She noticed then that the walls seemed tilted at crazy angles, until she realized that SHE was on a tilted platform, and not in bed.She noticed then that the walls seemed tilted at crazy angles, until she realized that SHE was on a tilted platform, and not in bed. Looking down, it was immediately obvious why she was unable to move. She was completely encased in a rock-hard body cast, covering her body from her ankles up to the neck. Mr. Dodds was talking again as he fed her more soup. "You and Jason have had quite a session, though I dare say you got the more intense treatment. I've put you into a body cast to isolate you completely from physical sensations. Because of this, you should be recovered from your ordeal completely. Now we can all have fun again!" Whether Flora believed this lame-sounding excuse or not, she was too bewildered by the events of the day to offer any argument or wonder what Mr. Dodds meant by 'fun'. Nervously, she continued sipping the offered soup. When she was finished, and Dodds had cleared away the breakfast tray, he spread a plastic tarpaulin around her feet and under the slanting board. Flora's eyes grew wide with apprehension. Dodds smiled and said, "Now I'm going to remove your cast. The noise may sound awful, but I promise it shan't hurt a bit." When the messy procedure was over, Mr. Dodds helped the weak and wondering Flora to the bed, tucked her in, and said, "Good night!" before trundling off with the pieces of her cast under his arms. The drug he had put in her soup soon took hold, and she drifted off again, unaware of the strange activities commencing in the guest room down the hall... Late that night, the light in Mr. Dodd's commandeered guest room still burned. He had his three body casts arrayed across the tarpaulin-covered floor, while he mixed odd-smelling liquids in big plastic buckets. The halves of each cast had been joined anew, the seams made smooth by plaster-and-gauze repairs. |