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A story only using such words as do not contain that fifth unit of your ABC’s; only A through D and F through Z show up within.

It was a bright, sunny day in downtown Olympia, Washington.  Brilliant sunlight forms dark shadows, though.  Vaughn Brown, a coil of cord in his hands, slunk amongst murky, forbidding shadows cast by tall buildings, awaiting his opportunity, as cool and calm as a hunting lion.

“Wow, but it’s hot, don’t you think, boss?” Tim Sinclair said, wiping his brow.

“It’s August, what do you think, that it’s going to snow?” Vaughn shot back.  “You want a blizzard, wait for January.”

“What’s our plan for today, boss?”

“Why do you ask such an obvious thing?  I’m looking for a woman to bind and gag, just as I always try to do.  Don’t you know that by now?  Stop asking silly stuff and start acting as a good minion should.”

“Sorry, boss.  That’s just what villains, do, I got you.  I’m just plain bad, and you too.  But, boss, how do you think you got that way?”

“What am I, a psychiatrist?  Now cut that out, will you?  I can’t look for a mark if you won’t quit your annoying talking.”

“Sorry, boss,” Tim said again.  “I won’t do it again.  It’s just that I don’t think anybody’s born a villain, right?  You start off good as a baby, but you turn bad.  So, why did you?  What’s your story?”

“Okay, if you must know, I got going young.  I think it was back in Two-Thousand and Two.  My mom and dad got this au pair girl…”

“A what girl, boss?”

“A nanny, sort of.  Anita, a young chick majoring in… sociology, I think it was, who got cash for schooling by living with us and babysitting yours truly.  My folks had a night out, and I was watching Howling Horror, you know, that old show with pools of blood and mounds of guts, but Anita put a stop to my fun.  ‘That’s not for kids,’ Anita said, prim as Mary Poppins.  ‘I’ll find programming that’s right for you.  You can watch Captain Kangaroo.’  Right away I put Howling Horror back on and Anita took our control gizmo out of my hands, saying, ‘You bad boy!  If you insist on acting this way, I’ll turn it off.’”

“What a bossy girl!” said Tim.

“You know it.  Anyhow, I thought of a solution.  My mom and dad had a bunch of cords lying in a cupboard; I don’t know what for…”

“Kinky stuff, you think?”

“Possibly.  As I took that cord, Anita sat down in a chair, got a schoolbook and didn’t pay much mind to anything but studying.  I snuck up, not making a sound and quick as lightning, got a coil around Anita’s torso and arms.  I didn’t stop with that!  I put cords around both thighs and a cloth gag right in that witch’s mouth.  Ha!  Anita was wiggling and squirming, and trying to shout, but it was no good.  I put my show back on, naturally.  It was fun, but not as much fun as watching Anita grow so furious!

“I thought that binding and gagging was such a good solution to my difficulty that I did it again, but to my bullying gym coach at school.  My principal didn’t know what to do about my antics!  Soon I was tying up anybody who got in my way.  I still do, although I also do it just for fun, which is my plan today.  So, that’s my story, such as it is.  What’s yours, Tim?”

“No story, boss,” Tim said sadly.

“Knock it off, Tim.  I told my story and now you must too.  How’d you turn this way?”

“I was just born bad, boss.”

“Now hold on!” Vaughn was quick to shout.   “What’s with this contradiction?  You just said nobody was born bad!”

“I know what I said, but, I’m an oddball.  Doing bad things is who I am.”

Vaughn bit his lip to stop from saying a flurry of unkind words that sprang to mind.  “No, Tim, that’s not right.  Acting bad isn’t anything you must do.  You can always pick your actions.  I admit it, I always opt to act villainous, but that’s my choosing.  From what I know of you, you do too, although you won’t say why.  Okay, I won’t pry, although I could point out that you did.  Anyhow, my point is, nobody’s making you do that stuff.  You can always say no to anything.”

“If you say so, boss.”

“I do say so and… hold on!  Look, Tim!  Right in front of us!”

“Wow, what a fox!”

Vaughn shook with anticipation.  “I don’t think that girl’s with anybody and no crowd’s around right now.  Don’t just stand still, looking dumb, act fast or this opportunity will slip away!”

………………..
Simply put, Polly Smith was a knockout.  This young woman had brown, curly hair, smooth skin, pouty lips taut as a Cupid’s bow, and a voluptuous, curvy body.  Polly was clad in a low-cut top, a short skirt, clunky sandals, thin stockings, and a platinum ring inlaid with a sparkly topaz.  In addition, Polly had a small handbag, but it was in Tim’s hands now.

For cords wound about Polly’s body, allowing only a bit of wiggling, with knots impossibly far from Polly’s groping hands.  Vaughn had put a gag on his victim, too, of cotton cloth.  Polly fought to slip out of his handiwork, but no amount of straining or pulling did any good.

Most alarming about Polly’s situation, though, was that this young woman lay on a railroad track, on twin cold, gray rails north of Olympia.  An angry blast from afar told all that a train was approaching at a furious clip….

I must find a way out of this, Polly thought, but how?  I can’t find any slack!

“Boss, you did a thorough job on Miss Smith with your loops and knots and things,” Tim said.  “Good thing, too, what with all that struggling going on.”

“I’m glad of it,” Vaughn told his minion.  “Struggling adds drama.”

“But, Boss, I’m still curious about all this.  I’m glad you said why you always want to bind and gag girls.  I now know why you do, and I’m okay with that.”

“I’m glad of your approval,” Vaughn said sarcastically.

“Oh, that’s okay, as I said.  But, Boss…”

“Look at that train zoom along!” Vaughn cut in, hoping to distract Tim from his doubts.  “How fast do you think it’s going?”

“I’d say about fifty or sixty… um, boss, I don’t know.  It’s quick, that’s all.  Now, about Polly, I’d say it’s okay you bound this girl, but why to a railroad track, and with a train coming fast?”

Vaughn’s laugh was loud.  “It’s so thrilling!”

“But about Polly…”

“Don’t worry about our ‘assistant’ in this affair,” Vaughn said.  “You might think finishing off Polly is sad, but Olympia has many girls I can bind and gag.  I’ll soon go back to town and start hunting so I can do it again.  Only with a switch.  I could go with a buzz saw in an old mill, or a bomb in a rundown building.  My imagination knows no bounds!  Muhahahaha!”

“Boss, that’s not right.”

“Naturally it’s not right.  I’m a villain, and you, my dim chum…”

“I know, I’m your minion,” said Tim.  “But boss, you said a bunch of stuff a bit back that got my thoughts going.”

“Oh, no,” said Vaughn.  “A minion thinking?  What’s this mad world coming to?”

Tim stuck to his topic.  “You said a bad action was always an option, not what you had to do.  Now, doing this to Polly is just such a bad, no, awful thing to do that I can’t stand it.  I won’t go through with it.  So I’m choosing to do good.  I’m going to cut Polly out of your cords.”

Polly said who knows what as Tim wound up his rant.  Vaughn didn’t shout, as you might think, simply stating, with surprising calm, “I wouldn’t do that, Tim.”

“I will do it, though,” said Tim.

Vaughn saw his minion stoop towards Polly.  Vaughn ran forward and spun his fists.  Tim struck back and flung Vaughn away.  Vaughn did not try again, doing nothing but watching in fury as his minion cut Polly’s cords.  Polly sprang away, moving off in a flash.  A good thing, too, with a train roaring down, shaking and blasting as it did!

“I’m sorry, Polly,” Tim said, ignoring Vaughn’s shouts of frustration at his plans all in disarray.  “That was wrong, to bind you to that railroad track.  I couldn’t just stand around and do nothing, though.  I had to put a stop to it.”

“You did,” Polly said, giving him an odd look.  “It was a gallant act, Tim.  Truly, just as a knight of old might do.  But, you know, as glad as I am that I got away from that train, with your kind aid, and as thankful as I am to you, um… it’s just that today’s woman isn’t looking for a knight in shining armor.  Do you know what I’m trying to say?”

Polly trod away from Tim, surprising Vaughn by snuggling into his arms.  “What you did was so villainous, but that’s what I’m looking for.  Girls want a bad boy, and I don’t think anybody can top you.  Woof!”

“Woof!” Vaughn said back, holding Polly in his arms.  “How about a cup of java, Polly, as I inform you all about my villainous ways?”

“Hot cocoa’s my drink, but okay!” said Polly.

Tim didn’t watch Vaughn and Polly walk away, laughing and talking.  Tim couldn’t watch that.  No, Vaughn’s old minion stood still, thinking about things.  A chilly wind brought clouds, dousing him with rain, but Tim just stood in that spot, thinking.

“I don’t know why Polly did that,” Tim finally said, “going off with Vaughn.  I thought Polly would want a knight in shining armor, not a villain, but as Vaughn said, anybody can opt for anything.  I still think I did right, though.”