Just Another Day at Work

Adapted from an original idea by Pablo

***

There was an ear piercing scream as the woman ran through the snow, her legs pumping hard as the giant creature reached down. With one might grab of it's gigantic claws, it took her in its scaly hand and lifted her clean off the ground. Fighting with all her might, the woman attacked the hand that held her, but alas, to no avail.

Venomous green eyes looked at her. The large jaws parted and opened wide, revealing a wet and gaping maw. With a loud scream the helpless woman bit and punched at the hand that held her. But it was too late. With a horrible tilt, the hand shifted and the claws loosed their grip. The woman fell towards the gaping maw.and the cable snapped tight, jerking her to a halt.

"And cut! Great work Julia, great work! Okay, somebody get her down and we'll set up for take two!" Sighing, Julia wiped the hair from her eyes and looked at the director as he came by. "Do you really think it looked good Mr. Murphy? I'm pretty sure I can do a better scream."

"Julia, your screams are great! There's no need for you to fix those! None at all! Though if you really want something to try and work on, might I suggest working on that bite? It looked fierce, but not quite fierce enough for someone who's about to get eaten?"

"Well, I don't want to damage the hand you know. I'm sure it cost the studio a bundle."

"Ah don't worry about it. Nothing a little duct tape can't fix."

Julia sighed as she was slid back into place for the second take. "Boy, days around here never get dull do they?" She thought. "Then again, it's just another day at work."

***

Late afternoon found Mrs. Julia Green in her trailer eating a quick bite of ham sandwich while her makeup artist put more finishing touches on her hair. "Tell me Jill, do you think I've been doing a good job with the screaming?"

"Oh yes Mrs. Green. You need not worry about your ability to scream. Hold still for a second." Taking a comb, she went through Julia's hair. "My goodness your hair gets tangled up easily. You ever thinking of cutting it?"

"And waste years of work? Of course not!" There was a knock at the door. "Yes, come in."

The door opened and a young looking man came in. "Mrs. Green?"

"Ah, hello John. You need something?"

"Well, I just wanted to come by and say that you did a mighty fine job with the scene today. I thought it was marvelous."

Julia gave him a naughty smile. "Now now John, you know it's a closed set. Only vital personal are supposed to be on the lots."

"Well... aren't janitor's vital employees, critical to the success and tidiness of movie sets?" Julia laughed.

"Yes you are, but you have to promise me that you won't come onto the sets anymore unless I give you permission, okay?" John gave a solemn look and nodded his head. "There there, I'm sure we can get you sometimes for a visit."

"Wow, you think so?"

"Of course. Now, I'm sure you have duties to attend to, correct?"

"Yeah. I guess I'll see you later Mrs. Green. Bye."

"Bye John." As the door closed, Julia turned to her makeup artist. "Ahh, fans. You can't live with them, you can't live without them." There was another knock on the door. "Now what? John, I'm busy right now." The door opened. "Oh, hello Mr. Murphy! I thought you were someone else."

"That's all right Julia. Well, we've got a script re-write."

"Again? What is it this time? Do I fall in love with the dragon?"

"No, no, this is earlier on in the dream sequence. We've changed it from a car chase to one of those old fashioned railroad peril scenes."

"Really?" Julia leaned closer. "Do tell."

"Well, it goes like this. You've been kidnapped by a bunch of thugs who are going to rob the bank take you hostage and decide to tie you to the railroad tracks."

Julia smirked. "Well now, that doesn't seem very original."

"Ah, but it gets better. You see, these are Egyptian thugs. Because of that, instead of tying you up to the railroad tracks, they wrap you head to toe like a mummy, then tie you down with ropes."

That got Julia's attention. "Really?"

"Do you like it? If you don't we can try to accommodate something else."

"Are you kidding? That's a great idea! It's one of the most original things I've read and heard of in a long time! Of course I'll do it!"

The director smiled. "That's great! Come on, I'll show you the scene and we can get you into makeup. You don't mind shooting it now do you?"

"Nah. I have nothing else going on."

***

The set was a literal madhouse of activity as the new railroad set was put together. "Authentic railroad track and wood." Mr. Murphy said. "You know how we go for realism."

"Yeah, yeah. I just hope you didn't bring the actual train."

"No, that's going to be a CGI effect. Ah, here's the costume." A stagehand walked up with what looked like a very weathered and very tattered bag made of rags.

"What is that?" Julia asked.

"That is your mummy costume." Mr. Murphy said. "It's one that was used in an old mummy movie and it happens to be your size, so we'll be using this. You aren't, well... concerned about anything are you?"

Secretly, Julia was repulsed. This wasn't what a mummy was supposed to look like! A mummy was supposed to be a thing of beauty, something smooth and soft, yet firm and tight. A mummy was not supposed to be ratty, torn and frayed. But what was she going to do? Cancel the shot just because she didn't feel good enough being in the suit? Best to swallow her personal pride and preferences and just go with it.

"No, what makes you say that? Let's do it!"

It only took a few minutes for her to slip into the costume, which was little more then a body shaped sack covered in tattered rags. Julia's arms were pinned at her side, making it impossible for her to move on her own. As a result, it took a few stagehands to move her over to the railroad tracks, where she was subsequently tied down with several strands of rope.

As the cameras were set up, Julia considered the shot. She didn't feel elegant or beautiful wearing this costume. She felt ugly, tattered and worn. This was not what a mummy should be like!

They did one take of the shot, a simple one where all Julia had to do was struggle against her wrappings and the rope that tied her to the tracks. She did it with ease, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the stagehands had tied her down very tightly. But when the take was over and she was shown the result on a screen, she wasn't very happy.

"I'm sorry Mr. Murphy." Julia said. "But I think the scene could be a lot, lot better."

"Really? How so?"

"Well for one thing, have a more professional mummy. I look like I've been buried in a tomb for several thousand years. Wouldn't the wrappings and bandages be smooth, white and thick considering I've just been wrapped up?"

The director stroked his beard. "You know Julia, you're right. Why don't we try something else?"

"How about making a more proper mummy? I've got some material on how to wrap one that the makeup artists can read."

"That's great. If we want to shoot again this evening, we'd better start doing the makeup right now." As Julia and Mr. Murphy started towards the makeup trailer, the director turned to his leading lady. "Just out of curiosity, how come you seem to know so much about wrapping mummies?"

Julia gave a sly smug and put her hands up. "Oh, I just find these things out you know?"

***

The makeup artists were delighted at the opportunity to do something unique and different, but were a bit startled at the amazingly short time span in which to do the makeup on Mrs. Green. Nevertheless, they leapt right into it.

It took them about twenty minutes to look up the procedures and acquire the necessary materials, but at long last they were ready for the makeup opportunity of a lifetime: Mummify a famous actress from shoulder to toe in tight wrappings!

Needless to say, when Julia came in, dressed in a skin suit (to make it easier for the wrappings to go on), everyone was ready to go as soon as possible. Julia lay down in the makeup chair while the artists got to work wrapping her up in tight white bandages. Someone correctly pointed out that back during the western era, thugs would not have access to such nice wrappings.

"Oh pipe down." Julia said. "It'll look nicer on screen."

"But we need to be historically accurate! We need to."

"Come on Phillip. It'll look good. Trust me."

Shrugging his shoulders, the historical consultant left the trailer, leaving Julia and her makeup artists to continue the mummification process.

It was not unlike getting a spa, lying on a soft surface while people attended to you and made sure you were comfortable. The only real difference is that while the artists worked at wrapping Julia's legs and lower body up, Julia was going through the latest version of the script.

"Mr. Murphy." Julia said into her walkie talkie.

"Yes Mrs. Green?"

"I've been going over the script and I think it could use a little rewrite."

"How much Julia? You know we can't make a major change this late in the shooting process. The studio doesn't like that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't worry, it's nothing big. Here's the idea: Those Chinese thugs kidnap me like we've decided, except they decide to sacrifice me to their dragon god that we've been shooting recently. So they take me through the desert and across the county with Harrison following me. Then, just as they find the dragon and are about to feed me to it, Harrison shows up and saves me at the last minute. Whadya think?"

There was a short pause on the other end. "You know.that just might be crazy enough to work! That would make this one of the most unique westerns in Hollywood history! I'll get the script writer to work on it right away! Say, if you're going to be wrapped up for the rest of the picture, then what are we going to do about the makeup?"

"Don't worry Mr. Murphy. I've already gotten it all figured out. I get wrapped up really heavy duty, and we shoot all the mummy scenes back to back. As time goes on, the wrappings get gungy and faded, just like real life."

"It's brilliant Julia! You're great! Okay, just see if you can get finished in time for one more shoot this evening."

"Will do. Talk to you later." Putting down the walkie talkie, the actress discussed some more details of her wrapping with the artists, who were surprised at doing some heavy duty wrapping to the film's leading lady.

"Are you sure Mrs. Green?" One of them asked. "What you're asking is something we've never really tried before. You're asking us to wrap you up tight enough that you can't move, and you plan to stay that way for three days! Don't you think that's a little extreme?"

"Nah, it'll be a nice challenge! And think of the publicity the studio will get when they release the information on what one of their most famous actresses went through for the sake of the picture. Now, let's get wrapping!"

The two artists didn't look too convinced, but then again, they too looked excited by the idea, as if some of Julia's enthusiasm had been transferred to them. So without any further ado, they pulled out an additional box of super tight bandages and continued wrapping Julia.

***

For over an hour, the actress was slowly, bit by bit, encased into a very tight cocoon of the super tight bandages. With each wrap and each additional layer placed upon her, movement became more and more difficult until after four layers she found it almost impossible to move at all, let alone wiggle.

And despite the restriction and the tightness, Julia was loving every minute of it. The chance to fulfill one of her deepest fantasies was finally coming true. And with no one really aware of her deep interest in this fetish, no one would be the wiser. It was a win-win opportunity.

As her arms were gently placed next to her sides and wrapped into place, she smiled. This was working out wonderfully.

What could possibly go wrong?

***

"Julia, I'm afraid we have to stop shooting for the day. Everyone's tired and wants to go home. You haven't gotten too far into the makeup have you?"

Julia couldn't answer, so one of the makeup artists did. "This is Sebastian sir. We just finished the wrapping on Mrs. Green. She's... ah... completely wrapped up sir."

There was a pause on the director's end. "Really?"

"Really sir. She's not moving at all."

"Oh... well, that took about, what... three hours?"

"Four hours sir."

"Oh. Well, uh... how long would it take you to get her out and then back in tomorrow morning?"

"It would be more efficient sir to leave her wrapped up like this overnight. It would save everyone a lot of time later on."

A very long pause. "What does Julia think of that?" The makeup artist moved the walkie talkie over to Julia's face, which was, like her head, still unwrapped.

"I'm fine with it Mr. Murphy. I can last the night easily. Besides, Sebastian's right. It would be much easier on all of us if we did this."

"I don't know. I don't want you to panic or anything like that when it won't be easy to get you out quickly."

"You don't have to worry about me. Remember that time I spent six hours in a harness that one day several years ago? This will be a lot easier and a lot more comfortable."

"Well... okay, but I want at least one person with you during the night."

"I'll do that sir."

"Good man Sebastian. Okay, I guess it's settled then. Boy, this business gets stranger all the time." The walkie talkie went dead as the director signed off.

Julia decided to remain in her makeup chair for the night. Sebastian would sleep on the couch with some safety scissors in case he needed to cut Julia out quickly. Lying down, the makeup artist went to sleep quickly, tired from a hard days work. But then again, it was never easy working on a movie.

Julia remained awake for a few more minutes. She wiggled and squirmed in her wrappings, trying to find the most comfortable position in which to sleep in. Granted, her options were limited, but at least she could try to find a nice spot.

She finally settled on a position slightly to her left side. No blankets were needed as Julia was kept warm by her wrappings. Though they were tight, they were also soft against her skin at the same time.

The fatigue of the day finally caught up with her. As her eyelids grew heavy and the nice darkness closed in, Julia managed one last look at her form. Mummified from her toes to her shoulders, encased in five layers. Soft, tight, firm and warm, all those bandages cris-crossing around her body made her aroused. It didn't help that her breasts were bulging slightly from under their wrappings. She wondered for a moment what Sebastian and the other artist had been thinking when they wrapped her breasts up.

"When this gets on the DVD," she thought. "Folks are going to have a field day."

***

Julia was sleeping peacefully in her chair when the knock came at her door. Startled awake, she instinctively tried to get up. Or at least, she tried to get up, forgetting that she was completely wrapped up as a mummy for the movie.

"Who is it?" She called out, yawning.

"You awake Julia?" She recognized the voice immediately.

"Come in Mr. Murphy!" The door opened and Mr. Murphy walked in. His eyes boggled at the sight of seeing his leading actress wrapped up in bandages and lying in the makeup chair, so helpless and vulnerable. Sebastian was still asleep on the couch.

"So, uh... did you get to sleep at all Julia?"

"Oh yes. Once you get used to the wrappings, one drifts off to sleep very easy." Julia wiggled under the bandages. "Besides, the warmth, the tightness, and the softness of the bandages made it easy." The director looked a bit baffled, but went along.

"Well, I don't think I could do it for sure. Now, you ready to start shooting? Everything's set up and all we need is our leading lady."

"Oh yes, I'm ready. However, I don't think I'll be able to walk on set." She glanced down at her helplessly wrapped form.

"Don't worry, that's taken care of." Three crewmembers walked into the trailer, went up to the chair, reached down and carefully picked Julia up. "Careful guys." Mr. Murphy said. "Don't drop her."

Holding the door open, Mr. Murphy watched as the crewmen carried Julia out of her trailer and down to the golf cart that the four had driven up in. They placed her in the backseat and put on the seatbelts to make sure she wouldn't fall off. Getting down to the cart, Mr. Murphy turned it on and zipped off through the lot towards the soundstage.

From her position in the back of the cart, Julia watched the soundstages that were zipping past her. Though it was still quite early in the day, people were already hard at work on the various movies being filmed. Quite a few stopped and glanced at the cart that zipped by, uncertain if they had really seen a mummified woman in the back.

Julia grinned. Getting this kind of special treatment was always a treat.

Soon enough Julia found herself being carried off the golf cart and into the sound stage where the movie was being shot. Being helpless and unable to move, she had to rely on the crewmembers to carry her to the shot, but she found that she didn't mind. In fact, it felt quite nice being carried around like a prop.

The cameras were all set and ready to film. The railroad tracks were in place in front of the blue screen and the actors playing the thugs were in costume and ready to go. "Okay Julia," Mr. Murphy said as the camera was warmed up. "What's going to happen is the thugs are going to carry you towards the rail tracks. I want you to struggle and shout, but in a way that shows you're angry with them, rather then frightened."

"Okay, I'll give it a shot."

"Okay then. Are we all ready? Then... action!"

The three actors picked up her wrapped form and quickly walked over to the railroad tracks. Julia was already struggling under their grip on her, squirming and trying to wiggle her way out of their grasp. "Let me go you pig apes!" She shouted. "You're all a bunch of uncultured pig apes you hear me?!"

The thugs ignored her as they lay her wrapped form down on the railroad tracks, where they proceeded to tie her down with several pieces of rope. "Hey, stop that!" Julia shouted. "That's tight! Stop doing that!"

But they finished and Julia found herself securely tied down. She squirmed and wiggled under the ropes for several seconds before Mr. Murphy called cut. Giving a sigh, she relaxed. "How was that Mr. Murphy?"

"Excellent Julia! I don't think we'll need a second take for that one! I want to get a close-up shot of your face as you struggle, then as you see the train barreling towards you." With that the crew quickly moved the camera and got it in place. One of the thug actors came up.

"I hope we didn't tie those ropes too tightly Mrs. Green."

"Oh no, you didn't. They're just right. Have you been practicing your knots?" The actor blushed.

"Well, yeah. Thanks."

The filming continued for a few more hours, picking up all the shots the film needed for the opening dream sequence. Between takes Mrs. Green remained tied to the tracks, since it was too much of a hassle to untie her, then tie her back. It was much simpler and easier to leave her tied up between takes.

When the dream shots were finished Mr. Murphy considered what shots to do next. "Well, we could re-shoot the dragon, considering how you're now wrapped up at that stage of the movie."

"Nah. The bandages have to be a bit grungy and used." Julia said from the chair she had been propped up in. "These are still pretty fresh and new."

"Okay then. How about.hmm... how about the jungle sequence? The one where you get separated and rescued at the last second by Harrison just before being eaten by a giant snake?"

"Not for a little while. I don't feel like doing animals just yet."

"Very well. How about." The director's cell phone rang. "Hello? What? Oh no... you've got to be kidding me. Well, okay... thanks." He hung up.

"What was that?" Julia asked.

"You know the lady who almost got your part?"

"Jessica?"

"Yeah, that one. She's launching a lawsuit, saying that we discriminated against her and chose you instead."

"Uh oh. How's that going to affect shooting?"

"Don't worry about it. With our team of lawyers, this shouldn't take too long. Now, let's figure out what we want to do next."

***

The rest of the day's shooting went on fairly quickly. It was the first time Julia had spent the entire day completely unable to do anything by herself, waited upon hand and foot by others for even the most basic things such as combing her hair. And as she had found lately, she was loving every moment of it.

When the end of the day came about, Mr. Murphy asked her if she really wanted to stay in her wrappings for the rest of the night. "Yes Mr. Murphy, I assure you that I am perfectly capable of remaining wrapped up for another night and being able to sleep through it. Honestly, do you think I can't take it?"

"Well, I'm... I'm worried about you really. Like what if something happened and you needed to get out quickly?"

"Well, that's why Sebastian is staying with me. Really now Mr. Murphy, what's going to happen? I'll be fine. You can count on that. Somebody isn't going to come in and steal my place."

With that, Mr. Murphy sighed and nodded. "Okay then. I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning. Sleep well." Two crewmembers came up. "Ah, I guess these two will take you back to your trailer."

The two crewmembers took Mrs. Green's form and hoisted her up in the air. "All right Mrs. Green, you ready for a good night's sleep?"

"Am I ever! I've barely moved all day, yet I feel exhausted."

"Well then, let's take you back." The two carried her outside to the waiting golf cart, where they put her in the back seat and buckled her in. The lights were still on throughout the studio, but it was clearly nighttime as the cart zipped between the huge soundstages towards Julia's trailer.

When they reached it, Julia couldn't help but notice that the lights around and inside the trailer were off. "Oh well, probably just forgot to turn them on earlier." she thought. The cart stopped, the motor was turned off, and the mummified actress was unbuckled and carried towards her on-stage home.

The two carried her up the steps, opened the door, walked in and set her down on the makeup chair. "Okay guys, I'll be fine from here. By the way, where's Sebastian?"

There was a click as one of the two locked the door. "Oh, he couldn't make it." Then the lights came on and Julia saw who the two were.

"Are you two new? I don't recall seeing you before."

"You've forgotten me?" One of the ladies asked. "How sad."

With a chill, Julia realized who it was. "Jessica!"

"Ah, you do remember me." Julia suddenly realized that wrapped up as she was, she was completely helpless and at the woman's mercy. The thought made her sweat profusely under her wrappings.

"What... what do you want?" Julia asked, doing her best to keep her voice composed.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you." She said. "I have something else planned, something far more satisfying. You're just going to be the reference."

Jessica and her accomplice picked Julia up and moved her over the couch, where they lay her down. "And just to make sure you don't get anyone's attention by yelling," with a quick move, a piece of duct tape went over Julia's mouth and was pressed down tightly. Then a second piece was applied (judging by Jessica's look, it was just for fun). "You know Julia, you look very attractive all wrapped up like that. Scully?"

"Yes?"

"Wrap me up just like her. I want us to look exactly identical."

Her accomplice smiled. "As you wish."

From her position on the couch, Julia couldn't tell exactly what was going on, but Scully was wrapping Jessica up in the same way that she was. But for what purpose? What was going to happen?

She didn't know, but what she did know is that she had to escape and get help. But the question was how. Being completely wrapped up with her arms and legs wrapped and immobilized didn't make things any easier. Even though she knew it was useless, Julia tried to squirm her way out of the wrappings. But the make up artists had done their jobs far too well.

From the makeup chair, Jessica noticed Julia's struggles. "Don't worry Julia, I hold nothing against you. You won't be harmed. Simply put out of the way until my plans are finished. Scully, how much longer is this going to take?"

"A few hours, give or take."

"You got those easily disintegrating bandages?"

"Right here."

"Good. Keep going. Are Sam and Joe here yet?"

"Hang on, they should be. Let me take a look." Scully went over to the trailer door and peeked outside. "Ah, there they are." Taking out a tiny flashlight, she shined them four times. The door was opened and two large men came inside.

"Hello you two." Jessica said from her chair. "I assume you know what to do with the woman, correct?"

"Yeah boss. We know what to do." The two turned over to Julia, who still lay helpless on the couch. Her eyes went wide with fright as the two approached her. "Don't worry Mrs. Green." One of them said as they picked up her shoulders, "We're just going to put you somewhere nice and safe until this is all over with."

"Yeah." The other one said as he picked up her feet. "We're not gonna harm you." With that, the two carried her over to the door. Julia struggled under their grip, just like she had earlier with the shoot. But as she knew full well, this was no movie set. This was for real.

"Hold on a second." Jessica said. "Bring her over here." The thugs did so. "Scully, wrap her head up."

Julia struggled and frantically shook her head.

"Just make sure she can still breathe." Nodding, Scully walked over to the wrapped actress with a roll of bandages in her hand.

"Sorry about this." She said. "Nothing personal." Taking the roll, she quickly began to wind it around Julia's face. Julia struggled and tried to yank her head away, but the thug near her head held her fast and kept her still as the bandages were wound around her mouth, nose, and finally, her eyes.

When one layer over her face was complete, Scully did another one, just to be sure. When that one was finished, Julia's face had become a featureless mask of white bandages, her skin buried under the wrappings. Only her hair, sticking out from the back of her wrapped head, showed that there was a real person under there.

"Okay boys, take her away." Jessica said. The two thugs nodded and went out the door. The mummified Julia squirmed and struggled all the way, writhing in the grip of her kidnappers.

The thugs found themselves in the enviable position of carrying a mummified woman who had a very attractive form, even when completely wrapped up. "You sure we can't."

"No."

"Dangit."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

Walking over to their pickup truck, the two thugs opened the back and pulled out the large animal carrier in the back. Opening the hatch, they took Mrs. Green and shoved her in feet first. She struggled and whimpered all the way, but they worked on, unfazed by her struggles.

When she was completely in the carrier, they shut the grate door and locked it. Securing the carrier in place with straps, the thugs turned on the truck and dove down the road towards the prop area.

Upon reaching their destination, they stopped the car, took out the carrier and somehow managed to fit it inside a very large box. On its side were the words:

Film: Cutthroat paradise

Production Company: CNBNCBS productions

Ship to: Caribbean production facility

 

25.09.06