General Disclaimers: While it features no ‘on-screen’ sexual activity or explicit adult situations, this hypnofetish story does contain examples of fictional characters doing illegal, immoral and/or impossible things to other fictional characters. If you are under the age of consent in your community, are disturbed by such concepts, or want hot wet thrusting sex in your on-line pornography, then for goshsakes stop reading now!
Permission granted to re-post for free to any electronic medium, as long as no one's being charged to view it, and this disclaimer and e-mail address (hypnovoyer@hotmail.com) are not removed. It would also be nice if you told me you were posting it.
Copyright Voyer, 2005.
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Mary woke up.
Her alarm was beeping.
She slapped it off, pushed back the covers, hopped to her feet, and was halfway across her bedroom before she had time to think.
But then she did stop, and she did think as the early morning sun came in the window.
Not that she was bitching or anything, but..
Why the hell was she feeling so damn good this morning? Normally she was barely human before she nuked and inhaled her first morning cup of java. On really bad days it was two or three cups.
But today...
She stretched and then touched her toes a couple of times, remembering Lita’s endless lectures on the subject of ‘limbering up’.
She felt like she’d slept for a damn month.
As she flexed, something unfamiliar rubbed against her fingers and she looked at her hand.
She smiled.
Oh, right. The Mystery Ring. The stone’s edges were sharp and crisp against her thumb, and the thing sparkled cheerfully in the sunlight. Again she wondered what the hell it was made of. No way it could be an emerald, could it?
No, not that big, but it sure wasn’t glass; she had seen enough damn costume jewelry at work to know that. Maybe a topaz, or something? Were topazes green?
She couldn’t remember.
And then there was the question of who the hell had sent it. Your Secret Admirer, isn’t that what the note had said? Could have been Nathan? She thought about it for a moment, then snorted. Yeah, right. When was the last time that jerk had even brought her flowers, much less a ring? And the really nice handwriting; Nathan’s looked like he just broke a pen open and smeared the damn ink around on the page.
Maybe it was time to be casting around for some improved boyfriend material. And if someone was sending her bitching-looking gifts..
Was it Harry at work, from the shipping department? He was kinda cool, and wouldn’t be half-bad looking if he shaved off that sorry-ass mustache, although a ring was little much. Didn’t really seem his style.
Oh, well. She’d find out when she found out.
And while she was going to meet Rebecca for lunch today, maybe tomorrow she could hit Sloan’s or some other jeweler’s and at least find out what kind of rock it was.
She started to leave the bedroom again, then snapped her fingers. Another problem with moving so fast was that she’d forgotten about her dream journal. Teresa the Brainiac had of course been the one who had gotten the gang all started on that, and to Mary’s surprise she had found it to be kinda fun. She scrounged around on her sidetable and finally turned up the notebook and then a pen. The pen even worked when she test-scribbled with it.
But when she went to write...
Usually, not always, but usually she remembered her dreams. She flipped back through the pages. The cucumbers. The one with the big bat-thing with the top hat and cane that kept tap-dancing. The jogging doughnuts; she’d had that one more than once.
But this morning she was drawing a total blank. Or maybe.. there had been something..
She chewed on the end of the pen, then scribbled.
A field? Talking to someone. In a green dress?
Oh well. She clicked the pen shut. If she felt like this every morning, she’d give up remembering her dreams in a snap. She tossed the journal and the pen back more-or-less where she had found them and moseyed on out into the living room and on to the kitchen. Hah. Like the damn hole in the wall deserved the name; no dishwasher, and between the stove and refrigerator, there was barely room to turn around.
She really needed to find a better place, but rent had gone through the ceiling in the last few months in all the decent places around town. On the other hand, unlike some places she’d lived, this apartment was halfway decent; there were no roaches and/or rats and the super mostly did his damn job.
Mary started to make coffee, but then tossed the makings back into the cupboard. She didn’t have the stuff to make good coffee, and she only drank it for the caffeine jolt anyway.
And this morning, she didn’t need it.
She went to take a shower instead and then plow through the rest of her morning routine.
She was feeling so good, en route she turned on the stereo and cranked up some tunes. She smirked as she boogied her way back across the room, remembering that weirdo Krish from downstairs coming up the other day and pissing on and on about her and the rest of the gang making too much noise.
She smiled wider, reversed course once again and cranked the stereo up.
Shower. Crunch through a bowl of Honeyoat Corn Clusters with a banana chopped into it. Brush her teeth and get dressed and powder her freckles.
And finally off to work. When she opened the hall closet to get her coat, a broom fell out. The handle bopped her lightly on the head, and she muttered a couple of halfhearted curses as she jammed it back in place. It didn’t really dent her good mood.
Walking to the parking lot, on the other hand, did. It was kinda funny, actually, how fast it shut off. She still felt totally rested and alert, but as she slid behind the wheel of her car, the glow seemed to go off the morning in one swell foop. She looked up at the sky to see if a cloud had slid across the sun, but no, it was up there shining away. She looked at the ring again, and now..
She sighed.
Maybe it was just a big hunk of green glass, after all. She started to pull it off her finger, toss in the glove compartment or something..
But if her secret admirer saw her wearing it..
And it was still kinda pretty..
And, hey, it was still a nice day, and, as noted, the sun was shining. She flipped down the sun-visor and gave her helmet of red hair one last primp in the mirror, and ran another inventory on her freckles. Yup. All still there.
She turned on her car stereo, slapped in Johnny Reardon’s latest CD and toodled off to work, singing along as she skimmed through the traffic.
Her hands were a little sore.
The hours passed uneventfully at Adeline Wholesale Theatrical Supplies. No admirers popped out the woodwork to unmask themselves. Boxes of makeup and masks and tinsel and, yes, costume jewelry were sealed up and shipped out the door onto the waiting delivery trucks. She did get a solid day’s work done; even Mr. Irving “the Boss From Hell” Brown had to struggle to find something to complain about.
As already noted, she met her friend Rebecca for lunch down at the local branch of Parmenter’s. Of course, she showed off the ring and told how it had turned up. Rebecca sniffed, and said it looked gaudy, and was probably sent by some weirdo pervert stalker slobbering away in an alley. Mary said she was just green with envy.
“Get it? Huh? Green with envy?”
The blonde bartender across the table gave her a Look.
“I got it. I just don’t want it.”
Then they both laughed, and speculated without much result about who it might be who sent it, and finished off with a enjoyable rehash of the numerous and glaring shortcomings of the male half of the human race, both in general and more specifically. Bosses and idiot boyfriends and weirdo neighbors...
Mary drove home. She’d thought about swinging by Sloan’s after work, but during the afternoon, the day had clouded over and then turned threatening, with large splatters of rain hitting her windshield as she drove. So she called it a day.
And as she pulled into the parking lot, her spirits immediately picked up again.
Almost like some damn switch had been thrown somewhere.
Really weird.
She shrugged, parked next to Krish’s weird little turtle-shaped car, collected her mail (no exciting and mysterious new packages today, just a collection of bills and ads..) passed through the security door, and went up to her apartment.
She put away her coat and dumped the new batch of mail on the counter next to the Mystery Box and the Mystery Note, which she had never gotten around to doing anything with. She tossed the box in the trash, and pressed the note flat so she could read it again.
Miss Hobhouse. Who the hell would call her that?
The metal band of the ring clicked loudly as she tapped it on the counter.
Had someone called her that?
Someone recently?
She yawned, and her stomach made complaining noises.
Oh well. Her dad had always said you thought better on a full stomach. Maybe it was even true; he’d been right once or twice about stuff.
She shucked her work-clothes and changed into her slop-around-the-house outfit, then raided the refrigerator and dragged from its hiding place one last helping of the chicken and rice which Clover had brought over the other day. Mary stuffed the container into the microwave and punched buttons. Her fellow redhead was such a good cook; Mary wondered again why she wasted her time manning that lousy deli counter over at Hypermart.
Actually, it was a pretty good deli counter, for a supermarket. And of course, Mary was a fine one to talk about wasting time. She really should have gotten back into the masseuse racket months ago; that’s what she was good at.
But Adeline offered a steady if unexciting paycheck, and that was.. important.
While the microwave did its magic she took a Pink Lady from the same fruit bowl on the counter which had supplied the morning’s banana, and started working the fruit over as she flopped into her favorite chair in the living room. It was comfortable, it had a funky fabric pattern, and Anna had gotten her a really good deal on it...
She found the TV remote and then a news channel. Old Guys in Suits, what a surprise. A volcano had erupted in some stupid country in South Asia. Stocks were down 23 points on the day. The Pottsylvanian ambassador had made an angry speech at the UN about moose exports.
She yawned.
She looked at the ring.
The microwave pinged for attention in the background.
She stared at the ring.
It was beautiful again, just like this morning. No, even better. Now it looked like it had last night.
Just before she had gone to sleep...
Maybe it only looked good in certain kinds of light..
She blinked a couple of times, and turned it back and forth, back and forth, watching the light dance off the edges...
There was a loud buzz, jerking her out of her stupor. Someone was at the security door downstairs. She uncurled from the sofa, killed the TV, and went to answer the speaker. The apple core joined the Mystery Box in the trash.
Mary licked the last of the juice from her fingers and then thumbed the TALK button on the intercom.
And looked at the ring again.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mar. It’s Lita. Buzz me in, would ya?”
“Oh. Hey, Lita. C’mon up.” She punched the next button over, and soon Lita appeared at the front door. The athletic Latina woman was both frazzled and wet .
“Hey.”
“Hey. It that bad out there?” Mary raised her eyebrows, distracted from the ring for the moment.
“Yeah, it really blew up out of nowhere.” Lita put aside her purse, then shucked her coat and started to stash it in the closet, but seeing how wet it really was, instead draped it over the back of one of Mary’s bar-chairs and smoothed it out. As she did all of this, Mary wandered over to the living room window and pushed the curtain aside so she could see the sheets of rain now pouring down in front of the parking-lot light. It was getting dark fast. She yawned yet again, wider than before. It was also beginning to look like she was going to pay for her early start. She shook her head and turned back to her friend.
“So, chica, how are things down at Goldengirl?”
“Busy. Did I tell you before? We’re going through another aerobics craze at the moment. These things come, they go.”
“Uh huh. But you make money while they come. So.. what makes you come?”
Lita mimed talking on a phone, wiggling her fingers.
“I was yakking with Rebecca, and she said you were flashing some very misterioso ring you got in the mail? I was over here in this part of town anyway, visiting my aunt Gabrielle...”
“Gabrielle. Um.. she’s the one with the leg? Or the other one, the truck-driver?”
“The leg. The truck-driver is Faviola.”
“Right. Sorry. You’ve only got six aunts, I should be able to keep them straight.”
“Seven, counting Papa’s sister Ruth.”
“Right. Anyway. The ring.” Mary drifted closer and lifted her hand. “You’re our resident rock-hound, aren’t you? Guess I should of called you right away. Don’t have to go to Sloan’s..”
The ring caught the light again, and she stared at it. How could she have ever thought for even a moment that it was just glass?
Lita was eyeing it closely as well.
“That’s very strange material.”
“It’s not an emerald, is it?” Hopeful without much hope.
“No. Sorry.” Lita flashed a smile, but only for a second. Then she went back to staring, and her forehead creased. She lifted a long brown finger. “You know.. I read something somewhere once... if I didn’t know better..”
She tapped the stone, and trailed off. She traced the sharp edges.
The two of them yawned.
Even as she stared at the gem, Mary was aware that they did it in unison.
It didn’t matter. It made her feel so good to just stare at the green, green gem.
Feel so content and happy.
And so very very sleepy...
She tore her eyes away, and looked at Lita. The other woman was still staring at the stone, touching it with her finger.
Something nudged at Mary. A faint whisper of an idea, popping up from somewhere. She couldn’t quite latch onto it, but it sort of bypassed her brain, and went right down to her hand.
She moved the ring back and forth, very slowly.
She let the ring float.
Lita’s finger now stayed on the stone as if glued there, and her eyes silently tracked the movements.
Mary yawned, this time deliberately. She held her mouth open.
Lita opened her mouth. Formed it into a matching O.
Mary closed her mouth.
Lita’s O hung around for a moment, then disappeared as well.
“Lita?”
“Yes, Mary?” Lita’s voice was a sort of intent whisper.
The words came to Mary, a bit clearer now, and she read them off some cue-card, like an bad actor in one of the plays Adeline employees were sometimes forced to attend.
“Why don’t you just... stay the night? I’ll... make up the couch for you.”
“Oh, no, Mary. I couldn’t. I just stopped by... for a moment.... I have an appointment later. With..”
“Can’t it wait? It’s so wet.. and miserable... out there...”
“I really...” back and forth... “I...” Lita’s eyes fluttered closed for a long moment, then she pulled them back open. “OK. I am awfully tired. I should call, though.. and tell Louie..”
“OK.”
Lita took her finger off the ring and went to the phone which stood waiting on the counter beside the fruit bowl. Mary followed her. Lita picked up the receiver and tapped a number. After a couple of rings, someone answered.
“Hello? ...Louie? ..It’s me, Lita. I just wanted to call and.. and..” Doubt flashed in Lita’s dark brown eyes.
Mary silently floated the ring again, in front of those eyes.
Moved it back and forth.
Back and forth.
Lita’s free hand came back up and touched the stone again.
“And cancel our meeting. The weather’s turned so awful, and I want just to call it a day.” Lita yawned widely, and this time it was Mary who mimicked her. “Can we possibly reschedule for later? I’d really like to..”
Annoyed sounds from the phone.
“Ah, c’mon, Louie. You see what it’s like out there. Please?”
‘OK fine’ sounds from the phone.
“You’re an angel in heavy disguise, Louie. I’ll..” Her eyes were still following the ring, and she yawned again, even more widely. “..call you in the morning, and re-schedule. OK? Right. Bye!”
Lita hung up.
“OK.” Mary smiled. “Let’s go to bed.”
“Bed? But it’s only.. only...” They both stared at the green gem. And yawned. “Do you have a.. blanket.. and pillow.. for the sofa..?”
“Yes... OK...” Mary went in the direction of the bedroom, and Lita came along as if the ring was pulling her. Mary stopped. “You don’t need to come along.”
“Oh, right.” Lita spoke absently.
Mary went to her bedroom closet and found the blanket and pillow.
When she returned to the living room, Lita was staring around like she’d never seen the place before.
“Something wrong?” Mary yawned.
“Why on earth did I just do that? It’s not raining... that hard...” Lita saw the ring and trailed off. Mary floated it again, and Lita touched it again.
And yawned.
“Time for bed.”
“Right. OK.”
Lita started pulling off her clothes, and letting them fall around her. Sneakers. Sweater. Jeans. She plodded stiffly to the sofa and lay down, her mass of damp black hair enveloping the waiting pillow.
Moving through deep water, her breath bubbling sweetly around her nose, Mary spread the blanket over her, and floated the ring right in front of Lita’s eyes.
“Sleep.”
Lita’s eyes fluttered shut, and her breathing became slow and regular.
Mary picked up Lita’s things, folded them into a neat pile and then waded back to the bedroom. She put the stack of clothes on the dresser, changed into her nightie and brushed her teeth.
She looked at the ring’s reflection in the mirror, bouncing back and forth...
She turned out all the lights, and climbed into the bed.
Mary’s eyes closed.
Mary fell asleep.
Mary blinked.
She was in the field again. Now she remembered. She had been in the nice grassy field, surrounded by the nice tall pine(? evergreen) trees, talking to her old elementary teacher, Mrs. Terwilliger, who, while wearing her usual high-collar dress, had also been carrying a grinning green cat under one arm. They had been talking about.. jewelry.. And then.. what had happened then?
This is a dream.
She looked around, to see if Mrs. Terwilliger was still here. Or maybe the cat; she liked cats, but the apartment didn’t allow pets. She’d gotten some fish, but they’d all died...
But no. No Mrs. Terwilliger, no cat, no dead fish. It was her friend Lita. Maybe. Probably. the woman had her back turned to Mary, but then Lita was pretty distinctive looking. Didn’t usually dress like that, though, and while the green was nice, it didn’t really suit her. Yet. Mary said something, but no words seemed to come out. Or maybe the woman.. whoever she was... didn’t hear.
Mary tried to walk closer, but she just lurched a little. Something was wrong with her feet..
She pushed her chin down.
No. Something was wrong with the grass. It was swirling together, melting, and she was sinking into its soft warmness.
And it was starting to glow like it was radioactive. Mary windmilled her arms, and somehow kept her balance, but she was sinking even faster now.
this is a dream
The waving of her arms had set the trees and the green sky to swirling around and around
just like they had before.
before?
the green was everywhere.
glowing
getting stronger
and mary was falling into it
she tried to scream but more green came spilling out of her mouth andshe wasbeing swallowedwhole
thisis a DREAM
miss hobhouse Opened her eyes.
she Opened them, but did not Wake Up, because she Dreamed now deep in the Green, and she Remembered everything, Remembered with perfect clarity.
the Light flared, and she Got Up, and Padded into the darkened living room.
Lita was Lying on the couch, trying to Wake Up.
miss hobhouse Felt dissatisfaction.
dissatisfaction was Not Allowed.
Waking Up was Not Allowed.
miss hobhouse Padded to the sofa.
the Light Floated, and Touched itself against Lita’s forehead
Putting Lita to Sleep.
Taking her down into the Green.
miss hobhouse stood still, and Waited for the Professor to Arrive and to Speak.
miss hobhouse would Hear, and she would Obey.
four hours and thirty five minutes later, the door Opened. the Professor Entered, and with him came even greater Light.
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