It’s funny how, in most of my school-based writing, a girl’s fate already seems to be determined before she walks into the housemaster’s study. That she’s to be caned is in little doubt – despite the last faint glimmers of hope in her mind. And it’s rather presumed that the master concerned has already formulated the sentence in his mind.
However, I suspect, this merits further exploration. A girl knocks on my study door; I’ve been expecting her, and the discussion I’ve had with the colleague who sent her my way has led me to believe that I shall probably cane her.
Yet I’ll ask her to explain, give her room to set out her side of the story. There may have been a misunderstanding; matters may not be quite as serious as first thought; she may be so dismayed at her conduct that I may be influenced by her remorse. A scolding, a detention, a letter of apology to be written – all are valid alternatives that might, just, be considered.
Even if I determine that a caning is appropriate, and even if the school sets out clear punishment guidelines, there are still numerous factors left to my discretion to consider. Which implement do I use – for I have a selection, of varying degrees of severity. How many strokes – for the difference between (say) three and four might be marginal in my mind as I weigh the evidence, but significant for the girl on the receiving end. Across her skirt, over her knickers, or on the bare?
And then, perhaps the most critical decision of all – how hard? For I can apply her strokes gently: each stinging but largely symbolic. Or I can ensure that each whack stripes her, hurts more than she could have imagined possible, raises weals that will mark and discomfort her for days to come.
I’d like to think that I’d be a merciful housemaster, caning infrequently rather than being renowned for my harsh judgments. Yet perish the girl on the rare occasion that a caning was required, for then all due severity would be called for…
As a bottom, I love it when a scene manages to create the illusion that the outcome is not a foregone conclusion. Perhaps the best part of it for me is the interrogation in the principal’s office, in which my excuses seem effective initially, only to have it skillfully revealed that I’ve been well and truly busted. That sinking realization that I’ve been caught and can’t talk my way out of it is incredibly hot, especially if the top can make my character feel bad about what she’s done.
Even though the getting in trouble part, rather than the spanking itself, is often the focus of my fantasies, I suspect I’d be upset to be let off in a real life scene!
@Indy – I too in play would feel short-changed in being finally let off, almost as much as if I found myself across the desk before my feet had hardly touched the carpet.
But for me it can also be hot where the character I am playing both dreads and seeks to avoid a caning and yet deep down wants it to put things right. I think it stems from playing a forbidden game that caused a friend to break an ankle and being so distraught when summoned to our formidable headmistress that she chose not to punish me at all. I felt doubly guilty and would have much preferred the detention (plus public announcement of my crime) I expected and thought I thoroughly deserved.
I think though that a token punishment would have been about all I could have dealt with. So difficult to be fairly merciful !
I love all your posts with school scenes, especially the ones with a strict but kind housemaster … I’ll be daydreaming about this for the rest of the afternoon
I tend to agree, Abel. I suspect that if you had lived during the ‘time of the cane’, you would have used elements of corporal punishment judicuosly in terms of frequency. However, I have every confidence that when you would have chosen to administer a thrashing, it would indeed have been highly memorable, even if just to impart ‘sting’ on a more ‘symbolic’ level. >:)
I think you might be overlooking your effectiveness with the spoken word and passion for the disciplinary ‘arts’:
I seem to recall being brought to tears without so much as 1 smack, rather, it was the overwhelming sense of remorse you caused me to reflect upon that brought on the initial, soft crying. (Of course, the corporal punishment and continued soft-spoken admonishments only heightened all of my feelings, causing the trickling of tears to have turned into a steady torrent, but I cannot deny that I was deserving of your disciplinary attention. Sadly, I have to admit I had earned it).
Glad you all enjoyed the post – lovely comments.
@Lilly – happy memories