I took a deep breath as I folded my skirt around my bottom and eased it down upon the hard wooden surface of the chair. I winced as my bottom came into contact with the hard wooden chair. My rear was still sore from last night's spanking. Slowly I released my breath. I was here now, in the heart of downtown Benton. It was Halloween and the whole town seemed to have been crowded into the two square mile area that made up Downtown Proper.

And with it being Halloween of course one of the civic groups had managed to dig the fabled 'Slime Booth' out of storage. The slime booth was nothing more than a box like structure that had been fashioned a number of years ago out of PVC The purpose of the booth had been simple enough. Somebody, most always a girl, nine times out of ten a cheerleader would volunteer to sit under the bucket that hung in the middle of the booth. The volunteer, again nine out of ten would wear something that would draw in the crowds, say a revealing two piece bikini or something. The volunteer would then look cute while people would crowd around the booth and drop their loose pocket change into one of the donation buckets.

A few would even drop the five dollars to take a chance and hit the metal trigger located on the side of the booth. If in the one in a million chance the target was hit, the trigger would pull upon a rope that would cause the bucket to tilt over, spilling the contents all over the person seated below. Normally that was some form of slime. The bucket would then be refilled and the process would start anew.

I had volunteered to sit in this booth a few days ago. I was starting to have second thoughts. Halloween after all was a holy day for me and the two hundred and so pagan's that lived in the Haunted Hollow area of Benton. Halloween or Samhain as we called it was a special night. At Sunset the whole hollow would gather down at a large grassy meadow. A huge bonfire would be lite once the first stars appeared in the night sky. A blessing would then be read aloud by my mother. And those newly born in the year would be presented to the village to be welcomed and received. And names of those who passed would be read and prayers and blessings offered in their memory.

And so there I sat. Blushing as I peered toward the gathered crowds of costumed people and children. I could hear their peals of laughter echoing across the cobblestone groups of costumed children darted around the streets. The boys it seemed had dressed in stereotypical boy costumes. You know cowboys, soldier's, maybe their favorite superhero or wrestler. You know costumes that fitted the image most associated with masculinity and toughness. The too were dressed in stereotypical girl costumes. You know, princesses, cheerleaders, costumes that most often fitted the image associated with femininity. A few wore nurse outfits and the odd tomboy of the group might be dressed in her favorite superhero outfit.

All of these thoughts filtered through my head till I felt something cold, sticky and wet drop down. I shivered as I felt the sticky mess run down my back and down the front of my dress. The mess was blue. A kind of really dark blue color.

“Oh!” I heard a voice call out. The voice belonged to a boy who was standing in front of me. The boy looked around my age. He had long blonde hair that was pulled back in a messy ponytail and his eyes oddly enough seemed to sparkle in the dim light. I noticed his hair first and his eyes second, his eye struck me, because they seemed pink?

“Sorry about that!” He cried out again. “I thought it would be water or something.” He was blushing now. I then noticed something else, despite tonight being Halloween Night, the boy was not in costume. He was dressed only in a pair of fading jeans, white sneakers, and white pullover polo shirt.
“Really now?” I said blushing as I pointed toward the sign. The sign read. Annual Halloween Fundraiser, five dollars for three chances to cover the pretty girl with slime!.

“Can you read?” I asked as I rolled my eyes.

“I can. I can read English, a bit of Latin and a small amount of Greek.” He said, shrugging his shoulders. “I just had no idea there was a sign there.” He tossed another ball. The ball traveled through the air and smacked into the trigger. Once more the little black bucket was tilted forward, sending another downpour of slime down on my head. Once more my shoulders, my hair and my outfit was coated in the sticky mess.

“Oh?” I said putting on a small pout. “You some private school kid then?” I said trying to mess with him a little. “Because if you can read both Latin and Greek then what the heck are you doing in this backwater village then?” Now Benton was not really a backwater village. I would consider it something of a large village with around seven thousand souls living here. We also had a major highway that ran through the town. The highway connected us with an even larger Yazoo City, population thirteen thousand souls and the booming Madison/Canton/Ridgeland/Flowood/Jackson area that had a population of some half million. With Benton located halfway between the two. We also had a rail connection too.

“I'm new here.” The boy said. “Just enrolled in Benton Academy a few days ago. I'm transferring in from St. Katherine's Episcopal School down in Vicksburg.” He said tossing his final ball up in the air before catching it with causal ease. “I'm new to Benton, I'll be staying here for a spell. Living with the Crofts.” He added.

“By chance does your name happen to be Daisy?” I said, and then a giggle escaped my lips. A sudden blush bloomed on his cheeks. The boy dropped the ball and started to the rub the back of his neck. “Because if so.. then I've heard so much about you.”

“I hope.. you've only heard good things about me.” The boy said as he started to shift his weight from one foot to the other. Clearly the boy was a bit embarrassed. And Cerridwen found that oddly cute. The sight of his blushing ears made her giggle and oddly enough made her feel a bit of desire.

“Only that you look good in a dress.” She smarted off. Of course she was referencing some pictures she had seen on FaceBook. Something about a Womanless Beauty Pageant that was hosted by some big wig civic club out of Vicksburg to raise money or the relief efforts. The winner had been a pretty boy with golden blonde hair and sparkling pink eyes. The boy had gone under the name of 'Daisy Isabella Bell' and well Cerridwen had put two and two together in the span of a few minutes. All of that had happened about ten or so months ago after heavy winter rains had caused the many rivers of the Delta to rise, including the Yazoo, the Big Black, the Sunflower, the Little Sunflower and even tiny Deer Creek and the normally peaceful Wilson Creek had jumped their banks. The massive surge in water had threaten to consume Benton along with the many other tiny riverfront hamlets of the region.

“. . . .” Daisy only started to blush harder and he shifted his gaze away from me. I think by teasing him I had taken all the fire out of his bell for he dropped his last ball down into the wicker basket and started to slowly walk away.

My eyes watched him vanish into the crowd. Our encounter had only lasted a few minutes, but I could sense he had a bit of magic about him that he was like me in some way and different in others. I had long heard stories from my mother about the Bell's, they were an old family, a family that had a different set of values. Then it was my turn to blush, because I started to fancy myself as Cerridwen Circe Bell.. and a fleeting version of me and that boy walking hand bloomed in my head. I quickly pushed and I wondered if I would ever see him again. I hoped so, because he had awakened something deep inside of me.

Then I felt it, another downpour of slime shook those thoughts from my head. Once more I felt the deep blue slime, that smelled kind of sweet roll down the front of my dress, down my back and once more coat my shoulders. My hair was a total mess too. It would take at least three or four good washings to get all the slime out. Lifting my eyes up, I noticed a woman standing at the throw line. The sight of the woman caused my cheeks to blush a deep dark red. The woman who had thrown the ball of course had been my own mother. Who was now standing there dressed in a simple black dress and a black woolen cloak and in the center was a silver penannular brooch that had been crafted in the shape of a pentagram.

“With only a few minutes left in your shift.” Mom said smiling ear to ear. “I couldn't resit the chance to gunge you.” A playful smirk then crossed her face. “How are you sitting honey?” She asked as she tossed the ball up in the air and caught it again.

I blushed and wiggled my bottom a little and looked away, a little pout was forming on my face. To be honest, my bottom was still a little sore. Mom had really done a number on me, though the healing potion she had brewed for me this morning. A mixture of moon water, ground up aloe leafs, crushed mint and lavender had lessened the effects of my spanking before. Mom had walked me through the process of brewing the potion before, as it was one of those potions that had been handled down from one generation to another. Mom was doing a lot of that, passing down recipes that would normally be handed down from mother to daughter in a cycle as old as the hills.

I had once asked mom, what would have happened if I had remained a boy. She blinked and shrugged her shoulders. She hazard a guess that maybe she would have passed on this information to my daughter if I had one. Boy's it seem to learn a different version of the craft than girls.

“That potion's helping out.” I said blushing a little. “Though my hair's going to be a total mess.” I said looking at the pool of gunge that surrounded me. I had endured most of the thirty minute shift without getting slimed. Then in the last fifteen minutes, I've been slimed a total of three times!

“Good,” Mom said as she started to pass the ball back and forth. “Because something tells me, when you have a daughter of your own, you're going to be brewing it a lot.” She teased.

“Oh?” I said blushing a little. I wanted to say something a little cheeky, but my bottom was still pretty sore from the whooping I got last night.

“Honey, clairvoyance runs in our family. It's a gift that often passed down from one generation to the next, often growing stronger in time oddly enough. One would think the gift would lessen as time passes, but it seems to only grow stronger.” Mom paused. “But that's a conversation for another time. Just know I had a vision of you and that Bell boy. Followed by another vision of you holding a baby girl and him standing by looking prouder than a stag.”

“Mom that's just weird okay..” I said, starting to blush a little.

Mom just chuckled a little. A playful smirk then crossed her face as she tossed the ball toward the trigger. A half second later, I heard the sound of the tennis ball striking the surface of the metal target, pushing it in and causing the bucket above my head to once more titled over to spill another gallon or so of thick, blue slime down on my head. This bucket load was the coldest of the lot and spilled down upon my slimed soaked head and slimed coated shoulders. The gunk was freezing cold too!

“That look kind of suits you daughter.” My mom said in a teasing voice as she walked over to where I was sitting. She then knelt down and reached into her purse and pulled out a wet wipe. Gently she started to clean some of the slime from my face. “The night is still young.” She said in a airy tone of voice as she looked up at the clear sky. A full moon set high in the sky, and a warm breeze blew down the cobblestone paved street. Autumn in Mississippi is a mixed bag of peanuts. There's a fifty, fifty chance of it either being cool or warm. Dad, often in jest calls it 'Summer Lite'.

“Why don't we get you cleaned up and mingle with the locals. Plus, I want to show you that old storefront. Future home to Whitethorn Family Salon.” She said with a smile as she helped me up from the sticky seat.

“Sure mum.” I said, smirking. From time to time, I tossed in a few words of British English to my everyday speech. You know to kind of  season my speech. It kind of messed with the local's. And messing with the local's was always fun. And because mom had read to me the United Kingdom's edition of The Hobbit and The Harry Potter Series. I had a wide range of words to choose from. Also British English had more of an air of sophistication about it. Something that was sorely lacking here in Benton. And of course mom rolled her eyes at being called 'Mum'.

“Come along Daughter. Before that sass of yours earns you another session with Mr. Brush.”

And with that, another day in my life comes to an end. What happens next? A few days later I met Daisy again, and he kind of came to my defense when a few boys started to pick on me. After that we kind of met at a local gathering and there we exchanged numbers. We kind of became a pair after that. But those are stories and adventures for another time.