Cemetery Shenanigans
Part Three: Punishment

It all happened so fast. One minute I was standing in front of this strange woman, the next moment I was being guided back down the long hallway. A few minutes later I was being ushered into what I'm going to assume was the spare bedroom she had mentioned earlier. The bedroom was about half the size of the other rooms I've seen. Just room enough for a bed, a night stand and a small closet. The walls of the room had been painted a coral pink color, and on the floor there was an oval rug, also pink in color.

Soon my eyes fell on the bed. The bed was a small bed, a child size bed. The pillows were covered with pink pillow slips and a heavy matching pink blanket was tossed on top. A stuffed doll, with red yarn for hair and blue buttons for eyes rested on top of the pillows. The air inside the room was cozy and inviting. The kind of room I would have loved to have had growing up.

“Here.” The woman said as she ushered me into the room. “You can take a nap here. It's going to be dawn soon and you've had a busy night searching among the graves. I'm sure your ready for a little nap.” She said in a teasing tone of voice. “But first we need to deal with that spanking.” She said as she gently pushed upon the wooden door. A few seconds later the door was closed.

I blinked and blinked again.

“What?” The woman said as she walked over the night stand. She reached into the drawer and a few moments later she pulled out a fearsome looking hairbrush. The hairbrush looked like an antique left over from the Victorian Era. The bristles appeared to horsehair and the brush itself seemed to be masterfully crafted from one solid piece of ebony wood.

“Nothing..” I said blushing as I peered toward the woman walking toward the edge of the bed. I felt my heart starting to race again as I watched the woman ease her bottom down upon the edge of the bed. She then set the brush to the side and then she fixed me firmly in her sight.

“Okay Heather.” She said as she made crooked her finger and motioned her to come near her. “Its time for your spanking. We've dawdled long enough.” She said in a firm, commanding tone of voice.

I felt like a naughty little girl who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar just moments away from dinner. Also when the strange woman called me 'Heather' it felt right. I mean sure I wanted to protest, my name was not 'Heather' after all. But it felt right, like a missing piece of my soul had at long last been gently nudged into place. A whirlwind of thoughts swirled around inside my head as I eased toward the woman.

A moment later, I felt myself being lifted off the floor and a second later I felt myself being laid across her lap. She wasted no time in reaching down and lifting the bottom part of my gown and night coat up. I could feel the warm air of the room teasing my exposed bottom cheeks. A deep, blush colored my cheeks and a moment of panic overtook me.

“All spankings take place on the bare bottom in my household.” She informed me. I could then feel rolling back the bottom of the nightgown. The mental image of her unrolling a piece of bread dough came to mind. Then nothing.

Looking back it was the silence before the attack, that brief moment of calm before a raging thunder storm. That one last deep breath before a plunge off a sheer cliff face. In short it was the calm before the storm that was soon to come smashing into my bottom. The terrible suspense came to an end a few seconds later.

Without warning, the woman brought the backside of the brush down upon my bottom. The wooden, flat surface crashed into my bottom, sending a wave of sting rolling into the bottom cheeks. A few seconds later I felt the brush striking my bottom again, and a second later, again, and a second later again. The sound of the bottom cracking into my bottom seemed to echo off the walls of the room.

I felt my toe's curl up as I felt the first wave of sting settle down over my bottom. A few brief beats of the heart later, I felt another wave of sting come rolling over my bottom, then another, and then another, and then another. Soon the sound of the wooden backside of the brush, cracking into my exposed bottom filled the air. Each stroke of the hairbrush sounded like the popping of a balloon.

Without thinking I felt my fingernails starting to dig into the covers, my breaths became deep and long. The sound of the brush crashing into my bottom started to ring into my ears, and massive waves of sting and pain almost akin to tsunami waves rolled into my bottom. I could feel tears starting to form at the edge of my eyes.

My heart skipped a few more beats, my fingers dug deeper into the covers, my knuckles turned white from the tension and my toes curled up as the brush kept kissing my bottom. The sound of wood cracking into flesh seemed to bounce off the walls of the room itself and seemed to echo loudly in my ear. Then it happened the mental barricade that was holding back the flood of tears broke down and soon, before I could catch myself, hot, salty tears were running down my cheeks.

The tears left streaks that ran from my eyes, down to the bottom of my cheeks were they then spilled over on the blanket. My bottom felt so hot, I'm sure you could have cracked a raw egg on it and the heat would have cooked it in fifteen seconds flat.

“Okay.” The woman said as she delivered the last blow. “I think you've learned your lesson.” She said. A moment later I felt her lifting the back of the nightgown back into place. A low hiss escaped my lips as I felt the soft fabric of the gown come into contact with my bottom, that was no doubt blistered and bruised from the thrashing I'd just been given.

“Oh come now.” The woman said as she gently raised me up. “I did not spank you that hard. This was just a taste of things to come.” She paused. “And by that I mean if I catch you sneaking around the graveyard again after hours, you can expect to get the paddle instead of the brush.” She paused again. “And from now on I expect you to behave like a young lady.” She scolded. “Or else you might find yourself getting the paddle instead of the brush. And if I have to, I'll send you out to cut a switch from the creek bank.”

“Yes ma'am.” Was all I could say. I mean what else could I say? The woman had just proven I was totally in her power. And to be honest I had no fight left in me. 

“Good.” She said as she lifted me from her lap. “Now,” She said as she eased me off her lap and gently placed me down upon the floor. She then slid off the bed and folded the covers down. She then patted the bed. “Come rest your weary head.”

The offer was too good to be true, and so without giving it much thought. Really my mind seemed to be on auto-pilot at the time, I climbed into the bed. And snuggled under the covers. The woman smiled and tucked the blanket under me and smiled as she leaned and planted a kiss upon my forehead.

“Good night Heather.” She whispered as she moved toward the door. A brief seconds later she flipped the switch off and gently closed the door behind her.

I wanted to say something, but before I could I felt the hand of the Sandman acting upon my eyes and as soon as my head hit the pillow I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. I'm not sure how long I swept, but when I woke there was sun streaming through the bedroom window and the strange woman was there, standing at the foot of my bed.

“Good morning Heather.” She said smiling.

I still found it odd the woman was addressing me as 'Heather' but once more I decided to just roll with it. A shifting of my legs reminded me that last night the woman had really tanned my bottom. In a low, still half asleep tone of voice I muttered a 'Morning' under my breath.

“Still half asleep?” She teased.

“Kind of.” I said rolling out of the bed. Soon my bare feet were touching the cold, wooden floor of the guest bedroom.

“Get a bath then.” She said, taking a deep breath. “I washed your jeans and hoodie from last night. And I somehow managed to get the grass stains out of that dress you were wearing. I packed up the dress and everything in your bag, and I even charged your phone for you.”

“Thanks.” I said as I looked down on the ground.

“Go ahead and get a bath, and get changed and I'll fix you some breakfast. And remember, this coming Friday, the day before Halloween you promised to come help me clean up the graveyard. That is the second part of your punishment.” She said as she brushed past me. “And remember seven o' clock sharp.”

“I'll be there..” I muttered as I started to march toward the bathroom.

“Good, if you're a minute late though. You'll get another spanking.” She called out over her shoulder.

The warm bath work knocked the sleep from my eyes. Again, it felt strange taking a bath in a strangers bathroom, but it felt a little less strange this time around. I also noticed a slight change was taking place, my skin seemed fair than it was the night before. And it seemed to feel smoother and softer too. My nails too seemed healthier than they were the night before. My hair too, seemed a big longer and my hair a lot softer. As I looked into the bathroom mirror I noticed my face seemed softer, and a lot clearer. I'd battled since the onset of puberty with acne. And for the longest time it seemed to hold the upper hand on me. Now it seemed to be retreating.

“Weird.” I said as I took a closer look. Then I noticed something, my voice seemed softer than before. It sounded almost light, almost airy. Almost musical if I might be so bold. I shook my head, all of this seemed so strange. It made me want to hasten leaving from this strange woman's dwelling.
“Everything okay  in there Heather?” The woman called from beyond the door.

“Yes..” I lied and everything was not alright. Something was wrong here, bad wrong, but I could not put my finger on it.

After a few minutes of thinking, I decided to open the door. I kind of overlooked the fact that I was wrapped in only an oversize baby blue bath towel. Somehow it seemed right to wrap the towel around my chest even though I had nothing there to hide instead of my waist. Anyway, I opened the door and noticed my clothes from the night before had indeed been washed and dried. Shrugging my shoulders I collected the bundle of clothes and started to get dressed.

Once I was dressed, I left the bedroom and walked down the long hallway. The wind seemed to be picking up outside. Because I swear I heard it whistling through the trees. The strange woman appeared again at the end of the hallway, she was holding my bag in her hand.

“Here you go. I'm sorry, but since you slept in I can't really feed you any breakfast. And you gotta hurry, school starts in an hour.” She paused. “Also here.” She said reaching into the pocket of the apron she. A few seconds later she pulled out a folded sheet of white paper. She handed the paper toward me.

“And here is the note. I wrote a note saying that you've volunteered to help me clean up the cemetery tomorrow morning. And that all assignments and homework for that day should be sent home with you. Oh don't worry, I have the internet and a small library here in my cottage you can use to do your homework and all the missed assignments.” She said with a smile.

I blinked and blinked again and slowly I reached out and took the note. Once the note was in my hand, I slipped it back into my pocket. The woman smiled and nodded her head.

“I'll be calling the school around noon to see if they got my note. I trust you to hand the note into the office though as soon as you reach the school. If I find out that you did not hand the note in, as I told you too. Well you'll get another spanking and I'll have to find another day to help you clean the cemetery. Trust me, I have my ways of tracking wayward teenagers down.” She said smiling as she patted me on the shoulder.

“So it would be best for me, and you if you just go ahead and drop the note at the office.” She added.

“Yes ma'am.” I added as I nodded my head.

“Good. Very good.” She said as she ushered me toward the door. “Now, follow the road that runs in front of the cottage, that road will take you toward the north gate. From there it's about a mile and a half to your school. And stick to the road, it's easy to get turned around among the graves. People have become lost out there. And with it being so near Halloween, the spirits will be roaming far from their graves. Yes even in broad daylight the spirits tend to roam and in hopes of lure wayward visitors into open graves so they can switch bodies with them. And once more roam among the living.” She added as she held the door to the cottage open for me.

“Alright Heather.” She said smiling. “I'll see you this coming Friday and I hope you have a wonderful day at school.” And with that she ushered me out the door and into the cool, crisp, autumn morning. And there my adventures come to an end. But was this really the end though? 

The End.