By aJonymous
His name was Jeb, and he led a somewhat uninteresting life on his home planet, a place characterised by a great amount of philosophy and little action. Those of his race who found the lifestyle of reasoning, telepathy and mind challenges frustratingly tedious were given resources to travel elsewhere in the Galaxy each summer (a period arising once every twenty Earth years).
It was understood that when visiting planets with a less sophisticated civilisation, it was improper to interfere with their goings on or in any way harm a local species, but observation of the dominant species, their thoughts and emotional processes was acceptable. Jeb, always eager to shake off the boredom of his home, would try to test the limits of those guidelines by interacting with a few of the species in whatever way most amused him.
The humans of Earth, in a solar system only 4 away from Jebs, had become his favourite race to visit, observe and have some fun with at their expense. Humans could be induced into an excited, panicked and helpless state of stupor while actually displaying responses of immense amusement and enjoyment. The response was laughter of a nature that the human could not control and the means of inducing it was to immobilise them with their limbs stretched and apply light stroking or prodding to their skin. This was known on Earth as tickling. Jebs own flesh, a soft semi fluid, could form into any shape at will. This combined with his strength allowed him to easily immobilise the humans. The surface of his skin was so soft and slippery it provided a higher ticklish sensation to the humans than they could possibly feel from tickling by their own kind.
All humans were susceptible to tickling although some had mental guards against it. Jeb was equipped with the means to access and manipulate the workings of other species subconscious minds once he made physical contact with them. Hence he had no problem overriding any human mental defences and could make any member of the species shriek and holler with laughter for as long as he wished. He loved to tune in on their thoughts while putting them through their ticklish ordeal. He would always communicate to them that they would not be hurt or held indefinitely, so that emotions other than fear or despair could surface. He particularly liked to detect embarrassment and humiliation in his subject.
Once the human or humans had been tickled for an hour or two they would be subconsciously conditioned to forget their encounter with Jeb and then released. Just occasionally however he would allow some to retain their full recollection if they displayed a genuine fascination with their alien encounter. The trade off would usually be that they were agreeable to bringing other suitable subjects to him for tickling.
He usually visited the same places on each trip to try and find a few of the humans he had tickled on the past occasion who were now twenty years older. “It would be good to find the one that I allowed to remember me last time,” he thought to himself as he entered the solar system containing the Earth…………..
The twin teenage brothers Chris and Paul had taken off for the day to their favourite park area along the waterway near to their street. The park was well forested and undeveloped offering the boys an experience of remoteness and independence.
Jeb had sensed them coming for some time by their thoughts. The only other human to be detected in the area was the young fisherman who he had caught and tickled early that morning. He was now walking out of the area, remembering nothing of how Jeb had reduced him to a giggling delirious state only a while earlier. Jeb decided he would take both boys at once to compare the responses of genetically similar humans.
His body was a soft smooth ball of silicon like substance around 10 feet in diameter. He could mould or stretch himself into any shape at will and could change colour or texture to match the surroundings.
Chris and Paul were drying off in the sun after a swim in the river. They were laying on a long flat section of warm rock at he waters edge. At least that is what it looked and felt like. In their basking they did not at first notice the rock surface on which they lay becoming slowly softer. Jeb did not like to shock the humans if he could manage it. The part of him not being laid on by the boys formed suddenly into the figure of a youngish looking man standing behind them. Thus they were only a little startled when he gave them a friendly “Hi”.
He smiled widely and introduced himself as Jeb, a traveller who loved to meet local folk. Chris asked where he had travelled from lately.
“Well, you wont believe this…yet, but I actually have arrived here from across the galaxy, and am pleased to see that this place has not changed at all in the twenty years since my last visit.” He beamed at them while they smirked at his odd answer.
“How… cool.” and “That’s good… that you like it here,” was the best reply either brother could muster.
“It’s alright. Of course you should think my answer as very strange, but now that you know Im friendly I will give you some proof of what I say.”
The rock surface under the brothers developed a couple of small openings, out of which a mist started to be emitted. They noticed it only when Jeb gestured to the ground. “Look at the mist coming out of the rock. I control that.”
Paul and Chris were now curious at this gas floating around them. Any instinctive impulse to be cautious was already blocked by the effect of the gas. They were now leaning into the rising mist and inhaling it, becoming all the while more docile.
Then the rock on which they sat lost all hardness and became like a semi-fluid cushion.
“Pretty clever, dont you think?,” asked a beaming Jeb, to which sleepy replies of “cool” and “no way” were uttered.
“Now you are in a state where you can remain calm I will show you my true form.” With that, the young man standing above them melted into the blob of what had been rock underfoot. Jeb formed into a ball shape, leaving a just thin layer of his soft body protruding under Paul and Chris. The gas had stopped, but its work had been done as the two of them sat with only awe rather than fear or panic.
“Chris and Paul today, you are encountering a life form unknown to your world. I come here on occasion to find enjoyment. I do this without alarming your race or even greatly interrupting the lives of those I encounter. But for the next little while, I will be finding my enjoyment by interacting with you both in a way that will overwhelm you.
“That was the ‘I mean you no harm’ message, if you like. Im afraid, though, that you are still in for another surprise because I am about to start having my fun with you.”
Under the effects of Jebs gas, they had found his words like poetry and felt the warm, soft elasticity of him under them as an unquestionably friendly presence. Now the gass effects were waning, and the question left Chris lips: “What are we going to do… this interacting… fun thing?”
“Chris, you and Paul are about to receive a more prolonged and merciless tickling session than you could possibly imagine… and you will be powerless to resist or escape for as long as I choose to tickle you.”
Jebs answer had snapped them out of the last effects of the gas, and both of them were on their feet and moving away very shorty after the word tickling had sunk in. They found that before they had got any distance, their feet sank into the surface of Jebs body. They struggled to lift their legs, but Jebs flesh would stretch like elastic around their feet and immediately retract, causing them both to stumble back down.
“It really is a waste of energy trying to get away,” Jeb merrily informed them.
Two pairs of arms formed from Jebs body and took hold of the brothers’ wrists, while another set of appendages with a cup-shaped end were moved up to their faces. The cups covered their mouths and noses, and this time a more pure version of the calming gas was inhaled by Chris and Paul. One mouthful was all it took to have effect. Their faces became calm and expressionless, and their struggling bodies completely relaxed and even moved cooperatively with Jebs limbs as he reshaped himself into a large hollow hourglass shape. Chris and Paul were held fully outstretched, facing each other inside the walls of Jebs latest body design. The hourglass shape stretched their bodies in a convex bend.
Jeb was now using his powers over their subconscious minds to shut down any mental defences against ticklishness. He in fact increased their ticklishness, and suggested to their unconscious minds a absolute dread of the inevitable tickling they were to face.
Jeb stopped producing the gas and reformed the mouth coverings into gags. Recovering his senses, Paul tried to move but found himself tightly held with his arms stretched back behind his head. Only a couple of feet away facing him was his brother in the same position.
Jeb joked, “If you want to go first, raise your hands… Ah. You both want to, then. Well, I think we will start with Chris. Now, after I uncover your mouth you will have about one minute to state a convincing case of why you shouldnt be tickled. If you are successful, I will let you both go.”
Paul watched as the gag withdrew from around Chris mouth and his brother began to babble.
“You… you dont understand, we’re late getting back, theyll come searching for us… but if you please just let us go now I promise we wont say anything to anyone. Me and Paul are just too ticklish, man… We…we cant take it… youll make us ill. Please…No…” Several pairs of hands were forming around Chris and were poised above various ticklish places. “Wait… Jeb. man, we dont deserve this, I could tell you some bad people you could do this to -“
“Could you do that, Chris?,” asked Jeb.
“Sure. Just let us go and we can… take you there or whatever -“
“I might take you up on that, then.” Relief began to show on Chris face. “But after Ive tickled you both, of course.”
“No… wait just wait a second… no… AH HAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…….”
The fingers descended into Chris armpits, and he was at once in fits of uncontrolled laughter. Paul stared into his brother’s hysterical face, and felt an incredible sensation of vulnerability, knowing he was in for the same treatment soon. All of his own ticklish places were abuzz with that feeling of pending attack. Chris was laughing so hard he was hardly making any sound other than gasps for breath – and the odd shriek.
When he finally managed to plead for Jeb to stop, Jeb responded, “Do you think I should tickle your brothers armpits instead of yours Chris?”
“AHAHAHAHAHAHA… NO just stop… AHAHAHAHAH… Please… AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…”
“First you have to say I should tickle Pauls armpits instead. Can you say that, Chris?”
“AHAHAHAH…… I… HAHAHAH… YES!… HAHAHAHAHA… “
“Then you say it now… or I will tickle your armpits for twice as long as I already have.”
“HAHAHAHA… no… please… AHAHAHAHAHA… TICKLE HAHAHAHA PAULS INSTEAD HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAH…….”
“Are you sure thats what I should do, Chris?”
“YES… Please… HAHAHAHAHAHA…”
Jeb stopped tickling Chris, and gagged his mouth – while ungagging Paul.
“No Jeb, please dont… Ill do anything -“
“You heard what Chris said, Paul… Tickle tickle tickle…”
Paul felt fingers dancing in his defenceless armpits and let out a hollering of laughter rivalling his brothers. After several minutes of unbearable tickling, he was allowed to recover. Then Jeb started tickling them both at once, comparing their reactions to each spot – ribs, stomach, feet, thighs, then all spots at once. He found he could obtain synchronised laughter from the twins by tickling them in exactly the same way simultaneously.
For Paul and Chris, all sense of their surroundings had become obscured and they were lost in their state of overwhelming ticklish laughter…
After more than an hour, Jeb thanked them for being such fun subjects… and then a dose of gas had the brothers again calm and receptive to Jebs telepathic suggestions. Their memory of the morning was revised so that they recalled only taking a swim, laying in the sun and falling asleep. They awoke laying at the waters edge and headed for home soon after.
The following day, the brothers were supposed to be catching up on household chores, but by midafternoon, thinking both their parents would be out for some time, they again headed into the park for some swimming.
Treading water in the middle of the deep pool, they suddenly had company. Jeb surfaced from under them with a friendly “Hi.” The sound of his voice, followed closely by the feeling of him holding them from under the water, was all that was needed to unblock their memories of the previous day. They were both struggling and panicking until Jeb said he would not be tickling them again if they cooperated. He carried them back to shore, still keeping hold of them.
“Chris, yesterday you said you could find me other human subjects to tickle. If you can fulfill that, I will spare you from more tickling – and not block your memory of your meetings with me. I will also permit you to watch them receive their tickling. What do you say? Can you come up with some people you think deserve to be tickled?”
Within a few minutes the brothers had totally relaxed and were enthusiastically going through names of people who they thought would be good to see tickled, with encouragement from Jeb. Strong candidates included school tough guys, loudmouth people and the guy they suspected of stealing Paul’s skateboard. Scheming then turned to how they could be lured to this spot away from where anyone lived. The brothers no longer felt any threat from Jeb, as they comfortably reclined along a section of his everchanging form. Chris even started to have thoughts of how yesterdays tickling endurance had been kind of a rush, even enjoyable at times. He wondered to himself whether there was a tactful way of asking Jeb to just tickle him for a couple of minutes at most. He couldnt come up with a way to ask but Jeb had already read his thoughts.
“Paul, you will never guess what your brother was just thinking. Why dont you tell us, Chris?”
Chris was obviously embarrassed. “Me? No I wasnt thinking anything especially.”
“Well, I see you’re still shy – so would you like me to tell Paul what we both know you were thinking?”
Chris paused to think of how to get himself out of this situation. “What do you think I was thinking?” Paul was now curious to know what Chris was being quizzed on.
“You were thinking how it would be nice if I could give you a very brief encore of what you experience yesterday.” Chris looked even more embarrassed and didnt respond.
“The answer is yes, I can tickle you for just a minute or so – but you have to overcome your embarrassment about it. To help you do this, I can report that Paul feels the same way judging by his last thoughts.” Paul now looked embarrassed also. “And whats this? You both want to inhale my relaxant gas again.”
Paul plucked up the courage to respond. “Well, yeah, the gas did feel good, you know… like it made me feel happy. I guess we would like to try that again.”
Mist started to emerge from Jeb near their faces, and as they took in the gas their embarrassed expressions went away. Chris spoke up: “It’s true, Jeb. I would like just a couple of minutes of the tickling like yesterday.”
“Me too,” said Paul.
“Well, here we go then, Paul first today.”
Paul was taken hold of by a series of hands and, a little reluctantly, was pulled into a fully outstretched position. He began to grin and let out the odd giggle of anticipation.
“Two minutes starting from….. now,” said Jeb, and fingers jumped onto Paul’s body in all his ticklish spots. He let out a scream followed by helpless laughter, but he didnt call out for it to stop, knowing that he only had to endure this for a couple of minutes. The time passed before he knew it, and Jeb put him down as he regained composure. Chris put a a little more struggle and was already laughing in anticipation just from being outstretched. All at once, fingers came from everywhere and he was in hysterics for what seemed an eternity but was only a couple of minutes.
Invigorated by their brief tickling, the brothers returned to planning how to lure victims in for Jeb. Suddenly he announced that someone was entering the park on foot – and it was someone both he and the brothers knew……
Greg had arrived home early from a business trip and found the jobs he had left his twin sons to do barely even commenced. Guessing where they would be on this warm day, he headed to the park on foot to give them an ultimatum on their chores. He was a busy man who cared for his family, although his concept of disciplining his sons was usually influenced by his own moods. He had a habit of overreacting to minor things such as this absence. He was rather young to be a parent of teenage sons, having been married with the twins on the way at the age of twenty.
At the waters edge, the brothers asked who was coming, and whether the person was going to get tickled.
“It is a man who I met on my last visit some twenty Earth years ago, when he was about your age. He was the only one on that visit who I released without blocking the memory of the encounter, which is a coincidence in two ways.”
“What do you mean, Jeb?” asked Chris.
“The first is that you two are the only ones who will remember me on this visit – and the second is that the one who remembers my last visit is your dad, Greg.”
At first, the impact of knowing their dad was approaching was causing them to remember all the chores they hadnt done and how they were in for it. Then they suddenly remembered who they were with and what he liked to do to people.
Paul spoke up. “Jeb, our dads not ticklish now, and hed just freak if he saw you even if he did know you once. You should just disguise yourself and stay hidden, and well run home a back way so he doesnt see anything, and then tomorrow we can start bringing those people to you. OK?”
“Paul and Chris, I know it is going to be awkward for you to watch your dad get tickled like you were yesterday. But that is precisely what I am going to do to him – and I guarantee you he will be just as ticklish as he was as a teenager. What I will do for you in exchange for your staying and watching his ordeal is to not only make him forget it ever happened when I have finished, but also make him forget about what he is coming to punish you both over. He will leave here feeling happy to see you both back at home, and you will not get the grounding he currently has in store for you.”
The boys looked doubtful about doing what Jeb had suggested but it was too late, they could hear their dads approach through the forest. Jeb transformed into a boulder next to them as Greg emerged from the forest onto the bank of the river and made eye contact with his sons. “When I give you two instructions about doing things I expect them to be done,” was his stern greeting. “Do you have any excuse worth hearing – other than that youre both slackers?”
Chris and Paul were too nervous to answer clearly. “Sorry, dad.”
“Hi Greg. Remember me?,” said Jeb suddenly forming into his ball shape next to them.
Greg saw the soft elastic sphere of Jeb and heard his voice. Although it had been so long he remembered right away. Although they had parted as friends he also remembered Jebs undertaking when he left that on his return visit in 20 years all deals about no more tickling would have lapsed. He had hoped at the time that he would meet up again with the mischievous alien even if it meant getting tickled like before. Now though, with his own sons standing beside him he could only think of getting away from Jeb with all haste.
“Oh no… Go away. Quick boys, run!,” he yelled. He turned for the forest, still calling to his sons to follow. Before he had made it six feet, a tentacle had him by the waist… then another around one arm. As Jeb pulled him back, Greg knew what was about to happen to him – and all he could think of was making the boys leave him so at least he would be spared the humiliation of being tickled in front of them.
“Chris, Paul,” he shouted, “run home now and stay there. I will be there later.”
The brothers stood awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable about disobeying their dads instruction. “Go on!!! Are you going? Just get out of here!!” He was now struggling futilely against the various limbs of Jeb. He turned to the boys who were moving away… but not running.
“Run, and dont come back here!! Go on just do as I s…. mmppphh-” He felt his mouth covered by Jebs gas duct. He tried not to breathe as he watched the boys moving away, then unable to hold his breath any longer he inhaled the gas and lost consciousness.
“You can come back now,” said Jeb to the brothers. “Remember the deal.” They came back towards Jeb and Greg. Their fathers face was blank and his whole body had relaxed and was cooperating with Jebs positioning of him and removal of his cloths down to his boxers. He gave no resistance to being stretched into a position similar to the one the boys had recently been in.
The gas supply stopped and Greg came around feeling very ticklish. When he focused his eyes he was dismayed to see Chris and Paul standing in front of him.
“No!. You were supposed to go home. What are you doing here?”
“I invited them to stay, Greg,” said Jeb. “Do you have some objection to that?”
“You cant stay here! I want you home now!,” he shouted. He saw hands forming around him, poised to start tickling. In a lower voice he appealed to Jeb, “You cant do this in front of them. Please, Jeb.”
“Well it seems we have a dispute over whether you boys are allowed to watch me having my fun with your dad. There is only one thing for it, I think… Negotiation by tickling”.
“No! Dont… Chris, Paul – go away!, Go on, just leave! Im serious! Will you please HAHAHAHAHA……………..”
Jeb began furiously tickling Greg in his armpits and his angry directions to the boys was replaced by fits of laughter.”HAHAHAHAHAH….. stop… HAHAHAHAH…….. Jeb was ecstatic at the emotions he was picking up form his victim. The humiliation being felt by Greg was stronger than any he had measured previously.
Paul and Chris were losing their awkward demeanour, and starting to find amusement in seeing their main authority figure being tickled into hysterics. They were confident that Jeb would erase all memory of the encounter, and so began to relax and see where this would lead.
“Now, Greg,” said Jeb, “have you thought over whether you were hasty in telling your sons to leave?”
“HAHAHAHAHAH…… please, just stop..HAHAHAHAHAH…”
“First you have to tell Chris and Paul that you want them to stay. And say youre sorry for shouting at them.”
“NO HAHAHAHA you bastard just stop HAHAHAH-“
Jeb added several other pairs of hands to the tickling of Gregs body, and he screamed with laughter, struggling to no avail.
“Ready to cooperate to get a break?”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA….YES… HAHAHAHA”
“Let’s hear it then…”
“HAHAHAH… you can stay… HAHAHAHA… I want you to stay… HAHAHAHA…”
“And about shouting at them?…”
“Im sorry HAHAHAHAHA now stop HAHAHAHAH….”
Jeb ceased tickling Greg so he could regain his composure. Jeb then beckoned the boys closer. Your dad wants you to stay and participate so come and sit yourselves down either side of him Jeb provided each boy with a seating place on either side of their dads trapped body. He then released some of his relaxing gas near them and they were soon very much enjoying the situation with no remaining guilt.
Greg was tickled in various places, always producing helpless fits of laughter. The boys grew increasingly bold, nominating new ways for him to be tickled, making him promise Paul a new skateboard and finally letting Jeb enclose their hands inside his tickling appendages so they became like gloves. They then joined in the tickling of their poor father’s torso, feet and thighs as tears of laughter streamed down his face.
The tickling carried on for two hours until Greg was no longer capable of communicating coherently. Jeb gassed him into unconsciousness, and as promised blocked his memory of the encounter. Instead Greg would believe he had gone for a walk because it was a pleasant afternoon. The incomplete chores were never requested by him in his modified recollection.
Greg awoke lying by the river and realising he had dropped off to sleep headed for home on foot, thinking how good it will be to see his wife and two sons. That reminded him – he really should replace Pauls stolen skateboard, hes such a good kid. “Ill make it a good one too,” he thought.