Riding my pushbike to work one morning last week, I was delayed when a twig protruding from a shrub by the path dislodged the chain. I needed to stop the bike and untangle it from the derailleur gear sprocket on the back wheel. It would be a straight-forward operation. My brother taught me and his two other sisters how to maintain and repair our own bicycles when we started riding.
I stepped away from the cycleway to leave it clear for other cyclists and joggers, and inverted the bike near a fallen branch. I sat on the branch under a tree similar to a willow tree. All its leaves were dead on the ground and long hanging branches of varying width from hair-like to much thicker cord-like branches hanging down almost to ground level, blowing in the light breeze,.
I noticed that some of the lighter stringy hangings had wound themselves around my tool kit hanging from the rear of the seat. They appeared to be holding on tenaciously and I was unable to pull them away to untangle them. Others began to wind around the fingers of my right hand and as I tried to pull them off my hand with the fingers of my other hand, I began to feel a measure of panic as the tree was doing everything to prevent me from doing anything I was attempting. As my other hand became caught up, I realised I was being held captive, by a TREE!
I snapped my hands together to try and maintain some last desperate control over them, but I was no match for the strength of the fragile looking tree branch strings. My hands were being separated and thicker cords wrapped around my wrists and began to raise me to my feet. I shook my shoulders in a violent shimmy, struggling to try and free myself from these frightening flexible pendants descending from the tree, but it was no use. I began screaming at my helplessness.
Passers by slowed down to watch what was making me struggle and call out. At the same time, thick ropes of vine like branches coiled around my ankles and alarmingly spreading my legs apart. I began to fall backwards when the cords around my wrist caught my arms and prevented me from falling.
One man came over to try and rescue me from my predicament and thin cords began whipping at his face and neck.
He yelled out loudly, 'It stung my eyes. It stung my eyes.'
He ran back, blindly holding his hands over his face.
As the vine like cords began pulling on my arms and lifting my weight from the ground, more people had gathered to witness my captivity. Tiny cottons hanging from the tree began to slither under the tight T-shirt I was wearing and began tearing at the fabric slowly shredding until I was wearing only my bra and Lycra shorts, riding sneakers and bike helmet. Then the tiny strings made short work of my bra, cutting quickly through the straps and I watched in shock as my intimate undergarment fell to the ground exposing my 34-inch tits, my nipples standing out, betraying my aroulas and my self conscious shame and embarrassment added to my helpless bondage.
Next, and to my horror, I could feel the insistent tiny strings slithering up under my Lycra shorts that came down to just above my knees. I felt more comfortable not wearing nickers under my sports Lycra, apparently a practice shared by most serious cyclists.
I looked down in dismay as my last garment began to disintegrate, baring my legs, my buttocks and finally my clipped pubic hair in full view of my growing audience standing around fascinated but unable to help. I looked down and saw shreds of my red and white shorts scattered on the ground below me.