Every town has a Main Street, and for the most part the homes on each and every Main Street have either been untouched - or at least well-preserved -- since the day they were built. The house that I was about to photograph looked like it would be one of the latter. The long driveway and the big maples and oaks scattered across the property were all signs of an era long gone where a house actually came with some property. Hopefully whoever bought the house wasn't allowed to tear it down or make some horrible "modern" renovations to it.
I rang the doorbell and waited for the homeowner to answer. The front door had been painted too many times, and I could see where the previous paint job had flaked off and the next coat of paint had been slathered on in an attempt to cover up the missing chips. The real estate agent told me that she hadn't bothered to have the house properly staged as the old woman who lived here wasn't interested in having someone come through her house and tell her that everything she owned was ugly. I could totally understand that but a house full of stuff was usually more difficult to photograph.
The woman who answered the door must have been in her eighties. Her hair was pure white, and although her appearance exposed every bit of her age there was an elegance to her in the way she carried herself and the way she spoke.
"You must be the young man who has come to take the pictures," she said.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say I am young, ma'am, but yes, your real estate agent said you needed some photos taken."
"I have more than a few years on you so I think I can still call you 'young,' young man," she teased me.
My assessment of the house from the outside had been correct. While the home had been well-maintained throughout the years, it was definitely "original." The woodwork, the light fixtures, the carpets -- all looked to be in great condition but entirely out of step with any home dΓ©cor magazine from the past four decades.
"I tidied up what I could, and didn't tidy up what I didn't feel like, so you just go about your business and get whatever pictures you can," she said as she waved her hand through the air. "What did that realtor of mine say about how she was going to list the house? 'As is'? I guess that's the polite way of saying 'The old lady wouldn't let me bring in someone to clean up the place.'"
I laughed at her frankness.
"I am sure I will be able to do your house justice, so don't you worry."
"That's all I want," she said as she turned and headed slowly upstairs. "I have turned on all of the lights for you. If you can do the basement and the main floor first then I will hide myself away in my bedroom until you need to come upstairs."
"Thank you," I said, and watched as she reached the top of the staircase and shuffled down the hallway to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
I put my shoes in the hall closet and began to photograph the rooms in a way that would make sense for the slideshow later. The old woman had her fair share of trinkets but none of it was junky -- it was obvious that she had taste and the money to back it up, she just hadn't gone shopping in a really long time. I got the impression that in her prime she was the kind of woman who would have hosted the best parties on the block. Nowadays the new neighbours probably just thought of her as the old woman who had rooms full of old knickknacks -- the eccentric who never left her house.
It didn't take me long to shoot the first floor and the basement and as I headed up to the second floor I called out to let her know I was ready to come upstairs.
"You can go back to the living room now, if you like," I said, walking towards her bedroom.
As I opened the door I nearly fell over. The old woman was standing at the end of her bed and had her back to me. She was sorting through a huge pile of fur coats, boas, and very hairy mohair sweaters and blankets.
"That didn't take you very long," she said, not turning around. "I thought I was going to have more time to get my babies organized."
I tried to remain as composed as I could.
"Your babies?," I asked trying to keep my voice from cracking and giving away my surprise and thrill at seeing such a gorgeous mound of fur and fluff being tossed about.
"Oh, yes," she continued, "each one of these lovelies brings me such joy and pride." She slipped on a thick pink mohair cardigan and turned to face me. "This furry little beauty, for instance, has brought the paperboy to tears more times than I can count."
My face flushed and my jaw must have dropped open judging by the look on the old woman's face.
"Whatever is the matter?," she asked. "You don't think someone like me could make a young man cum?"
"I... uh... I didn't mean... no, that's not what I was thinking...."
She had walked over to the door and was staring up at me. Before I could react, she grabbed my hand and stroked it across the sleeve of her cardigan.
"Look at that halo, young man. You won't find that kind of fluffiness in any of these fast fashion stores, will you?"
The mohair was plush and extremely soft to the touch with just enough scratchiness to add another level to the sensation I felt across my palm and between my fingers.
"No, ma'am," I muttered, "you sure wouldn't."
"I swear that paperboy of mine intentionally miscalculates my bill every month so he can come back just so he can watch his little cock disappear into a sea of bouncing pink fluff."
She walked back to her bed and the mountain of fur and fuzz.
"Don't worry, though, I never let him cum on my baby, if that's what you're thinking. That is what mouths are for, isn't it?"
By this point I had a hard on like no other I had ever had.
"Put your tripod down and help me hang up my darlings in the closet so you can get back to taking your pictures. I wouldn't want to hold you up."
Stunned I walked over to the old woman and just stood beside her waiting for her instructions.
She pulled out an alpaca jacket and a platinum fox fur stole and shoved them into my arms.
"You can put these at the back of the closet on the left. The stole can go over the centre of the hanger and the jacket can go over top of it," she said. "Just make sure to smooth out the stole before you put the jacket on the hanger. I don't want any kinks in the lining."
I walked sheepishly into the closet, pulled one of the furrier hangers off the rod and draped the fox fur as I was told.
"Smooth it out," she chided me, "let me see you stroke it flat before you put the alpaca over it."
I turned around to show her that I was complying with her demands only to see that she had taken off the mohair sweater and had put on a massive full length crystal fox coat.
"Go on," she insisted, "hold it up to your chest and rub it down on that side... good... now turn it around and do the same on the other side." She stared into my eyes the whole time, and didn't even look at the fur in my arms.
"I think I see a bump about halfway down that side. Stroke downwards again, now rub your hand up the length of the stole again... go on, get those hairs to stands straight up... okay, now smooth them out again."
If I had been alone in that closet I would have dropped my pants and started jerking myself off right then and there, and the way the old woman was looking at me let me know that she knew exactly what I wanted to do.