"So, how was it?" Cyril asks me.

"It was...interesting. Not like being asleep at all, which I kind of thought it would be. The best way I can describe it is like...being in a dream. I was aware, but I didn't have control. I did what you told me to. I knew I was doing it, but I didn't have a choice. Weird. But neat, too. Because when you told me to feel good or be happy, I felt that way. And that's cool."

"How much of it do you remember?"

"All of it."

"Well, you think you remember all of it."

"No, I'm pretty sure I remember all of it," I say, nodding emphatically to punctuate my point. "I know you told me to forget things. But I didn't forget them. I remember everything, start to finish."

"Hm. But you just said that you did what I told you. You didn't have a choice."

"That's true. Except for the forgetting part."

"I'm not sure I believe you," Cyril says. "You probably just think you remember everything."

"Maybe," I say. "But, honestly, I think I remember it all."

"Do this for me, then: Give me a summary of the whole experience, from the induction until I woke you up."

"Okay. You used a swinging pocket watch for the induction. I didn't think it would work. I mean, I know you, and you say you're this great hypnotist and all. But it just seemed...old and quaint, and not very realistic. But, sure enough, the swinging watch and your soothing-but-commanding voice did the trick. Once I was under, the first thing you had me do was take off my shoes and put my bare feet up on the ottoman where you could see them. I know your fetish, and I made a point of not being barefoot going into this. I also told myself I was going to resist any suggestion you gave me to be barefoot. But, that didn't work out. You said do it, and I did it. Anyway, that was first thing. Then, you had me do a couple of basic suggestibility tests. There was 'balloons are lifting your arms' and 'this potato tastes like a peach.' Again, everything you suggested, I accepted. Then, you had me get up, walk to another chair, and sit down in it. You had me do that, let's see...three, no four times. I don't know why, but just like with everything else, I did what you said. After that, it was onto the foot fetish stuff. With you sitting across the room, you suggested that my feet were being tickled. And it felt exactly like they were. I laughed and laughed and laughed. Then, you gave me a break and said my feet were being massaged. Oh, man, that was the best part. That's when you said I felt good and was happy. And I sure was! Finishing up the foot stuff, you said the person I find sexiest in the world was worshiping my feet. If you had kept that suggestion going, I don't know what would've happened. Actually, I do know, and I'm glad you stopped it and moved on. At that point, you had me undo my bra and lift up my shirt to show you my boobs. I did it without question. You then had me redo my bra and lower my shirt. That's when you told me I was going to forget some things, specifically the foot play and the boob exposure. Then, you woke me up. That was it. I remember everything."

"Yep, you sure do," Cyril says.

"Sorry to disappoint you," I say.

"It's just odd. There's no question you were an excellent subject. You were extremely suggestible. You didn't resist or hesitate to do anything I said. Not going barefoot, which you specifically didn't want to do, nor showing me your boobs, which I really didn't know if you would do or not. But the one thing you wouldn't do is forget. I can't figure it out."

Cyril ponders this conundrum. I think on it, too.

"I know why," I say after a while.

"Do tell."

"You're right, I'm very suggestible. There's almost nothing I wouldn't do while I'm hypnotized, as we both just saw. The barefoot thing? Trivial. I don't mind being barefoot. I just knew it would be a test of my willpower to see if I could resist your suggestion. Test failed, moving on. Showing my boobs? No problem. Oh, you'll never see them when I'm in my right mind. But, they're just boobs. Worst case, I'm embarrassed or miffed when I wake up. Honestly, that's what most of it comes down to: Whatever you make me do, I might be miffed or embarrassed about it when I wake up. If I am, oh well. If I'm not, then no problem. However, if I follow your suggestion and forget some or all of what you made me do, that's affecting me when I'm no longer under your sway. That's hard core mind control. It's the beginning of brainwashing. No, I don't think you were trying to brainwash me by making me forget that I showed you my boobs. What I'm saying, though, is that's the first step on the path to brainwashing. 'Forget this, remember that' can easily graduate to 'think this, believe that.' And suggestible or not, I don't want to go there. I don't want to be brainwashed. I mean, I really, really don't want that. So, I wouldn't let you do the whole 'making me forget' thing that I believe can lead to it. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, it does. It makes a lot of sense. Thanks for helping me understand."

"Sure thing. Anyway, that was both fun and informative. I might even do it again with you. But, not for a while."

"Too, bad."

"Too bad? Why, because you want to see more of my bare feet and bare boobs?" I ask with faux annoyance in my voice (which my unconcealed grin gives away).

"Boobs are lot to ask of a friend. I'd settle for your feet, though. And wouldn't it feel nice to put them up on the ottoman again?"

"Of course it would. But, I'm not hypnotized now, so you're out of luck."

With as stern a glare as I can muster, I reach down and put on my shoes. Cyril nods with an uncharacteristic pout.

"What should we do now?" I ask.

Cyril's pout slowly upturns into a smile. For some reason, that unnerves me.

"This is what we're going to do," he says.

He lifts up his arm, partially opens his hand, and lets the pocket watch fall down to the end of its chain. Then, he begins swinging it slowly back and forth. I roll my eyes. Cyril is a great guy, but if his mind were any more one-tracked, he'd be a monorail.

"I said I might do it again, but not for a while. Five minutes is not a while."

Cyril doesn't say anything. Even more so than that smile, his silence is very unnerving. I shake my head.

"Seriously," I say. "Quit while you're ahead. You had your fun, and now we're going to do something else."

He still doesn't say anything. Ugh! He needs to say something. Instead, he just keeps swinging that watch. Why is he still swinging it?

It catches my eye. I purposefully look away. I know he can't hypnotize me unless I let him, but I don't want to take any chances.

The thing is, though...I don't actually look away. I want to, but I don't. I can't. What the hell? I can't, and...I don't want to. Oh, no, this isn't good.

Now, he starts talking. That tells me I'm really in trouble. My eyes are fixed on that damn watch, following it back and forth, back and forth. And his voice...it's just so soothing, so relaxing. And it's also...so commanding. I have to listen to him. I want to listen to him. I feel myself relaxing. I feel myself slipping. I feel myself drifting down into the most wonderful...

"Take off your shoes," Cyril says.

I take off my shoes.

"Stand up."

I stand up.

"Follow me."

He stands up and walks out of the room. I follow him. He enters another room--his den--and I enter after him. He points.

"Sit in that chair."

I walk over to a large recliner that has weird electronics and mechanical devices on and around it. I turn around and sit down in it. Once I'm seated, he takes out his phone and taps the screen. In response to whatever command he just entered, restraints within the chair emerge, and then close around my wrists, waist, and ankles. Then, the chair unfolds, raising my legs up so that my bare feet face him.

"You know, having you get up from one chair, walk to another, and sit back down four times does seem excessive. But, I had to make sure you'd get up from your seat and sit down here when the time came. Because this is where I need you to be. Oh, it was fun hypnotizing you and putting you through the paces. And, it would've been all the better if you'd forgotten what I told you to forget. Better, but not necessary. Because brainwashing you via hypnosis would've taken a long, long time. Longer than I want to spend. That's why I have this amazing device. It will make short work of your willpower. And that's no guess or idle threat. I've used it on women who had far stronger wills than you have. It worked every time. It never failed to make them my barefoot, brainwashed slaves. And that's what it's going to do to you. Ah, but it won't be nearly as much fun starting with you in a trance. So, when I snap my fingers, you will wake up."

He snaps. I wake up.

"Let me go! Cyril! Get me out of this thing!"

His smile grows wider, as he taps the screen again. I hear the hum of a motor behind me. A shadow appears over my head. It grows bigger. And then, I feel something over my scalp.

"Cyril, this is nuts! What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Don't worry," he says. "You won't remember any of this. You're going to forget it all. Because, you know, that's how I'm going to brainwash you. I'm going to tell you what to forget, what to remember, what to think, and what to believe. And you will do everything I say."

"No! No, no, no!"

The sensations begin. They come from whatever it is on my head. Just like with the watch and his voice before, I can't resist them. Against my will, they make me relax. They make me sleepy. I feel myself slipping. I feel myself drifting down into the most wonderful...

I open my eyes. I am upright in the chair. My body is unrestrained. My feet are on the floor. I see a familiar, beloved man before me.

"Stand up," he says.

I stand up.

"Who am I?" he asks.

"You are my master."

"And who are you?"

"I am your barefoot, brainwashed slave...."