Photographer's Model (closed for pipper and JT)

[JayTee69gmx]

Phil led her down to the dock. "Be careful, it's dark and the water is cold." She stood close to the hull of the big ketch, and he placed her in the frame so the dock lines led to viewer to her face. "Now these are all multiple exposures that I will assemble later, so when I ask, stay perfectly still until I say OK, please."

He shot a few series bursts at different exposures, then they moved to an open area where no boats were moored. The city lights formed colored reflections on the water. She was lit as before by faint flash, diffused. The dock edges formed strong diagonals in the frame.

"Done"

Phil packed his gear and led her to his boat. "This is my boat, Wind Spirit, can I invite you aboard for a cup of tea?"

 

[pipper]

As she stood still, Laurie felt like she was a statue; probably a stone one, maybe even granite or marble. She recalled a fantasy story where a model agreed to pose as a statue, while the photographer who planned to take photos of her when ‘converted’ into stone, programmed his computer to interact with the software hidden in the pedestal on which the model stood.

The plan was to ‘restore’ the model, after the photos had been taken, but unknown to her, the software had another ‘selection’ that would make her a stone statue, permanently. Of course the photographer took advantage of that; in fact that was his plan all along!

Laurie’s thoughts were disrupted when Phil decided to move to another spot. Once again she was required to stay perfectly still. This time her thoughts went to another bunch of fantasy stories, the ones where naked females willingly allowed themselves to be eaten by snakes. Why on earth would a girl agree to undergo the ‘pleasure’ of being digested? But that, after all, was the idea behind fantasy stories, wasn’t it?

“…can I invite you aboard for a cup of tea?”

Damn! When did Phil stop shooting? “Er…sure, that would go down…I mean, that sounds like a good idea.”

 

[JayTee69gmx]

Phil set his gear down at the end of the dock, and led Laurie to his boat. He stepped aboard and extended his hand, fingers straight and rigid for her to take.

"Be careful. Those boots look great but they are not the best on a slippery deck."

 

[pipper]

“Such a gentleman,” Laurie said as she accepted his offer. His hand was strong…and warm. Why did females have smaller hands? It was as if Phil’s hand could fully engulf hers.

She didn’t release hers, as Phil led her to the cabin, where she would enjoy having something warm inside her, on such a cold night.

 

[JayTee69gmx]

Her hand felt cool to him, soft, small. Perfect. He wondered if she felt the same rush when they touched.

Phil slid open the hatch cover, and removed the vertical wash boards revealing a dark opening. Barely visible were steep stairs leading down into the cabin. Each time they moved, the boat moved a little too, adjusting to their weight.

"Let me . . go down . . first." One hand still on hers he descended the five stairs and reached to the side to flip on shore power and the cabin lights. The space was cozy in real estate parlance. To the left was a small table and a panel of switches, instruments and a VHF radio. To the right was a small galley with a propane stove, sink, and refrigerator. Farther forward was a larger table with a curved upholstered bench and back cushions, opposite a couch. Forward were two doors, and at the bow, a V shaped bed. All was neat and tidy. Single row bookcases were down each side under the narrow slot like windows. The ceiling was only a couple of inches over his head.

Lightly taking her hand, he led her down into the cabin.

"Welcome aboard. I'll put the kettle on. Please, make yourself at home." He produced a large container of spring water from under the sink, and filled the kettle. Plugged it in.

 

[pipper]

Laurie sat down on one side of a small table, which was used, presumably, for eating or drinking. She looked around at the wooden interior. “Wow, you must have owned this thing for some time now.” Either that or he had it fitted out that way, and if that was correct it meant that Phil was loaded.

“Oh,” she continued. “The staff will be bringing with them a somewhat different form of medication for Oscar. It’s experimental. To be precise it’s a combination of meds and meal. I have no idea what it looks like, but they want you to photograph Oscar eating it, while I keep a record how long it takes for him to do it, noting any difficulties he has.”

Laurie sighed. “This means, our trip to the peat pit will have to be about midday.” In reality, she hoped to avoid going there, completely, but Susan would keep bugging her until she actually did go! Like it or not, fate had deemed that Laurie would keep her date with the pit, and that dreaded ‘division point’.

 

[JayTee69gmx]

Phil brought out a couple of mugs and poured tea for them. Handed her hers, but in a way that her fingers had to graze his to take the cup.

"I'd give you a tour of the boat, but you can pretty much see it all from here. Galley, navigation station, there is a head and shower behind that door, and hanging closet behind the other one. Forwards is the vee berth, and aft a second berth. Properly provisioned she could be taken out for a couple of weeks, but usually I just day sail."

Phil sipped his tea, just enjoying being alone with her in this private space.

"Some day I'd like to take you sailing, do some photographs, but also see if you like sailing."

 

[pipper]

Laurie wondered if she had been talking to the table, rather than to Phil, as he hadn’t commented on what she had just said. Now, she was beginning to think he didn’t want the job the zoo had offered him, though, at the moment, it was a temporary one.

Then he asked her if she liked to go sailing with him. “I suppose I could…just to see what it’s like being a model on a sail boat.” Then Laurie took a sip of her tea just as her thoughts went back to the pit. Damn! She couldn’t even escape it on Phil’s boat.

 

[JayTee69gmx]

"So, what time will the zoo people come tomorrow? I will set up one body to shoot HD video, and the other for stills. Better shoot RAW. No flash, would be too intrusive for Oscar. And for the zoo people too I suppose. Would not want to be distracted handling a snake that big."

"Then we can go to the peat pit. Depending on timing we can catch a bite on the way if you like."

Phil still had no idea what the peat pit thing would be. But she definitely wanted to do it, and he was happy to do anything to be with her. He imagined they were anchored out in some cove, just the two of them. The memory of her soft cool hand was vivid. He wanted to kiss her, but was sure she would think he was a fool.

 

[pipper]

So he heard after all, Laurie thought as she took a gulp of her tea. “They’re due at nine, but I need to pick up his…” She hesitated. “…poop, before they arrive. It’s taken away to be analysed. When I look at it, I remember that it was once, either a mouse or a rat.”

Laurie took another gulp of her drink. “A video you say? How about doing one when I’m in the pit? It would capture the entire scene, don’t you think?”

 

[JayTee69gmx]

"Both of my cameras shoot HD, no reason not to put one on a tripod. Can even trigger it by remote if need be."

"Perhaps I will come over about 8:30 then? Give me time to set up. Don't want to delay them waiting for my set up. I would like to use ambient light, but I will need a few test shots to be sure of the settings."

Sipping his tea, his eyes drifted over her face and eyes and upper body, seated opposite. Phil wanted to reach forward and touch her cheeks, feel the softness. He tried to summon up the courage, but failed. He needed at least a tiny sign from her suggesting she saw him as something other than a photographer twice her age.

"Its getting late. We should get going."

 

[pipper]

“Yes, eight-thirty will be fine. Oscar will need to be out of his enclosure before they arrive, otherwise he won’t come out! In which case we’ll have to go in, and believe me, a softy that he is, he’ll put up one hell of a fight. When I’ve got him out, I’ll feed him a small cube of jelly which will make him a bit dozy. The effect lasts about an hour, which gives the guys time to do their work.”

Laurie liked talking about Oscar. After all, who could claim to have a massive python for a pet? The only problem was that Oscar wasn’t her pet, just in her care. Though her father had agreed to house Oscar in their home, the zoo insisted that the snake remained under their ownership.

"It’s getting late. We should get going."

Laurie sighed. “Yes, we better make tracks; a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Maybe we can grab a bite as you suggested.” She finished off her drink; then stood. “You really do have a nice boat. Does your wife go sailing with you?” Laurie knew the answer to that, but decided to be polite.

 

[JayTee69gmx]

"Sometimes Mary comes sailing, but she finds it boring, and I find it relaxing. I suppose looking around you do not see much of a woman's touch."

Phil tidied the cabin, rinsed out the tea mugs and tea pot, and shut down the shore power leaving the cabin lights on battery for the moment.

"Let me take you to the main dock, you would probably find it tricky getting off the boat in the dark after the cabin lights are out." It was a good excuse to take her hand again to lead her up out of the cabin into the cockpit, and then through the gate in the lifelines to the finger dock. From there he walked slowly to the main dock. "Wait here a moment, I'll be right back."

Back on the boat he shut down the lights and main power breaker, put the washboards in place and fit the padlock. A glance around at the docking lines, all seemed secure. Last thing he did was to unplug the shore power.

When he got back to where Laurie was waiting on the main dock, he gave a little sigh. He was always reluctant to leave the boat and return to the real world of traffic. Silently he walked back to the car, and popped her door for her.

 

[pipper]

Laurie watched Phil walk back to his boat.

“Nice evening for a walk isn’t it?” There standing before her were a couple, arm in arm. Where did they suddenly come from?

“Yes, it is,” she replied, hoping that either Phil wouldn’t be much longer, or the guy was just made a passing comment.

“Hey! Didn’t I see you working in snake section at the zoo some time ago?” Laurie was taken aback at the girl’s sudden question.

“Er…yes I did work there…well, I still do once in a while. But I don’t remember making your acquaintance.”

“Oh, I just saw you a few times inside a snake’s enclosure. I sometimes go there in the hopes of seeing a particular snake, but he’s never on display.” The girl’s face saddened. “I have a feeling he’s been destroyed.”

The guy pulled the girl closer to him. “Bella here is literally into snakes. She works down at the club and the snake she goes into, is enjoying a decent size meal at the moment, so she has a few days off.”

Laurie was in two minds to either push for more information, or just put Bella at ease. She picked the latter. “The zoo hasn’t put down any snake for at least two years, or moved one to another zoo, so the snake in question is most probability still under the zoo’s ownership, but not on display when you’re there. The zoo does rotate snakes they put on display, especially when they’ve been fed.”

Come on, Phil. Where are you? Then Laurie spotted him. “Oh, here comes my…ride home. It was a pleasure meeting you both.”

“Same here; maybe one day you could pop down to the club and see my act.”

Laurie just smiled as the couple walked away. Thankfully the walk back to Phil’s car was done in silence. As they drove away, Laurie wondered if Bella was actually looking for Oscar.

 

[JayTee69gmx]

They were both quiet during the drive back. Truth was Phil simply was quiet sometimes. And this was one of those times. He was enjoying her presence. And really no need to say anything. Problem was, some people took his silence as disinterest or displeasure or worse. Still, Laurie was quiet too. It would be nice if she felt the same way about him, but that was too much to hope for.

As they drove he watched her in his peripheral vision. She seemed relaxed. But perhaps pre-occupied. Could be she was worried about tomorrow he supposed.

"It is nice you have such good support from the zoo in looking after Oscar. Expert herptologists keeping an eye on him."

That was what he said. What he was thinking was how much he wanted to take her in his arms and just hold her, feel her against him. But that would be such a risk. She probably would be upset and that would be the end of things. At best. No, just being with her made Phil happy. Be content with that, he told himself.

Soon he pulled into his drive, bade her 'good night see you in the morning', and watched until she was inside her house.

 

[pipper]

Laurie was brought out of her deep thought by Phil’s comment.

“Well…he is their property,” she said with some sadness. “I’m just taking care of him, even though he’s in our home. After all, they wanted to put him down. Dad decided that Oscar deserved a second chance, so that’s why he’s at our place…under my care.

“I still don’t know how he became very ill at the club, but they did ask the zoo vets to check out the other snakes, and they all received a clean bill of health.” Then she smiled. “Maybe Oscar swallowed a girl that disagreed with his innards!”

Was Bella that girl?

Soon they were home. After bidding each other ‘goodnight’, Laurie went inside and quickly checked on Oscar. “If only you could tell me what made you ill.” The snake looked at her, as if he knew what she was saying. Maybe he did, but he wasn’t Kaa!

She blew him an ‘air kiss’. Oscar smiled. Then Laurie went to her parents, who were in the living room, to bid them ‘goodnight’, before heading up to bed.

Tomorrow was only a short time away, and the pit was waiting for her.

 

[JayTee69gmx]

Phil had a restless night. He had nightmares that left him agitated, but he could not say why. Awake he only remembered searching for something. He was close to finding it, but it kept eluding him.

Mary was off with pals to the spring show at the garden club. Phil packed his camera bags and two tripods. At 8:30 he tapped on Laurie's front door.

 

[pipper]

After an early breakfast, Laurie wished her father a nice day, before he headed off to work. She felt it was wrong for him to work on a Saturday, but managers were required to do that once in a while. If only he had known what his daughter’s day would entail.

Down in the basement, Laurie went about scooping up Oscar’s ‘poop’ in his enclosure. As usual he helped her out by leading her to the spots where they laid. “Oh, Oscar, I bet you’re glad to have these out of here. The last thing you want to do is slither through them!”

She smiled; he seemed to wear a grin.

Laurie stored the smelly stuff away in the container, as Oscar studied her through the enclosure’s glass. Laurie spotted him. “Ah, you want something. Hungry, I think.” That wasn’t the first time he’d looked at her like that, when in need of food. “Sorry, Oscar, you’re still not healthy enough to have a girl just inside your throat, let alone in your stomach!”

What the hell? He had never swallowed a girl who had made that fateful one way trip into his stomach. Why on earth did she say that? Laurie turned away. Something about Oscar’s eyes…

Then she heard Phil at the front door. “I’ll get it mum.” She raced up the steps. “Phil! Come in.”

“Phil? Shouldn’t that be ‘Mr Williams’?” It was her mother!

Laurie sighed. “He has given me permission to call him by his first name.”

 

[JayTee69gmx]

"Morning Estella." Phil smiled at her, but got only an odd cold look in return. He knew what she was probably thinking, and worse she was right. He did harbor lustful feelings toward her daughter, but harboring and acting were two entirely different things.

Down in the basement he busied himself setting up his equipment and checking that the lighting was similar to the earlier sessions. The snake looked healthier, and he really wondered how safe it was for her to be looking after it in this setting, with trained herptologists so far away. It was big, and he recalled those horrible TV shows about a snake attempting to swallow a man. Phil shuddered.

One camera he set to record video, and said "When you are ready Laurie, let me know and I will start the video recording," holding the remote in his hand.

 

[pipper]

Phil was ready to do his stuff. Laurie took a deep breath, then her eyes widened. “One sec!” she opened the basement’s door. “Mum? The guys from the zoo will be here soon, could you let them in please?”

“Oh; very well.”

Laurie rolled her eyes at her mother’s response. She knew that if her mother had her way, Oscar would be residing at another place. “Thanks.”

“Okay, roll the camera,” Laurie said as began to walk to the snake’s enclosure. She opened its door. “Come on Oscar.”

The snake slowly slithered out and made its way to the other door in the basement which led to the small room where the surviving rat was in its cage. “He knows there’s food in there,” Laurie commented as she went up to Oscar. She tapped the snake on the side of his long body. Oscar turned his head, as Laurie motioned with her finger for him to follow her.

The snake slowly obeyed with the occasional hiss to signify his displeasure. “Oh, shut up, you ...softy!” Laurie said, as she retrieved a blue cube of jelly from the fridge. “Okay, slowly open, Oscar.” As on cue, the snake opened his mouth. Laurie dropped the cube into his mouth. “Slowly swallow, Oscar.”

Oscar closed his mouth as he drew the cube through his throat, and then opened it again expecting another cube. “Slowly close Oscar, only one of those today.”

“Now comes the TLC bit,” commented Laurie has she sat down, crossed legged. She patted her lap. Oscar knew what that meant. He lowered his head onto her lap, and Laurie began to slowly stroke his scales. “The cube works very quickly. In fact I can feel his muscles beginning to relax. He won’t go completely under, but enough that he won’t have the strength to fight the guys when they arrive.”

 

[JayTee69gmx]

A little more comfortable with the snake, Phil moved around taking closeup shots of the snake and Laurie. Got a great action shot as the blue jelly dropped from her fingers into the snake's mouth. Contrast between her slender delicate fingers and the snakes jaws was perfect, even with the low level lighting.

She was concentrating on the snake not on him, and he used the time to study her body, head to toe, the shape of every curve. Her clothes were not revealing at all, yet with her movements details became apparent. From time to time the fabric of her loose top caught the curve of a breast. The jeans stretched over her hip. The way her hair fell on her shoulders. The arc of her neck.

The artist in him begged to make nude studies of her. Essence of feminine.

He had so many confusing emotional responses to her. Protect, nurture, care . .

But lust too. That was the problem.

 

[pipper]

Laurie forgot the passing of time as she continued to stroke Oscar’s scales; letting him know that she was there and caring for him, meant a lot to the reptile. Soon there was the sound of footsteps and voices coming down the stairs. “Oh, looks like the gang from the zoo are here.”

Oscar didn’t make a move.

The head vet, John Wiltshire led the group in. The person behind him was carrying the container, in which was the equipment for the blood test. “Ah, he’s nice and sedated, and looking much healthier. Nice job, Laurie.”

She smiled and then nodded towards her next door neighbour. “John, this is Phil Williams, who’s taking the photos you want, and will be doing some commission work for the zoo’s snake section.”

It was then, that Laurie spotted a five-foot long black container being placed on the floor by two other members of the staff. Did it contain the experimental combined medicine and food for Oscar?

 

[JayTee69gmx]

"Hello John, nice to meet you." Phil extended his hand. "Laurie tells me Oscar is perfectly safe, but I worry. I'd feel a lot better if I had an emergency contact number in case there ever is a problem. Do you mind giving me your cell number?" Phil held out his cell for John to enter his information. "Also your email, and then I can send you links to give to your staff to download the photos once I have edited them. And then if needed I can re-edit them to meet whatever technical requirements your people have. I look forward to working with you."

Phil wondered why they needed such a big case. He thought it was blood samples that were being done today. But he felt better with emergency contact information.

 

[pipper]

“I don’t think Oscar is any threat to Laurie,” John Wiltshire said. “Heck, I had a hard time getting my lower arm past his throat when I tried to feel if there was anything wrong with his gullet. He just doesn’t like taking any human skin into him. That’s when the club started to sense that something was wrong with him. For some reason, which is still unknown to anyone, Oscar stopped swallowing his assigned girl into him.”

Laurie wondered how helpful it would be with Phil having the vet’s cell number. After all, if he was at work, and if Oscar did attack her, how would he know?

She remained calm as the zoo staff, began to slowly roll the snake’s body over to one side. Following a swab on one section of the underside of Oscar’s tail, Wiltshire took a syringe from the smaller of the two containers and drew two batches of blood from the tail. Oscar just kept his head on Laurie’s lap through the entire process. Once that had been successfully completed, the staff rolled Oscar’s body back to its original position.

“He’ll soon be slithering around,” the head vet commented. “I reckon another ten minutes before he starts coming out of it. In the meantime, I best show you the dual med and food we’ve got for him.” Laurie watched as he unlocked the large black container, before lifting out what appeared to be…a human arm, a female’s right arm!

“You have got to be kidding?!” Laurie exclaimed.

“No, and before you get upset, it’s not a real arm. Three months ago, we secretly did an experiment, to see how a snake at the club could swallow parts of a girl. The authorities wanted to see if the process was causing the snake pain, and if it attributed to Oscar’s sickness. It’s just comprised of a mixture of boar meat and meds. To Oscar it smells like a delicious meal, and that’s all he’s interested in. Just see if he takes it in, fingers first. If he has trouble swallowing it, or outright refuses, just feed him the remaining rat, and give us a call.”

 

[JayTee69gmx]

Phil thought they both were under stating the possibility of the snake being dangerous, but he had done what he could. He took several shots of the ersatz arm, almost ghoulish thing. And when they took the blood samples. Seemed they took a lot, but after all it was a big animal. Wiltshire answered various questions he had regarding other snakes in the zoo's collection, and the photographs they needed. He made a mental note to get some yellow rulers with black markings to include in the future photographs to show size. Apparently the corn snakes were tiny, and they had pythons even larger than Oscar. And not trustworthy. There would be a liability release for him to sign if he accepted the work.

Of course he also took lots of shots of Laurie. He never tired of studying her, the expressions on her face, the beautiful curves of her body.

And he wondered about the peat pit.