Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2024 18:05:45 +0000 From: Nifty Sisters Subject: Unexpected Special Massage (Chapter 2) (Lesbian/Adult-Youth) Unexpected Special Massage (Chapter 2) Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction written by my sister and me. Any similarity to persons, places, or things is entirely coincidental. If such stories are illegal in your jurisdiction, stop reading immediately. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy! -Nifty Sisters --- My eyes started to open slowly. Once they started to focus, my first observation was the familiar red floor under the intricate massage table, followed by feeling the sensation of its soft red leather around my forehead, cheeks, and chin which were all comfortably resting in the hole. "Wait a minute", I thought, as my hands found the sides of the table and pushed my face and upper torso upwards. "I'm lying flat on my stomach on the regular side of the table. How did I get positioned like this now on the opposite side?" As I attempted to further vertically orient myself, I looked down and saw my two-piece, skimpy black bikini on my body. Wondering if my memory was failing me, I peered around the room and found it empty of any persons other than myself. There was no trace of the red panties I had been given to wear earlier, which no doubt would have been completely drenched after what happened to me. Looking up, the afternoon sunlight, dimmed by the thickness of the jungle, glowed through the skylight and softly illuminated me on top of the table, leaving the furthest edges of the round room dark and shadowed with one exception. On the opposite end from the entry door, a small wooden table stood against the wall, seemingly painted red in a distressed fashion, and with three red candles sitting atop it. The far-left candle was lit and the other two remained extinguished. Curiously, the candles became shorter from left to right, with the right-most candle being almost half the size of the sole lit one. I wasn't sure if I didn't previously notice the short table because it wasn't there, or if the absence of a lit candle failed to draw my attention to it. I was now sitting straight up with my legs hanging off the edge of the table but I wanted to investigate further, so I plopped my bare feet down onto the red floor. I was surprised to find it to be a lot warmer than I expected. Not burning hot, but warmer than the rest of the air in the room suggested it would have felt. I turned around in a complete circle while scanning the room again, this time for my seemingly-missing flip flops, but had no success locating them. However, on the floor outside the outer rim of the dais facing the door were a pair of well-worn looking red Crocs, identical in color to the pair the little girl had been wearing and to the numerous red accents adorning this strange place. The only difference is that these were much larger and seemed like they would fit my feet. I noticed a glimmer inside the left shoe, so I kneeled down and peered inside and discovered my room key, which I picked up and carried with me. From this angle, I also noted that the color inside of them seemed quite faded, most likely from wear, I surmised. Not seeing any other options and not wanting to walk barefoot the whole way back on the uneven cobblestone path, I reluctantly decided to slip my feet into them, finding that they fit almost perfectly. My next observation was feeling moisture all over the bottoms of my feet and the tops of my toes, as if someone had been wearing and sweating in them for hours and had literally just taken them off. "Oh yuck, I hope these don't make my feet stink", I thought to myself as I felt the moisture seeping in between my toes. And I have to say, it was rather comical. Probably the one type of shoe I would never be caught dead wearing, I now had on both of my feet. "I hope no one sees me", I half-joked to myself. While slowly walking across the room to the door, my mind flashed to what that little girl had done to me. I shivered upon seeing a visage in my mind's eye of her appearance, followed by her fingertips curled in front of my face, and then the almost-diabolical gaze she gave me when she finally made eye contact with me before sending me into a universe of sapphic pleasure that I had never experienced. I couldn't help but feel guilty now, since I was no longer in the midst of intense flares of passion, recalling that I had become so weak-minded that I couldn't resist the urge to play with myself while feeling the delicate, unrelenting touches of a young child. In a way, I felt violated. But then I recalled my thoughts about her forbidden places when I was so desperately close. How could I forgive myself for this? How did this happen to me? Despite the guilt I was feeling, this line of thought sent shivers down my back, giving me goosebumps all the way up to my neck, where I felt the hairs standing straight up. "You have got to get your shit together", I told myself as I tried to toss these thoughts out of my mind and refocus on getting out of this massage hut, and also figuring out what happened. --- The brighter light from the windows of the smaller entry hut stunned me as I stepped through the door to leave the secluded massage room. As my eyes adjusted, I peered around and found the chair behind the desk empty, along with the chair next to the window where I had first seen the little girl sitting - also empty. I looked around for my flip flops for good measure but was unable to spot them anywhere. "Wow, they really left me all alone... so much for getting any answers right now", I thought to myself as I turned to exit outside. Following the cobblestone path, I carefully made my way out of the dense foliage of the jungle and was in direct sunlight near the beach, finally. Looking up at the sky, it seemed like it was 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon; I must have napped for quite a few hours. I could feel my cheeks turn red as the reason for my exhaustion quickly flashed through my mind again, followed by another wave of guilt. My stomach growling from missing lunch, I started walking towards my room so I could change out of my two-piece into something more appropriate for consuming a meal. I reasoned that once I had eaten, I would have a clearer head and could then seek out some of the hotel staff to give me answers. I made it to the wooden boardwalk path that leads to all of the oceanfront guest huts, but before I could get more than a few steps down it, I felt something bounce off the back of my head. Instinctively turning around quickly, I saw a beach ball bouncing off the ground and rolling into the sand nearby where it promptly stopped. "Oh, I'm so sorry!", a blonde girl who looked just a year or two shy of being a teenager yelled out concernedly as she rushed toward me from the general direction of where the ball had come from. She continued, "Are you OK?" Looking at the ball and then back at her with a serious expression, I replied to her, "I don't know.. that ball is pretty hard and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have some serious brain damage." I let the look of shock which appeared on her face after I uttered those words linger for a few moments, and then added with a grin, "Got you!" She looked immediately relieved and laughed and started talking to me, "You are funny! I thought you were really mad for a minute. I'm bored and have been throwing this ball as high as I can up into the air and trying to catch it, but this time the wind seemed to grab it and throw it right into your head. It's weird because I didn't even feel a breeze!" As she talked to me, I found myself looking at her more closely. I would guess her to be 11 or 12 years old with platinum blonde hair, iridescent blue eyes, light skin with a mild brown tan, slender, and about five feet tall. She was wearing a cute sun dress which was mostly white but was peppered with some beach themed patterns all over it, like palm trees and sand castles. It fit her pretty tightly up top which revealed the tiniest breast buds forming on her, with two straps going over both of her shoulders. The lower portion finished slightly above her knees. She had white flip flops on her feet which matched her dress, and all of her toenails and fingernails were painted white. I looked back up at her face and my eyes were drawn to her supple, pink lips which looked so perfectly smooth and full, and were slightly puffed out by the turquoise braces that adorned her upper and lower teeth. My toes on both feet involuntarily curled aggressively forward into the moist, squishy bottoms of my borrowed red Crocs as looking at this girl's lips made my mind flash back to my little girl masseuse's flat nipples. "Did you hear me?", the girl asked, jarring me out of my thoughts. "I'm sorry...", I stuttered back at her, trying to compose myself. "What did you say?" "I said I like your red Crocs! I have some too and they are so comfy but they are black. I have never seen them red like that before", she repeated. "Oh... thank you. Actually, funny story, they aren't even mine. I went for a massage in my own shoes, but when I was done, they were missing and these were lying nearby, so I 'borrowed' them until I could find mine. I don't know who they belong to but it seems like they finished wearing them not long before I found them since they were all sweaty inside. I think they probably look really silly on me", I replied, not wanting to come out and directly say how much I hate them since she had just shared that she owned a pair. "No, I think they look cool, don't worry! And yeah, that's kind of sus but I'm sure you'll find yours soon. True story about the sweat though. I have to wear mine with socks in the summer or my feet sweat sooo much and then everyone runs out of the room when I finally take them off later," she said with a laugh at the end. "Is it really that bad?", I asked her after chuckling a bit at her comment. "Oh yeah!", she said back with a sour look on her face. "Oh great", I joked while looking down at the Crocs, "Now I'm afraid to take these off without a nose plug." I pointed at my beach hut down the boardwalk near the water's edge and added, "I'm staying in that tiny hut right there and since it's so small, the whole place is going to reek when I take them off. So do you have one? You know, you owe me after causing me some brain damage." "Nope, I'm all out!", she quickly replied cheerily. I was genuinely enjoying my playful banter with this girl. She seemed very witty and fun to talk to as well. And if I'm honest with myself, a part of me was captivated by what a naturally beautiful girl she appeared to be. I have always looked at females and appreciated their allure, albeit without being attracted to them. That is, until recent events unfolded, which I was still struggling to internally reconcile. I don't know that I felt any attraction in this exact moment, but I did observe and appreciate her good looks and charm. "Maybe I could help another way!", she blurted out, again snapping me out of my thoughts. "Oh yeah, and how would you do that?", I asked, still playing along. "Well...", she started, "ever since we got here, I thought those huts by the beach were so cool and I wanted to see what they looked like on the inside. Soooo... since you are staying in one of them, you could let me see it really quick!" "But how does that help me with my problem?", I asked while raising an eyebrow. "Oh yeah! Ummmm..... I could hold your nose closed while you take them off. How about that?", she grinned. "Why wouldn't I just hold my own nose closed?", I asked, foiling her idea. "Oh... ", she trailed off and looked down. "Tell you what", I said, thinking about a way to still play along and tease her a little bit, "How about I let you see the room and I can lay on the bed with my feet as far away from my nose as possible, hanging off the edge of the bed even, and you can take them off of me and tell me how bad the smell is. And then I will know if I need to hold my nose closed or not before getting in the shower so I won't have to smell it at all." I could see a little wrinkle on her forehead for a couple seconds while she was pondering this idea, and she then blurted out cheerily again, "OK, deal!" I laughed a little at her cute response but then it dawned on me that it probably wouldn't be the greatest idea to have this girl accompany me back into my room alone, even for a couple minutes. "Where are your parents?", I asked. "Clarissa!", I heard a woman shout in the distance. The girl turned around quickly to face the direction the voice came from. She yelled back, "I'm over here, mom!" I could see her mom in the distance by one of the cabanas lining the oceanfront. She started walking over to us and I couldn't help remark mentally at the coincidentally perfect timing. "Hi Clarissa, are you having fun?", her mom asked her as she approached and added while looking at me, "Who is your friend?" Clarissa turned back around and looked at me. "Oh, what's your name?" "It's Erica", I replied, loud enough for her mom to hear me as well, since she hadn't quite made it next to us yet. Clarissa added, "I accidentally hit her in the head with the ball so we started talking after I came over to tell her sorry." "Oh honey, I told you to throw far away from everyone just for that reason", her mom said, sounding slightly annoyed. Clarissa replied while pointing, "I did! I was way over there by those rocks. The wind blew it all the way over here in the air." Her mom looked at her with a tinge of disbelief. "I'm not so sure about that...", she started. I piped up and said, "Actually, she really was over there when I got bopped in the back of the head. I didn't even know what happened until I saw her running towards me to tell me what happened." Her mom replied, "Oh OK, sorry about that anyway Erica. My name is Megan", and she held out her hand for a handshake. I shook her hand and told her that it was nice to meet her. Clarissa jumped in, "Mom! Erica is staying in that hut over there right by the beach. She said she would let me see it!" Megan looked at me. I inserted, "Clarissa told me she was curious about them so I told her that I didn't mind. I had just started to tell her that she would need to ask her parents when you called out for her." Megan replied, "Hmmmm... who are you all staying here with?", while looking at me more carefully up and down. I answered her question, "By myself actually. I've been saving up for this kind of trip for years and I always wanted to do it alone so it would be more of an adventure." Seeming surprised, she replied, "Oh, really? I thought you would probably be with your boyfriend or something. That's actually quite brave for you to travel here all by yourself. Are you from the US?" I replied, "Yeah, born and raised in Texas!" She laughed, "Well, that sure beats the Michigan weather where we're from." "Usually", I quipped back. Pointing again, Clarissa jumped in, "Soooo mom, can I see it? It's the one right there, the second from the end!" Megan looked over at my hut and then down at her watch and said, "Your dad is probably wondering what happened to me." She looked at me and said, "Are you sure you don't mind?" I smiled back at her and replied, "No, not at all actually. I remember being curious about everything when I was her age so I completely understand! And she seems like a great kid." Both of them smiled at me, Megan looked at her watch again and then back at me, "That's very nice of you to say Erica, thank you." She turned to Clarissa and added, "Honey, get your ball, go check out Erica's hut, and then come back over by your dad and me in no longer than 15 minutes because we are going to pack it up and get ready for dinner, OK?" Clarissa beamed, "OK!" Her mom started to walk away and Clarissa looked up at me and said, "Cool! Can we go see it now?" "Sure", I replied as we started walking towards it, "Your mom seems really nice." "Yeah, she is!", Clarissa replied, and then added, "I'm glad you didn't say anything about your other idea though." "What other idea?", I asked, intrigued. "About having me see if your feet smell", she said with a more serious tone than I expected. "Why wouldn't you want her to know about that?", I asked, genuinely wondering because I hadn't really taken it seriously up to this point. "Ummm... she wouldn't get it", Clarissa replied as we were nearing the hut, "It's just between us anyway." I couldn't help but think to myself that I wasn't getting it either. I was only teasing her in an attempt to go back and forth with our playful banter, but it dawned on me that she had taken it more seriously than I anticipated. As I started turning my room key in the lock, I said to her, "You know, that was just a joke. You don't actually have to take off my shoes and tell me if my feet smell if you want to see my room", and laughed a little. "Oh...", she trailed off, almost looking disappointed, but like she was attempting to conceal it. I was getting more intrigued by this, so I pressed a little further and asked somewhat hesitantly, "Did... you really want to?", while waiting to push the now-unlocked door open, looking at her. I waited for her to answer before opening the door and with the tiniest bit of trepidation showing through her exterior facade that she was doing her best to conceal, she let out in a small voice, "Maybe?" "Well, that wasn't a no", I thought to myself. My intrigue was increasing as her reactions to this idea in general were anything but what I expected. I really had no idea if my feet smelled from these stupid Crocs that I had been forced to wear or not, didn't want to know, and couldn't understand why she would be curious about it. She did mention having a smell problem with her own sometimes, so maybe she wanted to compare or something? My mind then flashed to the little girl masseuse, when I first saw her standing next to me while I laid tied and gagged in the contoured cutout of the massage table, and I noticed her slender little sockless ankles sticking out of the backs of her red Crocs. "No socks," I thought, "I wonder how long she had them on for and if they were as squishy as mine were when I stepped into them." "Are you going to open the door?", Clarissa asked me, looking perplexed. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at her said, "Oh, sorry! I guess I have a lot on my mind today", as I pushed the door open and we both went inside. "It's OK, I do too", she offered. I considered that maybe she was just trying to be polite with this statement. We both took a few steps in the room and she turned around in a full circle and exclaimed, "Wow! It's so cool!" She ran up to the window closest to the ocean and peered out and added, "The ocean is so close and so loud!", before looking back and smiling at me. "Yeah, it's so peaceful and relaxing which is exactly what I wanted on this vacation", I said back to her, grinning. She ran around a little bit and peered in the bathroom and looked at the simple furniture and then commented on the mosquito net, "Our room doesn't have this. What's it for?" "Bugs, mostly mosquitoes", I replied and continued, "This is more of a 'natural' room since it's closer to the water and jungle." "I don't like bugs", she quipped back, making a face. "I can't say I'm a bug person either", I said back to her, smirking a little. I added, "So are you happy you got to see it now?" "Yeah I am, thank you!", she replied brightly. After that, she hesitated for a few moments while looking at me and I noticed her breathing picked up a little bit and that she started having a strange look spread across her pretty face, almost like she wanted to ask something but was afraid to. Her look gave me the tiniest butterflies in the pit of my stomach. Looking back, I can't say that I know where these words came from. Chalk it up to my extreme and unusual earlier encounter, jet lag, hunger, who knows.. but the only way I can describe the words that next came out of my mouth is that it felt like I wasn't the person saying them. "Do you want me to lay on the bed now?", I asked. Her eyes which had been wavering around now locked with mine and she didn't look away while saying confidently, "Yeah I do." The manner and tone in which she spoke those three words turned my butterflies into chills and a sent shiver up my back that was reminiscent of my earlier flashback. For a second, I wondered if she just experienced the same feeling that I had, as if someone else spoke them for her. My more logical thoughts intervened and I concluded I should just try to do this quickly so all of it wouldn't be any weirder than it was staring to be already. I flashed her a nervous smile and started walking towards the front of the bed and climbed up on it and pushed myself forward, leaving my legs hanging off the front edge from my knees down while laying on my stomach. I felt the red Crocs start to dangle slightly away from both of my feet due to gravity, but I curled my toes enough to keep them from falling off. I curved my neck around to the side and peered behind me as best as I could and I observed her sitting down seemingly cross-legged on the floor next to the bed, mostly disappearing out of my sight since I couldn't see below the edge of the mattress I was laying on. "OK, are you ready?", she asked me. "Ready as I will ever be!", I said back to her, mostly joking. But something was definitely strange about this. I felt some kind of thrill, almost like we were doing something that we shouldn't be. This was just something silly though, so why did I feel like this? I felt her fingertips gently wrap around the spot right above my left ankle and the feeling of her touch instantly sent goosebumps up my entire leg. I relaxed my toes on my left foot when I started to feel pressure as her other hand was trying to lift the dangling shoe off of my foot. When I felt the fresh air waft against my now bare foot, I realized how sweaty the stupid Croc had actually made it and immediately started becoming self-conscious. Before I could think about that too much, I felt her release my left ankle and then felt the same, familiar grip on my right ankle and the tugging of the shoe on that foot. Again, my other leg developed goosebumps from her gentle touch but her grip didn't last as long now that both of my feet were bare and exposed to the air. I once again became self-conscious, hoping that the smell wasn't horrible for this poor girl who was only trying to play a silly game with me. "Are you plugging your nose?", I heard her ask me, again startling me out of my thoughts. "Oh... no, actually I forgot to", I replied. "You might want to..", she continued, "they smell really strong." "Fucking hell", I thought to myself, "Why did I think wearing someone else's gross, used shoes was a good idea?" I felt even worse for pretty little Clarissa. My internal scolding was interrupted with the pure, unadulterated shock of feeling a new and unfamiliar sensation on my left foot. Something soft, yet somewhat hard poked slightly into the arch of my sole. And almost simultaneously, I felt something I could only describe as smooth and warm come into contact with the curve right underneath my toes on the same foot. The soft and firm sensation in my arch started sliding slowly down until it was underneath my toes and gently pushing into them. I attempted to peer around and behind my neck on the left-hand side to visualize what was happening, but I couldn't see anything except the tiniest bit of blonde hair. My neck instantly straightened facing forward when I felt a new sensation. In the curve underneath my toes, I felt warm air spreading out over them. And that's when I heard her inhale deeply, followed by feeling the same sensation again. This process repeated one more time and I finally deduced that she had initially touched her nose to the arch of my left foot with her soft lips resting on my toes. She then slowly dragged her nose down until it was touching the bottoms of my moist toes, and inhaled and exhaled three times. I gasped a little when I was able to finally determine what was happening. Why was Clarissa actually touching her nose to my gross feet? And inhaling deeply so many times? When she said she was going to smell, I expected a quick whiff from several inches away, not 15 seconds of her nose pressed under my sweaty toes. Having her smell in the first place was just a joke, on top of everything else. My initial thoughts of pity for her now turned more into curiosity as the butterflies in my stomach returned stronger than before. I felt all contact on my left foot disappear, but before I could start to get up and turn around, I felt her palm grip the ankle of my right leg and her other palm went behind that foot and grabbed it from the top side, holding it tightly in place. Her grip was firm but gentle, and her fingers and fingertips seemed smooth and actually felt kind of nice on it. The instant her nose made contact with my skin, my legs squeezed together involuntarily. While I was feeling the newly familiar sensation of the moist air from her breath spreading along the bottoms of my toes, I sensed moisture elsewhere than my feet. At that moment, I felt her nose retreat, and something very warm, slightly wet, and soft gently caressed over the ends of my three middle toes and then slid off of them. The only explanation for this feeling was that she must have opened her lips slightly and dragged them over my toes for a couple seconds. Upon feeling this sensation, I whimpered as quietly as humanly possible after being startled by a not-so-gentle throb in between my legs, the other source of moisture I was now aware of. I was in complete disbelief that this beautiful little angel had her perfect lips touching anywhere on my body, much less wrapped around my smelly toes of all places. Soon afterwards, I felt all contact with her hands and face disappear. That's when the smell hit my nose. "Oh my god", I thought to myself as it vaguely reminded me of my little sister who had the spectacular habit of wearing the same socks to school for a week before changing them, usually so she could threaten to throw them at me if I didn't acquiesce to her demand of the day. Such a scent is not something that is easily forgotten. "Wow Erica.. they are really strong." Clarissa's voice snapped me out of my thoughts for what felt like a world record number of times today. I carefully flipped myself around on the bed to look at her, feeling utterly ashamed and shocked at what I had just put her through after just catching a whiff myself. The moisture now in between my legs, which I had even less of an explanation for, did not help my embarrassment and I felt my cheeks burning. They must have been bright red. Upon hesitantly meeting her gaze, I was again dazed. I expected a look of disgust based on what she had just said to me, but instead her face had something much different written all over it. I don't really know how to describe what a look of lust looks like on a preteen's face, but that's the best way I can describe what I was seeing, as Clarissa deeply pierced my eyes with her own sapphires. My bikini bottoms clenched against me tightly, now being even more slippery with my nectar, the feeling of which caused my whole body to shudder involuntarily. Beyond curious about what just happened, I started to open my mouth to ask her what in the world possessed her to do that, but she interrupted with, "Oh, I think I have to go now. It's been close to 15 minutes already", sounding more than a tiny bit sad, and her gaze dropping from mine. For a few moments, I simply watched her, not knowing how to respond. Finally, trying to come to my senses, I scooted towards the front of the bed while doing my best to keep my legs together, stood up, and walked toward the door to open it for her. "I... don't know exactly what just happened but I hope you had fun and liked the room?", I muttered somewhat sheepishly, not finding my words well. She had started walking towards the door but upon hearing this, detoured and walked up to me and wrapped her arms around me, which I didn't expect. I hugged her back to be polite, and she looked up at my face, her amazing blue eyes once again piercing mine, and said, "I liked it. And I liked something else too." Still holding her and looking into her eyes, I asked, "What do you mean? What else did you like?" She pulled back from our embrace and looked down at my bare feet and then over at the red Crocs lying by the bed that she had recently pulled off of me, which piqued my interest. "You know what I liked", she said, and then walked through the door with a wave and disappeared down the boardwalk path. I closed and locked the door after she left. --- I knew now more than ever that I needed to get a grip on what was happening with me. I looked down at by bikini bottoms, being very thankful for them being black, since there was a slick portion right smack in the middle which I had luckily been able to shield from Clarissa's attention. I was surprised she couldn't smell it, because I could. I was in complete disbelief as to why our very brief and strange encounter was erotically charged enough to have such an effect on me. Her last words to me lingered in my brain and only added to my curiosity about her. "Oh...", I mumbled out loud as my thoughts shifted from my own dilemma back to Clarissa, with the thought of whether she might have had the same issue from our concise exchange. I felt a twitch in between my legs and shuddered at this idea. "She is a GIRL and a preteen one even, WHY are you thinking about what's going on in between her legs?!", I scolded myself. Of course, it wasn't lost on me that earlier in the morning, I had the same, if not worse thoughts about the masseuse girl who was probably half Clarissa's age. "Was she trying to tell me that she likes my feet smell?", I wondered to myself in my thoughts. It was clear to me now that she did in fact want to smell check me for some reason, given what happened, but I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that she would be happy with what she discovered. And after her discovery, wanting to smell and touch more, even with her lips. The way her perfect, soft little lips felt dragging around my three middle toes though... I had never felt anything like it. I slammed my palm against my forehead, trying to shake off these thoughts. Once again, my hunger hit me, since Clarissa had distracted me on the way to change and get a meal. I went into the bathroom and removed my bikini top first, followed by the bottoms which were stuck to my skin and had to be peeled off. I rinsed out the shiny crotch area in the sink and left them hanging over the side of it to dry. I went back into the bedroom and put on a fresh pair of panties, jean shorts, sports bra, and a t-shirt. I looked around for my flip flops absent mindedly until I noticed the red Crocs lying on the floor next to the end of the bed. "Darn it", I spoke aloud, not wanting to wear them. I saw my white canvas sneakers sitting by the door along with a pair of thin no-show socks poking out of them, but as I started to walk over to grab them, my movement generated a breeze that reminded me how much my feet reeked. "I don't want to stink up my newer shoes", I thought to myself. I was also ravenous and didn't feel like taking the time to shower so that I would be able to wear my other shoes before getting food. Reluctantly, I looked at the ugly red Crocs, let out an exasperated sigh, and started walking towards them. Silently cursing myself for not bringing non-no-show socks that I could have used to cover my feet with, I slipped into them and was greeted with a squishy moist feeling again which quickly enveloped both of my bare feet. Unexpectedly, my whole body shivered upon feeling this, not unlike the shivers earlier which resulted in my bikini bottoms becoming a mess. I tried to ignore it, grabbed my room key, and headed out the door in search of dinner. --- They say hunger is the best cook, and whoever "they" are isn't wrong. I felt so amazingly better after eating, especially considering the abundance of physical activity I had endured not only today, but generally for this trip. The hotel has a cute little indoor restaurant set up in one of the larger huts that provides all sorts of tasty international cuisines. Tonight happened to be buffet style which was great, since I didn't want to wait. I sat alone at a table for two, but the tables were spaced relatively close together, so it wasn't long before I was engaged in conversation with the next table over, populated by a young-looking couple who I would guess were in their late 20s or early 30s. They introduced themselves as Dan and Zoe. Like Megan earlier, they were surprised that I was traveling alone and offered to spend time with me at any point if I was feeling lonely. They informed me that they had been here for a week already and had one more week left until the end of their stay. I thanked them for their kindness and said I would be happy to grab an occasional meal, or whatever, with them. At some point, the topic of our conversation shifted to the locale and the hotel. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to ask them if they were familiar with the massages, knowing they had been here for a week already. "Free included massages?", Zoe perked up, and continued, "That's news to me... I want one!" "Be careful what you wish for", I thought to myself. I giggled a little and told her about the cobblestone path at the jungle border near the outdoor dining area and suggested she wander down there and sign up if she were feeling so inclined. Dan added, "We usually sit at the tables pretty close to the jungle there and I never noticed any path. Have you?", he asked as he looked at Zoe. Zoe replied, "No, I haven't either." I laughed and said, "They really don't seem to want to advertise this perk, do they?" But as I finished that sentence, a thought crossed my mind, and I added, "Although... I felt like I got pressured into both massages I've had so far since arriving yesterday. And the second one which was this morning, I didn't even sign up for! They sent someone to my room to get me and everything and she practically pulled me out of my room by the hand." Zoe responded, "You just got here yesterday and you've had two already?" I replied, "Yeah, the first one was what they call the normal massage and the girl offered it to me when I was in the massage hut the first time as part of the welcome tour. The 'special' one is the one that I didn't sign up for and was almost dragged to this morning." As I finished that sentence, my mind flashed back to the little girl's gaze she terrified me with before starting the most torturous sexual teasing of my body. I shivered. Dan looked at me curiously and asked, "That's strange. We were never taken to the massage hut on our welcome tour. And what's the 'special' massage?" Zoe also looked at me intently. "Oh, umm...", I started, realizing that I probably should have left that tidbit out, since I now opened up myself to a whole new line of questioning which, who was I kidding, there was no way I could tell them what happened. "It was just more in depth...", I concluded, while trailing off slightly. Neither of them looked like they believed me. I never said I was a good liar. At that moment, I saw Megan, Clarissa, and a man who I guessed to be Megan's husband and Clarissa's dad, enter the hut. I waved and smiled and said, "Hi guys!", hoping to distract Zoe and Dan from my gaffe. They all waved back, also at Zoe and Dan, who also returned waves. "Oh, you met Megan and Paul already?", Zoe asked me as I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the distraction succeeded. "Actually...", I started to reply, "I met Megan but not Paul. It was kind of an odd thing - their daughter was throwing a ball around that was introduced to my head before I met any of them, and so I met her first followed by Megan." They both laughed and Zoe remarked at what a beautiful girl Clarissa is, to which I agreed. Paul added, "Those bright blue eyes... they are striking, and a lot like yours actually. She is going to be a heart breaker soon if she isn't already." Zoe and I both agreed and shortly after, my memory of what happened with her earlier caused me to suppress a full-body squirm by curling my toes in the squishy Crocs. --- The rest of my meal and conversation with Zoe and Dan was great, and as I stood up to leave, I wished them a great rest of their night and started heading towards the door. I had to walk past Clarissa and her family to reach the exit, and as I walked closer to their table, the three of them looked at me and Megan called out, "Erica, do you have a minute?" I stepped towards their table and greeted them all. Megan looked at me and asked me if I would mind sitting down at the fourth empty seat at their table. "Sure?", I replied, feeling a tinge of nervousness in the pit of my stomach. I didn't know what to expect. Did they notice something strange about Clarissa? Did she tell them about the strange encounter we had? My thoughts were interrupted by Megan again, "You didn't get to meet my husband earlier, this is Paul." Paul and I greeted each other and Megan added, "Erica, we have been talking and would like to ask you something." My heart fluttered with nervousness since she sounded more serious than I expected. "Oh god", I thought, "Clarissa must have told them", my thoughts whined, as I started to internally panic. I felt my feet sweating. "Before anything else, please feel free to say no. Really, no pressure at all!", Megan started. I felt instantly relieved since the conversation was seemingly going in a different direction than I had been fearing. Megan continued, "Clarissa has had nothing but the nicest things to say about you, and Paul and I thought it was really sweet how you took the time to satisfy her curiosity about your room when you totally didn't have to. With that said, before Paul and I came here, we researched and had our hearts set on a specific scuba diving excursion tomorrow but we later learned that they don't allow kids for safety reasons. Paul even joked to me earlier when Clarissa was going on about how cool you are that wasn't it a shame that she couldn't hang out with Erica so we could go on the excursion. We know you are here alone so I was hoping she would be less of an intrusion on any plans that you might have. I guess you see where this is going now!" Paul added, "You seem like the big sister she has always wanted", chuckling a bit. Megan continued, "We know this is a long shot and a huge ask, but you seemed so great with her and she was practically begging us to ask you earlier when we ran this idea by her. We would be happy to pay you for your babysitting services also, of course! What do you think?" I looked at Clarissa and she had a huge smile on her beautiful face. "Please say yes!", she said excitedly when our eyes met. Paul added, "No pressure of course! Except from Clarissa", he said while laughing more. I looked again at Clarissa, with her hair now in two long pigtail braids going down each side of her back, and my toes curled. I needed to break my gaze with her or odd things were going to start happening to me again. I was already starting to feel butterflies in my stomach so I smiled at her quickly and then looked back at Megan. "You know what, I would be happy to help you guys out", I replied, their faces lighting up. I continued, "I also thought Clarissa was super funny and really cool to hang out with. And pretty darn smart too for only being...", I trailed off before turning to look at her, "How old are you?" Clarissa beamed, "Yayyyyyy! And I'm ALMOST 12!" I giggled a little at her overexuberance and continued, "...for only being 'ALMOST 12'! I have a little sister of my own who is a few years older than Clarissa, so you could say that I have been there and done that. And you guys don't have to pay me anything. Everything is included here so whenever we are hungry, we will just go find something to eat." "We really appreciate this more than you know! And we will still be happy to give you something for your time", Paul said. Megan continued, "I can't believe how well this worked out... thank you Erica, really!" "Of course!", I replied. Megan looked like she was thinking and after a couple seconds started sharing some details, "We will have to leave around 9:30 tomorrow morning so can we bring Clarissa to your room shortly before that? I will also make sure that she has outfits with her for swimming, playing, and eating, so you two will be able to do anything you feel like. We should get back around 6 in the evening." "That should be perfect!", I said back and then looked at Clarissa, "We can have a girls day!", and winked at her, while trying to ignore the butterflies floating in my stomach. "Yayyyy!", Clarissa exclaimed again, flashing her braces at me with a big grin. At that point, I started to get up and wave goodbye to them since all the details had been worked out and it seemed like we all had a solid plan. They continued to profusely thank me, and while what I had told them about Clarissa was all true, the thought of being able to spend the day together alone was a bit thrilling in a different sense. I liked her personality a lot, but after what happened in the room earlier, I felt some sort of strange connection with her that I couldn't really describe. I didn't necessarily expect something like that to happen again, but some part of me was drawn to her like a magnet for whatever reason. Based on the information her parents relayed to me about her eagerness, as well as witnessing it myself while sitting with them, it would seem that the reverse was true, although it could just be a simple older girl crush which is somewhat typical of girls her age. As I walked towards the exit, one of the hotel workers stood by the door and opened it for me when I approached. She gave me a strange smirk and said, "Sweet dreams!", in a cheerful tone. Now a few steps outside the door, I stopped in my tracks and turned halfway around, stunned by her interesting demeanor and wish to me. "You.... too?", I hesitated, and she grinned at me and went back inside and closed the door. "Maybe she mixed up 'sweet dreams' and 'have a nice day'", I thought to myself. Since it was now later in the evening, I gave up hope trying to locate any hotel staff who might be able to shed any light on my morning massage encounter, or even my missing flip flops. After all, they did say that the massages were only available during "daylight", so I assumed the same was true regarding the availability of their staff. As my food was settling, the exhaustion from the day's events started catching up with me in a big way. I yawned and decided that I should probably go back to my hut, take a shower, and get some much-needed rest, especially since I would likely have a full day tomorrow running around with Clarissa. I made it back to my hut and the large king-sized bed was such a welcome sight, and I couldn't wait to climb into it after showering and getting ready for bed. I slipped off the nasty red Crocs and left them next to my canvas sneakers by the door, followed by the rest of my clothing. When I peeled off my panties, I discovered a dried wet spot. "Great...", I thought to myself sarcastically, "at this rate I'm going to be out of clean panties in less than a week." I threw them into my dirty laundry bag and walked straight into the shower. While showering, my mind reflected on the events of the day, and everything that happened seemed so... surreal. In a way, it all felt like a dream, but I knew it wasn't. I think my lack of explanations for what I had experienced as well as my internal struggles to understand what was happening to me were the main contributing factors to my current mental state, and not to mention, my mental exhaustion. As I stepped out of the shower, I put on a loose t-shirt and a fresh pair of panties and turned off the bathroom light as I headed into the main room of my hut. While pulling down the bed and adjusting the pillows, I suddenly stopped in my tracks as my eyes focused on the floor near the door where my canvas shoes and the red Crocs were placed. I dropped the pillows I had been holding and walked over to the corner of the room in disbelief as I stared down and saw my canvas shoes and the nasty red Crocs that I had 'borrowed', but now there was another pair of red Crocs placed next to the ones I had slipped out of before I showered. Since they were right next to mine, I quickly observed that they were too small to fit me personally, but also not quite as small as the ones the little girl masseuse had been wearing during my "special" massage. I started to realize that they looked like they would fit... My thought was cut short because I was starting to freak out due to being worried that someone had been in my room while showering. I walked around to all of the windows to make sure that they were securely locked, and I found that they were. The entry door was also closed, locked, and latched, as I had left it when I first returned to my room. I walked all around the small room and even peered under the bed and all throughout the bathroom, detecting no traces of anyone. My heart slightly racing from feeling somewhat violated in a way that I couldn't describe, I sat on the floor cross-legged halfway between the entry door and the bed. As I glanced towards the door, my gaze met the smaller pair of red Crocs that now accompanied the pair I had been wearing for the majority of the day. From my viewpoint on the floor, I could tell that the insides of them also appeared to be well-worn like the pair that I had been wearing, with the inside bottoms slightly discolored. I stood up and walked over to the three pairs of shoes resting by the door to my room and I looked downward with a dumbfounded look on my face. I had the oddest curiosity about how similar this new mystery pair of ugly red Crocs compared to mine. I bent down and picked up one of them and peered inside of it, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. However, my nose detected the slightest hint of a familiar scent, which somewhat renewed my interest in trying to decipher this puzzle. I knew I smelled something familiar, but at the same time, I was not excited about the idea of putting my nose closer to the inside of another used mystery shoe, especially a type that lends itself to creating obnoxious odors in the right circumstances. I could have sworn it reminded me of my sister for a split second but... I dropped the shoe on the ground, being too weirded out by how I was feeling at this moment. I watched it land close enough to its partner, and I concluded that I needed sleep. My brain was frazzled, my body was exhausted, and everything that I was feeling in this moment was seemingly overwhelming. I told myself that I would be better suited to deal with everything after a good night's rest. I walked over to the bed, climbed under the covers, turned off the lights, adjusted the mosquito net, and promptly passed out. *** Clarissa laid in her bed in her dark bedroom with her eyes wide open, focusing on the occasional tiny green flash that she would see emitted from the smoke detector on the ceiling. She was so anxious and excited about her day with Erica tomorrow that she was having a hard time falling asleep, her mind racing. She was happy to have her own separate bedroom from her parents', otherwise they might have been noticing her insomnia and asking her about it. "This is going to be so much fun", she thought to herself as her imagination ran wild thinking about everything they could do together. But while thinking about it, she sensed butterflies in her stomach and an overarching warm feeling that spread through her, things which were relatively new to her, especially when seemingly elicited by another girl. This feeling was not entirely unfamiliar to her however, as she felt it much more strongly earlier in the day while in Erica's hut. The butterflies and warmth increased as her mind focused on something specific: her recollection of sitting on the floor facing Erica's long, slender legs, feeling the softness of her skin as she gripped her ankles to remove her shoes, and then seeing the smooth soles of her feet, which she couldn't seem to stop looking at once she saw them. Clarissa twitched, the movement causing her white tank top to lightly graze over one of her sensitive, developing nipples. "Ohhhhhhh", she moaned softly, taken by surprise at the intensity of the feeling when combined with what she was just imagining. Clarissa let her imagination recollect further, remembering how she felt an inexplicable urge to first touch her nose to the middle of Erica's delicate looking arch. It had been so soft and smelled so strongly, which had then prompted Clarissa to be curious about smelling further down. She wondered to herself why something so bizarre would invoke such a compelling curiosity. Her mind remembered the overwhelming smell of sweat but that there was something strangely addicting about it, and the longer she smelled it, the more intense the butterflies in her stomach and the warmth in her body became. She shivered gently as she remembered her nose first touching under Erica's nicely-plump and moist toes. The graze of her tank top over her nipple earlier instantly came to her mind simultaneously. Clarissa hesitantly moved her left arm on top of her stomach and then underneath her shirt. "This is so weird", the cute little blonde girl thought to herself as her hand was slowly inching up underneath her tank top, getting closer and closer to her small breast buds. She had never had the thought to try something like this before. Her heart was even beating faster now, the butterflies in her stomach were fluttering incessantly, and she felt warmth radiating off of her cheeks because of the anticipation of what she was thinking of trying. She had never experienced a feeling quite like this before. Inside her tank top, her fingertips arrived at the small, fleshy mounds she had grown so far, and her hand stopped. She curled the tip of her index finger just above her left flat and smooth nipple, and at the same time started to imagine her first deep inhale under Erica's toes. Clarissa closed her eyes and her curled fingertip grazed over her delicate, tiny nipple right as she remembered being taken back by how strong the smell was, along with the feeling of the wetness sticking to her nose. The gentle caress over her nipple radiated throughout her whole body instantly and she squirmed involuntarily from pleasure unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She dragged her fingertip back across her now stiffening, tiny nipple in the other direction and was hit with another wave of indescribable pleasure. Her nostrils craved what she was smelling in her imagination, wishing she could be really smelling it while enduring this overload of euphoria and excitement that her fingertip was creating in her limber little body. Clarissa's fingertip started caressing slowly back and forth over the tiny bump of her now-hard nipple as she continued to imagine her face feeling and smelling Erica. Her perfect lips then parted slightly as the gentle tickles continued while she remembered feeling the moisture from Erica's silky-smooth toes in between her supple lips. That is, until a sensation of pleasure hit her that was so strong, she mumbled quite loudly "Mmmmmmmmmph!", and instantly opened her eyes wide and slapped her free hand over her mouth reactively. "Clarissa, are you OK?", her mom called out from the next room over. Her heart racing and cheeks burning, Clarissa's other hand retreated back down her tank top at lightning speed. Trying to recover from what she had just been feeling while her whole body was still in the middle of a long shiver, she lied, "Sorry mom, I think I woke up from a bad dream. I'm OK though!" "OK goodnight honey, sweet dreams and no more nightmares hopefully!", her mom called back. Still breathing incredibly hard but relieved that neither of her parents rushed into her room to see what caused her to expel that utterance, Clarissa decided that she shouldn't try to keep going with what she had previously been doing, despite still feeling little burning traces of her finger on the tip of her nipple. "I have to get some sleep for tomorrow", she thought to herself, wanting to have enough energy to hang with Erica all day. While falling asleep, her mind continued burning, desperately seeking answers as to why Erica was having this effect on her, and with something so strange. She couldn't understand her initial desire to want to smell check Erica's feet and what gave her the courage to actually do it, nor could she understand how the look, smoothness, and addicting smell greatly intensified the new sensations she had just experienced throughout her whole body. *** I was startled out of my sleep by a pounding on the door. "Oh crap!", I thought to myself as I sprung upright in bed and looked over at my watch on the nightstand, fearing that my alarm hadn't gone off and that Clarissa was here with her parents already. Seeing that it was only 8 o'clock, my heart calmed down, and I climbed out of bed, threw a robe around me, and opened the door. I was greeted by a girl in the hotel uniform who had a clipboard in her hand with a single sheet attached to it. "Good morning!", she said cheerily and with a heavy accent. "Good morning", I replied back, with a lot less exuberance and a hint of annoyance. "We can have you at 10 o'clock morning massage you requested after all, mmkay?", she stated. "Wait", I started to reply, "What massage? I didn't request any massage today?" Her forehead wrinkled and she looked down at her clipboard, pointed at my name, and attempted to hold it up in front of me. "Request come last night. We didn't have space, now we do for special guest!", she responded. More annoyed, I said, "Look, I don't know who is signing me up for massages but it wasn't me. And I can't make it today anyway because I will be babysitting another family's girl while they go on an excursion." She stared at me blankly for a minute but then a smile crossed her face and she said, "Is ok. You bring her too!" I thought about it for a moment. I certainly wouldn't be subjecting Clarissa to a "special" massage but a regular one would probably be fine. It could help fill out our morning a little bit too, I reasoned internally. "Alright", I started to reply, "We will come for a massage at 10 then." "Excellent!", she replied and hurried away. I closed the door with a hint of disbelief at how strangely a lot of these workers often acted. I reminded myself that it's a foreign culture to me, and that they are probably doing their best to make visitors feel welcome. Now awake with no chance of further sleep before Clarissa would be dropped off, I decided to get dressed and grab a bite to eat in the meantime. --- I made it back to my hut at 9:15 after breakfast, cutting it pretty close to Clarissa being dropped off, I thought. As I walked in and kicked off my canvas shoes by the door, I saw the two pairs of red Crocs again and my mind started wandering. "I really need to find out how that other pair ended up in here last night", I thought to myself while looking at the smaller pair that were definitely too small to fit me. At that moment, there was a knock at the door and I opened it and found a smiling Clarissa looking up at me with her parents behind her carrying a few bags. "Hi Erica!", Clarissa said, flashing me her braces. "Hi guys", I replied, "All ready for your excursion?" Megan laughed, "It was actually a lot more to prepare for than we realized. But we can't wait!" I smiled at them all and motioned for them to step inside. "Rustic and charming", Paul said, looking all around after stepping in. On the side of the small desk, Megan in the meantime set Clarissa's packed bags down. "Just the way I wanted it!", I said back to Paul. I looked at Clarissa and found her looking at me and noticed that she had an almost dreamy-looking, star-struck gaze across her angelic little face. Megan noticed us looking at each other and added, "She sure couldn't wait to get over here today. I wonder if she even slept last night!" We all laughed a little and went over some last-minute details, and before we knew it, Clarissa's parents had left and were off to their excursion. The blonde cutie looked up at me and excitedly asked, "Soooo... what do you want to do today?" I started, "Well, I had a lot of ideas actually. We could swim in the ocean and try to look at all the cool, colorful fish, work on our tan, find a game to play with your ball, explore this island and the all of the walking paths around the hotel, or anything else you can think of, really. Also, how do you feel about massages?" "Cool! And I've never had one before", was her reply. "We could try it if you wanted", I offered, "I found out earlier this morning that I was somehow signed up for another massage at 10 this morning. I first told them I wouldn't be able to make it because I had to babysit, but they said I could bring you along. If you wanted to go, I can let you have my spot and you can try a massage for the first time if that sounds good to you." "You would come and stay with me the whole time though, right?", she queried. "Of course! And if you want to go, we probably need to leave in about five minutes so we aren't late", I replied. She looked like she was thinking about it and perked up, "OK, I will try it! And..", she trailed off momentarily, "...isn't it kind of sus that you don't know how you got signed up?" I chuckled a little and said, "Oh, it definitely is. And it's not the first time either. It happened to me yesterday too. That's when my flip flops went missing and I ended up with those horrible things." As I finished that sentence, I made a face and pointed over at the red Crocs. Clarissa turned to look over at them and I could have sworn I noticed her face blush beforehand. But before I could examine further, she blurted out excitedly, "There is another pair of the red ones! And come on, they looked cool on you", she laughed. "Oh yeah, that's another thing", I replied, followed by relaying the story to her of how they appeared next to the ones I had been wearing yesterday mysteriously while I was showering. She had a puzzled look on her face. "That's really weird", she said while looking at me, and then looked back over at them. She started walking over to them. "They look like they would fit me", she said, sounding intrigued. "They might, but I don't know if I would want to put my feet in them if I were you. They looked just about as used as the other pair, and you know very well what those did to my feet", I said, slightly embarrassed but also feeling the tiniest shiver as the memory of what happened yesterday with her flashed through my mind. When I finished that sentence, Clarissa definitely looked flustered and like she was at a loss for words. "Are you OK?", I asked. "Yeah...", she said slowly, her face turning visibly red now. At that moment, I realized that I wanted nothing more than to know what she was thinking. She continued, "Sorry if it was weird what I did to your feet", she said while sounding a little defeated. I didn't want her to feel bad or have her worries hanging over our day together, so I did my best to console and encourage her. "Don't even worry", I started, "Everyone does and likes weird things sometimes and it's not a big deal. It's what makes us all unique, so please don't worry about it or feel bad, OK? And to be honest, while it was a very different, new experience for me too, I didn't hate it or anything. It's just that no one has smelled my feet like that before, especially when they smelled so much. I was just more curious and worried about you than anything else." "Really?" she asked, perking up a bit. "Yes! It made me a little self-conscious", I said with a small laugh, "but if you were curious to do that and liked it somehow, then I don't mind at all!" She genuinely looked relieved and walked up to me and hugged me. I returned her embrace and after a few moments, she pulled away and said, "I have a question!" "Sure, what is it?", I asked her. She looked down at the smaller pair of red Crocs and started saying, "If they do fit me, can we both go out wearing them together? So we match today?" I looked over at both pairs again and my first thought was how I was very disinclined to stick my bare feet in those ugly things again, especially after what happened yesterday. But Clarissa looked up at me with the most hopeful little angelic face that I didn't want to disappoint. "The little brat is manipulating me with her cuteness and she doesn't even know it", I thought to myself silently. "Would it really make you happy if we did?", I asked her. "Yes!", she exclaimed, "I love the color and I think it would be so cool if we matched together!", looking at me almost dreamily again. "Well FINE", I said with an exaggerated defeated tone, "If you want both of our feet to reek all day", and laughed. She looked like a deer that just met a pair of oncoming headlights. Her look puzzled me, but after a moment she seemed to snap out of it and finally said, "Yay!", with a slight crack in her voice. "Well, I think we have to leave now, so it's time to do this", I said with fake concern. She giggled a little and stepped out of her white flip flops and placed her feet into the smaller pair of red Crocs. "They fit me perfectly!", she exclaimed. After a couple seconds, her face changed a little and she asked, "Did you wear these this morning?" "No, why?", I asked in reply and added, "They wouldn't even fit me." She looked down at her feet that were now mostly concealed inside her smaller pair. "They feel super warm and sweaty...", she said, slightly trailing off. "Oh my god, that's exactly how mine were when I first put them on! And I had the same thought too, like how did that happen?" As I was saying that, I was reluctantly slipping my own two feet back into the larger pair to acquiesce to her request, and was quickly greeted with the same sensation. I continued my previous thought, "And here it is again! It feels like someone just took them off because of how sweaty they are and I'm sure that my feet are going to stink in no time." Clarissa looked lost in thought after I uttered those words. I stared at her for a few moments and noticed a deep inhale and exhale while her eyes were halfway closing. It almost looked like it was some strange form of pleasure that she was experiencing. She noticed I was looking at her though, and quickly collected herself. "That's so weird!", she replied and paused for a second before asking, "Do you think mine will too?" "I don't know", I replied truthfully, "But if you say they feel the same as mine, I would guess that they might." My mind quickly flashed back to the night before when I felt like I had detected the strangest hint of my sister's smell when I had picked up one of the shoes that Clarissa now had on her feet to peer inside it after it strangely appeared in my room. "Cool", she said, nonchalantly, breaking me out of my thoughts. "What do you mean?", I asked. I caught her off guard with that question, and I don't think she realized what she had said that prompted me to ask it. "Oh...", she stuttered, "... I guess it's cool that it's the same for us even if it's weird?", she offered. As she said this, I felt moisture surrounding the tops and bottoms of my feet and in between my toes, and my soles squished down into the bottoms of both shoes. I wondered if she experienced the same thing, but I didn't ask, since we were starting to be late for our appointment. My last thought before walking out the of the room with her and locking the door behind us was curiosity about whether she would want to touch her face and lips to mine again if they were like that. --- It was a short walk for us to the cobblestone path at the edge of the jungle. As I started to walk towards the path, I heard her voice call out behind me. "Where are you going?", she asked. "To the massage hut?", I responded hesitantly, not quite understanding her question. "It's down this way", I added. "You're about to walk into the bushes", she replied. I looked at her with a confused look and turned back around to see the narrow, but open cobblestone path in front of me that sprawled out into the interior of the jungle. "What are you talking about?", I queried. She looked dumbfounded and lost for words. She walked up next to my side and looked at the ground, right at the cobblestone path, then back up at my face and asked, "We have to climb through the trees?" It was my turn to look at her with a strange look. I knew she was an intelligent girl but this disconnect between us at this moment had me at a complete loss. "Ummmm, no? No climbing through the trees required?!", I started to reply, "Just following this stone path down to the massage hut?!" She looked at the ground, at me, at the ground again, and then back at my face, with an expression that rivaled the internal thoughts I was having about something being off with her. "What stones?", she asked, in a slightly more annoyed tone. It crossed my mind that she was playing a joke on me, but I quickly ruled out this idea as her facial expression and tone of voice were far too serious and cautionary to lead me to think that she was pranking me. After all, we had our own style of playful banter, and I could tell that she was in a state of genuine disbelief, not too dissimilar from mine. Trying to make things as simplistic as possible, I looked at her and chose my words carefully, "Clarissa... do you see the stones on the ground here?", as I reached down and placed my index finger on the very first one closest to where we were standing. "No", she replied and continued, "You're touching the sand next to the trees", with a look of bewilderment and growing concern on her face. Seeing again how serious she was, I turned back around and stepped up onto the first stone leading down the path into the jungle. Clarissa blinked and looked at me oddly. Not understanding what was happening, I said to her, "Give me your hand", and extended my hand towards her. She hesitated for a moment, her gaze still locked on my face after watching my hand extend, and she slowly reached out her hand in an effort to reach mine. Our palms touched and clasped and my whole body shivered at the feeling of how incredibly soft her palms and fingers were. "What a perfect age to be, to have skin like that", I thought to myself as her fingers tightly folded over mine. What happened next, I have no explanation for. She blinked around five times, and her jaw dropped and she looked up at my face. Her face also lost all of its natural, beautiful color. "Erica...", she started, sounding incredibly frightened, "I see it now." She quickly maneuvered right next to me and wrapped her arms around me and buried her head against my chest. My thoughts about whether she had been pranking me quickly vanished as I had directly observed actual fear on her face as her spatial awareness seemingly shifted and allowed her to see something that she was not previously able to. "What are you seeing?", I asked her with some trepidation, while embracing her. "Erica...", she started while looking up at me, "I can't explain it. I didn't see any of this. It looked like you were walking into the trees. Once I touched your hand...", she trailed off. Her genuine reactions were starting to creep me out. I knew that she couldn't have faked the loss in color in her face that I witnessed. I didn't know what was happening but I was trying my best to make sense of this bizarre turn of events. "What?", I asked, trying to encourage her to finish her sentence. "Once I touched your hand, the trees... disappeared... and I saw the path when I looked again", she said to me, while looking up at me with slightly watery eyes. I looked all around us in disbelief, wondering what was happening. Although I hadn't known Clarissa for very long, I could sense in my soul that she was being truthful with me. "I don't know what to say...", I started, "There are so many weird things that have happened to me since I have been here...", I trailed off, not wanting to mention my "special" massage which is what first came to mind. But for a split second, I envisioned Clarissa's little body tautly spread out inside the contour of the table, her wrists and ankles tied, as the little masseuse teased her tiny body with her fingertips. I shivered upon trying to imagine how Clarissa might feel in that moment. Clarissa interrupted this train of thought. "Erica, please stay with me, OK?", she pleaded, as the grip of her slender arms tightened around my waist. I looked down into her beautiful blue eyes and replied intently, "Don't worry, I won't leave your side no matter what." She gave me a little smile upon hearing this, grabbed my hand again with hers after releasing her grip around my waist, looked down the path and asked, "OK... should we go down here now?" I replied, "Yes, let's go. I will make sure that you have a great massage and you will feel so much better after all of this, OK?" Clarissa didn't respond, but she grinned at me, showing me her turquoise braces while locking her sparkling blue eyes with mine. Somehow I knew that what we were about to experience together would be unforgettable. --- Chapter 3 coming soon! Comments, thoughts, and constructive criticism are all welcome.