round my
mouth, but I really could not talk and neither could Father a few minutes later
as the man said he was going to wait in the front room.
He looked at
both of us and we were not scared but it was only when Mother came home and
found us we were told it was not a game
Polyester
Peril
I remember we
were watching the Munich Olympics Mum had gone into town, so Tommy and I were
at home with Dad. I was wearing a white polyester blouse with flowers on it, a
light blue skirt with a tie belt round my waist, white socks and blue shoes,
while Tommy was wearing a short sleeved white top with blue trim, blue
polyester bellbottom pants with a black belt round his waist, and black shoes.
I clearly
remember we were watching the swimming as we sat in the armchairs in our front
room ones with wooden armrests and leather cushions on the seat and back and
then this woman walked into the front room. She was wearing a denim jacket and
jeans, a black t-shirt, boots and glove s- and a black mask over her head so
that we could only see her eyes and lips.
She looked at
us, and told us to shut up or she really would hurt us. Well, we were both too
scared to move, as she told me to sit with my hands on my head, and then made
Tommy put his hands together on the armrest.
She then took a
ball of twine from her pocket, and wound it round my brother’s wrists and the
armrest so that when she was done, he could not move them apart or off the
armrest. She then knelt down and used a penknife to
cut a length of twine free, and used it to tie his ankles together after she
had made him cross them.
She then pulled
a cloth from her jacket pocket and pushed it into Tommy’s mouth, telling him he
had to keep it in there as she made me put my hands on the armrest of my chair
as well. As she was tying them up, a man also wearing denim and a mask made Dad walk into the room, ad we both
saw he had his wrists behind his back, and a cloth sticking out from between
his lips.
He was wearing
a pale blue shirt like Tommy’s, and blue and brown candy stripe trousers with
black boots, but he was scared as he saw us, and then they made him lie on the
long couch before he produced a ball of twine as well. So while she was tying
my ankles together, the man was doing the same thing to dad and then I tasted
the material on my tongue as it was pushed into my mouth as well.
We had to stay
there, with the television playing in the er background, while they robbed us
Family photo
They made me
start with my wife as our daughter Ruth watched. She has long blonde hair, and
was wearing a long-sleeved dress with red lace over a see-through body, a red
strapless top underneath, as well as black hose. So I told Ruth it would be a
game as I guided my wife’s hands behind her back, as I had been instructed to,
and used the thin white cord to secure her wrists together.
I was then
handed a longer length of rope and used it to make sure her arms stayed by her
sides, before she stretched her legs out and looked over my shoulder as she
crossed her ankles.
Ruth gave her
mother a hug as I was given more of the thin cord, and tied her ankles
together, then used the second length to secure her legs together below her
knees. I asked her if she was al right, and she
nodded as I rolled up the white scarf I had been given and then gagged her with
it, taking the band round her head and securing the ends at the base of her
neck.
Ruth clapped
her hands as her mother smiled, and then I told her it was her turn, so she put
her hands behind her back as well and I secured her wrists together. I then
tied another rope round her stomach to keep her arms by her sides, before she
sat next to her mother and stretched her legs out. She was also wearing a red
dress, although hers had short pink sleeves and a longer skirt, and grey tights
but a few minutes later she had her ankles and legs tied together like her
mother, as she opened her mouth and allowed me to pull the rolled-up scarf into
her mouth.
I had to admit,
as Ruth put her head against her mother’s side, I admired their courage as they
stayed calm because the armed intruder had pulled my own hand behind my back,
and I could feel the rope rubbing on my wrists as they were secured together as
well.
He had come in
waving a gun round, and as I felt the rope forcing my arms against my sides I
could hear the other intruders moving round upstairs. But I had no choice, as I
was made to lie face down and felt the ropes round my ankles and legs before my
ankles were pulled back and tied to my wrists, and then the scarf pulled
between my lips as well. I had to look at them and smile, and not be scared as
well and I knew we would talk about it later
Father’s Day
I have four
daughters Eileen is seven, Tracy nine, Paula twelve and Cassie fifteen but that
Sunday afternoon something different was happening thanks to the two people who
had picked that day to rob us.
We were having
our Sunday lunch when they came into the kitchen but at least they let us
finish our meal before we were all made to walk into the front room. I was
wearing a black t-0shirt and jeans with black shoes, but I protested when they
told me what they wanted me to do.
It was Cassie
who told me we should do what they said it would be less scary that way as I was
handed a roll of silver tape, and then Cassie and Paula were told to sit on the
couch with their hands on their heads while I “taped up my two youngest girls.”
So I looked at
Eileen, in her blue sleeveless t-shirt and denim shorts, and then at Tracy in
her purple hooded top, black leggings and white socks, and told them both to
put their hands behind their backs. I tore the end of the roll free, and then
made sure I taped their wrists together tightly, before I told them both to sit
back-to-back on the floor.
They stretched
their legs out as I taped their ankles together, and their legs above and below
their knees, before wrapping tape round both of them
to hold their upper bodies together. Her then made me put strips of tape over
their mouths as I told them not to be scared, and relax and then they told my
older daughters they were going to tape me up.
I nodded as I
put my hands behind my back, and I felt Paula taping my wrists together, while
Cassie wrapped the tape round my ankles. She then forced my legs together above
and below my knees, while Paula wrapped the tape round my arms and stomach and
then I was forced to sit on the floor before Paula was made to press the tape
over my mouth.
They then made
Paula and Cassie sit on the couch again and tape their own ankles and legs
together, before they took the tape off them and secured their arms and wrists,
and then gagged them as well. One of them then stood guard while the other one
searched the house, and then they left us there. It took me an age to get my
wrists and arms free and call the police
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