The stereo was on loud when Brad got home. Sammi was at the kitchen sink finishing up with washing some pots from the previous night's dinner. She hadn't even heard Brad come into the house and seemed to be in another place, glancing out of the window and humming along to the music. Brad took the opportunity to surprise her. He made his way through the kitchen, stood behind her and reached both arms around her body. He squeezed Sammi tight. Knowing who it was, Sammi smiled with delight and pushed her body back against Brad's. He reached into the sink to make Sammi release the pan she was holding. Sammi noticed that the sleeve of his coat got in the way of the water and was getting wet. She grabbed his arm with her free hand and pulled Brad in closer, causing the water to cover the sleeve of his coat even higher up. Brad turned her around and gave a sweet, short kiss. "How was work?" Sammi asked. "The usual craziness" Brad replied while heading over to the other counter. Brad placed two shot glasses on the counter and started to unscrew the top to a handle of Jack Daniel's. "What's the occasion?" Sammi asked jokingly. "I didn't think we had any plans". Brad snickered to himself. "Let's do this shot now, then I need a few minutes to shower off" "I got a package in the mail". "It's on the couch. You can put it on while I'm in the shower". They raised their glasses in the air and knocked back the whiskey.
Sammi loves getting presents and immediately ran over to the box. She carefully moved the scissor over the packing tape as she had an idea of what might be inside. The first thing she saw was a bright navy color. A moment of deja-vu came upon her and she took the garment out of the box. It was an Echo Red brand long down coat that was very similar in color and style to one that she had previously owned, and loved. Her fingers stumbled clumsily to the tag. Sammi unrolled it a bit to reveal that it was a size Medium and 100% goose down. Remembering Brad's instructions to get dressed while he washed off, Sammi retreated to the bedroom. Getting dressed quickly was something that she had down to a science. Not knowing what Brad had in store, she thought it would be wise to layer up as if they were going to hike in the woods. She put on a bra and panties that could stand some abuse, being able to recover decently from being completely soaked. Next she put on an Under Armour mock turtleneck and leggings, a necessity for any season except the summer. She fumbled through her closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and a black thermal. What was underneath didn't really matter that much since the coat was very long and almost to her ankles. She moved over to her dresser and grabbed two pairs of thick socks. She put them on and then slipped on hiking boots and laced them up.
There were no tags on the coat. It was obviously pre-owned as there was a bit of wear in certain spots. Upon further inspection, Sammi noticed a small tear underneath the armpit on one side. Nevertheless it seemed to be in good shape overall and was clean. She put the coat on and reached down to get the zipper. The zipper moved effortlessly and as it made it's way over her thighs, waist, chest, and neck, pulling the fabric closer against her body. Sammi knew that it was a perfect fit, but still wanted to check in a mirror. She was quite pleased with her reflection and spent a couple minutes admiring the way the coat looked on her. She would run her hands up and down her body with enough pressure that it would cause the coat to puff up right before her palms pushed the air out of it. She heard the water in the shower stop and positioned herself in front of the bathroom door.
Brad opened the door to exit the bathroom, still a little bit wet from his shower. "Holy shit" he exclaimed. "You look good". Sammi watched as his eyes panned up and down her body and then back up again, resting at her face. "Thanks, I love it" she said. "Soooo, what's the plan?".
Brad snickered again and could not stop himself from displaying a devilish grin. "You'll see" he said. "You look like you are dressed for it, maybe grab some gloves". Sammi followed Brad's instructions and spent the next few minutes rolling around on the floor while Brad got dressed. They did another shot and spent some time together checking out the details of the coat and kissing. Another shot was had and then they left the house.
Sammi immediately started to walk toward the end of their dead end street. The paved road turns into a dirt road that leads into the woods. "No, no, no. Follow me" Brad said. Sammi turned around and saw Brad climbing up the rocks that line the road across the street from their house. She backtracked and climbed over the rocks closer to where Brad had gone up. Upon cresting the top of the rocks Sammi could see about 4 buckets and a camera set up on a tripod. Trying to figure out what was about to happen, she thought that there must be mud in those buckets and Brad was going to pour them over her head. She tried to mentally prepare herself for it and then she saw a pile of bungee cords. She didn't know what to think. As they approached the area, she could see inside the buckets. Two were filled with water, one was full of mud, and one had something else. "What is that?" Sammi asked. "Syrup" Brad replied. The bucket was only about half full and Sammi leaned over it to get a closer look. She took her glove off and touched the syrup. "Cool". Sammi sighed and dropped to her knees. She pushed her pointer finger into the syrup and then pulled it out. She had to dangle her finger over the bucket for a bit as the stream of syrup never seemed to end. When it had stopped dripping she put her finger in her mouth to clean it off. "Well, it certainly tastes better than what I am used to" Sammi said jokingly. She put her glove back on and before she could fully stand up Brad grabbed her around her waist and pushed her against a tree. He kisses her and she returned the notion of love by melting towards him and pulling on his lip with her mouth as he broke the embrace. "Close your eyes" Brad said in a stern voice.
Sammi shut her eyes and heard Brad fumbling around with something. She felt a tightness around her shoulders that forced her closer to the tree she was standing against. "Oh my God, he's tying me up" Sammi thought to herself. Brad continued to secure Sammi to the tree with the bungee cords. He placed them around her shoulders, waist, thighs, and ankles. "OK, try to move" he called out. Sammi squirmed a bit and was able to shimmy about but could not easily get away from the tree. "OK, stay still, don't move". Sammi watched intently to see which bucket Brad was reaching for. He grabbed the one with the mud in it and raised it as high as he could over her head. "Any last requests?" he joked. By this point Sammi had a nervousness take over that was evident by her silence. "OK then, I love you" Brad said. He dumped the entire contents of the bucket over her with one fell swoop. Sammi screamed and then quickly drew her mouth shut and held her breath. Next she felt a towel being rubbed over her face. She laughed and tried to look down and see what the mess looked like. "Do you want to touch me?" Sammi asked. Brad ran his hand all over the coat and then Sammi's hair. Brad reached over for another bucket. Sammi could see it was one with water. Brad poured it slowly over her, strategically wiping away as much mud as possible. "So, you are really going to pour syrup all over me?" Sammi asked. "It's what you want, right?" he replied. "Yes, I do" Sammi smiled from ear to ear. "Please pour it slowly and don't stop no matter how much I scream. Try not to get it over my eyes until the end".
Brad held the heavy bucket as still as he could and let gravity take the syrup out. Sammi was surprisingly quiet as it started to pile up on the top of her head. It quickly started to stream down her hair and sides of her face and she started to giggle. "Oh god, some is going under my coat" she said somewhat reluctantly. The next few minutes were full of low volume giggling and Sammi sneaking peaks of the shiny syrup all over her coat. "OK" Brad said, "there's just a little bit left". Sammi closed her eyes and raised her face towards the sky and he poured syrup all over her face. When the bulk of the syrup stopped dripping Sammi licked her lips and asked Brad for a kiss. Careful not to touch her, Brad leaned in and kissed her. "You my dear, are a mess!" he exclaimed. He took a towel and dipped a corner of it into the last bucket of water. Brad gently wiped the syrup from Sammi's eyes and face. At that moment they both heard the phone ring from inside the house. "You better get that" Sammi said as their parents were watching the kids and it was probably nothing but you never know. Brad sprinted toward the house.
Sammi stood there, tied to a tree, covered in sticky syrup. Although Brad had just wiped her face clean, more syrup was still leaking down in a steady stream and she was becoming covered again. Sammi decided she had enough and started to wiggle back and forth to loosen the bungee cords. It didn't really work. She managed to shimmy over to the other side of the tree where the metal ends of the cords were. She tried as best she could to get out and was making some progress when she heard her coat tear. What must have been hundreds and hundreds of tiny feathers were floating in the air. Some were white and some were brown and it they seems to have a life of their own as they drifted in the spring air. Sammi wanted to prove to herself that she could get out of the restraints so she kept on squirming and wiggling around to break free. She heard another tear and more feathers were released. Almost free, she was able to turn toward the tree and use her feet to push against it and out of the cords. The metal clasp of the highest cord got snagged on the coat and as she broke free it sliced down the entire back of her coat. She had fallen to the ground and there were feathers everywhere. The ones that were not floating gently in the air were stuck all over her hair and coat.
She heard a voice say "You OK hun?". She laughed with delight. "Bring the camera over here and throw that last bucket of water over me please?" Sammi requested. The water fell on her with heaviness, but she knew it was not enough to really help her out of this mess. "C'mon, let's get you hosed off" Brad said smiling. They walked across the road and into their backyard.