The Thaw Onto The Freeze - A Nat and Alyssa Story Pt Eleven
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2014 3:06 pm
The Thaw onto the Freeze – A Nat and Alyssa Story
Part Eleven
“You answered my question,” she said, but in a way that led Nat to believe there was more to it. So he just waited a moment, not making a sound. He knew the silence would spur her to speak. “I just was more wondering about the phone yesterday. You said that you forgave me, you said that you were proud of me. But then, you know, when we were at the table last night, you asked if I thought I should be punished, and I said that I didn’t know. And, well that was a lie, cause, the answer is yes.”
“I see,” Nat said, sitting up a bit straighter. He had known there was something. “Well, I promise you, then, we will certainly address that at some point, either later today or tomorrow. All right?”
He saw her head bob up and down, and then heard her say quietly, “yes, thank you.”
“Good, now back to the business at hand,” Nat took one of the papers that was next to him and handed it to Alyssa. She glanced at it, but didn’t take it from him. Using his free hand, he gave her bottom a medium smack, “no games, Alyssa! Take the paper, let’s go!”
He had felt her jump when he had delivered the swat to her bottom, and she took the paper from him. “Hold it in front of you, both hands, Alyssa,” Nat told her. She did so. He knew he had her good and confused about what the punishment was going to be exactly. Moving his hand from her lower back to her bottom, he knew he was causing a great deal of psychological torture for her. “Do you see the part that explains ‘course participation’, Alyssa?”
“Yes,” she replied, her voice already sounding unhappy and a bit shaky.
“Good,” Nat said to her, “read it out loud.”
Alyssa read the half page out loud to the empty room, without Nat ever removing his hand.
Course Participation:
Course participation through in-class discussions, and the team project provides students with the opportunity to interact with other students and faculty and to improve critical thinking skills. Class time is designed to be interactive and focused on discussion. That depends on your being prepared and completing assigned reading: as noted below, part of your grade will be determined by your participation, which means being prepared and actively engaged in discussion.
Students must come to class prepared to discuss the reading, and other assignments. Every students should remain apprised of current events as they are commonly referenced in all class discussions. Participation in class discussions are not just graded on the number of responses and contributions from a student, but on their quality. The extent to which you use concepts from readings, lectures and other sources is important, linking them to practical examples or perhaps providing new information for the class.
A key part of class participation is responding to other students. Your responses may not merely be your opinion. They must be substantiated by readings, observations, experiences. It is through student participation in discussion, groups, and responses to other students in debates that a professor is able to determine an individuals’ comprehension of the material.
When she had finished, Nat told her to place the paper face down on the floor. She did so, becoming more confused by the second.
“Now, Alyssa, tell me what you just read to me. Paraphrase it for me,” he instructed her.
Nothing but silence filled the room.
“Nothing?” Nat said after a few minutes.
There was no response. Nat already knew what the outcome was going to be. Still, he let another minute go by. “Well then I suppose you’d better read it again. Out loud, clearly. I want to be able to hear every word, young lady!”
This time, the minute she started speaking, Nat raised his hand up and began spanking her already sore cheeks. He reminded himself over and over that it didn’t matter that her bottom was already more than crimson from the number of times he’d smacked it throughout the day. He had to do what he constantly nagged on Alyssa to do: not linger on the past, concentrate on the present moment.
Meaning, he couldn’t let the thought of how red and somewhat bruised her tush was deter him. Nat coached himself, making sure he focused on the fact that he asked her to read the ‘Participation’ description aloud. She had done so. He hadn’t been spanking or causing any sort of distraction. Yet, at the end, Alyssa had absolutely no idea what it was that she had just read to him.
It was with that thought in mind that he was able to deliver the kind of spanking he knew was needed. Not one that was softer than normal, because he felt bad for her. No, the entire time that she read the description, he raised his hand up and brought it down with speed and strength, ensuring she felt his thoughts on how important the topic was.
Once she had read the three paragraph description out loud, he paused, hand in mid-air, and said, “read it again, Alyssa” There was silence, which Nat allowed. He had no problem with her taking that brief pause to compose herself, catch her breath or whatever she needed to read out loud. When the pause extended itself from gaining composure to defiance, he brought his hand down quickly on her upper thighs. Giving two not-at-all-gentle swats to each thigh, he said her name. His voice was a notch louder in volume, and tone was edging towards one of steel.
Alyssa nearly screamed when Nat’s hand came flying down onto the very tops of her thighs. He spanked her twice on the right and then twice on the left, hitting the very fleshy part of her upper thigh, right where her leg met the lower curvature of her bottom. It was one of the most painful places to be spanked, she hated, absolutely hated to receive those punishing smacks there. When she heard the way he spoke her name, though, that is when she was two hundred percent sure that he meant business.
Not that she hadn’t thought so before. Alyssa had known he was serious before. Nat was always serious. He just usually indulged her in giving her the time that she wanted. Even when he thought she was taking too long, he still let her. At least until now. When she heard the stern, steel backing in his voice, the increase in volume, the coldness…that tone of voice was the reason people would say things like ‘it would make you shiver down to your bones’. Because it could. If she hadn’t been over his lap at the moment, she very well might have, too. At least, all of her, except her bottom, that part of her anatomy wasn’t going to be cold for a long time.
Taking a quick breath, she began to read the description for the second time. “Participation. Course participation,” she didn’t even get the first three words out before Nat’s hand had landed three hard swats onto her bottom. She didn’t mean to be, but she was surprised and stopped reading. Why am I surprised? Alyssa couldn’t help but think to herself? After all, she knew that she would be spanked through this, she had been spanked through the last one. This one was no different. Literally no different, he was using his hand just like the last time he read it.
Shaking her head to herself, she made her mind clear itself of all distractions and just concentrate on the page in front of her and keep reading. Just keep reading, and do it right then so she didn’t create further trouble for herself. She probably started just in time too, because she could feel Nat’s body start to shift, his right leg starting to move up a bit. That usually meant he was raising her bottom up, so he could land a few swats on the lowest part of her bottom cheeks as consequences for not doing what she was supposed to. The minute she began reading again, she could sense his right leg moving back down. Not that it gave her all that much solace, he was still landing horrifically hard swats on the rest of her backside with his hand. The man had a hand that was a paddle.
Alyssa coaxed herself through the three paragraphs, trying to remain optimistic. Maybe if she did extraordinarily well, and was well behaved for the rest of this spanking, he’d be lenient with her? Doubtful, but worth a try. She was nearly done with the last paragraph, the end was in sight. She had to pause for a second to take a breath. Luckily, Nat did know her well enough that he allowed this. He also held, what looked like a plastic kiddie cup as it had a lid and bendable straw, in front of her face. “Do you need you water,” she heard him say as the cup appeared in front of her.
Yes, she really did. She was about to move her hands from where her fingers were interlaced behind her head. “No,” Nat said. “Keep them there.”
Alyssa could feel him leaning over a bit, and watched as he guided the cup towards her, the straw right in front of her lips. “Just a few small sips, Alyssa,” he instructed. Taking the straw in her mouth, she took the few small sips, though she felt like she could have easily swallowed everything in the cup.
Nodding that she was done, the cup disappeared as Nat sat back up straight. “Thank you,” she said to him. She was surprised when he didn’t reply with his usual ‘you’re welcome, sweetie’, or ‘of course, kiddo’, or ‘anytime baby girl’ or ‘don’t worry about little one’. He said nothing.
It definitely threw her off, so much so that she forgot she was supposed to finish reading. At least until she felt Nat lightly smack her bottom. “Finish reading, Alyssa,” his stern voice instructed from up above her.
That’s right, she had one sentence left to get through. Glancing at the page, she located the sentence. Took a quick breath, mentally attempting to prepare herself for the punishing swats that were about to come, and began to read. “It is through SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! student SWAT! participation SWAT! in discussion SWAT! SWAT!, groups SWAT!, and SWAT! responses SWAT! to other SWAT! students SWAT! in debates SWAT! SWAT! that SWAT! a professor SWAT! is SWAT! able SWAT! to determine SWAT! SWAT! an individuals’ SWAT! SWAT! comprehension SWAT! SWAT! of SWAT! the SWAT! material.” SWAT! SWAT!
Alyssa was so proud of herself at that moment. She had made it through the second time. She almost didn’t think she would. Realistically it didn’t make sense to have her read it again, did it? What was he hoping for her to get from this? No, she was positive, that she had done it twice, and that they’d be moving on to the next thing.
At least, she was positive of it, until she heard Nat say, “again, Alyssa. Read it again, out loud, start to finish. Let’s go.”
“Why?” She asked, wanting to sound like she was demanding an answer, but instead sounding like a whining child.
“Why?” Nat heard Alyssa ask from somewhere near the floor, her voice sounding whiny and infantile.
“Excuse me?” He asked, almost wondering to himself if he heard her correctly. “What did you just say to me?” Nat demanded. While there was no physical change that could be seen, something in that moment happened, almost as if it was just then that Alyssa grasped the seriousness of the situation and a shift in demeanor took place.
He heard her gulp. It was a significant indication of how nervous she was. “I’m sorry Nat,” he heard her say quietly. “I didn’t mean it like that. I”
“I asked you, ‘what did you just say?’ Alyssa,” Nat interrupted her. “That is the only question I want an answer to at this moment.”
There was silence and Nat could tell she was bracing herself for the answer she was about to give. He knew it because he could see the tension build up in her shoulders. “I said ‘why?’,” she replied quietly.
“And with attitude,” Nat added.
“Yeah,” Alyssa said, defeat echoing through her voice.
“Yes?” Nat echoed her. “Yes, what?”
“Yes…sir?” Alyssa’s shoulders were becoming further wrought with tension and the confusion in her voice was more than evident.
Because he was aware she couldn’t see him, Nat smiled. She didn’t know what he was asking of her, and that was okay. He was more than willing to walk her through this one. “Yes, Alyssa,” he said, placing his hand on her lower back. “You said ‘why?’ with attitude. Try it.”
He heard her sniffle and then she said, “I said ‘why? And did so with attitude, sir.”
“Good girl,” Nat praised her, rubbing a small circle on her lower back. “And I know you didn’t mean to be as disrespectful as it sounded, but it was disrespectful. I believe that is something you wrote me a letter about earlier today. Apologizing for not being respectful, and you gave me your word that you would do better in the future.” He heard Alyssa begin to cry softly.
“And what is this answering questions with ‘yeah’ and ‘nah’, ‘dunno’, and ‘maybe’. You’ve a very intelligent young lady, Alyssa, I expect you to use correct language around me. At the very least pretend you went to a top rated University, though you wouldn’t be tell from your course participation,” Nat remarked, knowing it would assist in reinforcing this lesson. Though she was doing her best to remain as quiet as possible, her tears had increased.
“It’s yes or no. But not ‘Yeah’. Show me the respect of speaking correctly. To answer your question of why? Besides the fact that I told you to, and I expect you to do as you’re told. I intend to have you read the description of class participation, as many times necessary, until I’m convinced that you will never, ever forget it. Understand?”
He saw Alyssa quickly bob her head up and down and then say “yes, sir.”
“Good,” Nat replied, moving his hand from her lower back to her bottom. “Then I suggest you start reading, from the top, Alyssa.”
Two more times, he had her read it, while he spanked her bottom with his hand. After she finished the second time, within seconds, Nat flipped her back up onto her feet. In other situations he would have given her a moment or two to calm down, but he also needed that moment himself, and knew he needed that moment alone, not with Alyssa over his lap. Grasping hold of her wrists, once she was on her feet, Nat walked her over to the wall, having her stand with her nose pressed directly against it, in time out, giving her a few minutes to calm down.
While she cried with her nose pressed against the wall, he sprinted up the stairs to retrieve her most hated item: the hairbrush. As he was walking down the hall, he passed what had been the guest room, now would be Alyssa’s and just stopped. Opening the door, he went in and looked around. It still pretty much looked the same. The place could use a coat of paint, that was for sure.
He was about to turn and go back downstairs when he noticed something on the bed. A book. Looking closer he saw it was a notebook. Thinking it was her schoolwork, he chuckled thinking it was good that she finally started working on it, and picked up the spiral bound book to see what she was doing for class.
It wasn’t a notebook. It was her journal. There were only a few sentences on the page, it was obviously carrying over from the thoughts on the previous page. His conscious told him to put it down immediately, but he saw his name in one of the sentences, and couldn’t quite help himself.
I never in a million years thought that life would be the way it is. I guess it is true that everything happens for a reason, even having a former academic advisor for a neighbor. Thought it certainly wasn’t that great at first. Honestly, I think there is something wrong with me. I mean, seriously, I come over here and admit to breaking rules, or talk about stuff that I did eons ago and feel guilty about and ask to be punished. Who does that? But I’m grateful. I imagine that it can’t be easy, punishing someone. The year I taught high school, I failed about 20 percent of my students, I felt horrible, like I wanted to throw up I felt so bad.
So I am infinitely grateful and appreciative of Nat. I end up with long huge lists of things that I’ve inevitably screwed up and he manages to stick to his resolve to provide discipline for each and every item. While I may be in incredible pain after, I don’t feel the guilt. The physical pain goes away, where as the emotional pain, the guilt, that never did until now. Nat can do that for me, he is a miracle worker. He forgives me. And I believe him. It sounds so stupid but I actually believe him.
That was when she had stopped writing. Others might have been tempted to flip the pages back to see what was written in the previous entries, Nat didn’t. He places the notebook back where he found it and continued on his way. Now, more than ever, he knew that he was doing the right thing. When she was ready, he knew Alyssa would tell him about the things she had written in there.
When he returned downstairs he found a more subdued form of his naughty girl. She still looked like a school girl in that uniform. Walking past where she was, Nat went back over to the couch and took a seat, mulling over the fact that he had just thought of her as ‘his naughty girl’. She was his now, he supposed. Calling her back over to him, he didn’t waste much time in putting her back over his knee, handing her the piece of paper as she went.
He got no fight from her this time when he told her to begin reading. There was a large pause of surprise on her part when she realized that this time the spanking wasn’t going to be with his hand, but with the hairbrush. Nat had to admit he was proud when she didn’t argue or talk back, didn’t put up a fight of any kind, she just did as she was told and read. By the end of the third time he had her read it, while using the hair brush, she was audibly crying, but she did get through it.
“We’re about halfway there, young lady,” Nat said to her, rubbing small circles on her lower back, letting her calm down for a moment. He gave her a few moments, consoling her a bit. When she had quieted, he asked if she was ready to go on. He was, again, surprised when there was no begging for leniency on her part. She just said that she was.
Nat had her read it another three times, utilizing the ruler to reinforce the lesson during those times. After that he required her to read it twice more. This time he used the small paddle, bringing forth wails and howls of pain in between words and sentences. But, again, Alyssa did get through reading it both times.
Alyssa was sobbing by that point. He wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and hold her. This was becoming even harder to do than he had thought it would be. But it wasn’t quite done yet. Almost, but not quite. So, Nat assisted her to her feet, quickly taking hold of her hands, as he usually did. Then he walked her over to the wall, placing her to stand with her nose against it, hands on her head, effectively putting her into ‘time out’ once again, until she had calmed down.
Alyssa just sobbed, knowing she was a mess. There were tears and snot and everything else falling down her face. She wanted nothing more than to rub it away. But she also didn’t want to get in trouble, so she stayed where she was. After about ten minutes her tears had gone from sobbing to a mere sniffle here and there.
“All right, Alyssa,” she heard Nat say, from somewhere behind her, “I believe one of the last items on this list, not the absolute last one, but one of the last few is being disrespectful to your professors. I believe that ties in with not participating in your courses, young lady. Professors work very hard to create discussions that keep classes going, you didn’t read the material, so you weren’t at all prepared to participate in any discussions. You took classes and didn’t show your professors or fellow classmates any respect by following your responsibilities as a student. That what we’re going to address next. Take two steps back from the wall.”
He hadn’t told her to turn around? That was odd. She almost did, just to look at him to see if he was serious. But one thing she’d learned was that he was rarely ever kidding. So, she took two steps back from the wall and waited for the next instruction.
“Good girl,” she heard him say. While it was very small, the praise in those two words meant so much to her at that moment. “Now bend over and put your hands flat onto the wall. Step your feet apart, about six inches.” Alyssa tried to do as Nat told her, this was new, he’d had her positioned a lot of ways, when punishing her. This was yet a new one and she wasn’t quite sure what it was exactly that she was supposed to do.
Apparently she’d gotten close enough to what wanted because he didn’t criticize or reposition her. She could feel him step up next to her. Feel the heat of his body standing next to hers. He paused, just standing there. Alyssa hated it when he did this. Absolutely hated it! The silence, the time passing. He knew it drove her crazy.
Oh please, she thought to herself, please let him just use his hand for whatever this is going to be. She knew he wouldn’t. Not because he was trying to be overtly cruel to her. She knew he wouldn’t, because he knew her.
She had asked him to punish her in a way that would make it so that she could forgive herself. Every single little tiny aspect of everything had to be accounted for. Accounted for, owned up to, punished. He knew that. He knew her. So while she might wish, in this exact moment for a quick hand spanking, she already knew it wouldn’t happen.
A minute later she felt his hand on her back, effectually holding her somewhat in place. A second after that, she felt it. It! She felt the huge, vintage, practically antique, probably better as a piece of firewood, paddle with holes in it, placed against her bottom.
It was a reflex, she automatically stiffened up. “Participation was ten percent of your grade for each course, Alyssa,” she heard Nat say. She had to stifle the groan. That meant forty strokes of the paddle. There was absolutely no way she could count out forty strokes.
Nat saw her posture stiffen up the moment the paddle was placed against her bottom. “I’m going to give you a choice, Alyssa, and this is one of the few times that you’ll be provided one. So I suggest that you listen carefully.” He could tell that he had her attention.
Part Eleven
“You answered my question,” she said, but in a way that led Nat to believe there was more to it. So he just waited a moment, not making a sound. He knew the silence would spur her to speak. “I just was more wondering about the phone yesterday. You said that you forgave me, you said that you were proud of me. But then, you know, when we were at the table last night, you asked if I thought I should be punished, and I said that I didn’t know. And, well that was a lie, cause, the answer is yes.”
“I see,” Nat said, sitting up a bit straighter. He had known there was something. “Well, I promise you, then, we will certainly address that at some point, either later today or tomorrow. All right?”
He saw her head bob up and down, and then heard her say quietly, “yes, thank you.”
“Good, now back to the business at hand,” Nat took one of the papers that was next to him and handed it to Alyssa. She glanced at it, but didn’t take it from him. Using his free hand, he gave her bottom a medium smack, “no games, Alyssa! Take the paper, let’s go!”
He had felt her jump when he had delivered the swat to her bottom, and she took the paper from him. “Hold it in front of you, both hands, Alyssa,” Nat told her. She did so. He knew he had her good and confused about what the punishment was going to be exactly. Moving his hand from her lower back to her bottom, he knew he was causing a great deal of psychological torture for her. “Do you see the part that explains ‘course participation’, Alyssa?”
“Yes,” she replied, her voice already sounding unhappy and a bit shaky.
“Good,” Nat said to her, “read it out loud.”
Alyssa read the half page out loud to the empty room, without Nat ever removing his hand.
Course Participation:
Course participation through in-class discussions, and the team project provides students with the opportunity to interact with other students and faculty and to improve critical thinking skills. Class time is designed to be interactive and focused on discussion. That depends on your being prepared and completing assigned reading: as noted below, part of your grade will be determined by your participation, which means being prepared and actively engaged in discussion.
Students must come to class prepared to discuss the reading, and other assignments. Every students should remain apprised of current events as they are commonly referenced in all class discussions. Participation in class discussions are not just graded on the number of responses and contributions from a student, but on their quality. The extent to which you use concepts from readings, lectures and other sources is important, linking them to practical examples or perhaps providing new information for the class.
A key part of class participation is responding to other students. Your responses may not merely be your opinion. They must be substantiated by readings, observations, experiences. It is through student participation in discussion, groups, and responses to other students in debates that a professor is able to determine an individuals’ comprehension of the material.
When she had finished, Nat told her to place the paper face down on the floor. She did so, becoming more confused by the second.
“Now, Alyssa, tell me what you just read to me. Paraphrase it for me,” he instructed her.
Nothing but silence filled the room.
“Nothing?” Nat said after a few minutes.
There was no response. Nat already knew what the outcome was going to be. Still, he let another minute go by. “Well then I suppose you’d better read it again. Out loud, clearly. I want to be able to hear every word, young lady!”
This time, the minute she started speaking, Nat raised his hand up and began spanking her already sore cheeks. He reminded himself over and over that it didn’t matter that her bottom was already more than crimson from the number of times he’d smacked it throughout the day. He had to do what he constantly nagged on Alyssa to do: not linger on the past, concentrate on the present moment.
Meaning, he couldn’t let the thought of how red and somewhat bruised her tush was deter him. Nat coached himself, making sure he focused on the fact that he asked her to read the ‘Participation’ description aloud. She had done so. He hadn’t been spanking or causing any sort of distraction. Yet, at the end, Alyssa had absolutely no idea what it was that she had just read to him.
It was with that thought in mind that he was able to deliver the kind of spanking he knew was needed. Not one that was softer than normal, because he felt bad for her. No, the entire time that she read the description, he raised his hand up and brought it down with speed and strength, ensuring she felt his thoughts on how important the topic was.
Once she had read the three paragraph description out loud, he paused, hand in mid-air, and said, “read it again, Alyssa” There was silence, which Nat allowed. He had no problem with her taking that brief pause to compose herself, catch her breath or whatever she needed to read out loud. When the pause extended itself from gaining composure to defiance, he brought his hand down quickly on her upper thighs. Giving two not-at-all-gentle swats to each thigh, he said her name. His voice was a notch louder in volume, and tone was edging towards one of steel.
Alyssa nearly screamed when Nat’s hand came flying down onto the very tops of her thighs. He spanked her twice on the right and then twice on the left, hitting the very fleshy part of her upper thigh, right where her leg met the lower curvature of her bottom. It was one of the most painful places to be spanked, she hated, absolutely hated to receive those punishing smacks there. When she heard the way he spoke her name, though, that is when she was two hundred percent sure that he meant business.
Not that she hadn’t thought so before. Alyssa had known he was serious before. Nat was always serious. He just usually indulged her in giving her the time that she wanted. Even when he thought she was taking too long, he still let her. At least until now. When she heard the stern, steel backing in his voice, the increase in volume, the coldness…that tone of voice was the reason people would say things like ‘it would make you shiver down to your bones’. Because it could. If she hadn’t been over his lap at the moment, she very well might have, too. At least, all of her, except her bottom, that part of her anatomy wasn’t going to be cold for a long time.
Taking a quick breath, she began to read the description for the second time. “Participation. Course participation,” she didn’t even get the first three words out before Nat’s hand had landed three hard swats onto her bottom. She didn’t mean to be, but she was surprised and stopped reading. Why am I surprised? Alyssa couldn’t help but think to herself? After all, she knew that she would be spanked through this, she had been spanked through the last one. This one was no different. Literally no different, he was using his hand just like the last time he read it.
Shaking her head to herself, she made her mind clear itself of all distractions and just concentrate on the page in front of her and keep reading. Just keep reading, and do it right then so she didn’t create further trouble for herself. She probably started just in time too, because she could feel Nat’s body start to shift, his right leg starting to move up a bit. That usually meant he was raising her bottom up, so he could land a few swats on the lowest part of her bottom cheeks as consequences for not doing what she was supposed to. The minute she began reading again, she could sense his right leg moving back down. Not that it gave her all that much solace, he was still landing horrifically hard swats on the rest of her backside with his hand. The man had a hand that was a paddle.
Alyssa coaxed herself through the three paragraphs, trying to remain optimistic. Maybe if she did extraordinarily well, and was well behaved for the rest of this spanking, he’d be lenient with her? Doubtful, but worth a try. She was nearly done with the last paragraph, the end was in sight. She had to pause for a second to take a breath. Luckily, Nat did know her well enough that he allowed this. He also held, what looked like a plastic kiddie cup as it had a lid and bendable straw, in front of her face. “Do you need you water,” she heard him say as the cup appeared in front of her.
Yes, she really did. She was about to move her hands from where her fingers were interlaced behind her head. “No,” Nat said. “Keep them there.”
Alyssa could feel him leaning over a bit, and watched as he guided the cup towards her, the straw right in front of her lips. “Just a few small sips, Alyssa,” he instructed. Taking the straw in her mouth, she took the few small sips, though she felt like she could have easily swallowed everything in the cup.
Nodding that she was done, the cup disappeared as Nat sat back up straight. “Thank you,” she said to him. She was surprised when he didn’t reply with his usual ‘you’re welcome, sweetie’, or ‘of course, kiddo’, or ‘anytime baby girl’ or ‘don’t worry about little one’. He said nothing.
It definitely threw her off, so much so that she forgot she was supposed to finish reading. At least until she felt Nat lightly smack her bottom. “Finish reading, Alyssa,” his stern voice instructed from up above her.
That’s right, she had one sentence left to get through. Glancing at the page, she located the sentence. Took a quick breath, mentally attempting to prepare herself for the punishing swats that were about to come, and began to read. “It is through SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! student SWAT! participation SWAT! in discussion SWAT! SWAT!, groups SWAT!, and SWAT! responses SWAT! to other SWAT! students SWAT! in debates SWAT! SWAT! that SWAT! a professor SWAT! is SWAT! able SWAT! to determine SWAT! SWAT! an individuals’ SWAT! SWAT! comprehension SWAT! SWAT! of SWAT! the SWAT! material.” SWAT! SWAT!
Alyssa was so proud of herself at that moment. She had made it through the second time. She almost didn’t think she would. Realistically it didn’t make sense to have her read it again, did it? What was he hoping for her to get from this? No, she was positive, that she had done it twice, and that they’d be moving on to the next thing.
At least, she was positive of it, until she heard Nat say, “again, Alyssa. Read it again, out loud, start to finish. Let’s go.”
“Why?” She asked, wanting to sound like she was demanding an answer, but instead sounding like a whining child.
“Why?” Nat heard Alyssa ask from somewhere near the floor, her voice sounding whiny and infantile.
“Excuse me?” He asked, almost wondering to himself if he heard her correctly. “What did you just say to me?” Nat demanded. While there was no physical change that could be seen, something in that moment happened, almost as if it was just then that Alyssa grasped the seriousness of the situation and a shift in demeanor took place.
He heard her gulp. It was a significant indication of how nervous she was. “I’m sorry Nat,” he heard her say quietly. “I didn’t mean it like that. I”
“I asked you, ‘what did you just say?’ Alyssa,” Nat interrupted her. “That is the only question I want an answer to at this moment.”
There was silence and Nat could tell she was bracing herself for the answer she was about to give. He knew it because he could see the tension build up in her shoulders. “I said ‘why?’,” she replied quietly.
“And with attitude,” Nat added.
“Yeah,” Alyssa said, defeat echoing through her voice.
“Yes?” Nat echoed her. “Yes, what?”
“Yes…sir?” Alyssa’s shoulders were becoming further wrought with tension and the confusion in her voice was more than evident.
Because he was aware she couldn’t see him, Nat smiled. She didn’t know what he was asking of her, and that was okay. He was more than willing to walk her through this one. “Yes, Alyssa,” he said, placing his hand on her lower back. “You said ‘why?’ with attitude. Try it.”
He heard her sniffle and then she said, “I said ‘why? And did so with attitude, sir.”
“Good girl,” Nat praised her, rubbing a small circle on her lower back. “And I know you didn’t mean to be as disrespectful as it sounded, but it was disrespectful. I believe that is something you wrote me a letter about earlier today. Apologizing for not being respectful, and you gave me your word that you would do better in the future.” He heard Alyssa begin to cry softly.
“And what is this answering questions with ‘yeah’ and ‘nah’, ‘dunno’, and ‘maybe’. You’ve a very intelligent young lady, Alyssa, I expect you to use correct language around me. At the very least pretend you went to a top rated University, though you wouldn’t be tell from your course participation,” Nat remarked, knowing it would assist in reinforcing this lesson. Though she was doing her best to remain as quiet as possible, her tears had increased.
“It’s yes or no. But not ‘Yeah’. Show me the respect of speaking correctly. To answer your question of why? Besides the fact that I told you to, and I expect you to do as you’re told. I intend to have you read the description of class participation, as many times necessary, until I’m convinced that you will never, ever forget it. Understand?”
He saw Alyssa quickly bob her head up and down and then say “yes, sir.”
“Good,” Nat replied, moving his hand from her lower back to her bottom. “Then I suggest you start reading, from the top, Alyssa.”
Two more times, he had her read it, while he spanked her bottom with his hand. After she finished the second time, within seconds, Nat flipped her back up onto her feet. In other situations he would have given her a moment or two to calm down, but he also needed that moment himself, and knew he needed that moment alone, not with Alyssa over his lap. Grasping hold of her wrists, once she was on her feet, Nat walked her over to the wall, having her stand with her nose pressed directly against it, in time out, giving her a few minutes to calm down.
While she cried with her nose pressed against the wall, he sprinted up the stairs to retrieve her most hated item: the hairbrush. As he was walking down the hall, he passed what had been the guest room, now would be Alyssa’s and just stopped. Opening the door, he went in and looked around. It still pretty much looked the same. The place could use a coat of paint, that was for sure.
He was about to turn and go back downstairs when he noticed something on the bed. A book. Looking closer he saw it was a notebook. Thinking it was her schoolwork, he chuckled thinking it was good that she finally started working on it, and picked up the spiral bound book to see what she was doing for class.
It wasn’t a notebook. It was her journal. There were only a few sentences on the page, it was obviously carrying over from the thoughts on the previous page. His conscious told him to put it down immediately, but he saw his name in one of the sentences, and couldn’t quite help himself.
I never in a million years thought that life would be the way it is. I guess it is true that everything happens for a reason, even having a former academic advisor for a neighbor. Thought it certainly wasn’t that great at first. Honestly, I think there is something wrong with me. I mean, seriously, I come over here and admit to breaking rules, or talk about stuff that I did eons ago and feel guilty about and ask to be punished. Who does that? But I’m grateful. I imagine that it can’t be easy, punishing someone. The year I taught high school, I failed about 20 percent of my students, I felt horrible, like I wanted to throw up I felt so bad.
So I am infinitely grateful and appreciative of Nat. I end up with long huge lists of things that I’ve inevitably screwed up and he manages to stick to his resolve to provide discipline for each and every item. While I may be in incredible pain after, I don’t feel the guilt. The physical pain goes away, where as the emotional pain, the guilt, that never did until now. Nat can do that for me, he is a miracle worker. He forgives me. And I believe him. It sounds so stupid but I actually believe him.
That was when she had stopped writing. Others might have been tempted to flip the pages back to see what was written in the previous entries, Nat didn’t. He places the notebook back where he found it and continued on his way. Now, more than ever, he knew that he was doing the right thing. When she was ready, he knew Alyssa would tell him about the things she had written in there.
When he returned downstairs he found a more subdued form of his naughty girl. She still looked like a school girl in that uniform. Walking past where she was, Nat went back over to the couch and took a seat, mulling over the fact that he had just thought of her as ‘his naughty girl’. She was his now, he supposed. Calling her back over to him, he didn’t waste much time in putting her back over his knee, handing her the piece of paper as she went.
He got no fight from her this time when he told her to begin reading. There was a large pause of surprise on her part when she realized that this time the spanking wasn’t going to be with his hand, but with the hairbrush. Nat had to admit he was proud when she didn’t argue or talk back, didn’t put up a fight of any kind, she just did as she was told and read. By the end of the third time he had her read it, while using the hair brush, she was audibly crying, but she did get through it.
“We’re about halfway there, young lady,” Nat said to her, rubbing small circles on her lower back, letting her calm down for a moment. He gave her a few moments, consoling her a bit. When she had quieted, he asked if she was ready to go on. He was, again, surprised when there was no begging for leniency on her part. She just said that she was.
Nat had her read it another three times, utilizing the ruler to reinforce the lesson during those times. After that he required her to read it twice more. This time he used the small paddle, bringing forth wails and howls of pain in between words and sentences. But, again, Alyssa did get through reading it both times.
Alyssa was sobbing by that point. He wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and hold her. This was becoming even harder to do than he had thought it would be. But it wasn’t quite done yet. Almost, but not quite. So, Nat assisted her to her feet, quickly taking hold of her hands, as he usually did. Then he walked her over to the wall, placing her to stand with her nose against it, hands on her head, effectively putting her into ‘time out’ once again, until she had calmed down.
Alyssa just sobbed, knowing she was a mess. There were tears and snot and everything else falling down her face. She wanted nothing more than to rub it away. But she also didn’t want to get in trouble, so she stayed where she was. After about ten minutes her tears had gone from sobbing to a mere sniffle here and there.
“All right, Alyssa,” she heard Nat say, from somewhere behind her, “I believe one of the last items on this list, not the absolute last one, but one of the last few is being disrespectful to your professors. I believe that ties in with not participating in your courses, young lady. Professors work very hard to create discussions that keep classes going, you didn’t read the material, so you weren’t at all prepared to participate in any discussions. You took classes and didn’t show your professors or fellow classmates any respect by following your responsibilities as a student. That what we’re going to address next. Take two steps back from the wall.”
He hadn’t told her to turn around? That was odd. She almost did, just to look at him to see if he was serious. But one thing she’d learned was that he was rarely ever kidding. So, she took two steps back from the wall and waited for the next instruction.
“Good girl,” she heard him say. While it was very small, the praise in those two words meant so much to her at that moment. “Now bend over and put your hands flat onto the wall. Step your feet apart, about six inches.” Alyssa tried to do as Nat told her, this was new, he’d had her positioned a lot of ways, when punishing her. This was yet a new one and she wasn’t quite sure what it was exactly that she was supposed to do.
Apparently she’d gotten close enough to what wanted because he didn’t criticize or reposition her. She could feel him step up next to her. Feel the heat of his body standing next to hers. He paused, just standing there. Alyssa hated it when he did this. Absolutely hated it! The silence, the time passing. He knew it drove her crazy.
Oh please, she thought to herself, please let him just use his hand for whatever this is going to be. She knew he wouldn’t. Not because he was trying to be overtly cruel to her. She knew he wouldn’t, because he knew her.
She had asked him to punish her in a way that would make it so that she could forgive herself. Every single little tiny aspect of everything had to be accounted for. Accounted for, owned up to, punished. He knew that. He knew her. So while she might wish, in this exact moment for a quick hand spanking, she already knew it wouldn’t happen.
A minute later she felt his hand on her back, effectually holding her somewhat in place. A second after that, she felt it. It! She felt the huge, vintage, practically antique, probably better as a piece of firewood, paddle with holes in it, placed against her bottom.
It was a reflex, she automatically stiffened up. “Participation was ten percent of your grade for each course, Alyssa,” she heard Nat say. She had to stifle the groan. That meant forty strokes of the paddle. There was absolutely no way she could count out forty strokes.
Nat saw her posture stiffen up the moment the paddle was placed against her bottom. “I’m going to give you a choice, Alyssa, and this is one of the few times that you’ll be provided one. So I suggest that you listen carefully.” He could tell that he had her attention.