A Material Prison

A Material Prison

By Eric LaRue
Based on idea by ROBO

The three men started down the alleyway hoping to avoid their fate. They ran
down as fast as they could, staying just ahead of the men chasing them. They
jumped the fence, climbed over, jumped down on the other side, and ran to
freedom...all, that is, except one.

Robert Smith tried to climb, but lost his grip and fell down. He tried to get
up, but he couldn't.

"Come on, Rob, climb the fence!" One of his companions screamed to him.

"I can't! My leg is broken!"

Suddenly, the cops started screaming from around the corner. Everyone else
just screamed, "Shit!" and ran.

Robert knew it was over. The cops’d catch him, and then his life would
be over. Yes, he'd probably only get 10 years, but what could he do as a
convicted felon?

"I see you're having problems, my friend."

Robert shot around at the voice, which spoke to him. He saw a simple man,
dressed simply in black jeans and a black T-shirt. Even his shoes and socks
were black.

"Who the hell are you?" was all he could muster out.

"My, my, a bit paranoid, aren't we? Well, I guess I should introduce myself.
My name is Satan."

Well, that sure shocked the hell out of him! I mean, its not every day you
get to meet the devil himself! Not knowing how to respond, Robert simply shook
his hand and introduced himself, "Nice to meet you. Robert Smith."

"You don't believe me, do you? Here, let me demonstrate," Satan said as he
magically healed Robert's broken leg.

Now, Robert REALLY didn't know how to respond. So he asked another logical
question. "Why aren't you all dressed in red and have horns?"

Satan was appalled, but not surprised with this question. "How can you ask me
that! I started out as a spirit, just like you! Haven't you read the Pearl of
Great Price?"

"The what?"

"Nevermind."

"Look, whoever you are, you've got to get me out of here! The cops are going
to be here any second!"

"Yes, they are, but not this second. You see, I've suspended time."

Robert, shocked at this response, wanted to go check to make sure, but then he
remembered whom he was dealing with. He then asked, "So, what do I do now?"

"Well, I can help you get out of here, and send you to a place they would never
find you."

Robert, uneasy about being helped by the devil, said, "Wait a minute. There's
a real problem here about accepting help from the devil, isn't there?"

"Well, you see, God will forgive you since this is an emergency. Besides, I
already have your soul for robbing a bank."

Well, since he put it that way, then Robert had nothing to lose! "All right,
what do I have to do?"

"That's simple. Just let me do all the work! I'll ship you off, the cops will
lose track of you and then get a more important case, and then, in 48 hours,
you return, and you're home free!"

"Sounds great! Do it!"

Both Satan and Robert disappeared and the cops ran around the alley corner as
time resumed.

"Damn! They got away!"

---

Robert woke up and felt very cramped. Not only that, but he felt like he was
hanging by his shoulders! He said, to himself, "Damn, when Satan said he was
going to send me someplace, I didn't think he was literally going to bring me
to hell!"

But, for some reason, he didn't say it. He tried to speak, but couldn't emit
any sounds. <<What's going on?>>

He opened his eyes, eyes that were no longer there, and looked around. In
front of him was a black mini-dress hanging from a rack. This unnerved him, so
imagine his shock when he looked down and discovered that he, too, was a black
mini-dress hanging from a rack!

Oh, my God! What did he do to me! Okay, calm down, this is only for 48
hours. He's going to make sure that no one buys me. He'll keep his word.
Yeah, right.

---

Robert could hear the radio coming through over the speaker. As they were
playing the news, it said, "In today's news, police are investigating the
assassination of mayor Steve Goldsmith. He was shot at the families against
crime banquet yesterday evening, and died at Wishard Memorial Hospital that
night. Police as yet have no leads, as the assassins escaped after the
incident."

Robert, still having a fit of anxiety after the incident, was much more
relieved at this news. Suddenly, he thought, <<There, everything's just fine!
This time tomorrow, I'll be back to being my normal self!>>

Suddenly, a woman came into the store. Now, normally, it is not odd that a
woman would enter a woman's clothing store, but this woman was different. She
was 5'3", had long, dark brown hair, striking forest-green eyes, a 34B chest,
and pure curves.

Robert recognized her immediately. <<Cynthia! Oh, God, I'm so sorry I didn't
come home to you!>> He wanted to reach out to his wife so badly, and was
disappointed when he couldn't.

His disappointment turned to terror when Cynthia walked right over to where
Robert was hung. He tried to cry out to her. <<No! Cynthia! Don't! You
don't understand! It's me in here!>>

But his cries were to no avail. Cynthia took Robert to the dressing room and
tried him on. "Perfect fit!" She said to herself while admiring this dress
and the way it hugged her perfect figure. Even though Robert had some aversion
to being changed into a dress, he did enjoy feeling Cynthia's body inside of
him.

Cynthia then said to herself, but as if to the dress, "Yes, my dear, you will
do very nicely! And just wait till Robert sees you on me! He will adore you
to pieces!"

<<Oh, if only she knew!>>

Cynthia changed back into the dress she was wearing, took the velvet creation
and went up to pay for it. She had it boxed up, and then she took it and drove
home.

She took the box that contained Robert's velvet prison and went into the house.
She lifted the dress up, grabbed a hold of the tag, and said, "Now, you just
won't do at all! We'll just have to cut you off! We can't go out in a dress
that still has the tag on it!" She took the scissors and cut the tag off the
dress. The plastic fell to the floor very cleanly.

<<OOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!>> A surge of pain shot through Robert's "body."

Off, in the distance, Satan laughed.

---

Well, it was exactly 48 hours since Robert had been changed into a dress.
Robert waited anxiously for the time of his regenesis.

And waited...

49 hours...

50 hours...

52 hours...

54 hours...

60 hours had passed. A full 12 hours since he had been changed into a dress-an
inanimate object. <<Why?>> he screamed. <<You promised me that you'd change
me back!>>

"Well, two reasons, actually. First, I am the father of lies, so you should
know that my word means nothing. Second, when Cynthia cut off your tag, your
body became incomplete, so I couldn't restore you!"

<<Damn you! Damn you!>>

"Well, look at the bright side! At least you still get to be with Cynthia!"
Satan said as he laughed viciously.

Robert just hung in the closet and cried. Or he would have cried, if he could
have.