Dragos Falls

by Carl Hamlin

  Aubrey leaned her head against his chest. “And I thought I was the crazy one for thinking I was already in love with you. So, crazy or not, we’re in love with each other.” She began to laugh. “Didn’t take long did it?”

  “I guess it was love at first sight for me.”

  Aubrey began to giggle. “You mean you fell in love with me when all you could see was my bare bottom bent over the desk?”

  “Well, as adorable and shapely as your bottom may be, I saw you being taken out of the back of that pickup truck with your hands tied together. You caught my attention from that moment.”

  “Mike, you are an intelligent man. For crying out loud, you are a school principal. The first time you saw me, I was virtually under citizens arrest.”

  Mike laughed and shook his head. “I know. I’m just telling you that I love you. I guess it means that I’m willing to accept everything about you.”

  Aubrey batted her green eyes at Mike. “And you made quite an impression on me when we first met. It was about eighteen inches long and four inches wide.”

  They began to walk again, and Mike gave Aubrey a mild smack on her bottom. “And you deserved every bit of it.”

  “And even more, to be honest. But you really let me have it, so I knew that you were serious about wanting me to stop my behavior. I guess that’s why I looked for you at the barbecue campfire that evening. I just had to meet this guy who cared enough to really tan my hide for what I had done. In fact, when I brought that plate of food and sat down next to you, my bottom was still stinging.”

  Aubrey put her arm around his waist as they continued down the sidewalk. “So you love me in spite of my little compulsive larceny… thingy… whatever.”

  Mike nodded. “Looks like it.”

  Aubrey lowered her voice as she spoke again. “And I think we have established that I also have a spanking fetish. So what about that?”

  Mike shrugged. “I’ll indulge you. I think it makes you seem more fun and interesting.”

  Aubrey pointed to an old wooden bench along the sidewalk. “Let’s sit down for a minute.”

  Mike sat down on the bench first, but instead of sitting next to him, Aubrey sat down on his lap and put her arm around his neck. “Can I propose an absolutely silly idea? I think it may help me with my problem.

  “Remember how I told you that I was feeling the compulsion really strong this morning?”

  “Sure. It made me feel very concerned.”

  “It’s still with me.”

  “Okay.”

  “Well, I’ve never felt like I’ve had anyone before who really cared for me that I could completely open up to about this. But I feel like I can tell you anything, and I think that I can ask anything of you.”

  “So what do you want me to do?”

  “When I feel the urge to steal something… I want to steal something from you.”

  “Okay… then what?”

  Aubrey leaned close and whispered into his ear: “I get paddled… and paddled some more. Or some other variation of getting my ass worked over really good.”

  “Aubrey… I have to ask you something. You’ve told me that you fear the paddle but that spanking turns you on. But I’m getting the feeling that perhaps the paddle now has its own arousal qualities for you.”

  “Mike, I think that is happening. Yes. And if you are kind of confused about all this, so am I.”

  Mike closed his eyes and seemed to be straining to understand. “So if you steal something now, you will not be certain if it’s purely the result of your compulsion, or some subliminal desire to experience another paddling.”

  “To be honest… that seems to be the case.”

  Mike sighed. “So if you steal something from me, and I give you a paddling… is the purpose of that paddling to punish you… or to turn you on?”

  Aubrey rose from his lap, then took his hand and coaxed him to stand up. She leaned up and kissed him, then fluttered her big green eyes at him as she shrugged and murmured, “Yes.” They put their arms around each other’s waists, then began to walk slowly back toward the school.

  Just when they had reached the front door of the building, Aubrey stopped them. “I suppose we’ll all be back in the gardens all day tomorrow.”

  “Probably by late morning. It should be dry enough by then for us to start weeding.”

  Aubrey put her arms around his waist and drew him closer. “I’m going to go inside and get back to my mending and sewing. Some of the kids need patches put on the knees of their pants. And I have another skirt that’s almost done, and I’d like to wear it to your room this evening after I get back from my shower under the falls. By any chance, will you have some free time yet today?”

  Mike laughed. “Yes I do, but I don’t think I will be very good at sewing.”

  Aubrey giggled. “Actually, I thought maybe you could do a little woodworking. Maybe the paddle that was used during our formal introduction should just stay in the office. And maybe a preemptive paddling this evening would be therapeutic for my compulsion.”

  A sly grin crept across Mike’s face. “So will I be paddling you to punish you for wanting to steal… or because you think you’ll enjoy it?”

  Aubrey leaned toward him and kissed him. “Yes.”

  Mike had found his way to a storage area near the janitors’ room. He took a piece of scrap wood to the workbench and began to cut and shape it by candlelight. Knowing that the paddle he was crafting would not only provide Aubrey with needed discipline, but also be a method of bringing her to arousal, was something that he found arousing in his own right.

  He cut the oak board so that the smacking blade would be an inch narrower than the one in the office, and the overall length a couple of inches shorter. It was also made from stock that was not as thick and heavy. It was nearly identical to the one he had made to use at his school. He preferred to not leave bruises from a few smacks with a heavy instrument. He felt that giving a paddling that involved more numerous but highly painful and stinging swats had the most desirable effect. It was his opinion that experiencing more numerous episodes of the sting, the intimidating sounds and the wait for the punishment to be finished provided the best punishment. He assumed that would also be the case with Aubrey.

  As he finished sanding the paddle to eliminate the danger of any splinters ending up being lodged in the tender backside he so adored, he began to wonder if Aubrey’s strategy could backfire and result in more episodes of acting out on her compulsions. He decided that the odds were it would help her avoid acting on her urges in public, even if it resulted in her repeatedly having her bottom warmed. He had to admit to himself that, to his surprise, he was finding that landing his open hand or a paddle on Aubrey’s delectable backside was beginning to bring him pleasure.

  Once he was satisfied that the paddle was finished, he opened a briefcase he had found in the nurse’s office, and found that by laying the instrument of correction corner to corner, it just fit inside. He closed the case, and then went back to the storage room where the scrap lumber had been found.

  He found a small sheet of plywood, and carried it into the gymnasium. He went back to the janitors’ office to search by candlelight, and finally found a pair of folding sawhorses. He took those to the gymnasium as well, then returned to the janitors’ office and began walking around with a cardboard box to look for anything else that could be of use. He finally came across a cabinet with some electrical supplies, and was able to take a long heavy extension cord and a couple of outlet strips to be used on his charging station.

  Without the benefit of the electric drill, he was able to use his muscle power to attach the outlet strips to the plywood, and then use a permanent marker to print numbers beneath each of the outlets. This would allow for individuals to be assigned use of an outlet for phone charging during those rare hours that the generator would be working. He went back to the janitors’ office and searched for another outlet strip that he attached to be designated for charging and
operating radios.

  As he worked, he knew that his labor could be all for nothing if cell towers had fallen into disrepair without the maintenance that only humans could provide, or had fallen victim to vandalism. He could only hope that the radios would manage to pick up foreign stations in English that far south. In the back of his mind, he knew that if they did hear some news, they might wish they had not. He assumed there were other groups like the residents of Dragos Falls in other places but he did not know if such survivors were plentiful or rare. In spite of their relief in finding a place to live, it was likely that many of the refugees could descend into an even deeper despair depending upon the news.

  Mike worked well into the evening, and when he was finished, all that remained was to bring one of the generators to the back of the school so that the power cord could be run out of the gymnasium. He opened the briefcase and retrieved some packs of beef sticks and crackers that served as his evening meal. As he finished up his electrical work, he had to fight the distraction of thinking ahead to what Aubrey had in mind for the late evening.

  With one more task in mind, he blew out the candles and walked in the dim light back to his room. He found his flashlight, and then began looking for a mechanical room that may house a valve to control the flow to the shower rooms just off the gymnasium.

  Mike opened every door he could find, but to no avail. He went inside the boys’ locker room, and opened what had appeared to be a closet door. He shined the light around in the small space, and then spotted a valve handle that was unmarked. He took hold of the circular handle and gave it a mighty turn. Then he walked into the shower room, stood aside and turned one of the cold water handles.

  To his relief, water came pouring out of the showerhead. The water may have not been warm, probably cooler than the falls. But there was now an option to bathing with Mother Nature. All that would be needed was a supply of candles to light the place.

  Mike laid the flashlight on the floor, pointing it into the shower room to provide at least some minimal light. He quickly stripped off his clothes, took a deep breath and stepped under the cold water. There was a remnant of a bar of soap on a small aluminum shelf near the controls, so as he shivered and shook, he took his first actual shower in weeks, although he could stand only a minute of the cold water.

  He had not brought a towel, so he simply pulled on his slacks, rolled up his clothes and picked up the briefcase with its special contents and headed back to his room. He dropped off his belongings and headed straight for the other occupied schoolrooms.

  He stood out in the hallway and started yelling, “WE HAVE SHOWERS!”

  Marlene poked her head out the door, and with mock anger shouted, “Now you tell us, after about ten of us just stood naked as Jaybirds in that stream.”

  Mike laughed as he began to walk back to his room. Cold water or not, the fact that the showers were now operating would be welcome news to those in those few houses without showers, and the more crowded dwellings with scheduling issues. It would be especially welcome news to the handful of them living in the school building who had chosen the falls over asking to go into one of the houses to shower. A few houses did have fuel tanks that could have operated water heaters, but the use of fuel for heating water was prohibited so that the fuel could be saved for more urgent needs such as staying warm at night during the cooler fall and winter months.

  Mike went into his makeshift bedroom, took off his slacks and found a towel and began drying himself. Finding that the showers were now functional, coupled with the prospect of perhaps beginning to make contact with the outside world made him begin to feel that there was a better future available than had been envisioned just days earlier.

  He glanced at his watch, and realized that Aubrey would be arriving at any time. He smiled to himself as he decided that it would only be practical for him to don nothing more than another pair of jogging pants. His judgment was vindicated a minute later.

  He heard a slight tap on his door, and when he opened it, Aubrey silently strolled in and closed the door behind her. The light in the room was very dim, and the still silent Aubrey walked to where the unlit candles rested next to a butane lighter. She lit each one, and then set them around the room.

  In the flickering light, she struck a modeling pose and turned slowly. “How do you like my second attempt at making a skirt?”

  Mike looked with deep appreciation at the silky, pleated blue flowered skirt. The hem rested half way between her waist and knees. “Very nice. Very sexy.”

  Aubrey walked over to him and began to rub her hands across his chest. “Speaking of nice and sexy…”.

  Mike leaned down and kissed her as she began to run her fingertips inside the waistband of his jogging pants, then began to tease as if she was going to pull them down. She pressed up against him and began to giggle. “Ooo hoo… I do believe I feel reactions.”

  Mike kissed her again and hugged her. “Now you are being naughty.”

  As they continued to kiss, Aubrey reached to his lower back and ran her hands inside his jogging pants. “In a little while we can address my being naughty and what that means for the well-being of my own butt. For right now I’m just appreciating what a great ass you have.”

  Aubrey leaned the side of her head against his chest as she continued to caress his buttocks. “Really nice… really firm.”

  Mike reached down and patted her on the backside. “But yours is… so soft… so tender.”

  Aubrey withdrew her hands from his buttocks and put her arms around his waist. “Well, let’s just have a little talk about things regarding my butt.”

  Mike led her to the sofa, and she sat down on his lap. They began to kiss as he softly stroked the thighs sticking out from beneath the short skirt.

  “I think you really like my new skirt. I kept asking myself what I should wear to my next paddling, and I decided on this.”

  Mike began to run his fingers through her hair. “I think that was a good choice.”

  “As experienced as I have become at being paddled, I have become somewhat of an authority. And I take it you did your woodworking chores today?”

  “I did. Of course, it will be up to you to evaluate the results. But let me ask you this… why are you being paddled? Is it because you’ve been feeling the urge to steal?”

  “Exactly… yes. That’s why. I mean that’s most of the reason.”

  “Okay… I thought maybe it was just because it might turn you on.”

  “Exactly… yes. That’s why, too. I mean mostly because I think it will deter me from stealing. But now of course, if I do steal, I will steal from you… I mean… oh, gosh.” She kissed him on the forehead. “I mean… it’s that old feeling… I just feel like if I get a good paddling, everything will be under control. And as a bonus… now it turns me on. Understand all that?”

  Mike laughed and shook his head. “I’m not sure it matters if I understand.”

  Aubrey stroked his face with her soft hand. “Not really. All that matters is that you give me a good enough paddling to cure all that ails me.”

  Chapter 7

  Mike reached his hand between the sofa and the wall and pulled out the paddle and handed it to the lovely vision sitting on his lap. “Here it is. Just like the one I used two or three times in a typical week at my school.”

  She seemed reluctant, at first, to take hold of it, and then began looking at it in the flickering light, turning it over to more closely examine it. “You know… just holding it gave me a chill at first. All I can say is, OUCH! It makes me just feel like I’m quivering inside… you made this just for the purpose of paddling me. Wow! Something tells me this is really going to sting.”

  Mike began to laugh. “That all depends.”

  Aubrey opened her green eyes wide and laughed in return. “Depends on what?”

  Mike shrugged. “Velocity of impact… thickness of clothing covering the target… number of whacks received.”

  Aubrey waved the paddle
in front of Mike’s face. “So what am I in for in those three categories?”

  Mike took the paddle into his left hand, then closed his eyes as if considering the question: “High velocity…” He smacked Aubrey softly on her exposed thigh, but hard enough to generate a mild sting. “As for the thickness of the clothing covering the target… that could actually vary throughout the course of the paddling.” He again brought the paddle down on her thigh with a mild smack. “As for the number of whacks… I never believed in revealing that in advance. You see, an important element of an effective and successful spanking lies in making the recipient wonder when it is going to end.”

  Aubrey began to giggle. “Come to think of it… one time I got paddled by the principal without knowing how many swats I was going to get… I guess that was the scariest paddling I ever got. I had to struggle with how much it hurt, and I was also worried about how long it was going to last. By the way… I do remember that I got seven whacks that time. And it did seem to go on forever.”

  Aubrey took the paddle once again and began to rub her hand over the smooth surface. “Sometimes I had to bend over and touch my toes for a paddling. It always got me right where I sat down. How did you give your paddlings?”

  “Well, I would just tell the student to bend over and put their hands just below their knees. Maybe I should paddle you both ways. I think I’ll give you two paddlings so that you can develop a fair and analytical comparison.”

  Aubrey arched her eyebrows. “Then maybe we should get started.”

  She crawled off Mike’s lap, slid off her sandals, and walked to the middle of the room. Mike walked up to stand beside her, and then began to playfully caress her bottom with circular motions of the paddle. She closed her eyes and smiled at the sensations, then began to shake her head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Powell… but I don’t think that pathetic looking little piece of wood is going to work very well as a paddle.”

  Mike began to move the paddle back and forth on the lower portion of her bottom. “Bend over and touch your toes, and we will find out.”