Deep freeze (part 4)

...part 3
My first winter suit left me terrified when I laid eyes on it for the first time. Ela took me  to the shops without telling me why, which increased my suspicion. By the time we got to the shop, suspicion was turning into dread. I was welcomed by Ms. Brightwood. She preferred fitting girls that were getting their first full winter suit. I had seen a few ladies on the streets wearing winter suits, but until now I never fully understood what that entailed.
The suit was composed of two parts. The first part was the inner suit, which functions as underwear. It was very plain, just plain nylon, covering from head to toe, including attached gloves and soft booties. It had a full face hood, having only two small slits for the eyes, two tiny holes for breathing, and a small round hole at the mouth, big enough to fit a straw but not much else. It had a rear entry zipper going from the crown of the head to the waist. Another zipper went around the crotch area. This zipper allowed the girl trapped inside to do her bodily functions without being released from her down prison. Both zippers locked in the back, using different keys. I was told to undress completely, even removing my bra and underwear, the inner suit is worn directly next to the skin. Ms. Brightwood started putting the horrible garment on me, first the legs, then the arms. By the time Ms. Brightwood started pushing my head into the full face hood, tears were running down my cheeks.
Ms. Brightwood tried to calm me. "My dear, try to calm down, it might not be pleasant in the beginning, but you will get used to it in time. We all do. Believe me, Ashley, I've worn one and it's not as bad as it seems."
I could only reply with my now muffled sobs. I looked at my self in the mirror, and I could hardly think that alien figure was me. I had been reduced to a shadow, encased in thick featureless down.
My vision was severely limited by the thin slits present in the mask. My hearing was limited. I could not touch or be touched. I could see the world through the eye slits, but I was in a different place, my own portable prison from which there is no way for me to escape. The inner suit was very snug, I could feel elastic around my chest, holding tight the integrated foam bra cups sewn into the suit.
"Do you want me to let you settle into your inner suit first? Or do you want to try your outer suit right now?"
The outer suit looked similar to my first regular suit, however in a dark brown color that Ela had chosen. However, as I expected, it was thicker, heavier, more intimidating. Was I going to be locked inside that? We'll, the answer was obvious. This is what I had "wanted", before I really knew what it was and how things would unravel.
It was obvious that Ms Brightwood was struggling to remove the suit from its bag. It was that heavy. Once the front zipper was opened, Ms Brightwood signaled me to come forward. She started easing my left foot into the outer suit, all the way into the integrated boot. The outer fabric of my under suit slid easily against the smooth lining of the outer suit. The integrated boots were significantly larger than the ones in my other suits, to account for the extra padding of the under suit's booties as opposed to bare skin. Walking in the suit proved to be quite challenging, due the increased width and weight of my new boots. Also, because of the thickness of the two suits, flexing my ankles and knees was harder, making me walk stiffly. I felt as if my feet were encased in concrete blocks! The apron of the suit was much longer than in my other suits reaching all the way down to my ankles. It also felt tighter, but that could have been just caused by the bulk of the three layers, the under suit, the pants off the outer suit, and the apron. At this point I was just glad that Ms. Brightwood left my kick pleat unzipped.
The outer suit was made of three layers. The outer layer is made of rough nylon material, water and wind proof, quilted with a thin layer of insulation. They innermost layer is made of soft silky material, also quilted with a thin layer of cotton batting. The purpose of the quilting of the outer and inner layers is not to provide warmth to the wearer, but rather to protect the middle layer, which is composed of very thick chambers of fabric filled with down. Instead of gloves, the outer suit had attached mittens. A heavy duty zipper at the cuff secured the sleeve of the suit, and ensured that I wouldn't be able to pull out my hands. Not that there was any wiggle room inside the suit, it was a snug fit. Between the gloves of my under suit and the outer mittens, my hands were mostly useless. But a true lady is expected to be helpless, so I shouldn't have been surprised.
Once the suit was fully zipped up around me, the feeling was overwhelming. I felt like I was in my own little world, behind a soft but thick wall. When I had seen ladies on the street wearing suits similar to the one I had on, I had thought that they were only using it to brave the extreme cold outside, but now I realized these suits were meant for long term wear. My mobility was severely limited. I could walk, but barely. The boots were so big, each step took a lot of concentration to lift up each boot and move it without hitting the opposite boot. The thickness of the layers also made the suit very confining, the inside soft, yet suffocatingly tight. The sleeves were stiff, and  I could barely move my arms. The fact that it was locked and I had no access to the key  made it feel worse. But thinking it through, even if I had the key, I doubt I would be able to manipulate it with my hands bound inside thick gloves AND mittens. And it was hot! I had just been trapped in the thing for a few minutes and could already feel the heat building in. And completely sealed in the suit except for five tiny holes in the full face hood, the heat had no where to go.
The extra thick hood had two flaps attached, that closed over my face. Once closed the flaps completely covered my mouth, and the hood was pulled down right to my eye brows, barely leaving my nose and eyes free. Of course my whole face was covered by the under suit. The hood itself was thicker than my other suits, probably a good two inches, leaving me with only a tunnel vision. Once the hood was in place, Ela fastened the three heavy duty snaps that held the hood in place. They were solidly locked in place. No respite for me without the key. A key I had never even seen, and surely was tucked away from my reach.
After we left, Ela decided it was a good time to go for a walk for me to get used to my suit. Window shopping, she said. However with my complete lack of peripheral vision I was barely able to see forward to not trip or run into something. With every step my discomfort grew. The weather was chilly out side, but I was still way over dressed and the heat was building up inside my suit. The stiffness of the boots made every step a monumental feat. The weight of my ensemble, coupled with the extra effort needed to move my arms, had my shoulders very sore. After twenty minutes we had just advanced three blocks, I was holding back my tears, sweltering under layers of thick down. Ela had a wide smile. She was enjoying this a lot more that I was.
It took us a good hour to get home. When I got home I was exhausted. Wearing the suit was oppressing, it was hot, tight, bulky, and stiff. I was relieved and surprised that Ela unlocked me shortly after reaching home, and allowed me to change into one of my regular suits. It was surprising how one of my regular suits now felt liberating compared to the winter suit. She took the suit away and I did not see it again for a few days. However, there was a question I couldn't get out of my mind: how much worse can this get?