Raincoats, part 1 - free fetish story

The raincoat originated as a chemical reaction. Of course, it still wasn't a raincoat yet. That was yet to come.

The process of manufacturing the plastic material begins in a dingy factory somewhere in the vastness of China. This process is sufficiently complex that it is almost impossible to explain how the plastic itself is manufactured. Suffice it to say that numerous vile smelling compounds are mixed together to create the plastic (100% vinyl) material required. Various colours such as red, yellow (by far the most popular colour) green, blue, pink and purple are carefully added to each swirling vat. After eventual manufacture and extrusion, the material is carefully wound on to long rolls for shipping. The brand new vinyl is very bright and shiny and it feels amazingly smooth to the touch. The brightly coloured rolls of wonderfully soft clingy vinyl are swiftly loaded aboard sampans by sweaty coolies for transhipment down the Yellow River to the SEZ (Special Economic Zone) of Guangdong near the bustling megalopolis of Hong Kong itself. Ironically, it is raining heavily as the rolls of vinyl arrive at the large manufacturing facility. It is here that the story really begins.

The first process of manufacture in the factory where the raincoat was to begin its new life began in the vast cutting room where teams of young and mostly very pretty Chinese girls busily cut the material into the various shapes and lengths required. Because the raincoat factory, like so many other similar facilities throughout China, lacked modern manufacturing equipment, the entire process of bringing the raincoat into the world, along with thousands of similarly brightly coloured others, was a particularly labour intensive process.

After cutting the material into shape, it was dispatched to the sewing room where still more rows of girls sat at sewing machines and stitched them together. By now the raincoat was finally beginning to take shape. The arms had been sewn on; twin pockets added with protective flaps to ensure the pockets remained dry. A drawstring hood was added to keep the wearer's head dry. It was quite indistinguishable from hundreds and thousands of other raincoats. There was nothing remarkable about the raincoat - it was identical to millions of others produced before and since. At this stage it only lacked buttons, which had yet to be sewn on. A perfunctory quality control check revealed nothing amiss with the sewing so it was sent downwards to have the hard plastic buttons attached. There would be nine in all. A special double flap had been sewn on so that four buttons were concealed and four on the top. This design feature greatly enhanced the waterproofing qualities of the rainwear they manufactured. The last button fastened the collar around the wearer's neck. The buttons were a marginally darker shade of yellow from the material. This helped distinguish the buttons nicely from the slickness of the vinyl.

At around six or so or so in the early evening, the unfinished raincoat arrived on Li X'ia's (pronounced phonetically as 'Lee Sheeah') table where she sat with only her sewing machine for company amidst dozens of other girls at similar machines. The large room was heavily redolent with that wonderful brand new smell of the nearly completed vinyl raincoats. It was a smell Li loved with a passion.

Li Xia was an exceptionally pretty eighteen-year-old. At 5'6" in height, she was tall for a Chinese. Her legs were long and coltishly slim. Long dark hair framed a perfect heart-shaped face. Dark gently sloping almond shaped eyes framed a perfect and wonderfully cute little ski-jump nose. Li's flawlessly smooth skin was the colour of wild honey. Young, slim and beautiful, Li only tolerated her dead end job to save for her passage to Australia to join her family. It was simply a means to an end. Naturally bright and vivacious, Li worked long, arduous hours to save for her passage fare. During the evenings, she spent her much of her spare time studying English. Her English was still far from perfect but she was getting there. She practised it on anybody and everybody who would listen. Naturally conscientious, Li cared enough to ensure that she sewed the buttons on properly. Despite the menial nature of the job, Li was the quickest and best sewer in the factory and had several awards to prove the fact. Unlike many others, she took a genuine pride in her work. It wasn't enough to merely sew them on, it must be done just so to ensure they would not fall off.

Li's fingers flew as she expertly attached the buttons to the raincoat. Quickly, she checked each button to make certain they were secure. It was now a proper raincoat, ready to be worn by its new owner. Quickly, Li pressed the soft material to her lips, breathing in the heady smell of the soft, slick shiny yellow vinyl before attempting to infuse a little piece of her c'hi or 'spirit' into it. She genuinely hoped that it would be loved and cherished by its new owner and that it would bring him or her good joss. While red was believed to be the colour of luck and good fortune by the highly superstitious Chinese, Li knew that yellow was a much better choice for a raincoat. It was highly visible and therefore safe. She was wise enough not to rely on luck alone. While luck was certainly important, the Confucian principles of hard work and frugality was doubly so. After completing this little ritual, Li passed it on down the assembly line towards the assembly and packing room. Here they would be graded for size (the raincoat was a child's size twelve) and colour before being packed in a protective wrapper and boxed ready for delivery.

Suddenly, the mournful wail of the hooter blew to thankfully signal the end to the monotonous drudgery of Li's day as she folded and gently placed the brand new raincoat on the slow moving conveyor belt. It shone with that gleam peculiar to vinyl. Wearily, Li picked herself up and headed for the exit. Her back ached from sitting in the chair all day. It was still raining heavily outside as the tail end of the annual monsoon rains soaked the rich earth in preparation for the next rice-growing season. Everything was uncharacteristically grey as the glowering rain bloated clouds pressed sullenly earthwards.

Happily, Li X'ia pulled on her own matching yellow vinyl raincoat and slowly buttoned it up before doing up the drawstring hood. Buttoning it up was a ritual, one that she enjoyed. Putting it on was always the high point of her day especially during this time of year when the great monsoon rains arrived. She put it on at every opportunity she got. The merest threat of rain was enough to ensure it would end up being worn. There were times when it was really too stickily hot and humid to wear it but Li did not mind for she adored the way the vinyl clung damply against her soft skin. It felt incredibly smooth. Li liked wearing her raincoat very much, although she had no way of knowing or understanding why that was so. She liked the way the plastic felt on her skin and the way it smelt. She also loved the way the rain streamed down in smooth rivulets down the slick vinyl. Thoughtfully, Li rubbed her tiny hands against the slick vinyl, relishing the way it felt against her body, the way it crinkled and rustled like that. Her groin felt strangely hot. She could feel the wetness of her arousal soaking into the thin cotton material of her panties. Sometimes, Li wondered if anyone else felt the same way she did about wearing her raincoat. She loved wearing it! However, she kept her thoughts to herself, lest any others think she was strange.

Quickly, Li pulled on her red Wellington-style boots in order to keep her feet dry and prevent her shoes from being ruined by the muddy roads around the province where she lived. Around her hundreds of happily chattering girls, glad the long day was over were pulling on and buttoning up their similarly colourful raincoats for the walk home. Most girls favoured red. However, many others favoured yellow like Li. Others had opted for the more feminine pink and purple hued raincoats. The amazing technicolour procession of the raincoated Chinese girls streaming out of the factory and many others like hers contrasted totally with the industrial drabness of the scenery and the teeming rain. Li never tired of this colourful sight. She hoped the monsoon rains would not end too soon.

As Li smoothed down the soft vinyl and adjusted the drawstring hood, she briefly wondered where today's batch would be going. Although most would be destined for various Chinese towns and cities itself, she knew that the factory also exported much of its production to various countries around the world in a quest to bring in much needed foreign exchange for China. She could not help wondering where the lucky last raincoat of the day would end up. Perhaps in Australia….

Meanwhile, as Li prepared to leave for home, the newly completed raincoat was already being neatly folded and inserted into the protective clear plastic wrapping by the next shift. Since foreign exchange was so urgently needed by the Party bosses in Beijing, many factories such as Li's worked around the clock in two twelve hour shifts. Li's popularity and skill as a seamstress ensured that she had one of the coveted day shifts.

After being folded and wrapped it was neatly boxed (one dozen to a box) and labelled, YELLOW SC12. This meant the box contained yellow size 12 children's raincoats. The box was then duly placed on a wooden pallet, along with dozens of similar others containing the days production of yellow rain wear and transported over to the Dispatch team. There it lay for a number of hours before being further labelled. The box the raincoat resided in was numbered A#4/150 Myer Stores. This signified that it was box 4 out of a total of the 150 boxes, which comprised the order. The 'A' stood for Australia. Myer was and is the largest department store chain in Australia. Li X'ia would have been surprised (and not a little happy) to know that her guess was right. It was indeed bound for Australia.

The palletised cargo was shrink wrapped and taped up in preparation for transport to the bustling Hong Kong docks and eventual shipment to Australia. While much of Australia is sunburnt and arid, the far more temperate southern and coastal regions receive a large quantity of rain particularly during winter. Tropical Queensland and the Northern Territory receive the bulk of its annual rainfall during the annual monsoon rains, known locally as 'The Wet'. Winter in Australia is from June to August, in contrast to the northern latitudes of Europe and America where it is summer.

It was not until the next day that the newly born raincoat left its original place of birth because the order had yet to be completed. Myer required various other colours besides the ever popular and ubiquitous yellow. However, as soon as the last pallets were loaded on the ancient truck, it wheezily set off towards the busy and bustling hyperactive entrepot of Hong Kong. It is one of the great cities of the world and has long acted as China's gateway to the outside world. Hong Kong acts as the financial and trading centre for Communist China and much of central Asia. The Hong Kong Chinese are among the most avariciously capitalistic on earth. Consequently, it is an irresistible magnet for millions of impoverished Chinese. The bright lights of Hong Kong attracted them all, like moths to a flame. They have all heard how, with hard work and a little joss, it is possible to make your fortune there. Formerly governed by the British, it was handed back to China once the 99-year lease on the territory expired. Mercifully, the ever-pragmatic rulers in Beijing had the good sense to leave things pretty much alone save for continuing to restrict immigration to Hong Kong for the very good reason the territory was already severely overcrowded. It was from this city that the new yellow vinyl raincoat would begin its long voyage to Australia.

There was the inevitable long delay as the Border Customs police checked the heavily laden truck for illicit contraband particularly drugs, stowaways and alcohol. After receiving a little 'squeeze' from the truck driver and satisfying themselves that all was in order, it was waved on to officially enter Hong Kong. The traffic was as chaotic as ever so it was hours later that the fatigued truckie reached the docks. Driving anywhere within many Asian cities such as Hong Kong is far less simple than it is in countries like Australia. He had had to contend with seemingly suicidal pedestrians, rickshaws, and only a few million other cars, trucks and buses sharing the road with him. The frenetic pace of life and the overpowering need to make their fortunes ensured that everybody was in a frantic hurry as usual. Everyone thought they were the most important road users, regardless of the size of their transport. 99.9% of people were on a mission - to get rich. Consequently, his hands and feet were aching from manipulating the clutch and brakes as cars, pedestrians and rickshaws all darted in front of him. His ears were nearly deafened from constantly tooting on the horn to warn other road users of his presence. Ayeeeyah! But it would be good to partake of a beer later, he thought. A mah-jongg game as well. With a little joss, he might even win. Maybe some female company too…

With the stoical patience common to Chinese, he waited until the truck was off loaded and its precious cargo safely warehoused before parking and locking up in the company compound. He would not be able to return until the next day for the checkpoint shut at nine p.m. and the evening peak was just beginning… Happily, he set off for the nearest mah-jongg house to spend the remainder of the day gambling and drinking before heading home to his tiny cramped flat in the densely populated region of Mong Kok.

The pallets containing the raincoats bound for Myer lay where they were for only twelve more hours until they were loaded into a large forty foot long container packed full with other brand new clothing for them. China's large (and cheap) labour force provided it with a nearly unbeatable competitive advantage in the manufacture of textiles and clothes. Therefore many major organisations such as Myer turned to China to supply their requirements. The designs and original patterns were produced in Australia to be instantaneously forwarded on to the Chinese manufacturers by the modern miracle that is the Internet and e-mail.

Less than 48 hours after beginning its real life as a raincoat under the nimble fingers of Li X'ia, it was being swung outwards by the large gantry on to the decks of the giant nine hundred foot long container ship. The container was duly secured to the decking to have several others stacked upon it. Still more containers surrounded the original container with its cargo of raincoats until it was entirely hidden.

Such was the efficiency of the port and the hard working stevedores, the massive ship was ready to sail only thirty-six hours later. The weather forecast was good - light winds and seas for at least the next forty-eight hours. The captain hoped that it would remain so as he gave the order to cast off the mooring lines holding the behemoth fast to the shore. Although the constant monsoonal rain meant somewhat reduced visibility, radar, GPS (Global Positioning System) and a team of lookouts who would remain posted on the bows and stern until they were well clear of the numerous islands near Hong Kong would most assuredly avoid the nightmare spectre of a collision or grounding. Or worse… The AK47 machine guns they were clutching also provided a further deadly deterrent to any pirates stupid or bold enough to take on the ship and the immensely valuable cargo that it was carrying. The grizzled old seadog, veteran of a thousand such journeys was confident that it would be just another routine voyage. He pulled the collar of his old black rubberised Australian made 'Dunlop' raincoat higher to ward off the teeming rain as he stared out over the dirty waters and the dozens of junks and tiny sampans all busily to'ing and fro'ing between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. He would miss Hong Kong as always. The exotic girls of Asia were amongst some of the most alluring on earth. He would miss them most of all, particularly his lovely Filipino girlfriend, Maricor Garcia Co, with whom he lived with. Maricor… He could not get enough of her hot mouth, darting tongue and even hotter pussy. He sighed heavily. It would be a long voyage. Her favourite (and newest) party trick was to greet him clad in nothing but her yellow plastic raincoat which she would slowly unbutton while his cock hardened before taking him in her mouth. Yes, he would miss her very much. Sometimes they even went out with Maricor stark naked under the plastic folds of her raincoat. That also drove him crazy too. Yes, it would be a very long voyage…

His prediction was correct. After an uneventful if somewhat dull voyage, he found himself giving the order to halt the ship so that it could take on the pilot who would guide it through the narrow and notorious Port Phillip Heads, entry to Port Phillip Bay itself. The Heads was the graveyard of dozens of unfortunate ships that had misread the tides and waves and ended up on the rocks. The strong tidal currents rushing out of the Bay opposing the great southerly busters howling in untrammelled from the frozen wastes of Antarctica created monstrous breaking seas of forty and fifty feet high. However, today would present few problems. The sea was as calm as a millpond. The captain stared nervously at the dark rocks as his ship glided by. They seemed awfully close, far too close for comfort. Even on calm days such as these, there was always some kind of swell and the white spray contrasted sharply against the jagged fangs waiting to claim any unwary ship. He knew the bones of many ships and their sailors rested under the dark waters.

Eventually, they were tying up at the docks in the murky brown confines of the Yarra River near the city of Melbourne itself. The raincoat had finally arrived in its new homeland.