TRESH

	It's taken weeks for me to work up the nerve, but today I'm finally going to do it. I'm going to hypnotize my girlfriend. I've been going out with Koharu for a while now. She's been over to my house a few times, but I've never brought her into my room. My parents are both working today. It's the perfect chance to get closer to her. I've been studying and practicing hypnosis for about a year now. I always wanted to try it with Koharu, but I was too nervous to ask.
	"Hey, Takuya?" Koharu calls to me as we walk down the street together. "What is it you want to show me today?" she asks in her usual sweet and innocent voice.
	Okay, so maybe I'm still a little nervous about asking. I haven't actually told her what I want to do yet. "Oh, it's just something I've been practicing for a while," I casually reply. "I just wanted to see what you thought of it."
	She smiles her warm smile at me. "I can't wait to see it, then." Even after all this time, I can't get over how cute she is. Her long, dark brown hair tied back into a ponytail held in place by a pink ribbon. Beautiful hazel eyes that remind me of autumn. A dollish, somewhat petite body with soft, fair skin. I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to hold her hand everyday.
	We finally arrive at my home. We take off our shoes at the door and walk back to my room. Koharu takes a seat on my bed and looks eagerly at me. "So, what is it?" she cheerfully inquires. "I'm really excited to see it."
	My heart is racing. I swallow hard to keep my nerves together. "D-Do you know anything about hypnosis, Koharu?" I stutter as I ask.
	"Hypnosis?" She gives me a curious look. "I've seen it on TV once or twice, I think."
	"Oh, well... I-I've actually been practicing hypnotism for a while now, and I-I think I've gotten pretty good at it." I swallow my nerves again. "I was wondering if you'd-- if you'd let me try it on you." I have a strong urge to close my eyes and hide, but I keep them on her. She stays staring at me, looking a little surprised.
	Finally, she smiles at me again. "Okay," she beams "it sounds like fun."
	My heart leaps. I'm so happy she said yes. And super relieved she doesn't think I'm a weirdo for asking. "Great! I promise I'll do my best to make it fun for you."
	She giggles a bit. "So, what do I have to do?"
	"Oh, you don't have to do anything," I explain as I take a seat next to her on the edge of the bed. "Just follow my instructions and I'll guide you through." I look her in the eyes as she smiles at me. I'm so excited for this. "Okay. I want you to hold out your arms like this." I put both arms out in front of me, and form both hands into a fist, with my left hand turned upward and right hand turned down. Koharu does the same. "Good, just like that. Now, I want you to close your eyes." She follows along again. This is going great. "Now, I want you to use your imagination like when you were a child. I want you to imagine that in your left hand, you're holding an empty bucket by its handle, and in your right hand, you're holding on to a helium balloon. Can you see both the balloon and bucket in your mind?"
	"Mhm," Koharu confirms, still smiling.
	"Good. Now, I'm going to place a stone in the bucket. When I put a stone in the bucket, it will get heavier, pulling down on your left hand. Feel the weight of the stone as I place it in the bucket." I gently touch her left hand and her arm lowers slightly; a good sign. "Now I'm going to add more helium to the balloon. When I do, it's going to float up higher, pulling up on your right hand." I touch her right hand, and that arm rises slightly. I continue. "Each stone makes the bucket heavier and heavier, and each bit of helium makes the balloon lighter and lighter." I keep gently tapping one hand, then the other, watching as one sinks and the other rises. She's responding very well to suggestions so far. I take a look at her face. Her glowing smile has melted away. Her eyelids are quivering a bit, and there's a slight look of strain on her face, probably from the weight of the bucket. She's completely absorbed in the illusion. Everything is working perfectly!
	Her left arm is almost hanging straight down now, and her right arm is up above her head. I decide it's time to move on to the next step of the induction. "Very good," I start, in a softer voice now. "Now, on the count of three, I want you to let go of both the bucket and the balloon. Feel the wave of comfort that comes from letting go and relaxing. Three... Two... One." Her right arm slowly lowers back to her lap and she pulls her left arm back up. She lets out a relieved sigh, and her face and posture relax. She's already in a light trance, but I want to take her deeper. With one hand on her back, I reach across to my desk and grab a small keychain light. I press the button on the side, lighting up the blue LED on the end and I hold it slightly above Koharu's head and away from her face.
	"Now, Koharu," I continue speaking gently to her, "open your eyes and look at the light in my hand." She slowly opens her eyes and lifts her head to look at the blue light. Her eyes look slightly glassy. "I want you to focus on the light and just continue listening to me. Just focus entirely on the light, and breathe slowly and deeply." I watch her chest slowly rise and fall, and then I continue. "Every time you exhale, feel the same wave of relaxation that you felt when you let go of the balloon and bucket, washing over your entire body." I begin to very slowly move the light towards her face. "And as you relax more and more with each breath, the light gets closer and closer to you. And the closer the light gets, the more you relax. The closer the light gets... the more you relax. And the more relaxed you become, the more tired you feel. As your eyes begin to feel heavy and want to close."
	Her eyes begin to flutter gently as I continue slowly bringing the light towards her. "But they don't close yet," I interject. "Not until the light touches your forehead. Until then, you just focus on the light, you listen to my words, you breathe slowly and deeply, and you relax more and more. The light gets closer, your eyes get heavier, and your body feels more relaxed. So relaxed... So tired... As the light gets closer still, and your eyes get so heavy." I can see that she's now struggling to keep her eyes open and focused on the light. I begin to draw in the light to finish off the induction. "The light reaches your forehead, and you..." I gently tap the light on her forehead, "sleep." Her eyes give up their struggle and close. Her head slumps forward. She's deep in trance now. I've done it! I've really done it! She's really hypnotized!
	I try to keep my excitement in check. I decide that I should start off small to see how well she responds to post-hypnotic suggestions. "Deep asleep. Completely relaxed," I begin. "I want you to remember this feeling in your mind. For the rest of today, whenever I say the word 'sleep,' you will instantly return to this state of deep sleep. It will happen without you even realizing it, almost as if all the power suddenly flowed out of your body. Do you understand, Koharu?"
	"Yes..." he gentle voice replies to me.
	"Very good. Now, I want you to imagine that there is a very powerful glue stuck to your feet and socks." I reach down and press down on her right foot, then her left. "Your feet are now stuck to the floor with this very powerful glue. In a moment, I will wake you up, but you won't be able to move your feet from that spot because of the glue. Do you understand?"
	"Yes..."
	"Awake on the count of three. One, feeling energy returning to your body. Two, rising to wakefulness. Three, wide awake." Koharu sits up and her eyes open again. She blinks a few times. I smile at her. "How do you feel, Koharu?"
	She smiles back at me while she stretches her arms. "Pretty good," she replies. "A little weird, though. I don't really remember what happened." Perfect.
	I stand up and walk towards the door. I turn around and look back at Koharu. "Hey, can you come over here for me?" I coyly ask. Koharu stands up, moves as though she's trying to step forward, but stays put. She looks confused. She looks down at her feet and again tries to move forward. Still nothing. "Is something wrong?" I smile.
	Koharu struggles again to lift her foot. "My feet are stuck on something," she complains, puzzled.
	I walk closer to her and take a look around her feet. "There's nothing there."
	"I can't move them." She continues to wiggle around, trying to get them to budge at all. "They're really stuck!"
	I chuckle a bit. "Here, sit down," I suggest as I lower her back onto the bed. "Maybe you can pry them off the floor with a bit more leverage."
	She seems to catch on now as she smiles at me. "Did you do something?" She pulls with all her might on her right ankle, trying to dislodge it. Still no movement.
	I laugh again. "I may have." I think I've had enough fun with this suggestion now. I sit down next to her on the bed again. "Sleep." She goes limp, her body still slumped forward from trying to pull her feet off the floor. "Your feet are no longer stuck to the floor. This time, when you wake up, you will find that you can't remember the number 3. The number 3 will have completely disappeared from your mind. The number 3 no longer exists for you. Do you understand?"
	"Yes..."
	"Wide awake on three. One... Two... Three." She rises again, and throws her ponytail back over her shoulder. "So, how many fingers do you have?"
	She gives me an odd look. "Ten?"
	"Are you sure? Lets count them. Hold out your hands." She does so. "Count your fingers out loud as I touch them."
	I touch the tips of her fingers one-by-one. She dutifully counts them out. "One. Two. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven." She looks really confused.
	"I thought you said you had ten," I joke.
	"I do!" She fires back. She looks curiously at her hands, turning them around to see if she'd somehow grown an extra finger. "I don't get it. Everything's normal."
	"Here, we'll figure this out. Hold out your left hand." She does. "Now count out the fingers."
	"One. Two. Four. Five. Six." She looks even more confused now.
	"Six fingers on that hand? What about the right hand?" She holds it out. "Count them out."
	"One. Two. Four. Five. Six."
	"Six on both hands? How many is that?"
	"...Twelve." She replies, befuddled. She again starts to turn her hands around to check for more fingers.
	"So, how many do you have? Ten, eleven, or twelve?" I can't help but let out a laugh again.
	"You're doing this!" She smiles and gives me a playful shove. This is going great.
	"No, you are," I laugh. "Sleep." She goes limp again. She falls to the side, leaning against me. My heart races. She's so cute, and to have her this close to me, and like this, it's almost too much to take. I decide I want to try something more advanced. I put one arm behind her back, and one under her legs. I gently turn her around and lie her flat on my bed. I need to take her a little deeper. "Deeply asleep. Deeply relaxed. I want you to imagine now that you are floating on a beautiful, white, puffy cloud, high above the earth. The crystal blue sky above you, a gentle breeze blowing across your body. As you float on this perfect, comfortable cloud, it begins to slowly descend to the ground. As I slowly count down, that perfectly comfortable cloud will drift downwards, taking you down with it. Taking you deeper asleep. Making you more relaxed, more open."
	She looks so beautiful like this. Dressed in her school uniform and kneehigh white socks. So deeply relaxed and open to suggestion. Her lips are parted slightly. I could kiss her... In her trance, there's a chance she wouldn't even notice... Maybe she wouldn't mind even if she did notice. She likes me, right? I lean down closer to her. I want to do it so badly. But no, I can't take advantage of her like this. Besides, I promised I would make this fun for her. I pull myself together and continue deepening her trance.
	"Ten... The cloud starts to slowly descend. Nine... As it sinks, you start to feel even more comfortable. Eight... Further down. Seven... Sinking below the other clouds now. Six... You can see the other clouds above you now. Five... Feeling so peaceful and calm. Four... Approaching the ground now. Three... Further and deeper down. Two... Almost to the ground. One... The cloud places you down in the middle of the most beautiful, soothing meadow you've ever seen. Just lying in the middle of the beautiful flowers, feeling the wonderful breeze blow over you, and watching the clouds float by. You feel so wonderful."
	She smiles blissfully in her trance. I'm so happy that I was able to give her this feeling. But we're not done having fun yet. I prepare to give her some more complicated suggestions. "From now on, whenever I say 'sleep,' you'll be able to instantly return to this deepened state of sleep, and even deeper. Every time you return to trance, you'll drop even deeper than before. Do you understand?"
	"Yes..." She answers with a smile.
	"Very good. I'm going to give you a word to remember in the back of your mind. That word is 'freeze.' Whenever I say the word 'freeze' all time for you will stop, and you will be frozen in whatever position you are in. You will be completely unaware of anything that goes on while you are frozen. You won't see anything, you won't hear anything, and you won't feel anything, until I say 'unfreeze.' When I say the word 'unfreeze' time will resume as normal and you'll be able to move freely again. You won't remember anything that happened while you were frozen. Do you understand?"
	"Yes..."
	"Waking up slowly this time, as I count down from five. Five... The beautiful meadow beginning to fade away. Four... Starting to feel your real body returning. Three... Energy slowly returning to your body. Two... Becoming more aware of your surroundings. One... Wake up, Koharu."
	Her eyes slowly flutter open. She smiles again and stretches. "Did I fall asleep?" she asks me cutely. She sits up on the edge of the bed.
	"You took a nice little nap," I reassure. Koharu reaches up and brushes her bangs back. I take the opportunity to test her new trigger. "Freeze." Koharu stops moving entirely, her hand still against the side of her head. I wave a hand in front of her face. No reaction. She doesn't even blink. It's amazing how receptive she is. I get up from the bed and retrieve an eraser from my desk. I walk over and put it into Koharu's left hand, which is resting on her lap. I close her hand around the eraser, and sit back down. "Unfreeze."
	Koharu begins moving again as if nothing happened. After getting her bangs where she wants them, she stops and looks down. She opens her left hand and finds the eraser. "Where did this come from?" she laughs.
	"I have no idea. Are you sure you didn't have it in you hand the whole time?"
	She laughs at me. "How are you doing this?"
	"Magic. Wanna see if I can teleport you?" She laughs again, obviously not taking me seriously. "Stand up," I say, getting up off the bed. She stands. "Freeze." She locks in place again, still smiling at me. I put my arms around her and lift up. Lucky for me, she's light enough to carry on my own. I slowly bring her over to the door and place her back down, facing the bed. I take a seat on the edge of the bed and face her. "Unfreeze."
	She blinks as her consciousness returns. She looks around in shock. "Did I actually teleport?"
	"I told you it was magic. Come sit back down." She walks back to me, but before she reaches the bed, I interrupt her. "Freeze." She once again becomes a human statue. I pick her up again and move her back to the door before sitting back down on the bed. "Unfreeze."
	She quickly moves as if she had never stopped walking, but stops abruptly. She looks around again as if to confirm that she is where she thinks she is. "I am stuck in a loop now?"
	I'm enjoying her confusion too much, but I want to move on. "Alright, come sit back down." She gives me a somewhat incredulous look. "I promise no more teleporting." She walks back to the bed and sits next to me. I quickly put my hand against her forehead. "Sleep." All tension leaves her body as she goes completely limp. I lower her back onto the bed, leaving her feet on the floor. "Back in a deep sleep. Back in that beautiful meadow. I'm going to give you another word to remember in your subconscious. The word is 'homework.' When you hear me say that word, 'homework,' you will remove one of your socks and hand it to me. You won't realize that you're doing it, and you won't notice that your sock is missing unless I point it out to you. Do you understand?"
	"...Yes..."
	"Remember, when you hear the word 'homework' you will take off a sock and give it to me without realizing it. You will have no awareness of doing it or of your missing sock. The word 'freeze' will continue to freeze you as well. Waking up now on three. One... Two... Three. Wake up."
	Her eyes open again. She smiles at me. "I fell asleep again, didn't I?" I help her sit up.
	"Just for a little while. So, how are you feeling? I'm not boring you am I?"
	"Mmm... I'm not really sure what's been going on. It's kinda like waking up from a dream and only remembering pieces of it. But I feel really good somehow. Am I really hypnotized?"
	"You're a wonderful subject," I assure her with a smile. "I don't want to mess with your head too much, though. I'm sure you'll need it to do your homework."
	Upon hearing the magic word, she bends down, hooks her thumbs into the top of her right sock, and gently slides it off her foot. "Thanks," she giggles back at me, oblivious to what she just did. She hands the discarded footwear to me and I sneakily hide it behind me. "You haven't made me do anything embarrassing that I don't remember, have you?"
	"Nah, nothing too embarrassing. Though you did give me one of your socks for some reason."
	She laughs cutely. "No way!"
	"Yep, it's right here." I pull the white kneehigh out and hold it up for her.
	She looks down in disbelief to see her bare toes wiggling against the floor. She covers her mouth as she laughs again. "When did I do that?"
	"Just now," I say, handing the sock back to her. "You just took it off and handed it to me. You seemed really happy about it."
	"Oh my gosh," she blushes as she puts the sock back on. "That's so weird. I don't remember doing that."
	I let her get her sock back on. "Well, it's probably no big deal. You're probably just a little out of it from all the hypnosis. Maybe just take a few minutes to make sure you're fully awake before you start your homework tonight."
	At my utterance of the magic word, she again bends down and removes the same sock she had just put back on. "Thanks for the tip," she chuckles, handing the sock to me again.
	I decide to surprise her early. "What did you just hand me, Koharu?"
	Her facial expression changes to one of confusion as she suddenly notices that she's placed a sock in my hand. She again covers her mouth and blushes. "Oh my gosh, I did it again!"
	"You must really want me to have that sock," I tease. She takes the sock back and begins to put it back on. As she gets about halfway done, I interrupt her. "Freeze." She stops, frozen in the act of pulling her sock up. I bend over, raise her left foot, and gently remove her sock from that foot, placing it on the bed next to me. "Unfreeze." She snaps back to reality, finishing putting her sock on... only to notice that her other one has mysteriously disappeared in the process. She looks around at the floor for a couple seconds, then at me. I just smile back at her and point to the sock sitting beside me.
	"Your mean!" she exclaims at me. She's still smiling and blushing, so I know she doesn't mean it as an insult.
	She grabs the sock, leans down and prepares to slide her foot inside, but I again surprise her. "Freeze." She stops. I bend down and take the sock from her hands. Then I quickly remove her other sock as well. Not satisfied to just leave her barefoot, I take the socks and gingerly put them on her hands instead. "Unfreeze." She comes to. She immediately looks at her socked hands and bursts into the loudest laughter I've ever heard out of her.
	"This isn't what I was trying to do," she laughs, holding up her hands for me to see. I laugh back at her. I don't know if we've ever had this much fun together. I let her remove her sock-gloves and put them back on her feet.
	As much fun as this has been, I decide it's time to wrap things up. I know her parents will want her home before dinner. I tap her on the forehead "Sleep." She falls back onto the bed, deeply asleep. "This time, when I wake you up, you'll be able to remember everything that happened today while you were hypnotized, and the words 'freeze' and 'homework' will no longer have any effect on you. You'll awaken refreshed and energetic. Do you understand."
	She smiles in her sleep again. "Yes..."
	"Waking up slowly. Five... Feeling the memories of today returning to you. Four... Becoming more aware of the room. Three... Feeling energy returning to your body. Two... Conscious thoughts returning. One. Awake and refreshed." She opens her beautiful eyes once more and sits up.
	"How do you feel?"
	"I feel great," she proclaims. "That was so much fun. I can't believe I did all those things without realizing it."
	"Do you remember everything?"
	"Mmm... most things, I think. Some of it is still a little fuzzy. But it was all really fun, and it felt wonderful."
	"I'm glad you liked it." Never in my wildest dreams did I dare hope things would go this well. She really loved it! This is the best day of my life!
	"Could we do it again sometime?"
	I think my heart just stopped. Did she really ask that? She really wants to do it again? "O-Of course! Anytime you want!"
	She wraps her arms around me and kisses me on the cheek. I can feel myself blushing profusely. "Thanks, Takuya. I love you."
	I hold her close. "I love you too, Koharu." I must be the luckiest guy in the world. I have a sweet, cute girlfriend who loves me. Soon, I'll hold her hand and walk her home; the end of this perfect day. But more than ever, I'm excited for the days to come. Hypnotizing Koharu brought me closer to her than I've ever felt before. I hope that the next time will be even better. And I hope that there will be a lot of next times.