Restitution

By Disman (mam1955@hotmail.com)

Jasmine and Tracy work in the same accounting office. Their office was located in an office tower out in a suburban area outside of downtown. They had been working incredible hours due to tax season. It was a delightful surprise on Friday when their boss, Julene, announced that the entire office was going to take the day off—with pay! —on Monday. No one would be allowed to work on Monday, it would be a paid day and not count against any overtime hours accumulated during tax season.

With the announcement came a visual exchange of excitement between Jasmine and Tracy. As close friends they connected in a way that was wonderful. They immediately, almost instinctively, knew that on Monday morning they would be heading downtown on the subway to shop, shop and shop!

In an accounting office, tax season was an all-consuming effort to get the work done by the April 15 deadline. The carrot for all the hard work was a large bonus from all the overtime work. They had worked very hard and Monday was a time to make up for lost time and use up that bonus!

*****

When Monday morning came, Jasmine and Tracy headed downtown on the subway and by nine o’clock were having coffee and scones at the Starbucks across the street from the Galleria. As they sipped coffee, they gossiped about work and relationships. Tracy talked about how much she needed and meaningful relationship and wanted to get married. Their view out the window looked across the street at the Galleria’s elegant display windows. The Galleria was a brand new upscale downtown mall. It was windy outside with a slight late April rain. A perfect day for shopping!

At ten o’clock sharp, the security guard opened the Galleria’s front doors. Jasmine and Tracy were the first to enter the mall. Their first stop was a store that specialized in bath and skin care. They eagerly took in the fragrance. Tracy purchased some lip-gloss and received a complimentary make-up kit as a bonus. The dark red lip-gloss accented her beautiful lips against her light complexion and dark drown hair.

They quickly went through ‘Bungards’ a store with upscale women’s career wear. "To hell with work" was the prevailing attitude after months of tax preparation. They left the store within five minutes with neither girl making a purchase.

They spent a little longer in ‘Obsession’ the lingerie store. Tracy was a hands-on person who it seemed had to touch every piece of merchandise in the store. Jasmine was a more serious shopper. So while Tracy lifted and touched every bra, panty and slip in sight, Jasmine carefully selected a dark ivory silk nightie that accented the rich color of her African-American skin.

On their way to the cash register, a fortiesh sales associate looked to by eying them over. Jasmine was a little nervous when the woman came up and asked if they would be interested in the store’s latest promotional offer. Her name tag read, Vickie. She went on to explain that just for trying on the latest breast-enhancing bra, they would receive a free pair of panties or pantyhose. Jasmine and Tracy giggled like two school girls and agreed to the offer.

The sales associate asked for their bra sizes. 34B for Jasmine and 34B for Tracy. Vickie seemed please that they were the same size.

With their breasts firmly molded into the trial bras, Jasmine skipped over to Tracy’s dressing room cubicle and they compared the results. More comfortable than they thought, but still for special occasions—not everyday. Vickie came in the dressing room area to see how the bras fit. "You girls could be models, the bras fit perfectly."

The girls got dressed and each picked out a pair of pantyhose for their trouble. They were fairly content with nature’s endowment and left the bras behind.

As Vickie was ringing up Jasmine’s purchase, Tracy was busy inquiring about who the nightie was intended to impress. Jasmine impishly pointed out that she really didn’t need to impress anyone but herself!

Vickie then gave the girls an unsolicited hint—the store directly across the mall called ‘The Form’ was planning on a big sale for the weekend, if you were nice, Peg, the saleslady might give you the sale prices a few days earlier. ‘The Form’ a casual wear store featuring the latest in cutting-edge fashion for Generation X women. The girls wondered why Vickie pushed for them to go to another store but appreciated her helpfulness.

Taking Vickie’s advice, the girls walked directly over to ‘The Form.’ The atmosphere was as wild as the fashion. The sidewalls were painted black with the heating and ventilation systems exposed. The display racks looked to be made of black pipe. All around the store there were televisions playing music videos at a not-so-soft volume.

From a design perspective, the store revolved around a round pedestal in the center of the store. The pedestal was about ten feet in diameter and held a brand new and shiny Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Standing next to the motorcycle were two mannequins. One was dark haired mannequin wearing a tight black leather mini-skirt, sunglasses, sheer black pantyhose, black platform shoes and a neon green bralet top with a matching short sleeve shirt that was unbuttoned down the front. The other mannequin was wearing a black and white plaid mini-skirt, sheer black pantyhose, white platform shoes, sunglasses and a white sleeveless blouse. On the ceiling above the pedestal, two spotlights shined two concentrated beams onto the mannequin and the bike. A machine blew a few inches of fog to the bottom of the display.

It was still early in the day and no one else was in the store as Jasmine rummaged through the racks. She was definitely in the mood for some non-work attire and this represented about as far away from work as you could get. Tracy though was captivated by the center display. At first she ran her hand through the fog. It was so thick that it covered the glass base on which the mannequins were standing. She looked at the Harley and then into the face of the first mannequin. There was a small sign that read, "DO NOT TOUCH DISPLAY." It’s admonition ignored, Tracy reached forward to touch the mannequin. For some reason, the display had her mesmerized. She acted like a woman under the spell of a hypnotist.

Tracy touched the mannequin’s right hand. CRASH! BANG! CRUNCH! BOUNCE! Scream!

With Tracy’s slight touch, the first mannequin had collapsed into a pile of limbs and loose clothing on the floor. The mannequin’s head lost its hair and rolled off the pedestal and onto the main floor. In the process of falling, the first mannequin had crashed into the second mannequin with equal consequences.

"OMYGOD what have I done?!" was Tracy’s shocked scream.

Jasmine ran to the commotion and arrived at about the same time as the sales clerk.

The sales clerk had a horrified look on her face. Tears started forming in her eyes. She wore a name badge that read "PEG." Underneath her name was her title, "MANAGER." Peg looked to be in her mid thirties. She had shoulder length blond hair and was relatively nice looking. Her face looked as if she should be the manager of the higher end career wear store, rather than a place frequented by teens and twenties looking for a wilder look. Peg looked uncomfortable in the platform sandals, tight fitting black jeans and the equally tight-fitting red cotton turtleneck top. Her larger than average breasts were accentuated by the outfit. One could imagine that she picked this outfit to better blend in at the store and that she was uptight all day as a result.

Her face didn’t express anger over Tracy’s accident, only frustration. Peg slumped down to the floor and wept uncontrollably. Tracy got down on the floor with Peg and tried to console her.

Peg then began telling her story through a series of tears. Peg apologized to the girls for her tears, but went on to say how important this display was and how she had spent countless hours getting it ready. She explained that a local magazine was sponsoring a contest for the best display in the city. The prize was $2,500 and she really needed the money and thought she had a good chance of winning. She didn’t have any more mannequins and without them she had no chance of winning.

Tracy felt awful. She tried to explain to Peg that it was just an accident and that she was very very sorry. She wished there was something she could do.

Peg went on with her story, telling Tracy and Jasmine that she had a young son with special education needs and that the $2,500 was desperately needed to pay bills she had already incurred. The contest judge was supposed to be there by 11:30—only a half-hour from then.

Jasmine was usually the more analytical of the two and remained standing with her arms folded. Tracy empathized, "I’m sorry I wish there was something we could do. I wish I could be a mannequin for you."

Suddenly Peg hopped up with a look of total determination. Her face revealed the excitement of a true A-HA! moment. "You’ll be my mannequins!!"

"What are you talkin’ about girl," was Jasmine’s astonished reply, "we can’t be no mannequins!"

"Sure you can. I can add make-up to give you a plastic kind of look and surely you could hold still for the inspection. It’ll be a cinch!" Then she added a note of guilt, "it’s the least you can do for me after you broke my mannequins."

"We didn’t break your mannequins on purpose," responded Jasmine, "it was AN ACCIDENT! It’s part of operating a store, just a tough break."

Then Peg posed a threat, "Well, I suppose I could call mall security and see what they thought, your friend here did go past the ‘don’t touch’ sign."

Tracy was definitely feeling quilty and also a little frustrated with Jasmine’s attitude. She focused her attention back on Peg, "If you’ll talke me, I’ll be your mannequin." Tracy then turned back to Jasmine, "Come on Jaz, it’ll be fun."

Jasmine couldn’t resist Tracy’s persuasive look. "Okay," she reluctanty said with a sigh.

"Wonderful!" Peg responded, "We’ll have to hurry. The inspector should be here in about twenty-five minutes."

Tracy turned back to Jasmine, "Thanks Jaz. It’ll be fun, you’ll see."

Reluctantly Jasmine followed Tracy and Peg into the back room.

*****

The backroom was a typical retail storage room with a small desk off to one side. There were stacks of boxes with stored inventory and a couple of headless female mannequin forms on a back shelf next to some old storage racks.

In the backroom, the once despondent and introverted Peg, started to give orders like a woman on a mission. "You girls step over there and remove your clothes down to your underwear. While your doing that, I’ll go out and get the clothes off the broken mannequins." Peg quickly left the room.

"Now how does she know those clothes are even our size?" Jasmine blurted out with a cynical voice. "She didn’t even ask us our size."

"I don’t know. Just get undressed." Tracy was already had her top off and was in the process of taking off her pants.

"I’m just not sure about this, Hon." Jasmine shock her head as she unbuttoned her blouse. "I wish they had a dressing room back here. Its cold."

By the time Peg came in with the clothes. Tracy and Jasmine were wearing just their bra and panties.

She handed them each a pile of clothes. "Here you go, we only have fifteen minutes left."

Jasmine grabbed the outfit with the white sleeveless blouse. "I ain’t standing stiff in the middle of the store wearing some bra thing. I’m no Madonna. You got us into this mess, so you wear the skimpy outfit."

"Fine with me," replied Tracy as she took the outfit with the black leather skirt and the neon green bralet.

With ten minutes left, both girls were completed dressed in their outfits. The sizes were exactly right! Peg then brought out a huge toolbox filled with all sorts of make-up and cosmetics. With the girls seated Peg put a quick coat of make-up over their entire faces and other body parts that would show, like their hands, arms and chest. Then as a final touch, she pulled out an eyebrow pencil and traced a thin line around each of their wrists and around Jasmine’s armpit and shoulders that showed through the sleeveless blouse.

There weren’t mirrors in the backroom, so the girls didn’t get to see how they looked until they were out in the main store. They were astonished! The coat of make-up on their faces covered all freckles and made them look just like mannequins. The thin lines from the eyebrow pencil made the illusion more real. It looked just like the joints on a real mannequin where you could remove its hands and arms.

Peg rushed them into place. "Come on girls, the inspector will be here any time now."

Once on the pedestal in the middle of the floor, Peg had them stand on the glass display stands that the real mannequins were standing on just a while earlier. Peg positioned each girl’s support rod so that it stuck up underneath her skirt.

"Hold on a sec," Peg said, "I’ve got to go an get the sunglasses so that the inspector can’t see your eyes." She can right back and put sunglasses on each girl. Peg then positioned then in the identical pose to the two broken mannequins. "Okay, you’re perfect. Now freeze!" The word freeze was stated with emphasis on permanence. "Thank you so much. The inspector should be here any time. Don’t move until I tell you its okay. Living mannequins aren’t allowed, so if the inspector suspected that you were alive, I would be disqualified."

It was now 11:30, the inspector was due any moment. The store looked wonderful. From their vantage point the girls could look out at the store in a darkened state, through their sunglasses. It was nearing the lunch hour and they could see the beginnings of lunch time traffic out in the main mall. But they stood still, so still they could feel the fog wrap around their ankles. Tracy was thinking she had redeemed herself for her careless act and feeling sorry for Peg’s trouble with her son. Jasmine still wasn’t sure about this whole thing. How would she explain to anyone, how she went shopping on her day-off and ended up being a stand in for a store dummy.

It seemed like they had only been in place a few moments when Jasmine’s uplifted right arm started to hurt. Why did Peg put her is such an uncomfortable position. Two girls in their late teens or early twenties came into the store. Jasmine began watching them, an activity that took her mind off her sore arm. The girls came up to the display and didn’t give Jasmine or Tracy much notice. Jasmine became convinced that maybe they could pass as mannequins.

Peg quickly came up and asked the girls if they needed help. "No, thank you," was their reply and Peg went back to the cash register area and work on some papers. The two girls went toward the front of the store to look around. A young couple in their early thirties was the next to enter the store. They looked like they knew what they wanted and quickly walked past the display, toward the back of the store. Tracy did notice that the guy gave her a careful glance as he went past.

The couple came back and browsed through a rack right next to Tracy. With her nervousness she felt she was breathing so loud that someone could hear her breathing around the block. But the couple didn’t pay either girl any attention. Then Jasmine saw something that almost made her jump. She watched as one of the two younger girls picked a blouse out of the rack. The inventory control tag didn’t get attached properly and she was able to manipulate it to come off. The blouse was then crumpled into her handbag and out the door both girls went. She had witnessed a shoplifter in action! Her mind played with different options for action, but she held firm. The contest was probably more important that a stolen blouse.

Next, a man about forty entered the store. He was alone. Tracy could hear Peg perk-up behind her. Was this the inspector? Jasmine was sure it probably was. Both girls stiffened up. The man didn’t look like an inspector. He was short and thin with a full head of gray hair and a goatee. He wore jeans with a white polo shirt and sneakers. He did have a pad of paper and seemed to occasionally be writing notes. The girls remained frozen as he slowed walked through the entire store. A one point, when he was out of their line of vision, they heard him exchange greetings with the young couple. The next thing Tracy knew, he was standing on the pedestal right in front of her face. She was petrified in more ways than one. He gently touched her right breast. Tracy wanted to slap him on the spot, but she realized that it was probably not harassment to touch a mannequin’s boobs. She could feel his breath. He walked over to Jasmine and stood in front of her while he took notes.

After what seemed like an eternity, the man walked back to Peg and conversed with her in whispered tones. He then left the store.

The girls could hear that the young couple was making a purchase. They both felt certain that the man with the gray hair was the inspector and that they would be freed from the display as soon as the couple left the store.

When the couple did leave the store, Peg walked out to the main entrance and looked around at the mall traffic outside. She then came back into the store and walked up to Jasmine and Tracy. "You guys did great! That man was the inspector and he was very impressed with my store. It’s okay to move again."

Whew!!! was the girl’s reaction. "I thought he’d never leave!," was Jasmine’s first comment.

"He fondled my tit!!" responded Tracy.

"Yeah, but he thought you were a dummy. Sorry honey, but there’s nothing against the law about touching a dummy’s boobs."

"Did we pass? Did you win the $2,500?" was Tracy’s question to Peg.

"We’re close. He told me I’m one of three finalists. He plans to recheck all three Saturday morning. All he told be is that he would be back sometime between 11 am and 2 p.m. Can you come back then?"

"I don’t think so," Jasmine was quick to respond, "Why us? Can’t you fix the REAL mannequins by then?"

"But you guys looked so perfect. I don’t want to mess with something that’s working good." Peg paused with a frustrated look on her face. She knew that Jasmine was the tough sell.

"I think it was kind of fun, Jaz," replied Tracy.

"I tell you what, I really need you girls to help me out." Peg was starting to plead. "This really means a lot to me. What if I gave each of you a $300 store credit for coming in on Saturday? We’re having a big sale, you can take advantage of the sale prices! Would you do it then?"

"YES!" was Tracy’s immediate reply. "Come on Jaz, you can do it. We’ll have fun! That’s 75 bucks an hour. When are you going to earn that much."

Jasmine was still hesitant, but Tracy was a good persuader. "Well, okay. What time do you want us here on Saturday?"

Peg was all smiles, "let’s start at nine so we can have a little more time for make-up. And by the way, don’t tell anyone about what you did today. If anyone found out I could be disqualified."

*****

During the remainder of the week before Saturday the girls talked only with each other about their Saturday activity. On Friday they went out to lunch together and talked. Tracy was excited. She had gotten a call the night before from an old flame. He was coming into town and wanted to get together. Jasmine warned her about being too anxious to get married.

Jasmine was starting to warm up to the idea of being a mannequin for a day. Despite tax season being finished, it had been an awful week. Their boss, Julene, had been just plain bitchy! "After the week we’ve had, I’d consider being a mannequin full time at $300 a day!"

"I know," replied Tracy, "I’m sick of accounting, its soooo boring. I spent half the morning talking with Mr. Jenkins over at Jenkins Rentals about whether a hired maintenance guy should be classified as a consultant or a purchased service. Quite frankly I don’t give a shit! Maybe this is weird, but when we were standing there as mannequins my mind wandered about all sorts of fantasies. The way we were dressed and made up really made me feel quite sexy and aroused. I tell you, as boring as standing in one spot might sound, it is infinitely more exciting than talking subaccounts with Mr. Jenkins. Somehow it was even exciting when that inspector guy fondled me."

"Maybe this will be the start of a new career," joked Jasmine.

*****

On Saturday morning at 9 o’clock Jasmine and Tracy tapped on the glass front door to the store. Peg came out to meet them. She was wearing a denim mini-skirt with a tight fitting lace blouse. Just like Monday, the outfit somehow didn’t match the face. She smiled in a serious and forced manner. "Come on into the back room and we’ll get you two fixed up."

"Take all your clothes off," was the command once they were in the back room. Peg’s curt attitude diminished the girl’s anticipation of the day.

"ALL our clothes?" replied Jasmine.

"Yes all. I have some special underwear for you. I don’t want to take any chances."

Stripping down to their underwear on Monday in the cold back room was bad enough, now she wanted them to be nude. Jasmine thought about asking to use one of the store’s dressing rooms, but quickly realized that she’d have to walk naked through the store to get to the back room for make-up.

Once nude, both girls could feel goosebumps all over their body. Their nipples were hard. Peg noticed and turned on a small space heater. Jasmine turned around to find that she was standing next to the two headness naked mannequin forms. In a strange way she understood how they would feel if they were human—a body for display purposes, not real. She felt a kinship with them.

"Here’s some underwear for you. The bra has seamless cups and is a neutral color. It won’t be visible through your clothes. The pantyhose is one of those panties-and-pantyhose all in one. And this . . ." Peg held up a couple of little flesh colored object that looked like some sort of sexual appliances, "it something I think you’ll really like. It fits up inside your sex and will periodically vibrate during your time as a mannequin."

Jasmine was again skeptical, "Why would I want to be standing in the middle of a store with a dildo inside me?"

"I know you’re skeptical, but when I was your age I did a lot of work as a living mannequin and one of these helped me to relax and really made the time fly. You don’t have to do it, but you’ll be glad you did."

Tracy grabbed the dildo fairly quickly and put it in. Jasmine reluctantly did the same.

"I don’t feel anything," was Tracy’s immediate comment.

"You will."

After a few minutes both girls stood in front of Peg wearing black pantyhose and a seamless underwire bra that almost perfectly matched each of their skin tones. The bra’s fabric was shear enough that each girl’s nipples slightly peak at the summit of their breasts.

With the girls still in their underwear, Peg applied make-up over their entire exposed bodies, including their faces. In Tracy’s case the make-up make her skin look pale, almost white. For Jasmine, it significantly lightened her dark skin. Peg paid careful attention to the girl’s hands. "This is the area that’s the easiest to give away. Real mannequins have very smooth hands." Peg then used the eyebrow pencil to mark the lines on their wrists and shoulders. These were the lines that would help them to pass as a real mannequin that could be disassembled at will.

Tracy looked at Jasmine and commented, "Wow Jaz, you look just like a mannequin! Someone might try to undress you in the middle of the store."

"They had better not!" Jasmine responded while looking at herself in the mirror. She critically eyed herself doing a few standard mannequin poses. "You’re right though, we look a little plastic with all this make-up." Tracy joined in with a few mannequin poses of her own. The girls had started to have fun again.

"Let’s get you dressed," Peg got the girls moving again. She gave them the same outfits they wore the previous Monday and told them to get dressed carefully as to not harm their make-up. Once they were dressed, Peg spent some time putting the final touches on their facial make-up.

At ten minutes before ten the girls were escorted out to the display. You could see through the locked glass doors that the mall traffic was starting to pick up. This made Peg nervous and she tried to get the girls in place as quickly as possible. She wanted them in the exact same positions as on Monday. The remaining time before opening was spent in fine tuning the girl’s positions.

A young girl and her mother stood outside the locked door, waiting to be the first customer of the day. Peg was not to be rushed and acted like they didn’t exist. She turned toward the door and then stopped and abruptly turned back. "Oops, I almost forgot. Your vibrators." She pulled out a small remote control and pressed a few buttons. Immediately Jasmine and Tracy could feel a tingling sensation that was exciting and relaxing all at the same time. "Be good mannequins. We’ll talk later." Peg then opened the doors for the day.

From their vantage point, the girls immediately noticed the difference between mall traffic on a Saturday morning and a Monday morning. The young girl and her mother had come through the store and a small conflict had already begun regarding the style of clothing the daughter wanted. A few other people entered the store. The mother and daughter began talking in a whisper when others came nearer. They had no idea that they were standing with feet of two real women who could hear everything they said.

At one point during the morning, one woman reached up and felt Tracy’s skirt trying to determine if it was real leather or not. A few women had commented on how "cute" their outfits were. Tracy was flattered by their comments and considered buying her outfit with part of her $300.

But as of yet, no inspector. The girls remained in position.

Then came a crisis. Julene, their boss, entered the store. She was there with Mr. Jenkins from the trucking company! Both girls knew that both Julene and Mr. Jenkins were married. Their curiosity as to why they would be together was answered by how they were behaving. Mr. Jenkins had his arm around Julene and at one point she gave him a peck on the cheek. Jasmine and Tracy were witnesses to an amazing piece of office gossip. They had a tough time believing what they were seeing. Mr. Jenkins had to be at least 50, while Julene was in her early 30s.

The girls also relished what they saw. Julene had never been a favorite of the office staff. She had graduated from a big name school with an MBA and her first job was to run the department. They resented the fact that she had never done their job, she hadn’t worked up through the trenches. They also knew that to have a romantic relationship with a client was against office policy. She would loose her job in a heartbeat.

The store was rumbling with activity when Julene and Mr. Jenkins walked in front of the display. For a brief glimpse, Julene’s eyes connected with Tracy’s. Julene abruptly stopped and eyed both girls carefully.

"What’s wrong hon?" asked Mr. Jenkins.

Julene paused before answering. "I don’t know. These . . . two . . . girls, er a mannequins, remind me of two girls who work for me." The girls steadfastly remained stiff. Then came the real test. Julene reached up and touched Jasmine’s thigh.

"They’re mannequins, hon. Let’s not get crazy."

"I know," Julene commented as she slowly withdrew her hand. "They just look so real . . . and so similar." She paused again. "This girl is much prettier than Tracy, and she probably works harder too."

They finally walked away. Jasmine breathed a sign of relief. The combination of the support pantyhose and her daily workout had left her thigh feeling firm enough to pass for a plastic mannequin.

Tracy, on the other hand, was pissed. How dare she think I’m not as pretty as a mannequin and that I don’t work hard! She wanted so much to jump off the display and say Ah-Ha!! Caught you!

Julene and Mr. Jenkins left the store. Some time later the girls saw them out in the mall, sitting on a bench eating ice cream cones. Julene still stared into the store at the mannequin girls.

The girls had no idea what time it was. It seemed like it had been a long time and they guessed that it might be lunch time since they could see people eating as they walked along the mall. Jasmine started calculating the time and figured that if it was noon, they had been standing in their pose for two hours. How could that be? Her arms ached, but only slightly. On Monday, they stood in position for a little less than an hour and she was hurting. Maybe it was experience. Maybe it was the vibrator. She could feel its soothing rhythms continually throughout the morning. Maybe it was helping her remain in position.

Tracy hadn’t thought much about the time. She was busy enjoying the vibrator and to her surprise she was just enjoying being a mannequin. She had an outgoing personality that loved people. She had always enjoyed listening in on other people’s conversations at restaurants and over the cubicle walls. Here she could really be an outside observer. The fact that people had no idea she was a real person only added to the excitement.

"Hey girls." It was Peg. "Stay stiff. Its only noon and I’m going out to get a sandwich. I bet you guys are getting hungry too. You’re doin’ good. You can eat when you’re off at two. Darla, my new salesgirl just came on duty and she’ll cover for me while I’m gone. She doesn’t know about you, so please stay in form. The inspector called, he should be here any time."

The girls then watched Peg walk out the front door and off to lunch.

*****

During the lunch hour business became a little slow. This was just the opposite of a weekday lunch hour when the foot traffic was the heaviest. With no customers to talk with, Darla walked nervously around the store. She straightened the racks and picked up loose pieces of trash.

Suddenly Tracy had her challenge of the day. Darla walked right up on the display where the girls were standing. She looked Tracy right in the face and began fiddling with her hair. Tracy tried her best to remain calm. Darla pulled a couple of strands of Tracy’s hair forward and let them drop down the front of Tracy’s face, covering her right eye. This was not only annoying, but it tickled. When Darla turned to leave, Tracy blew a quick burst of air out her mouth, in order to blow the hair aside. It worked, although Tracy was surprised how stiff she was. It was difficult for her to even open her mouth.

The ‘puff’ of air startled Darla and she quickly turned around and looked into Tracy’s stiff continence. "If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were alive," Darla spoke aloud. She then shook her head and left the display.

As Darla left, Tracy stood wandering why it had been so tough to move. Should she be concerned? Was Jasmine also affected? Carefully, Tracy tried to move her right arm. She couldn’t. Had over two hours of standing stiff somehow made her forget how to move? She was starting to panic when she saw the inspector come through the front door. The end was in sight. Once he was done and gone, Peg would help them get down.

Darla asked the inspector if he needed anything. "Just browsing was his reply." He also asked about Peg. Darla replied that she was at lunch and would be back shortly.

The inspector walked up to the center display. "You girls look wonderful today," he quietly whispered. "You are two of the prettiest mannequins I’ve seen."

Peg then came in and greeted the inspector. Together they went to the back of the store. Both girls tried to stretch their ears to hear the conversation. All they could hear was the inspector asking Darla and Peg to bring the two mannequins back into the storeroom. He asked Darla to be especially careful as to not harm them.

This must be it, thought Jasmine. The inspector is done and we can go home. Darla came on the display and lifted Jasmine off her stand. She then leaned Jasmine back into Peg’s hands. With Peg holding her shoulders and Darla on her feet, they carefully took Jasmine back into the storeroom and leaned her against a wall along with the older mannequin forms. They then proceeded in the same manner with Tracy. Both girls frantically tried to move, but to no avail.

Both girls were alarmed as to what was happening. They hadn’t drank anything or had anything injected into them that would render them immobile. So what was it?

The vibrator! They both concluded at the same time. Somehow the vibrator rendered them immovable.

Peg started undressing Tracy and asked Darla to undress Jasmine. Darla started unbuttoning Jasmine’s blouse and stopped with a puzzled look. "What’s wrong dear?" asked Peg.

"Well, I’ve worked in retail for a few years now and I’ve never seen anyone dress a mannequin with underwear."

"These are special high-end mannequins, their bodies are so realistic that we occasionally use underwear."

"I can see," commented Darla as she unfastened Jasmine’s bra and exposed her breasts. She was commenting on how realistic Jasmine’s nipples and areola looked.

"Now you can see why she needed a bra, especially with a thin white blouse. You can also see why we undress them in the back room, we wouldn’t want to turn on all the males in the mall!"

In a few minutes both girls were totally nude and Darla could see the other part of their bodies that was very realistic. Peg then dismissed Darla back into the store to wait on customers.

Meanwhile the girls were totally confused. Throughout this entire process, the inspector had helped Peg in a way that made the girls think that he knew her real well.

The inspector then pressed a button to open the garage door in the back of the store. Outside was a small pickup with a camper shell. The outside of the shell read "MANNEQUINS BY ADAM."

The inspector then opened up the back of the camper and came back inside to the girls. He then spoke directly to them. "Well girls, I’m sure that by now you’ve figured out that you are unable to move. I hope you’ve enjoyed helping Peg out her in the store. There really wasn’t a contest and Peg really doesn’t have a son with learning disabilities. And Tracy, you really didn’t break the mannequin. It was rigged to fall apart when you touched it. The manager over at the lingerie shop, Vickie, is my sister. She sized you up as potential mannequins through her ‘try-on-the-bra’ routine and then suggested you come over to this store.

"We then set the trap and got you to be ‘temporary’ mannequins. I then came by for the final approval.

Which incidentally you passed with flying colors. We will now be taking you to my shop where you’ll be permanently made into mannequins and then be sold to a retailer that will never know your origin."

Peg then chimed in, "Adam is my husband and we’ve been building the most beautiful mannequins in the world for the past two years. It’s a very profitable business. Adam’s sister, Vickie at the lingerie shop, has been a great healp. It’s a great process."

"Did I get you some good bodies?" came a voice entering the room. It was Vickie coming to check on her new acquisition. They then wrapped each girl in a packing blanket and put them in the back of the truck. As the truck drove away, the horror-struck girls felt every bump.

*****

Once in the shop, Adam and Peg started immediately to work on the two girls. First, Peg shaved their heads and pubic areas. Then a white solution was smeared over their entire bodies and then sponged off. This process removed all hair and left their bodies antiseptically clean.

Adam then popped out the vibrator and inserted a brass metal device connected with two black tubes. He then turned on a compressor and the girls could feel a substance being pumped into their bodies.

While this was going on Peg used a spray gun to apply a permanent even color of paint to their bodies.

Adam and Peg left the room while the girl’s new paint job was drying. After a couple of hours Adam returned and pulled out a saw. With the saw he segmented the girl’s bodies into the pieces that would make it easier to dress them. His guidelines were the faint remaining lines from Peg’s eyebrow pencil earlier that day. Adam then began installing the hardware that would hold their body pieces together.

After a bit, Peg came in and began painting permanent make-up on the girl’s faces. The girl’s upper torsos were on a workbench for Peg to work.

The girls were not dead, nor would they be. They were somehow in a new state of mind. They could hear, feel and understand everything that was going on around them. The horror of the event had left them somewhat in a state of shock. Their biggest question was why?

With everything finished, Adam and Peg put the girls back together with them facing each other. Jasmine was amazed when she saw mannequin Tracy. She was beautiful—the most beautiful mannequin she had ever seen. Tracy felt the same about Jasmine.

Then things got weird. Peg took off her top and began to fondle Tracy. Adam walked over to Jasmine and caressed her. In a few moments Adam and Peg were naked and having full blown sex right in front of the girls!! Peg achieved multiple climaxes. It seemed like their ecstacy was hightened by the presence of the girls and their perfect mannequin bodies.

The girls just stood and watched. Tracy wanted to be real again and jump in and join the fun. Jasmine was appalled. Neither could do anything.

"I hoped you like our show," commented Peg as the couple left the room and turned off the light.

In the morning both girls awoke with Adam carrying them out into the front window of the showroom. They were officially up-for-sale. They were also mannequins forever and although they hated their situation, they each knew they had no other choice but to accept this new role.

Their thought turned to who would buy them? And would they be able to stay together?

For Jasmine the question would be answered three days later. Two older women came in and thoroughly browsed the showroom. The girls could overhear that they had decided to purchase Jasmine. What kind of store would she end up in?

Jasmine found herself loaded back in the truck and taken to another location. At the new location, she was taken in by Adam and situated in the front window of the store. She knew this place! It was the Bungaards, the elite career wear store right next to the lingerie store and across the mall from The Form, the store in which they were abducted. She could see right into the store to the display where she and Tracy had stood just a few days before.

The two women dressed Jasmine in a very elegant business suit. Jasmine had seen this store before and had gone in only on rare occassions. The target audience was career women in their forties and older. This was her new home and she would have to get used to it.

*****

Back at the mannequin showroom, the nude Tracy stood on display in the front window. Tracy didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or proud to be standing naked for the world to see. Throughout the day she would notice some men walking slowly past the display window. The night before a car had stopped in front of the store and a young man had stepped out to take a few pictures of the showroom. Tracy did have company. There were at least a dozen other mannequins, male and female, on the showroom floor. Had they once been alive like her? Probably so. There were also a number of torsos and other mannequin forms throughout the storeroom. Had they also been alive? She wasn’t sure.

Then one day, Tracy woke up in the morning to a surprise. Sometime during the previous night a new female mannequin had been placed next to her. She could clearly see the new girl in the reflection in the front window—it was Darla! The same Darla from the store. Tracy wondered how Peg had gotten Darla to be a mannequin.

*****

Back at the mall, Jasmine knew exactly how Darla had been recruited. From her vantage point she witnessed the whole thing. One evening Peg had set up the display with the mannequins that would break on que. Although Jasmine couldn’t hear the conversation, she assumed that Peg had asked Darla to straighten up the mannequins in the display area. When one of the mannequins broke, Darla was successfully recruited to be the stand-in. Later that afternoon Jasmine witnessed Peg and Adam taking Darla into the back room. The vibrator had worked its magic on Darla too. Jasmine knew the rest of the story and wondered where Darla would be making her permanent home.

As hard as it might be to believe, Jasmine wasn’t all unhappy with her circumstances. Her new stay in life was unstressful and the environment was nice. She felt beautiful and well cared for. Although she would have chosen otherwise, if she had been given the chance, this wasn’t a terrible option. She constantly worried about what had happened to Tracy. She so wished they could be together.

*****

Back at the showroom, a couple came in to look at the mannequins. The couple was Julene and Mr. Jenkins. From what Tracy could overhear of the conversation, it seemed that Julene had left her job at the accounting firm and gone to work for Mr. Jenkins in his rental store operations. But why would a rental store need a mannequin? Adam led Julene and Mr. Jenkins through the showroom and pointed out the advantages of the different mannequins.

When they came to Tracy and Darla, he mentioned that they were his most realistic mannequins and therefore the most expensive. Mr. Jenkins said that, for his uses, he really didn’t need an expensive mannequin.

But Tracy again mesmerized Julene. There was a familiarity there that she couldn’t quite understand. "I want this one, Bill," was Julene’s direct command.

"But like he said, that’s the most expensive one," responded Bill Jenkins.

"I don’t care, this is the one I want."

Adam then stepped to the back of the room with the couple and negotiated a price for Tracy. The next day Adam delivered Tracy to Jenkins Rentals. Tracy still wondered why a rental company needed a mannequin. Her question was answered as she entered in through the front door. Although she had been in Jenkins Rentals many times in her previous life as an accountant, she had forgotten that they rented wedding supplies, including tuxes and wedding gowns.

The area for clothing rental was in the back of the store. There were racks of wedding dresses in various styles along with tuxedos. In the corner was a display that featured a male 3/4 form wearing a black tux with tails. Adam assembled Tracy and stood her nude body in the space next to the form.

Later that afternoon Julene dressed Tracy in a wonderful wedding dress and veil. It was obvious that Julene had never dressed a mannequin before. It was very awkward and Tracy frequently wondered if she would make it through the process without being toppled over and broken.

Over the conversations of the next few weeks, Tracy began to understand Julene’s transition to Mr. Jenkins’ rental firm. Evidently they formed a relationship while Julene was coordinating Mr. Jenkins’ accounting that had turned romantic. This had been going on for years. They each made the decision to be together and had separated and then divorced from their spouses. Because of her relationship with Mr. Jenkins, Julene had been released from her job and Mr. Jenkins invited her to work for his as a manager of this store. Julene had wanted to increase the bridal rental side of the business and thus they needed a mannequin, Tracy, to better display their gowns.

The bridal side of the business was started well. It was May and each day, a number of girls came in to try on wedding dresses for June weddings. Business was so good that there were many times that Julene would have to undress Tracy to rent or sell her dress to the customer. Tracy soon learned that being nude in public was part of being a mannequin. No one seemed to mind and neither did Tracy after a while.

Tracy had always loved weddings and had so looked forward to the day when she would be married. Although she would have preferred to be a real bride, she was glad to be a mannequin bride. It fit her well. She often wondered what had become of Jasmine. Jasmine had such class and poise that she knew Jasmine must be in a high-class store or mall. She imagined Jasmine to be wearing the finest clothes or even to be displaying the latest in silky lingerie—maybe even the nightie that she purchased on their day off. Tracy had no way of knowing it but she was right.

Both girls had made things right when they had the responsibility to help Peg with her problem and make restitution for their accidental act. Their kindness had led them into a new world. On a regular basis, Jasmine could see Peg and Adam intimidate other young girls to feel obligated to pay the permanent restitution. Tracy proudly displayed the latest in bridal wear. They each had inadvertantly chosen a new life.