The Clock Strikes 8, by Eraldo Carlogie
It was my own fault and I can blame no one else but myself. I had arranged to meet my wife Anna at Mid-day in our local restaurant for lunch as it was Friday and the end of the working week was approaching. That morning, though, there were some major problems at work and I completely forgot about our arrangement. I cannot believe that I was so neglectful as I should have been well aware of the consequences of displeasing my beloved.
My wife’s remedy for any such infraction invariably results in my having to lower my trousers and pants for a hard dose of corporal punishment. Anna has many weapons in her armoury including paddles, straps, a hairbrush and a martinet but her favourites by far are her brace of rattan school canes. One cane is relatively thin and light. The same cannot be said of the other, which is thick, quite heavy, and very, very painful when applied to a bare bottom. These canes are flexible in the extreme and create a horrifying banshee wail while speeding to their target producing thick ugly weals in their wake. On more occasions than I care to remember my unfortunate buttocks have carried more ridges than the Himalayas.
I finally arrived home just after 8pm and was met with what can only be described as a frosty reception. “How dare you make a fool of me” Anna said calmly obviously suppressing her not inconsiderable anger. “Not only have you wasted my time by not appearing for lunch, I was also the subject of some very unwelcome looks by some disgusting old men in the restaurant.” I did not know what to say. Anna, of course, was absolutely within her rights to be mad at me. I tried my hardest to apologise and told her of the problems that I had encountered at work but my wife was unsympathetic to my plight and I can’t honestly say I blamed her.
“I am far too tired and angry to deal with you at the moment” Anna sighed. “Do not make any plans for tomorrow though” she added. I was then told to remove myself to the bedroom for the night and to spend some time considering what my punishment might be in the morning. I have to say I did not manage to sleep at all soundly that night. I knew that I was in serious trouble and that I should perhaps make the most of the fact that for the time being my rear was free of pain and of any resultant marks from a severe beating. I must have dropped off at some point though because I awoke to hear the sound of furniture being moved around downstairs in the dining room. I quickly got out of bed, keen not to infuriate Anna any further. Walking into the dining room in my dressing gown I noticed that the oak table had been moved into the middle of the room. Worryingly, I noticed that Anna had placed four short lengths of cord on the top of the table. When I inspected the rest of the table my heart sank. Behind the cord I noticed that my angry wife had placed the thicker of her two canes. Curiously Anna had placed a carriage clock on a small table just in front of the more substantial oak table. Not far away an upright solid chair had been positioned in isolation well away from any other furniture. On the seat of the chair lay my wife’s stiff leather paddle.
“Do not bother getting dressed” Anna said “You will have no need for clothes today. It is now 9 o clock I intend to start punishment of you at 12.30. In the meantime there is no shortage of work to be done around the house. Enjoy the rest of the morning.”
I spent the next three and a half hours scrubbing floors, washing dishes and generally tidying the house but at the back of my mind was the worry of my fast approaching punishment. I had no idea what was going to happen although I knew that it would invariably be painful. I was also concerned by the need for a clock in the room. It had been positioned in front of the oak table for a reason I knew would not be benign.
At not long after 1230 I heard my wife’s voice inviting me to join her in the dining room. When I entered the room I immediately saw Anna sitting regally on the upright chair. She was wearing a fairly short tight dress showing off her magnificent legs. In her hand she held the large solid wood hairbrush to which I was no stranger. Anna instructed me to stand in front of her. “Do you know why you are being punished today?” she enquired. I replied that I was being punished for being thoughtless and humiliating my wife by my neglecting to meet her for lunch. “Not only that” Anna retorted “ I had absolutely no idea where you were for a full eight hours. You might have had an accident for all I knew.” I again started to offer my profuse apologies but my wife cut me short. “I have heard enough. It is time to start trying to remedy your selfish ways. We will begin with a sharp reminder to your bare bottom with my trusty hairbrush. After that I have a little surprise for you. Take off your dressing gown and get over my knee.” I quickly removed my dressing gown for fear of annoying Anna further and lay naked across my wife’s thighs. I did not have long to wait before the punishment started.
Almost immediately Anna laid in to my unprotected bottom relentlessly, soliciting a strong vocal response from myself. “Please don’t Anna” I gasped. “Too late for that” she responded. “You should have had more respect for your wife yesterday.” The pain was hard to bear. Anna would strike one buttock perhaps thirty times before turning her attention to the other. She halted this barrage only to give her arm a rest. She certainly did not hold back and blasted my rear using all the considerable strength in her arm. Tears began to flow as I felt I could take no more of this. Despite my pleading and sobs Anna kept up her assault on my bottom for a full twenty minutes. When she had finished she instructed me to get back on my feet. This was rather hard to do as my cheeks felt as if they were on fire and straightening up was a real ordeal. I finally managed to stand up straight at which Anna informed me what was going to happen next.
“As I said earlier, you put me through eight hours turmoil not knowing what had happened to you. You are about to undergo eight hours of a very different and painful kind. When I have finished with you I doubt that you will ever be as careless again. You will position yourself over the oak table. I intend tying you down for this punishment as it will be painful in the extreme and I doubt that you would be capable of withstanding the pain I intend dishing out without trying to move. You will have noticed the clock positioned on the table in front of your place of punishment. When that clock strikes one I will give you one full-blooded stroke of the cane. You will then have the next hour to consider your misdeeds for when the clock strikes two I shall administer two strokes. This will happen in increasing doses every hour up until eight o clock this evening when you shall receive eight strokes of my cane. I calculate that by the end of this session you will have received thirty-six very severe strokes and I have my doubts that you will be looking forward to sitting down for quite some time. After you have received your punishment you will be required to stand facing the corner for one full hour reflecting on the afternoon’s events. Now bend over the table.” The full horror of my wife’s intentions started to sink in and I was terrified. I could not possibly take that amount of punishment. I pleaded with Anna to reconsider but to no avail and rather than run the risk of even more punishment I resigned myself to my fate and bent over the table.
As soon as I was in position Anna attached my wrists and ankles to the four legs of the table. Although I was incapable of moving much Anna did not tie my bonds too tight for fear of cutting off my circulation. I thought that she might have placed a cushion where my body was bent over the table considering the time I was going to be held in this position. No such concession was granted and I felt rather uncomfortable with the edge of the table pressing in to me. I nervously looked up at the clock and was dismayed to find that my punishment was imminent. The clock struck one and almost immediately I heard the ominous sound of Anna’s cane whistling towards my bottom. I heard rather than felt the contact but the unmistakable flash of searing pain was quick to follow. The pain in my bottom had subsided slightly from the earlier paddling but this stroke of the cane had my rear burning anew. “Have fun” Anna mocked, “Don’t go away I’ll be back at two”
For the next hour I had to balance the reality of the punishment already received with the horrifying prospect of what was to come. This would be a recurring theme throughout my ordeal that day. The minutes ticked slowly as I lay across the table unable to move. Just before the clock was due to strike two Anna re-appeared. She picked up the cane and made one or two practice swings in the air. Although I knew my bottom would not be touched until the clock struck I was nevertheless nervous of the sound the cane made and instinctively clenched my cheeks. The clock struck two, my wife swung the cane and it landed with an almighty thwack on my unprotected rear. I cried out in pain. “Please have mercy,” I pleaded. “Certainly not” my wife replied. “You richly deserve this punishment and I would be failing in my duty if I relented.” I could sense my wife moving back to take position for stroke number two and sure enough I heard the tell tale whistle announcing the imminent arrival of the thick rattan cane. Yet again there was an explosion of pain both in my bottom and my mind. I cried out again in agony but managed to suppress the sobs I could feel rising. Before I knew it Anna had left the room leaving me yet more time for reflection.
Although I was not bound tightly to the table I was beginning to suffer the effects of being in one position for an extended period of time. My limbs were stiff and the room was rather cold, not least because I had no clothes on. There was no shortage of heat though in my bottom. Considering I was only beginning my ordeal my rear felt distinctly tender and I found it hard to grasp just how sore it would be by the end of the evening.
When Anna arrived for my third appointment with the cane she wasted no time. She strode purposefully into the room and without so much as a practice swing struck me with three agonising swats of the cane in quick succession. Before I knew what had happened she had gone. I was left in torment as the pain from the three strokes dissipated through to the entirety of my buttocks. I struggled frantically against my bonds trying to escape from the agony but my efforts were futile. I was going nowhere. I had now received a total of six strokes of the cane and my worry now was that it would not be long before there would be no unmarked area of my bottom for Anna to aim at. This would mean that my agony would be doubled, as remaining strokes would have to be placed over existing weals. This thought occupied my mind in the minutes leading up to the clock striking four. When the time came I was even more nervous than before.
Anna strode into the room as before and I prepared myself to experience more of the cane’s pain giving properties. Anna said, “You appear to be rather more contrite than earlier. I do believe you are beginning to learn your lesson.” “I have” I replied. “Nothing like this will ever happen again. I will try to be a perfect husband from now on. Please forgive me and excuse me the rest of this punishment. Anna considered for a moment and then said, “ I must admit I am tempted to agree to your request.”
“You are obviously in a great deal of discomfort and you do appear to be genuinely remorseful. On reflection though if I did let you off the remainder of the punishment and your behaviour deteriorated in the future I would have only my self to blame for being too lenient. I am sorry but I feel you must suffer the remainder of this beating.” Without further hesitation Anna stepped back and let fly with the first of four strokes. I was taken by surprise and the stroke drove the breath from my lungs. I gasped for air as much as I gasped in pain at the severity of the stroke. Inevitably I started to sob. Anna waited until I regained my composure before hitting me again. This stroke was as hard as the first and again I gasped and began to sob loudly. This scenario was repeated with each of the two remaining hits. When Anna had finished I was at least relieved to realise that as yet I had received no overlapping strokes. Before she left, Anna tenderly stroked my fiery behind and reminded me that my punishment was half way through. At this she left me alone in the room.
Although the beating may have reached the half way point the amount of strokes I was to receive had certainly not. I had up to this point received ten very hard swipes of the cane. I still had another twenty-six to come! Would my wife reduce the severity of the strokes as my punishment neared its end? I was clutching at straws. Anna never delivered less than her best effort (there had been some memorable beatings in the past and there would be many more in the future I was sure) and deep down I knew that today would be no different. Five o clock was beginning to beckon. During the week at this time I would be looking forward to finishing work and driving home to the arms of my wife. Today I was awaiting with apprehension one of those very same arms.
On cue Anna appeared, picked up the cane and with a look of almost sorrow in her eyes attended to my fifth session with her cane. Her first stroke drove deep into my buttocks I wailed in agony. This time Anna did not wait for my groans to subside. At ten second intervals she delivered mind numbingly painful swats to my behind. I think it was the fourth stroke that overlaid a previous swipe causing as much pain as I believed it possible to withstand. The fifth stroke resulted in an identical explosion of agony and in between sobs I realised that from this point forward my punishment would take on another dimension.
The next fifty or so minutes seemed to be the longest of my life. The pain in my bottom was almost indescribable and I was aware that subsequent strokes were going to be intolerable. I thought about appealing to Anna again to stop the beating but knew deep down that she would not relent and may even take some degree of enjoyment in the thought that her control over me was absolute.
I cannot remember much of what happened at six. I knew that Anna was in and out of the room in seconds without uttering a word. I assume I received six strokes of the cane but in truth I can only recall the swish of the strokes and the absolute agony of a set of swats criss-crossing with previously laid tramlines. I was convinced that my bottom was bleeding although I need not have worried. Anna is an expert at avoiding serious injury. While session number six would be remembered for its brevity, the seventh certainly would not. Just before the clock struck Anna, as usual, entered the room. It was to be twenty past the hour before she left. I do not know whether she thought she was being kind leaving a gap of two minutes between strokes. I would doubt it. Anna can have a very cruel streak sometimes. In any event it was to be one of the most uncomfortable twenty minutes of my existence. At the end I wondered if I would ever be able to sit down again such was the intensity of the pain in my bottom. I would be spending a very unpleasant week ahead considering that I spend a large part of my time sitting, whether at work or travelling to and from the office.
The length of the seventh session meant that I only had forty minutes to recover from my latest set of strokes before Anna returned for the final eight. Although I was dreading the thought of eight full-blooded hits to my rear I also looked forward to the fact that in a few minutes the worst part of my ordeal would be over.
Before I knew it the clock hands were fast approaching eight o clock and Anna had entered the room. “I am now going to deliver the last set of strokes to your bare bottom. Prepare yourself,” she said calmly. I was far from calm. My bottom has already felt the effects of twenty-eight hard, punishing strokes. The merest touch would send shock waves through my body. The prospect of yet more pain was daunting. I began to sob uncontrollably before Anna had even begun the session. If I thought this would soften her resolve at all I was sadly mistaken. While I was still crying my eyes out she began her relentless assault on my bottom for the last time. At ten-second intervals her wicked cane landed on my badly wealed, swollen bottom causing it unimaginable agony. When it was over I felt like passing out. I did not have the option.
As soon as Anna completed the punishment I was untied. I was then immediately required to walk over to the stool that she was sitting on. I did this with the utmost difficulty. Not only was I stiff from seven hours of being tied up, my bottom was in such a scarred, painful state that any movement was almost as sore as the punishment itself, particularly where the cane had hit at the junction of my bottom and thighs. I somehow managed to struggle across the room and stand before her. “You have been punished severely because your behaviour warranted it. Do you have anything to say?” Anna enquired. “Yes” I replied, “I thoroughly deserved the treatment that my bottom has received today and I assure you that I will try my hardest never to upset you again”. Anna seemed happy with this and then told me to stand naked in the corner for the remaining hour. It was a time I spent reflecting on the afternoon’s events and my misdemeanours. I really meant what I had said to Anna for I wanted to avoid at all costs a repetition of the severe treatment meted out to me that afternoon. I did not think that my bottom would be able to cope with punishment of that severity again. Well, not for a while anyway.
