you can't choose your family-- felix&ellie!

[ellie katherine wood]

“Ellie!” Felix shouted from his room. “ELLIE!”

Ellie hopped up from the floor of her bedroom, and ran down the hallway, her straight blonde hair flying behind her. At the age of five, there was no one Ellie liked to spend time with more than her big brother, Felix.

“What is it, Felix?” She asked, peeping into the door.

“Do you wanna play?” he asked. She nodded, smiling. “Okay, you stand there, and I’ll be right back.” She nodded again, and he ran out the door. She sat down on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed Felix shared with his brother, Jonathan.

All of a sudden, Felix ran in the room, arms full, carrying four rolls of their parents’ athletic tape, and several bandages. “Okay, Ell, stand up,” he said, and she did what she was told, wary of her brother. “Put your arms down, and don’t move.”

“Felix, what are you doing?” she asked, her arms at her sides.

“You’ll see, but you can’t move, no matter what, got it?” She nodded, and he smiled. He took the first roll of athletic tape, and began wrapping the product around her arms, binding them to her dress.

“Felix, why are you doing that?” Her eyes followed her brother has he walked around her, continuously pulling the tape with him.

“We’re playing a game, Sister,” he said, finishing off the first roll, which had covered her arms from the elbow down to her hips, securing her arms to her sides.

As he grabbed the second roll of tape, Ellie frowned; realizing at this point that if she tried to run away, she would just fall over, and Felix would continue to wrap her up, even on the ground. “What kind of game is this?” she asked. He then started to wrap her legs together, starting right above the knees. “Brother, why are you doing that? I need those to move!”

“You don’t need to move in this game,” he said. The second roll of tape at that point had run out, covering her legs. “Okay, we’re almost done, Ellie. One more.”

“One more what?” Her question was answered as he grabbed the last roll of tape and wrapped, so she was almost completely wrapped in athletic tape. She was scared to move, since she knew if she fell over, she’d never ever get up again and she did not want to spend the rest of her life on the boys’ floor.

“Okay, er,” Felix paused, looking at Ellie, then back at the bunk bed. He took one of the bandages and tied it around her waist, pulling it tightly. “Follow me.” He tugged on the end of the bandage, Ellie hopping to keep up with him pulling her along, as if she was on a leash. He then climbed up on to the top bunk and tied the end that wasn’t tied to Ellie onto the railing of the bed.

“Felix, why are you doing that? Stop it!” she cried, but Felix didn’t listen. He then hopped back down, grabbed two more bandages, and tied them to a protesting Ellie. He climbed on the bunk one more time, tying the ends tightly to the railing and pulling, so Ellie was barely lifted above the ground, screaming.

Felix shimmied down from the bed, looking over his work. He smirked, crossing his arms, when the door to the room burst open. There stood Max, their eldest brother, staring confusedly at the scene before him.

“Maxxie! Help me, please!” Ellie yelled, wiggling, her feet about two inches above the ground.

“Felix, how did you-“ he started, but paused, looking again at his crying little sister. “I’m gonna go get Dad, Ells, don’t move.” At that, he ran back out of the room.

“She can’t!” Felix yelled after Max, laughing. Ellie had started crying, feeling as if she was never going to get down, and it was all Felix’s fault. Then, Felix took their parents' camera off of the dresser, which he had grabbed from their room earlier. “Smile!” He said, and Ellie frowned, her eyebrows creased, glaring at him.

Ellie heard heavy footsteps run up the stairs and down the hallway, and then Oliver burst through the door, followed by Max. He blinked, clearly not believing the sight before his eyes. “I will never understand you children,” he said, looking between Ellie hanging from the bunk bed to Felix, holding the camera still and smiling, proudly. Felix snapped a quick picture of Oliver.

“Daddy, will you help me, please?” Ellie asked. She had ceased the wiggling, and was just dangling.

Oliver chuckled, walking over to her. “Of course, Bug.” He started to untie all the knots, letting Ellie get back onto the floor. “Max, would you help your sister out of this tape while I deal with Felix?” Max nodded, and walked over to Ellie who was standing by the bed, still completely wrapped in tape.

“Felix, come here,” Oliver said, looking at the small boy who had slowly been backing away towards the door. Oliver started to walk over to Felix, which caused the boy to run away, yelling, with Oliver chasing after him.

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