From the Sarah Saga
The next morning, Sarah awoke to a quiet shuffling sound. She rolled over, the neighbours must be at again. . .
The shuffling repeated again, accompanied by the closing of a door. Brian! She awoke with a start. She had nearly forgotten her guest in her sleepiness. It was odd to have a spanker spend the night in the guestroom, but it felt right. Besides, she couldn’t argue with the opportunity to get a good night’s rest; she never slept soundly with someone else in the room, no matter how trusted. No one could be trusted not to steal the duvet.
She roused herself with a stretch, shrugged into a dress, and shuffled to the kitchen to make tea.
“Good morning!” Brian greeted her when he walked into the sitting room. How was it that he, that anyone, could be that cheerful so soon after waking up?
“Mmmh,” Sarah mumbled in response, offering him a steaming mug and settling next to him on the sofa.
“Much appreciated,” he replied more eloquently. He took a sip of the tea then added, “We have about three hours before my bus. What would you like to do?”
Sarah was tempted to grunt at him, but with what she had in mind that was probably not the best way to bring up the subject. She instead struggled to form grown-up words. “Breakfast first, then spanking?” She even managed a smile at the end, an expression Brian mirrored and amplified.
“I’m easy,” he replied.
Sarah somehow managed to work the stove and prepare both pudding and something that looked like eggs without burning herself or her apartment. The smoke alarm didn’t even need to get involved. Judging by Brian’s expression, the food was more than just edible. This must be her lucky day.
Breakfast passed without incident, other than a quick, playful splash of dishwater into Brian’s face that Sarah couldn’t resist. “Ooooh, you’ll pay for that missy,” he scolded, but let her first set down the breakable things before acting further.
When the plates were cleaned and dripping in the rack, Brian fixed her with his faux-stern look. “Now what was that about, young miss?”
“Just fun,” Sarah replied coyly.
“We’ll see about that, get over here,” Brian reached for her, dragging her unresisting over his knee. When he peppered her bottom with sharp swats, Sarah began to wish she’d resisted at least a little bit. How was it that he could spank so hard? With just his hand, he managed to bring slight tears to the corners of her eyes, and he hadn’t even lifted her skirt yet.
“Right then,” he told her with a final swat. “Into the corner with you, and think about what you did. Water is not for splashing,” Sarah tried her best not to giggle at the silliness of the scolding, and didn’t quite succeed- earning her another firm swat on her way to the corner.
“I’ll be right back, and don’t you dare move!” Brian warned as he stepped into the bathroom.
Sarah wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass her by, not when she was in this playful a mood. Brian was only gone for a minute or so, but that was all the time it took her to hide a spoon under the sofa, a paddle between the cushions, a few straps behind a picture frame, a slipper in the cabinet and another strap under the rug.
It was the paddle that was her downfall. She heard Brian return and rummage through the pile of implements that remained- still a sizable horde. “I could have sworn. . .”
Sarah giggled. She couldn’t help it. She felt Brian round on her, approach her from behind, breathing semi-menacingly down her neck. “Do you have anything to say, young lady?”
“No, Sir,” Sarah replied, but gave the game away with a deep belly-laugh.
“I know you took it,” Brian told her. “And you’ll be sorry when I find it.
It? Sarah thought to herself as Brian began searching her apartment, but turning up nothing. She tried not to laugh, but her ability to resist that particular urge was long gone.
Brian gave up his search and treated her to a firm swat on the behind. “Find it.”
“Find what?” Sarah asked with her best wide-eyed innocence.
“You know well what I’m referring to.”
“Really, I don’t”, Sarah replied- her first truth in quite some time.
Brian looked less than impressed, so she retrieved the spoon. His look of surprise as she unearthed the implement told her that wasn’t the one he meant. She tried the slipper next, which was greeted with equal shock. At this point she was committed. She flitted about the sitting room, adding implements back to the pile as Brian’s expression grew both more stern and more amused.
“Is that all?” he asked when she paused. Sarah ran through her mental list quickly, then retrieved the strap from under the rug.
“That’s all,” she said brightly.
“Oooh, you’ll pay!” Brian told her, unable to completely hide his amusement. Checking his watch, he added, “Though you’ll have to pay next time- for today, I’ll give you six with the paddle. We’ll call that your first installment.”
It was only six, but he made them count. Sarah hopped and squealed with each stroke, and began to worry what she had brought on herself for Brian’s next visit. The hug after was worth it, thought, and her bottom throbbed pleasantly.
“I do so look forward to coming back, if you’ll have me,” Brian told her with a broad smile.
“Absolutely!” Sarah agreed. “In fact. . .wait here, I have something for you.”
Sarah disappeared into her bedroom, rummaged in her top drawer and grasped the key. She gripped it for a moment, thinking back to the last time she had given a key away, wondering if it might not be too early. No, she decided, this was different. There were no suppressed emotions here, there was nothing to prove. She and Brian were friends, good friends. This was a mere convenience. And an invitation, an open invitation to return for another helping something they both would enjoy. She returned to the sitting room and offered Brian the key.
“I want you to have this, should make things easier in the future. I barely made it out of work on time to meet you at the bus, and I don’t want you stuck out in the rain if I’m delayed next time.”
Brian slipped the key onto his ring as he replied. “Thrilled to hear there will be a next time. I had an absolute blast, and will gladly come back whenever you’ll have me.”
“Same here,” replied Sarah, and meant it.
“One last trip to the loo, and then I’d better head for the bus.”
Sarah nodded as he closed the door, then sprung into action. The little packet of metallic stars was right where she left it behind the frame on the mantel. She opened it quickly and carefully, trying to to leave any evidence on the floor, and dumped the contents into Brian’s bag. With a final smile, she tucked the empty packet into her pocket, and returned to the sitting room, smiling innocently as Brian emerged from the bathroom.
“Have everything?” Sarah asked, part wishing that he would check his bag now so that she could see his reaction.
“Pretty sure we’ve rounded everything up. You’ll pay for that next time, you know,” he told her with a happy glint in his eye.
“Looking forward to it,” Sarah replied with a grin, wondering how long it would take him to realise that she would need to pay for far more.
Acknowledging Imperfection 