The Misadventures of Samantha and Malcolm/Chapter 14 Afternoon in the Park

There has to be something! thought Samantha. “Good thing I don’t have dinner plans,” said Malcolm with a snide confidence that made Samantha’s blood boil. “Now, Malcolm,” said Alison in a warning tone. “You have to play nice.” It was Alison who had suggested replacing Friday night’s holo viewing with a game of chess between her two pennies. Now Samantha was staring at Malcolm across the board upon the coffee table, on her knees to try to ignore her red and sore bottom from her penny spanking, desperately trying to think about how to get her white king out of check. She had been loosing pieces for an hour now and she was running out of options. She hated it, she hated having her stupidity rubbed in her face like this. She wanted to scream her head off at Mommy for making her play this game and bash in that smug mouth that Malcolm had been mocking her with ever since he captured her first pawn. She wanted to take his knight with her rook, but in the end she had to move that rook to block Malcolm’s rook to get out of check. “That’s your move?” asked Malcolm. “Yes!” insisted Samantha. “Okay,” said Malcolm. The route now clear of the rook, he captured her queen with one of his bishops. Samantha lost it. She shrieked and swept the pieces from the board with a backhand stroke of her right hand. Then her higher faculties returned to her and she turned her head towards her mommy in horror. “Thank you for making up my mind, Samantha,” said Alison. “We’ll call that a forfeit...well, clean it all up.” Samantha sprang into action, grabbing every piece and returning them to the box as fast as she could. She didn’t even register Malcolm watching her with smug satisfaction. She placed the board in the box and closed the lid. “Now, I think you both need to get to bed.” She took both of her children by the hand and led them upstairs, into the bathroom. As she tossed Samantha’s skirt into the hamper, Samantha was sure that her mommy was about to bend her over her knee and spank her on the spot. But to her surprise, once her pink panties were off and she was wearing nothing but a shade of red on her bottom, Mommy just turned around and started undressing Malcolm. Once Mommy had them in the tub she picked up the bath brush. This is it, thought Samantha. But Mommy just used it for its intended purpose of cleaning her children. Toward the end, Mommy scrubbed Samantha’s sore little bottom a bit harder than usual, soliciting a few honest whines out of the girl, but no spanking. After drying them, Alison led the children back into their room and laid them on their beds to get them into their pyjamas and diapers. As Mommy lifted up Samantha’s legs, Samantha was certain that this was the moment. she closed her eyes and waited for the impact. All she felt was the cold cream of nano-lotion. She finally opened her eyes. Was Mommy really going to let her outburst slide? “Aren’t you going to spank her?” asked Malcolm, naked on the next bed. Samantha successfully fought down the urge to throw the alarm clock at his head. “Not tonight,” said Alison in a suspicious tone as she slid a diaper under her daughter and covered her securely. After getting her daughter into her pyjamas and into bed, she repeated the process with Malcolm and exited. Eventually the Delta inducer cast both of the pennies into sleep. Malcolm raced through halls filled with lockers. If he didn’t get to the test he had barely studied for in time, he would flunk out of college, and he would have wasted his parents’ money and all the work he did for his scholarships would have been for nothing. He rounded the bend and went down some stairs, and he tripped and fell forward and...bolted upright in bed. In one moment, Malcolm realized that it was all a dream and it was Saturday and as such he had no school and felt relief. In the next moment, Malcolm realized that he was a penitatas and today was the final day of the odd numbered month, and as such his parents would make him admit what a stupid, worthless little penny he was before they beat him with a paddle until he cried, and felt dejected. In the next moment he realized that the Delta inducer had not put him back to sleep and he felt curious. In the next moment the alarm went off and as Samantha bolted out the door and into the bathroom for her Saturday morning ritual, he realized that he must have woken up in the scant few seconds between the delta inducers deactivating and the alarm clock activating. As he got out of bed and proceeded down the hall, he realized this was the fifth consecutive dry night he had, and hoped that soon he could do away with the humiliating diapers soon. “Okay,” said Malcolm, reading off of a datapad, “What happens to the financial obligations of a rejuve?” Across the breakfast table, Jet’s eyeballs moved upward as he remembered the answer. “To protect rejuves from malicious contracts,” said Jet, “all rejuves of every status have the option of voiding any contract they make until they reach the age of consent. As such, few organizations will extend offers to rejuves. Debts from before the rejuvenation are handled based on status. Voluntaras usually rejuve with most of their debts paid off, but if they do not the debt is transferred to the guardian by a signed contract after full disclosure. It is illegal to avoid this. When they reach the age of consent, if the debt is not paid off, it becomes the rejuve’s again. For medicalos, or other emergency rejuves, the loans go into deferment until the child reaches age of consent. Several individuals have been successfully prosecuted for attempting to escape their debts by staging an accident necessitating a rejuve, I know at least one guy died in his own “accident.” A penitatas’ debts go into deferment as well, but their assets are frozen if they cannot be transferred before their sentence” “You’re ready,” said Malcolm. The boy had been helping Jet study for the Lieutenant's exam for three weeks now. The exam tested knowledge of police procedure, law, and Paradisian history. “Never failed once,” said Jet. “Not about to start, now.” He finished off the rest of his milk and stood up. His wife kissed him good luck, he gathered up his briefcase and he was out the door. Malcolm, having finished his breakfast, expected his mother to take him into the living room for his morning spanking. He also halfway expected Samantha to get an extra today after her tantrum yesterday. “Malcolm,” said his mother, “You’d best get as much homework as you can done before your show.” He took the hint and proceeded upstairs to his desk. Samantha followed soon. for a while they sat at their desk on opposing sides of the room. As the clock ticked to 11 am, Malcolm started getting nervous thinking that his mom might forget his show and give him his spanking during his show (and today was the second part of a two part special). When the clock read 10:57, Malcolm ventured downstairs to ask his mother if he could watch his program. “Mommy,” he said. “I got my Math and Science homework finished, may I please watch Age of Legends?” “What other homework do you have?” asked Alison as she bent down over him. “I have an history report to finish,” Malcolm admitted. “Well, then yes you may watch your show,” Alison answered and sat down on the couch to watch with him. Malcolm expected her to apply his scheduled spanking some time during the program, but it did not happen, which was progressively making him more nervous. It was difficult to enjoy the show while he was anticipating fetching his paddle at any moment. But again, it did not come. By 11:23, he thought that the immediate danger had passed, reasoning that the span of time left in the show was not sufficient to be blocked out by a 4 step punishment. He assumed his morning spanking would take place after his show and finally relaxed enough to enjoy the ending. After the credits rolled and they watched the ‘Next Time’ segment, Malcolm fully expected Alison to order him to fetch his paddle. “Malcolm,” she said. 'Here it comes', he thought. “You’d better get all you can done on that history report.” Then a horrible thought struck Malcolm. SHE’S TESTING ME! He thought. If I don’t ask for my spanking, I’ll get a worse one! “Mommy,” he said. Alison turned to him. “My...morning spanking...” “Not right now dear,” Alison said in the same suspicious tone that she had used last night. She left for the kitchen. Malcolm proceeded upstairs. Once inside his room, he spoke to Samantha. “Mom didn’t give me my morning spanking,” he said. “Something’s up.” “I know it,” said Samantha. It was around 2pm when Alison walked in on Malcolm and Samantha wielding two leashes and her larger purse. “Get your shoes on and get out your swim suits,” she said. “We’re going to the park.” Samantha bounced off her chair and towards her dresser. Malcolm, however remained seated. “But, I haven’t finished my history paper yet,” he said. Going to the park was a treat for good behavior and finished homework. “And you haven’t looked over my math and science homework yet.” “The Cummings twins will be there,” said Alison. Malcolm made a dash for his shoes. The park was surrounded on four sides by tall, brightly painted walls featuring familiar shapes like clovers and paw prints. There were archway openings on the north and south. From the interior the walls were surrounded by meter high prickly shrubs. The east wall also featured an array of species of bushes and trees that produced suitable switches. The park itself featured the usual swing set, slide, climbing dome, jungle gym, sandboxes and see saws. the northeast corner also featured a pool about 40cm deep (with a set of rules about supervision and running that were to be followed to the letter) and a small building housing restrooms and changing rooms (the changing rooms were a privilege for rejuves ranked voluntaras and above). An array of picnic tables and benches of particular hardness were scattered here and there for the convenience of an on the spot punishment. The first thing that both Samantha and Malcolm noted was that the Cummings twins were not there yet. The only people there so far that they knew were Steven and Raven, both already in their swimsuits, holding some conversation at the sandbox. “Let’s get you dressed,” said Alison as she freed both of her children from their leashes. First she undressed Malcolm completely and sat him on one of the picnic table benches. Malcolm placed both hands over his penis as Mommy striped Samantha and sat her next to him. then she let Malcolm up and slipped him into his green swim briefs. The boy dutifully waited while Samantha was put in a blue string bikini bottom. “Alright,” announced Alison. “Have fun.” And they were off like two shots. The first thing they did was join Steven and Raven in the sand box. Steven was wearing the same regulation of swimsuit as Malcolm, but Raven, as the only soft timer among them was wearing her choice of suit: a black one piece suit with a purple racing stripe down each side. “Once you launch the capsule it blows and it envelops your ship in a spongy foam in the first half second and it hardens after two seconds.” She turned to the freshly arrived Sam & Mal. “I’m talking about the tractor sponge, it’s how you break a tractor beam lock.” She now addressed all three pennies. “Now you have to be pouring on the engines when you do this so your opposing ship is pouring on their reverse thrusters. Once the stuff hardens, the beam locks onto the foam instead of your ship and you both rocket in opposite directions.” She said it all in her usual monotone voice. Malcolm knew she had emotions, on rare occasions she had displayed them, and of course she always cried during her spankings. But most of the time Raven just stated things as they were. And her stoic nature didn’t seem to be from some guarded personality, it was like sometimes her emotions...just weren’t there. “Like a rope breaking in tug of war,” said Samantha. “Yeah, like that,” said Raven. “What’s the formula for the stuff?” asked Malcolm. “Different people have their own recipe for it,” said Raven. “Some folks trade recipes for favors. You can replicate the ingredients in a modified food generator. The best pilots can make an FTL jump within moments of breaking the beam.” “Pardon me,” said Malcolm. “Sorry to change the subject, but did either of your parents skip any punishments yesterday or today?” “Oh, man,” said Steven. “They totally did. You too?” “Yeah,” said Malcolm. “Sam here threw a tantrum last night-” “It was not a tantrum,” interjected Samantha. “-and Mom suspiciously ignored it.” Malcolm continued. Steven and Malcolm both looked at their respective mothers, both sitting on the same bench. Their mothers grinned. “Conspiracy,” said Steven. Their mothers laughed. “My father packed the recorder,” said Raven. “I think it has something to do with the Marakesh ruling,” said Raven. All three pennies turned to her. “Oh, did the verdict come down?” asked Steven. “They were found Not Guilty,” said Raven. “That means that as long as parents don’t make any effort to distribute them outside the house, they can take as much media as they want of us.” Malcolm looked again at Mrs. McDonald. Yes, she also had a large bag more than sufficient to hold a holo recorder along with an array of implements, just like his own mother. “Looks like they’re planning to make some family movies,” said Malcolm. He saw them giggling. “I knew something was up,” said Samantha. “I’ve never seen a penny parent let anything slide, even with good intentions...except the once...kind of.” “What do you mean, ‘kind-of,’ asked Steven. “Well...” Samantha thought about how to be delicate about this, “Two weeks before I was my second cycle...I finally got bold enough to try something...” “Masturbating,” said all three other pennies. “Yeah,” admitted Samantha. It was only months ago that it had happened. She was two weeks away from her twelfth birthday and by extension, her next cycle (which she had no doubt was going to be hard time). She had finished her work and had some time before dinner. Thinking that if she was quiet, her mom would not find out, she climbed under the covers. She figured if her mom walked in on her she could fake taking a nap. She moved her panties down to her knees and set to work. It was different than she remembered. It had been six years since her last orgasm and that was when she was a young man. Investigating which spots were most sensitive on her court-ordered vagina, she felt like an explorer conquering unknown lands. Her kitty felt so familiar to her touch, but the reactions she was getting felt far different than ever before. She soon came, a longer, tighter orgasm than any she could remember. She couldn’t help it. Two short squeals came out of her lips between gasps. Her Mommy (now Aunt Jen) came rushing into her bedroom, a frantic and worried look on her face. Samantha froze, wide eyed in mortal terror that she was about to be caned and hauled into Penny Court. “Are you all right? Are you OK, Samantha?” Mommy asked in a worried tone. “The monitors said that your pulse is racing,” she placed her hand on her daughter’s head, “and you have a fever. Let’s get your temperature.” Mom took the covers in her hand and tried to pull them off, but Samantha held on with a terrified vigor. “NO! I’M...okay,” the girl insisted. The woman looked at her daughter, then the anxious look on her face being replaced by a smile. “Oh,” Mommy said, “you’ve made another discovery.” Mommy chuckled and sat down on the bed next to Samantha. “I think it’s time for ‘that talk,’ Samantha,” Mommy said. The small, understanding smile on her face made Samantha relax a bit. “Samantha,” said her mother, “there is nothing wrong with touching yourself, and no penitatas parent will ever punish you for it.” Samantha significantly relaxed. “That being said,” her mother continued, “You are only allowed to do that in private. Samantha put her lower lip to her top teeth and blew out air. “PFFFF, well duh, Mom!” they both laughed. “So, there’s nothing wrong...” came a familiar voice. Samantha and Mommy looked up to see Daddy’s head peeking from behind the open door. He looked worried. Mommy smiled and waved her fingers at him, dismissing him. “We’re perfectly fine, Daddy. We’re just having a “girl-to-girl” talk.” Samantha nodded rapidly. Daddy looked puzzled, but he withdrew. “Oh...kay, Well, don’t let me disturb you.” Closing the door, he said “I’ve got stuff to do. I’ll see you at dinner time.” Mommy and Samantha looked at each other, then grinned. Then, they broke out into more laughter. After they got their laughter under control, Mommy lifted her eyebrows. “Your father knows exactly what you’re going through!” Mommy winked. Samantha chuckled. She just realized that, after the mass rejuves of the Plague time, Daddy…and most other men…had rejuved into girls. Indeed, Daddy had been in his (or rather, her) twenties before he got rejuved back into a 12-year-old boy. But, the thought of Daddy masturbating (her Daddy!) had never entered her mind before…and especially as a girl! That thought was entering her mind now though, combined with the thought of her penny-father as a buxom, 20 year old model...yeah... “You know, you are being a lot more nice about this than my real mom,” said Samantha. “Oh,” said Mom, “You biological mother was not understanding.” “She caught me when I was nine,” Samantha said. “She broke off a switch and beat me all the way to my room and then beat me some more...” she drew her knees (still covered by the blanket) up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them, “and when Dad came home he took his belt to me...and told me how much God hated me...” Jennifer wrapped her own arms around the girl. Samantha struggled to not cry. “That will never happen to you again,” promised Jennifer. “And God does NOT hate you.” “I know,” said Samantha. she had actually spent a LOT of time with her counselor this cycle talking about her relationship with her parents and with their religious practices. “I kinda stopped thinking that they were right about God a while ago,” said Samantha. “When did you come to that conclusion,” asked Mommy. “About...half a second after I had sex for the first time,” admitted Samantha. They both laughed. “I mean,” she continued, “I rolled over, looked up at the ceiling and I thought ‘everything that priest said was a load of bullmess! No wonder priests hate this stuff!’” (“Bullmess” was not the word he had used at the time, but six years of penny soap had her mouth trained to make substitutions for profanity.) After a few minutes of discussion about proper hygiene (Mommy was a bit of a stickler for washing, being clean and smelling clean), Mommy stood, smiled, and kissed Samantha on her forehead. Then, taking Samantha’s head in both hands, Mommy smiled, “Remember, Samantha. No matter where life takes you, Daddy and I will always love you.” Samantha smiled to herself, remembering. The only thing she regretted was not talking with Daddy about his time as a Y-rep…and it was too late for that. Or, was it? “They can’t regulate a person touching her own body,” said Raven, snapping her back to the present. “Unless you do it in front of someone,” said Steven. “Then it is a lewd display.” “Yes! I know the rules,” insisted Samantha. “Oh!” said Steven. “Did you hear about the three voluntaras who got caught in the town of Cabsec?” “Caught at what?” asked Samantha. “They were giving each other play enemas with sticks,” said Steven. “EEEEWWWWWWW!” exclaimed the three other pennies (The parents were taken aback a bit as well). “I know,” said Steven. “You’ll never catch a penny doing that, we know the rules.” He turned to Malcolm. “You’ve never tried that with Natalie, have you?” “If I lay one hand on any part of Natalie that should be covered by underwear,” said Malcolm, “Mr. Cummings will slit me.” Steven gave a half hearted laugh, thinking that it was just a very poor joke, but Malcolm gave him a look that was devoid of humor. “He showed me the knife,” said Malcolm. There was a palpable silence. “Hey,” he said, changing the subject again to break the silence. “What happens when you wake up out of a nightmare while the delta inducer is on?” “You just go back to sleep,” answered Steven. “That’s it?” asked Malcolm. “Yeah, you wake up and then you go back to sleep,” said Steven. “Oh,” said Malcolm. “I was scared that the thing wouldn’t let you wake up or something.” “It happened to me twice last cycle,” said Steven. “The first time...I remember in the dream I fell off of something and I woke up and I had just enough time to realize that it was a dream and then the delta inducer put me back under. I don’t even remember what the dream was about, I just remember that I fell in it.” “And the second time,” asked Samantha. “I dreamed I was fighting ninjas with a sword and my real arm was moving along with the dream, and when I used a downward strike I clocked myself right in the joystick.” Both Malcolm and Samantha covered their privates in sympathy and said: “Oooohh.” “I know, the delta inducer didn’t work until it stopped hurting,” said Steven. “It happened to me a couple of nights ago,” said Raven. “I dreamed I was walking in a cave and I found three level stalagmites with broken leather bindings around them and an empty cup, I picked it up and it was an old style, like medieval style with jewels and stuff. Something dripped on the stalagmite on the right and I look up and I realize there is a snake hanging from its corresponding stalactite and it is dripping venom. I hear something from behind me and I turn around and my daddy is there (not by biological daddy, I mean penny daddy over there) and he grabs me by my shoulders...then I woke up. I realize it was a dream and I go back to bed.” “My dream was about high school” said Malcolm. “Let me guess,” said Steven. “Test you hadn’t studied for.” “Test I hadn’t studied for, on the other side of the school,” said Malcolm. “Ah,” said Steven. “Uh, oh,” said Malcolm as he looked up. “What?” asked Steven. “Impact,” said Malcolm right before a stick figure of a twelve year girl leaped over Raven and landed on him. “Ed,” said Malcolm, his voice muffled by her body. “Have you met everyone?” “EDWARD!” said Talula as she rushed over, “Get OFF of him.” Ed hopped up, crawled to the edge of the sandbox like a spider and did a handstand on the edge. “I...uh, like your dress,” said Raven. These two at least were allowed to retain their clothes, and Malcolm was surprised to find Ed wearing an actual dress, and a girly one at that. Gone were her usual loose t-shirt and bicycle shots, replaced with a pink, knee-length dress trimmed with lace. Her handstand revealed her giant white bloomers. “Our daddy has a major fetish for Victorian clothes,” said Talula. Talula was in the same blue dress and pinafore that Malcolm had watched her wreck the fence in. And her hair was still black. Malcolm guessed that was her natural color. He thought about telling her that it looked better like that, but pushed it from his mind, thinking that she would take it as a sign of an affection he did not feel. He also noted that she was wearing the same very long stockings Natalie had spanked her in. He thought that they were probably fastened to her underwear the same way. Talula sat on the edge of the box (clearly avoiding getting sand on her dress). “You have NO idea what I’ve been through,” said Talula. “I roomed with Ed for three months in college,” said Malcolm. “You did?” asked Talula. Malcolm nodded. “Then you know how lucky I am to be alive.” “Yeah she...” said Malcolm. “She will wear on you.” Ed dropped down into a cross legged sit and started building structures in the sand. “Once I woke up and she had spent the night drawing smiley faces on the walls using equations for lines.” “Really,” said Steven. “Yeah the amazing thing was,” said Malcolm, “the equations she wrote had some pretty good arguments against some of Einstein's theorems.” “Einstein just had good publicist,” said Ed as she drew Easter Island heads in the sand. “Uhp, here comes the new meat,” said Steven as he gestured with a nod. Everyone looked in the direction he indicated and saw the Wileys and the Richards’ arriving through the gate. “Take a good look Talula,” said Samantha. “See the pre-schoolers in tow,” she pointed at the little sisters of both families. “Those are murderers.” “Whoa,” said Talula. “Yeah,” confirmed Malcolm. “Those are the captured agents that generated all the press three weeks back.” “Woah, really?” asked Talula. “I heard they were gonna set them up in pillories on Main Street and just let folks have their way with them.” “Whoever told you that was lying to your face,” said Malcolm (quoting his father). “They’re not doing that. Those two are going to be treated just like any other murderer on this planet,” he indulged a sadistic smile, “horribly.” “Sooooo...” said Talula. “How much do you think their address would be worth to someone...you know, on the net.” “I would not advise that,” said Raven. “That’s five to ten cycles.” “You better tow the line, girl,” Malcolm pointed right at Talula’s face. “That’s felony reckless endangerment, and you’re still on probation.” “Okay, alright,” Talula held up her arms in surrender. “Jaydee’s here!” said Samantha as she bolted up and shot off in the direction of the gate that the Cummings family was entering. Malcolm followed behind her quickly. “Oh, said Talula, “I didn’t know she would be here today. Come to think of it, why are there so many pennies here today?” “We think we’re all going to get spanked together,” Steven admitted. “Oh, shota bottoms, sweet!” said Talula, the pennies gave her a look. “Oh...right...that’s, not fun for you...” her voice trailed off. “You’re on probation, right?” he asked. “Yeah,” she said. “What makes you think you’re safe?” asked Steven. Talula thought about that, then gasped. Soon enough, Alex led Celia into the sand box. Talula turned to the unfamiliar boy and said, “How you doin’?” Jen and Pat Cummings took Natalie and Jaydee to the same park bench where Mr. and Mrs. Darksong were watching Raven. Samantha was all too happy to watch her former parents strip Natalie and Jaydee (especially Jaydee) to their birthday suits. Malcolm, however hid in the fort of the jungle gym and poked his head out occasionally. “And where is your brother today,” asked Jen as she slid Jaydee’s panties off her legs. “He’s hiding from Uncle Pat,” said Samantha and she giggled. Patrick rolled his eyes and a naked Natalie looked up at him with disappointment. He hurriedly got her swimsuit on and the three girls joined Malcolm in the jungle gym. “Did something happen between you and the Martin boy?” asked Sonya. The two women sat on one side and the men sat on the other. “It’s nothing,” said Patrick. “He threatened to kill him with a knife,” said Jen. “WHAT?” asked Sonya. “I did NOT say that,” insisted Pat. “At NO time did I actually say that I would use the knife on him.” “Oh that will be important to a jury of twelve,” said Jen. “What did you do?” asked Sonya. “I just wanted to make it clear to Malcolm that I was not going to allow any kind of hanky panky-” said Pat. “And he chose to have this talk while he was chopping carrots with a nakiri knife,” said Jen. “Oh, Patrick,” said Sonya. “I never said I would hurt him,” said Patrick. “What did the boy do,” asked Loki. “I never even finished my speech,” said Patrick. “He started crying, like, a third of the way in and then Jennifer swoops in a carries him off.” “We could have an assault charge on us,” said Jennifer. then she and Sonya turned to watch the kids. Under the table, where the wives could not see, Loki offered his fist to Pat, wordlessly saying: ‘Now that’s how you keep your daughter safe.’ Pat bumped the fist under the table with his own fist, wordlessly saying: ‘Well, the boyfriend talk IS a time honored tradition.’ Jadee and Samantha hung upside down on the monkey bars. “It’s all well and good when you start out,” said Samantha. “You got older guys slippin’ you money telling you to get some better clothes and you’re seeing more money for your jobs than you’ve ever seen in your life. Most of my jobs were stuff like getting guys to cough up the bets they made or the money they owe the boss. So then I started spending all that money on a nice apartment and a big Holo screen and music files. You ever heard of ‘The Who?’” “No,” said Jaydee. “Those guys spoke to me,” said Samantha. “It was all good for three months or so...then the jobs started drying up. Boss said we had to lay low for a bit. I was expecting that money, and those old guys that were handing it out before were suddenly VERY stingy.” She breathed a very heavy sigh. “And that’s when I started turning to mugging.” “How’d they catch you?” asked Jaydee. “They arrested my boss first,” said Samantha. “And here’s something they don’t tell you in the crime holos, when mob bosses get pinched, they rat on EVERYONE. His fellow bosses, the underbosses, me and my guys, all of us, he gave us all up.” “Oh,” said Jaydee. “Is he around this town?” “Well, he’s probably a ‘she’ by now and more likely she’s in a town where none of the folks she turned in are living.” “Protective custody,” said Jaydee. “Yeah,” said Samantha, “That’s the word.” Jaydee grabbed the bar she was dangling from and flipped her body toward Samantha, pointing her swimsuit clad bottom directly at the blond girl. Samantha couldn’t help but to remember a pole dance she had seen once. Then she thought of Jaydee aged twelve more years...and wearing a thong...her bare boobs shaking with every gyration to the music... The sound of Jaydee’s feet hitting the sand below them broke her boob fugue and brought her back to reality. “The swings are clear,” said Jaydee, “Race you!” Jaydee rocketed off as Samantha dropped to the ground and tried in vain to catch up...all the while thinking about how much she really wished they were both eighteen. “Why is everyone always talking about stuff from the twentieth century?” asked Celia. She, like Rinni’s sister, Stephanie, had been dressed in a swimmer’s diaper, designed to stay sealed tight against leaks. It was decorated with pink ruffles and its seat was bright red and stamped with a large black P, identifying her as a very serious offender (as if her age wasn’t a big enough clue). “Mmm,” said Alex as Steven returned to the sandbox, “After the days of burning, access to recreational media was limited, not by government order but because the servers that stored and connected them were offline. So many of the more recent productions and games were on databases that were cut off from the net and folks were too busy trying to rebuild power plants and water treatment facilities to reconnect folks to their holo-program reruns. The only database that had regular reliable access and an abundance of content was a public domain server used by the Society for Creative Anachronism for their twentieth century vampire role-play events. It was full of un-updated, true to its creation, 2D content. Most of the first generation of rejuves grew up their first three years or so watching material circa late twentieth century or thereabouts.” “PSSST!” came a loud whisper. All of the children turned to see a Rinni’s new sister, Stephanie, doing a very poor job of hiding between the trunks of a hickory tree, and gesturing to Celia to come and speak to her. Celia rose on wobbly legs and made her way over to Stephanie. The other children watched the two nearly naked murderers converse, then Stephanie broke off and headed towards the house in the jungle gym. Celia went back to her brother. “Ma-uh,” Celia hesitated as she spoke to her brother and Steven, “Steph, wants to talk to you.” She gestured to the jungle gym. Alex looked at Steven, Steven looked at Alex. Alex looked at Celia. “And what does she want to talk about?” asked Alex. “Stuff...” said Celia. “One major offender asking several rejuves larger than her into an enclosed space,” commented Steven. “It’s a reverse Covered-Wagon,” said Alex. “Ah, let’s do it,” said Steven, “I want to hear what she has to say, should be funny.” Celia led Alex and Steven to the structure and the three of them tucked in. “Hey,” said Stephanie who turned her head away from checking the windows on the placement of the adults. “Now that we’re alone,” Alex and Steven suppressed a smirk (knowing they were being monitored by audio), “I need to know who I talk to about moving things in.” “Into what?” asked Alex. “In HERE!” said Stephanie. “Who do I talk to about smuggling in items, and what are the rates?” “You want a guy that can slip stuff in under your parents’ noses?” asked Steven. “Yes,” said Stephanie. “Well, maybe if you're very very good,” said Steven, “you can write a letter to Santa Clause and-” “I’M SERIOUS!” said Stephanie. “I’ve been here for seven years,” said Alex, “and beyond a parent occasionally bending the rules to reward a kid for a job really well done, I have never seen anyone smuggle in anything.” Stephanie gawked at the two boys before speaking again. “This is the most unorganized group of prisoners I have ever encountered,” said Stephanie. “You’ve been in convicted before?” asked Steven. “Eighteen months on a conspiracy to obstruct justice beef in Danbury Minimum,” said Stephanie. And the boss promoted him when he got out for keeping his mouth shut about just how bad things REALLY were, thought Celia. “You should have told us that earlier,” said Alex, “We could have tacked on more cycles.” “Alright,” said Stephanie, “moving on...you two wouldn’t know some parents that might be willing to play ball would you?” “What do you mean?” asked Alex. “I mean,” said Stephanie, “Do you know some parents who would...you know, be willing to do favors...” “In exchange for what?” asked Alex. “Well,” said Stephanie, “how about...alone time with a three year old.” “What!” said the boys. “Stephanie!” exclaimed Celia. “We haven’t got anything else,” said Stephanie. I’ll just bully or trick Celia into doing it, thought Stephanie. “That’s nasty,” said Alex. “Yeah,” said Steven, “No way am I helping you with that.” He started for the door. Stephanie grabbed his arm. “WAIT, I gots money!?” the girl offered, a childish accent poking through in her desperation. “No you don’t,” said Steven. “Well not HERE!” said Stephanie regaining some of her composure. “But I am the special agent serving directly under the VP of acquisitions for a multi-star-system corporation. I barely have time to spend all the money I make. I can arrange anything for you once I get off this planet.” “Ah, that’s what this is about,” said Alex, taking Celia by the hand. “Getting you back to Pizgarlen.” “You think we’re about to do ANYTHING that will help the same guys that brought the Galaxic Plague to Paradiso?” asked Steven. “That wasn’t ME!” Stephanie was getting more angry. “I wasn’t even born when that happened.” “So they did do it!” accused Steven. “I-!” Stephanie seemed to realize that she had said more than she should. “-I didn’t say that. I was just emphasizing that I was not alive in those events.” “Well, they were,” Alex gestured out the window to the parents on the benches. “Every citizen of this planet is either a plague survivor, or two generations from a plague survivor. So here is some free advice, which is more that you deserve. No human on this planet will trust any word you say, and your parents and teachers are the ONLY ones who are under strict orders to keep you alive. So don’t go wandering away from them and think that you will be safe, because a WHOLE lot of folks would LOVE the chance to get their hands on you.” He pulled his sister past Stephanie and paused at the door. “Always hold tight to hand of nurse,” Steven finished the rhyme with him: “For fear of finding something worse.” The three other pennies left Stephanie in the jungle gym. “I guess Rinni never told Stephanie about the collars,” said Steven as they walked towards their parents. “Obviously not,” said Alex. “Oh, Celia,” he addressed his sister. “Now is as good a time as any to tell you. There is a mike in your collar.” Celia went wide eyed. “Yeah if you didn’t figure that out by now, you would need me to tell you” Alex continued. “Any way, the protocol when anyone comes to you with a proposition to break the rules at ANY degree is to inform you parents immediately.” They all marched up to the park bench where the McDonalds and the Richards were sitting. “Mom, Dad,” said Alex, “Stephanie has been naughty.” Alex and Steven related the full details of the y-rep’s proposition, Alex occasionally directed Celia to confirm one of Stephanie’s actions. “Well,” said Mrs. McDonald, “We are just going to have to have a talk with Stephanie's mommy, now won’t we. What a good little boy I have, wouldn’t you say so Eri?” “Yes, Anne,” said Mrs. Richards. “And Celia, you should thank your brother for telling you the rules and keeping you out of trouble.” “Oh! Uh, Thank you, Alex,” said Ceilia, as directed by her mother. “Hm, a tough nut to crack,” said Rinni, dressed in her swimsuit. “I know,” said Talula. The two girls walked between the trees as they mused. “This idea that the authorities will punish him and Natalie for being in love is completely unfounded, it has never happened.” “Really,” asked Talula. “It hasn’t?” “Nope,” said Rinni. “I was a penny parent so I know the rules better than he does. It’s perfectly obvious that he’s just masking a fear of intimacy with another fear,” stated Rinni. “Oh,” said Talula. “What we need is a good incentive,” said Rinni. “Something to motivate him to be honest with his feelings. What if we start a rumor that another boy is interested in Natalie? That should make him want to make an overture.” Talula shook her head. “No that is how you break up someone,” said Talula. “I’ve seen it before. A few rumors, emotions get high, accusations get thrown, the next thing you know they are saying things they can’t take back.” “Oh, really,” asked Rinni. “Yeah, I’ve broken up...like...two couples that way,” said Talula. Rinni gave her a surprised look. “It was...kind of a dark time for me...” confessed Talula. She hung her head. “Is that why you became a hentai child?” asked Rinni. “Because you felt guilty about your old life?” Talula sighed. “Yeah, I guess,” said Talula. “They say that when you go through slave training as a rejuve, it just gets so deep in you that it can never go away. You spend the rest of your life wanting nothing but the love of you master...nothing else matters. “But, that’s not happening now. Turns out my master is more concerned with my not having crippling brain problems than he wants me serving him. Now he wants to spend the rest of my cycle helping me with my issues. Don’t get me wrong, I’m REALLY lucky to have a master like him...I just wish...I could have had one more night of fun before this whole thing.” “Well,” said Rinni, “I can understand that.” The two sat down under a tree. “So,” said Rinni, “before you got cut off from your current father like that did he ever...” “We were working up to sex,” said Talula. “I was using larger and larger “devices” on myself getting ready for him.” “I see,” said Rinni. “He was always gentle with me,” said Talula. Then she suddenly became scared that speaking about such things outside of the family might bring trouble and she decided to change the subject. “SO-how about getting Malcolm and Natalie together.” “Okay,” said Rinni. “We must keep one thing in the front of our minds while we make this plan.” “And that is,” asked Talula. “We must not do ANYTHING that would break the law, or hurt anyone!" That...limits our options a bit,” said Talula. “Yes, but it can be done,” said Rinni. “Now what we first must consider is-” “TALULA,” called Mrs. Setter. “Time to get your swimsuit on!” Talula groaned and buried her face in her hands. “I have to go,” she said. “We will talk more about this later.” Talula sprung up and dutifully followed her mother into the changing room. “You know what I’m looking forward to,” said Natalie as she and Malcolm sat on the swings. “Getting out,” said Malcolm. “Okay I’m looking forward to two things,” said Natalie. “But what I was talking about are those like two or three years when the girls are taller than the boys.” She was twirling in the swing, winding up the chain for a good spin. “Oh yeah...” said Malcolm. “Yeah,” said Natalie, “I remember getting two inches on the other boys in my class almost overnight.” She let go of her feet and held on tight. “WHEEEEEEEEEEE!” She slowed to a stop “Whoa.” she planted her feet on the sand and waited for the dizziness to subside. “You okay,” asked Malcolm. “Teeeeeeerriiiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic,” she said with a silly grin. She sat on the swing until she was sure she could walk, then she started towards the pool and Malcolm followed. As they got closer, they heard the sound of laughter. Natalie grabbed Malcolm’s wrist and pointed at the door of the changing room. Talula’s swimsuit was clearly meant to embarrass the poor girl. It was an orange and yellow striped one piece suit with elbow-length sleeves and knee length legs that looked closer to late nineteenth century lady’s swimwear than to modern suits. Its sleeves and neckline were topped with ridiculously long yellow ruffles that bounced with every step she took. “I’m sure your parents are proud of your graduation from clown college,” said Natalie as Talula walked by. Talula made a sour face and submerged herself in the pool up to her neck. Malcolm and Natalie followed. Samantha and Jaydee were already in the pool. Samantha had showed Jaydee how to spray a stream of water by clasping her hands on the surface and Jaydee had responded by waiting until Samantha’s back was turned, then shooting water right at the blonde girl’s bottom, so they were in the middle of a good natured splash fight. Something caught Malcolm’s attention in the corner of his eye and he turned to see Ed’s swimming gear. The medicalos was wearing one normal inner tube, one dinosaur head inner tube on top of that one, water wings on her upper arm, forearms, thighs and calves, flippers on her feet, and a snorkel mask. “Ed,” said Malcolm. Ed turned her head down toward him. “I think you forgot your swimsuit.” Ed looked down at her body and squealed in terror when she realized the boy was right. She dashed back into the changing room. Steven, Alex and little Celia sat down next to Malcolm and Steven tapped Malcolm on the shoulder. “Eyes to the south,” said Steven. Malcolm obeyed and saw Mrs. Wiley hauling a crying Stephanie by her upper arm in one hand and wielding a fresh switch in the other. “-I’m so mad I could spit bricks!” exclaimed Mrs. Wiley as she sat down on a bench and pulled the crying three year old over her lap. Her practiced hand swiftly removed the diaper, pinned Stephanie's hand to her side and the angered mother set to work putting stripes across her weeping criminal’s bare bottom. Stephanie wailed with all the might of her lungs. “Tantamount to prostitution!” said Mr. Wiley. “If I EVER hear about you-” “-offering yourself to anyone again!” “I will bring you up before juvenile court myself!” Stephanie continued to wail and struggle in vain against the rapid sting of the switch. After she had a dozen good licks her mother sat her up and blew Stephanie’s nose. Then she reached into the bag that Mr. Wiley had brought around and brought out a rolled up rubber mat. She unrolled it on the seat of the bench, revealing a prickly surface, picked up her criminal, and sat her right down on the mat. Stephanie let out a fresh wail and fell off the bench. “Oh, no you don’t!” exclaimed Mrs. Wiley, picking the girl up and sitting her on the mat again. “You can just sit there until I say you can leave,” insisted Mrs. Wiley. After watching the mass murderer cry on her prickly mat for a bit everyone turned their attention to each other again. When Stephanie’s turn in time on the mat was finished, she was not allowed in the pool, but sent to stand with her face toward the bushes. In the dueness of time, the pennies began to converse among themselves, as did the parents. “...But every member of the faerie nation was played by a volunteras,” said Thornton Setter. “Really?” asked Jen. “Oh yes,” answered Magnolia Setter. “Oberon, Titania, Puck, all of Titania’s attendants, all of them volunteras rejuves.” “It changed the tone,” said Mr. Setter. “It created a clear and nice barrier between the mortals and their faerie puppet masters, though they did drift a bit further into cartoon than I would have liked.” “Like when Oberon was swatting Puck with a bunch of reeds,” giggled Magnolia. “THIS *CLAP!* IS *CLAP!* THY *CLAP!* NEGLIGENCE!” She clapped her hands to simulate the strikes. She giggled again. “Um,” said Mrs. Cummings, “what did they do for the Titania and Nick Bottom courtship?” “When Bottom transforms into a donkey,” said Magnolia, “they replaced the live actor with a holographic stuffed donkey.” “The Bottom-Titania relationship was played as a girl talking about how much she loved her stuffed animal,” said Thornton. Jen gasped as she held a finger to her ear. “Is something wrong?” asked Magnolia. Jen turned towards her with a rueful gaze. “Mrs. Setter,” said Jen, “I’m afraid your daughter just told my daughter to eat a...um...specific part of the male anatomy.” Mr. and Mrs. Setter were both quiet for two seconds, then Mr. Setter said: “Might you have a dispenser of mouth soap?” “I do,” said Jen, retrieving the bottle from her bag. “May I-?” asked Mr. Setter. “Be my guest,” said Jen. “TALULA!” Mr. Setter exclaimed as he stood. Malcolm was describing to Anthony the best equipment for his paladin in Age of Legends when he heard Mr. Setter bellow his daughter’s name in a volume that made him so very glad he was NOT Talula. “COME HERE!” he ordered, wielding a bottle of mouth soap and a hairbrush of daunting thickness. Talula’s face went pale and she sunk into the water up to her mouth. “That’s six extra strokes, young lady. Now come HERE!” he ordered again. Rinni looked Talula in the eye with a sympathetic face, took the five year old’s hand, and lead her to her father (though Talula followed at a reluctant distance). “What happened?” Malcolm said as he waded over to Natalie. “We were talking about how, on Rainbow Surfers, Madame Onyxa was trying to win Indigos away from Violetta, and I said: ‘Oh! Just like you!’ like it was a joke and she told me to...do something naughty...and she said a bad word.” By now Mr. Setter had unzipped Talula’s unwieldy suit and was pushing it down her legs. “And who told you that such language was acceptable for a child your age?” he demanded. Talula was silent with fear. “Well I might have had to take you home to wash your mouth out, but fortunately Mrs. Cummings donated some to you. Say ‘thank you, Mrs. Cummings.’” Talula looked in the direction of Jennifer Cummings. “SAY IT!” commanded Mr. Setter. “THANKYOUMISSUSCUMMINGS!” Talula blurted out. Mr. Setter took the girl by her ear and pulled her over to the water fountain. She was already crying as he measured out a dose onto the attached brush. Malcolm could not help but feel so sorry for the volunteras as Mr. Setter forced her to taste what he knew to be an acrid liquid. The sobs of the poor little child cut through him like a winter wind. Then a nasty, horrid question popped into his mind: Why do I feel no guilt watching Stephanie get punished, but all kinds of bad watching Talula? There was a deep, nagging fear, one he could not deny. I’m getting used to this. Malcolm fought it off with the idea that that Stephanie was a mass murderer, so in comparison, one bare bottom spanking was a joke next to her crimes. By contrast Talula had just accidentally said the wrong word. “Now go and sit in the pool,” Mr. Setter ordered his ward. The naked girl, her mouth full of suds and her eyes full of tears, rushed over and obeyed. The other pennies moved away from her. They knew what was coming next. After She had sat in the pool for ten or twenty seconds (thus leaving her bottom wet enough to enhance the pain) Mr. Setter, armed with a hair brush, plucked her from the rim, carried her over to the closest bench, and set to applying that brush with a wickedly fast rhythm. Talula wailed in misery. He knew from experience he was not spanking her as hard as a penny could expect, but he doubted Talula cared much about the difference. As she futilely struggled aginast her guardian’s punishment, Malcolm once again thought about how shocking it was that he was getting used to this. Months ago, when he was first sent up he would see another penny get the paddle and he felt shocked and appalled. When he watched Stephanie get the switch he felt no shame, no guilt, no sympathy. But when it happened to a girl he knew, it hurt. That was not right. He made a fist and a silent promise. They won’t get me, he thought. They will tell me I’m worthless and beat me with sticks until I agree with them, but they will NEVER make me believe what they do is right. Talula’s sobs cemented his resolve. It can’t be right, it just can’t. Talula’s punishment had ended. “We will discuss this further at home,” Mr. Setter said, “Now stand in front of those bushes in front of the wall and don’t move until I say that you can. Talula scampered to the wall of the as fast as she could while weeping a rubbing her pink bottom. “Well,” said Mrs. Martin, “Now is as good a time as any.” “Quite right,” agreed Mrs. Wiley as she stood. “Children!” she called out. “All Penitatas Children will report to their parents for their four-steps now!” There was a collective wail of sorrow from the children as they made their way out of the pool and to their parents. Natalie and Malcolm joined hands as they approached their mothers, both on the same side of a picnic table. Samantha came up beside as Mommy was taking down Malcolm’s suit. “Samantha,” said Mommy, “since Daddy could not be here today, Mr. Setter volunteered to give you your four-step.” Samantha’s eyes went wide. “Miss Martin!” commanded Mr. Setter. Samantha walked to the other side of the table with all the enthusiasm of the condemned. There he sat with her paddle across his lap. “I understand you were a very poor sport last night,” he said as he undid one of the ties on her string bikini bottom. “Yes, sir,” her heart sank even lower. Jaydee was just to her right, Mr. Cummings undid the ties on her suit and left her naked to the world. “Eyes on me,” said Mr. Setter. Samantha’s blushing head whirled back to him. “Now tell me what happened.” “I...” she held her knuckles up to her lips as Mr. Settter removed her swim bottoms and the cool air hit her still wet skin. “I was losin’ to Malcolm and I flipped the board.” “Mm, it’s a shame you both did not play the game in the spirit of sportsmanship, then you would be going over my wife’s knee, not mine,” he said. “It’s also a shame that you flipped the board at all, otherwise your mother would have sent your brother to me for chiding you in such a derisive fashion.” Under other circumstances Samantha might have been disappointed at the loss of an opportunity to add to her brother’s troubles, but at the moment all she could think about was the time she watched this man carve remorse into Talula’s bottom with a cane. Already she could hear the cries of her fellow pennies. “Now,” said Mr. Setter, “over my knee.” he guided her naked body across his lap.When samantha looked ahead of her, she saw Jaydee’s bare bottom dangling off of her daddy’s lap, pointed straight at her face. With her father’s first spank, Jaydee’s legs jerked involuntarily, giving Samantha an unobstructed view of Jaydee’s privates. The wail from Jaydee froze up her young blood. The first blow from Mr. Setter sent her blood back to her face. Samantha yelped and gasped for air. She let out another yelp as she another blow landed. The air was thick with the discordant shrieks of miserable criminals amid the merciless percussion of paddles. “PLEASE,” Samantha begged. “Your anger starts and ends with you, Miss Martin,” said Mr. Setter as he gave her five more spanks. His expert hand was concentrating all of the punishment right on her lower bottom and upper thighs, meaning every stroke would be felt every time she sat down for the rest of the day. Samantha bucked and kicked helplessly against the man. “Hm,” said Mr. Setter, finally resting his hand. Samantha lay limp over his lap, breathing in heaves and sobs. “Your compatriots are already finishing,” he said. “We will have to pick up the pace.” He renewed the fire in her bottom with a quickened pace. Samantha threw back her head and sobbed in helpless anguish. With what strength she had left she buried her head in her arms and breathed through her teeth. She heard the paddle touch the table and hoped her punishment was over. She dared not move for fear she would feel the touch of a switch, or worse a cane. “You may raise your head, Miss Martin,” said Mr. Setter. She obeyed. She was so engrossed in her punishment, she had not realized she was the last one being spanked. Mr. Setter gathered her up in his arms and carried the crying girl over to the bushes. Every other naked child had been lined up with their faces towards the prickly bushes, their naked, red bottoms turned towards the rest of the park. Samantha quickly noted that Malcolm and Natalie were standing next to each other. If she had picked, she would have chosen to stand next to Jaydee, but Mr. Setter stood her up on the far right next to Steven. “Now, said Mr. Setter, “You will not move until your mother comes to collect you.” He abandoned her to the company of her fellows. There was not a dry eye in the line. Every child stood with rapt attention to the prickly bushes in front of them. Samantha noted that they were all just far enough away from the wall that the prickles of the vegetation would not touch any of them. She thought it was rather strange that paddling them and leaving them naked in the park was acceptable, but letting a prickly branch near them was too far. She heard the hum of hover holo camera and she knew the pennies’ speculation was confirmed. “Now you are very certain that this is legal,” said Thornton Setter. “Trust me,” said Alison. “Better yet trust Jet. He went over the law language many times.” This first time, the parents had agreed that rather than try to capture video, everyone would take still images. The parents moved back and forth amongst themselves getting shots. “So, how was your first penny punishment,” asked Alison. “It seemed to go as expected,” said Thornton. Mr. Cummings passed behind them. “He forgot to ask the four-step questions,” said Mr. Cummings. Alison smirked. Thornton smacked himself in the forehead and left his hand there. “Rookie mistake,” jeered Alison. Thornton growled. “I was going to give those to her after I told her why I was the one punishing her,” said Thornton. “Those questions are so unwieldy.” “Samantha’s is definitely the reddest,” said Talula. After their punishment the pennies were shocked that their parents did not return their swim suits, or even their normal clothes, leaving all of the children to spend the last half-hour or so of their playtime in their birthday suits(Talula was back in her large one-piece swim suit, though she asked if she could go naked too). The girls had all lined up along the swing set and Talula had volunteered to judge whose bottom had the most damage. “Your daddy hits hard than my daddy,” admitted Samantha as she rubbed her cherry red bottom. “I believe it,” said Talula. “Agreed,” said Raven, the only one who was allowed to put her swim suit back on. “Though I believe the parameters of this contest discriminates against those of darker skin,” She let the seat of her suit fall back into place from where she had been holding it back for inspection. By contrast her bottom had turned a lighter color under the paddle, with a hint of red about the sides. “I like your suit,” said Talula. Raven turned to Talula. "Black is a color for protection", she said gesturing to her swimsuit. “And purple is the color magic. Of royalty.” Jade noted a strange quality to Raven's voice as she spoke those words. An almost far away tone, like she was seeing something, feeling something just beyond her touch. Was it nostalgia? Jade felt that and more. She felt...older. Almost like her old self. Her true self. "So, you think you're some kind princess?" asked Rinni in a derisive tone. Rinni! And with her the feeling was gone. Jade shook her head for a moment, wondering what happened. Raven just frowned at the red head's interruption. She shrugged, playing it off. "Maybe", was all she had to say. “Ooo, they’re fetching a pail of water,” sang Ed. “What?” queried the rest of the girls. Ed gestured with her foot towards the climbing dome, a large plastisteel ball with holes of various sizes. Samantha could make out at least one figure inside. “Wait,” said Jaydee, “Where’s your brother?” Samantha looked towards pool where the rest of the boys were holding confrence. She did not see him there, some to think of it, Natalie was not with them. “Ooohhhhh,” said Jaydee and Samantha together. “Let’s spy on them,” said Samantha. “Oh!” whispered Jaydee as if she found the idea horrid. “Come ON!” whispered Samantha. “Okay,” said Jaydee as if she loved the idea. The pair crawled on their bellies towards the dome, which was located in another sandbox. They avoided detection and reached the edge of the structure, they both dared a glance into one of the holes to confirm that both Malcolm and Natalie were inside. They were laying on their stomachs in the sand with their hands on their knees (it was easy for Jaydee and Samantha to guess that they were avoiding putting pressure on their still tender bottoms). “I can’t even tell you the stuff he would yell at me, because the words are on the forbidden word list,” said Malcolm. “So what did you do?” asked Natalie. “I reported him every time and the Principal said I should just get a thicker skin,” said Malcolm. “What?” asked Natalie. “Yeah, unless they actually hit you, the teachers don’t do anything unless they see it,” said Malcolm. “They finally acted when Brian sabotaged my science fair project sophomore year. He claimed he knocked it off the table accidentally but they had him on holo. He got a mandatory suspension and came back worse than ever. Only now he was targeting a new freshman who never told on him.” “Oh man,” said Natalie. “He stole my prom date too,” said Malcolm. “What!” said Natalie. “I was going to go with Nicole O'reilly,” said Malcolm. “But when I showed up with flowers to pick her up, her dad told me that Brian had picked her up. “Oh. My. God,” said Natalie, “What did you do then?” “I went back to my dad’s junk field and wailed on the old wrecks with a bar of metal,” said Malcolm. “STOP DEPRESSING HER AND MAKE OUT ALREADY!” exclaimed Jaydee. “JADE!” shrieked Natalie. The tiny brunette stuck her head out of a hole. “How long were you there?” “Forbidden word list,” said Samantha. “You leave or...” Natalie struggled to think of a threat as she pulled herself out of the dome. “Or...I’ll sit on you.” Natalie started to back up towards Jaydee. “We have an accord,” said Jaydee. She turned over and stretched out her arms in a welcoming gesture. “Doh!” said Natalie and she hopped back in the dome. “I keep forgetting you’re bi.” Somewhere in the distance, Samantha heard a chorus of angels. she felt as if a great golden door had opened, revealing a whole world of delightful possibilities. She saw Jaydee and herself, twenty years old, laying together in a giant bed.. Natalie vanished into the dome. “Um...you’re bi,” asked Samantha. “Yeah,” said Jaydee. “Um...well...” said Samantha. “Yes?” asked Jaydee. “I...um...” said Samantha. “TIME TO GO!” called Samantha’s Mommy from the other side of the dome. NOT NOW! Samantha’s brain screamed. Jaydee and Natalie's parents called. Samantha and Jaydee rose. Samantha caught a glimpse of Natalie giving Malcolm a goodbye kiss, she felt a flush of jealousy for her brother. “See you in school,” said Jaydee, and she patted Samantha on her bare bottom before dashing around the dome. Samantha blushed at the suprise contact. Malcolm grabbed her wrist and pulled her to their mommy before she got in trouble. Now Samantha could not help but to feel that Jaydee just might feel more open to things. It was a thought that filled her with warm delight. The End.
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