CHAPTER ONE
(April 18, 2011)

On Thursday afternoon, Mrs. Cooper stopped Cecilia after lunch to inform her that her mother would be picking her up after school. After the final bell, the young girl dutifully went to the pickup area rather than the schoolbus and kept an eye out for her mom’s blue Prius.

There it was. Her mom waved as she pulled up. Before she was even buckled in, her mom was speeding off. “Sorry, sweetie. I have to work late tonight so you’ll be staying with Uncle Manny tonight. Your father will pick you up around 8 or so.”

“Okay,” Cecilia said. Manny was her great-uncle, although she always simply referred to him as Uncle Manny. He lived alone in a condo in the outer boroughs. She liked staying with her uncle because he had cable TV and because he was an excellent cook.

Her mother kept one eye on the road and one eye on the dashboard as she fiddled with the radio dials. “I hope your uncle doesn’t mind watching you,” she said, pressing one button after another. “This stupid radio… I feel bad making him drop everything but I really have to stay late at the office tonight and your father – oops!” She slammed on the brakes just in time to stop for a red light.

“Let me do that mom,” Cecilia said. The seven year old’s eyes narrowed in concentration while she studied the display. The light turned green and the car accelerated again.

“You’ll be good for your uncle, won’t you?” her mom continued. “Don’t be fussy over what he’s serving for dinner and don’t make a ruckus all night long.”

“I never do!” proclaimed Cecilia. “What stations do you want programmed in?”

“Did you figure it out?” her mom said, surprised. “I’ve been fiddling with that satellite radio thing for weeks. Find me some a nice classical music station? I can’t stand listening to that droning talk radio your dad loves.”

Cecilia inwardly gagged but she did as her mother asked. Talk radio and classical music were boring. “I’ll keep some talk radio stations programmed in for him,” she promised.

“Oh, can you also get the clock fixed too? We never changed it for daylight savings time.”

“Sure.”

“Never mind,” her mother told her. “Here we are. Did you bring your homework?”

“Yes… Where is the AM/PM switch?” Cecilia answered absentmindedly.

“Don’t worry about it,” her mother advised. She gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek. “Run along now, I have to get back to…”

“Fixed!” Cecilia exclaimed in triumph. She scrambled out of the car.

“Be good!” her mother called after her. “Tell your uncle I’m sorry I couldn’t come in.”

“I will,” Cecilia promised, bounding to the door. Her finger was just poised over the doorbell when the door swung open.

“Cecilia!” He leaned down to give her a hug. “How’s my favorite niece?”

“Good,” she replied. “Mom said she couldn’t come in because she has to get back to work.”

“Not a problem at all,” he said. Cecilia stepped inside. Uncle Manny lived in a cozy two bedroom house that was dwarfed by his well-appointed yard that boasted an exotic flower garden and ornate trees. Cecilia sat down on the couch and began unpacking schoolbooks from her backpack.

“A lot of homework tonight?” he inquired.

“Just a little bit,” Cecilia told him, opening a notebook. “It won’t take too long though.”

“I’m going to go outside and finish some yard work,” Uncle Manny told her. “Maybe I’ll be done in an hour? I was thinking we could order Chinese for dinner tonight.”

“Yum!” Cecilia nodded. “Can I watch TV once I finish my homework?”

“Of course,” he answered. “Help yourself to anything in the fridge too but don’t eat too much or you won’t have room for chow mein and egg foo yung. Do you want something to drink?”

“Do you have tea? I can make it.”

“Still drinking tea? Do you kids your age really drink tea?”

Cecilia rolled her eyes. She had heard this question many times. She liked drinking tea because it made her feel like an adult. “I drink tea all the time at home,” she told him.

Uncle Manny laughed at her. He knew how precocious his young niece could be. “Check the cupboard above the toaster.” He headed for the door. “Don’t burn the house down,” he joked before returning to his yardwork outside.

Ten minutes later, Cecilia was sitting down with a steaming cup of green tea and her math homework neatly arranged on the dinner table. Unable to resist the urge to peek around her uncle’s house, she set down her pencil and sauntered to the kitchen to inspect the contents of the refrigerator. It was exciting looking in someone else’s refrigerator. Uncle Manny had all sorts of different condiments and bottled drinks that she had never seen before.

Outside, she heard a lawn mower engine roar to life. She peeked out the window and saw her uncle trotting gamely across his yard as he pushed the machine. Emboldened, Cecilia began looking through his cupboards, taking great delight in examining his wide array of cereal boxes and collection of plastic soft drink cups.

When she was done in the kitchen, she moved on to the hall closet whose shelves were filled with all sorts of interesting art supplies: markers, crayons, watercolor paints, glue, a large container of safety scissors, vials of glitter, and shrink-wrapped packages of construction paper in every color of the rainbow. Uncle Manny was an art teacher and he split his time at several elementary schools in the area.

Cecilia stopped in the bathroom to give a cursory glance at the contents of his medicine cabinet. There wasn’t much interesting there so she moved on. Perhaps the basement next, she wondered. The stairs leading to the bedrooms beckoned but Cecilia resisted. Instead she plopped herself down on the couch and picked up the remote control.

It took several minutes but she soon deciphered the TV controls. Cecilia scrolled through about 75 channels before deciding there was nothing worth watching. She was about to give up when she noticed the TIVO box that rested unassumingly in the entertainment center. Within minutes she was scrolling through the programs her uncle had digitally recorded for later viewing. The usual shows were there: NCIS, Dexter, Mad Men, Weeds, Glee… There was only one program she didn’t recognize called Seven Deadly Sluts.

Not thinking much of it, she pressed play. It seemed like any other show. The setting was a convent of some sort. Cecilia thought it was going to be a comedy, but nothing funny was happening. A nun escaped her room by climbing out a window and moments later she was dressed in everyday clothes as she walked casually in the street. She arrived a house where a man answered the door. A boring conversation ensued, one that did little to pique the interest of Cecilia. Then they started kissing.

“Ewww!” Cecilia groaned, reaching for the remote control. She could see their tongues twirling together. But just before she turned off the show, she noticed how the man’s hands roamed eagerly over the woman’s chest. Cecilia had seen kissing before, but it was never as… frantic as this. Setting aside her disgust for a moment, she watched for a few more seconds and was rewarded by the sight of the man unbuttoning the woman’s shirt, revealing her bra. A moment later, her bra was unclasped as well, freeing her ample breasts.

Cecilia sat up straight on the couch. She had heard of so-called “dirty” movies where adults got undressed but she had never seen one. The little girl hurried to the kitchen window and confirmed Uncle Manny was still mowing the lawn. Her heart was racing and her knees felt spongy with excitement as she skipped back to the living room. The onscreen couple continued to undress until both were naked.

Feeling naughty, the seven year old girl watched them caress and kiss each other. The notion of kissing was still gross but she couldn’t help but be fascinated by the way their hands touched each other. Cecilia idly wondered whether the two actors were embarrassed to be naked in front of each other. No one could pay her enough to do that! The couple eventually found their way to a bed where they continued kissing.

Though she could see their butts and bare chest, the camera did not reveal any frontal nudity. The man now lay on top of the woman, moving his hips in a funny way. In return, the woman made funny noises, strange sounds that were somewhere between giggling and moaning. Cecilia didn’t get it. Not only did adults enjoy kissing, they also liked taking off their clothes together and acting silly.

“Ahem.”

The sound surprised Cecilia. She snapped her head to locate it and was horrified to find Uncle Manny standing in the doorway to the living room. The blood drained from her face as Cecilia frantically fumbled with the remote but her fingers were shaking too much to turn off the TV. The best she could do was pause the program before Uncle Manny gently took the remote from her.

“I’m sorry!” Cecilia fumbled with her words.. “I was just… going through the channels. And then this came on and well… I just watched it for a little bit.”

“I was actually standing here for at least five minutes,” Uncle Manny informed her. “I don’t think that qualifies as a ‘little bit’ of watching.”

Cecilia flushed, caught in her own lie. “Well… I don’t think it’s such a big deal,” she responded.

“Well, I’m not sure that’s what your parents would say,” Uncle Manny said.

The threat was plain to see. Cecilia continued her impassioned plea, hoping to sway her uncle. “I’m not a little kid!” she insisted. “I don’t see what’s so bad about watching adults take off their clothes.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Uncle Manny said. “Then I guess you wouldn’t mind if I started taking off my clothes, would you?”

He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his hairy chest, and yanked his socks off. The clothes were tossed onto the couch where Cecilia sat stunned. Surely her uncle was bluffing. Surely he was just fooling with her, or trying too hard to make his point. But he undid his shorts next, pulling them low enough so the dark maroon color of his boxers were visible.

“Well, Cecilia?” her uncle asked. “Should I keep going?”

“Ummm…” It was one of the few times in Cecilia’s life where she was at a loss for words. His shorts fell to his ankles, leaving her uncle dressed only in boxers.

“If you really think you’re old enough to watch adult movies, then you can prove it by coming over here and putting your hand inside my boxers,” he challenged.

Cecilia blushed at the thought of touching her uncle down there. She stared at his face but could detect no hint that he was kidding. The seven year old slid off the couch and slowly approached her uncle. His boxers were a dark shade of maroon that reminded her of her favorite summer dress. The cotton material felt silky under her fingers as she navigated the fly of his boxers.

Cecilia felt a little scared, but also thrilled. She was reminded of the time at the zoo when she was allowed to touch a python that was draped around a handler’s neck. She glanced at her uncle’s face one last time but his expression was perfectly neutral. Mustering her courage, her hand plunged through the fly of his boxers. Her fingers made contact with something warm and plump.

“Go ahead and explore,” her uncle encouraged. So she did. She felt coarse, itchy hair that prickled against the skin of her hand. She felt an oddly textured skin that she had never before encountered. And then her fingers returned to the curious tube of flesh, the first thing she had touched.

“You said you’re old enough to watch adult movies,” Uncle Manny told her. “You said you’re not a little kid. And you know what? I believe you. I think it’s a dumb notion that kids are too young to learn about sex. Well, maybe some kids are too young. But I don’t think you are.”

“Y-you don’t?” Cecilia said. She still held his penis in her hand but something strange was happening. It felt somehow felt… different.

“I don’t,” he affirmed. “Look how brave you are, touching me like this. Most girls would be too scared to touch a man like this. That’s why adults think children shouldn’t learn about sex. Because they would get frightened. But I can tell you’re different. You’re a smart girl. Top of the class your mom told me. How many of your classmates can speak French and Japanese as well as you do?”

“Not many,” Cecilia admitted. She was having trouble listening to her uncle. She was almost certain now that his penis was… growing. The little girl was trying to conceal her amazement but she could plainly feel it expanding in her small hand.

“Exactly my point,” said Uncle Manny. “Wouldn’t it be nice to know more about sex than they do too?”

“Well… maybe,” answered Cecilia. He was appealing to her pride. It was working. He had known grown so stiff that his boxers tented out. It was a funny sight but Cecilia knew this wasn’t a time to laugh. Her uncle was treating her like an adult. Now she had to behave like an adult too.

“My boxers are feeling kind of tight,” Uncle Manny offered. “Why don’t you take them off for me?”

Cecilia nodded calmly though inwardly she felt a surge of excitement. She began lowering the elastic waistband of his boxers. A thick patch of hair was the first thing she saw, followed by the hardened tube of his penis which was revealed inch by inch as it strained against the boxers. Cecilia was so preoccupied by the sight of it that she wasn’t prepared for how it flapped up and down once she fully freed it. It startled her but she removed his boxers with one smooth motion and let it join his shorts around his ankles.

“Have a seat,” Uncle Manny pointed at the couch. Cecilia was now directly at eye level with his midsection “What do you think, Cecilia?”

“Um… It’s…” A million thoughts rushed to her head. “It’s really… big,” Cecilia said innocently, too young to understand the weight of her words. She thought she saw her uncle’s mouth twitch upward in a smile. “I’ve only seen… well, I saw my cousin Benny’s once. But he was just a baby.”

“You know what this is, don’t you?”

Cecilia nodded yes.

“Why don’t you say what it is, then?”

“It’s your… penis,” Cecilia said quietly, blushing at the last word.

Uncle Manny smiled at her, a warm smile, not a condescending one. “Go ahead, Cecilia. Touch it.”

Cautiously, Cecilia let a lone finger brush the side of him. “Why… um, why is it so hard?” she asked. It felt funny to see her uncle like this and ask him questions as if they were carrying on a normal conversation. She felt more than a little embarrassed. But she also felt something else. A shaky excitement that she had never experienced before.

“That’s what happens when a man sees a woman he likes,” Uncle Manny told her. “It means he’s ready for sex.”

“Oh.” Cecilia realized he was talking about her. She was surprised that he thought of her as a woman and felt very flattered. His penis throbbed in her hand, almost like it was alive. “Are we having sex now?”

“Not quite,” answered Uncle Manny. “These are just sexy things we can do before actually having sex.”

“Oh.” His answer confused her but she didn’t want to reveal her ignorance.

“Lean back against the couch,” he told her. Keeping one foot on the ground, Uncle Manny swung his other leg up so his foot rested on the armrest. Cecelia felt another twinge of embarrassment about seeing his hairy legs but she tried to dismiss the feelings as childish. Her embarrassment changed to alarm, however, when her uncle began moving his crotch closer and closer to her face.

“Uhh, Uncle Manny?” Cecilia began.

“It’s okay,” he hushed her. Still standing, he swung one foot up onto the couch where she sat. “I’m not going to hurt you or anything…” Using his hand, he pulled his erection up so that it lay flat against his belly. The strange-looking sack between his legs was now quite prominent and still closing in on Cecilia’s face.

“Uncle Mann-“ Cecilia tried to speak but her words were stopped when his scrotum made contact with her face. She was leaning against the back of couch and there was nowhere to go to avoid him. The dangling sack brushed against her lips, the strange withered skin reminding her of kissing her elderly grandmother’s cheek. He continued past her nose where she sniffed the musky scent of a man for the very first time. A feeling of surprise filled her when the seven year old girl sensed the two ball-like objects in the sack come to rest against her dry lips.

“How does this feel, Cecilia?” her uncle asked. He kept moving his crotch as he spoke, letting his heavy scrotum continuously brush her lips, cheeks, and forehead.

In order to speak, the young girl had to shift her mouth away from his sack slightly. “I don’t know…” Cecilia answered truthfully. She really had nothing with which to compare this experience. His sack dragged across her face again until she felt his two balls bridge her nose and rest against her eyes. Her world went temporarily dark, as if she were wearing a blindfold. Neither of them moved for a long moment.

“Let’s try this instead,” she heard Uncle Manny speak. He moved his crotch from her face and her vision returned. She saw him pressing a series of buttons on the remote. “I guess you’ve proved that yes, you are a big girl who is old enough to watch adult movies.” The TV started playing again, only this time a different movie was cued up. There was a man who stood naked while a woman, also naked, knelt before him. Cecilia stared in wonder as the woman took the man’s thing in her mouth, moving her head to make it slide in and out.

“Um… Why is she doing that?” Cecilia asked.

“They’re having sex,” her uncle told her in a matter-of-fact tone. “All adults do it.” They watched a bit more in silence. “See what she’s doing with her hands?” Uncle Manny asked. “Why don’t you try doing that?” He stepped to the couch and stood close to where the seven year old girl sat.

Cecilia stared at the engorged organ that pointed right at her. Pushing aside her doubt, she slowly reached out to grasp him with both hands. A small part of her sensed that what they were doing was somehow illicit, but wasn’t Uncle Manny an adult? Surely he wouldn’t be doing this if what they were doing was wrong. Glancing back at the TV screen for guidance, Cecilia clumsily tried mimic the woman’s movements. Back and forth. Back and forth.

“That’s very good, Cecilia,” her uncle said approvingly. “Maybe hold it a little tighter? Not that tight! There… that’s perfect. You’re a real quick learner, aren’t you?”

Cecilia wasn’t altogether certain she knew what she was doing, but Uncle Manny’s praise gave her confidence. The quivering excitement she had felt earlier had blossomed, curiously concentrating itself between her legs. She wanted to ask her uncle about it but instead focused on the task at hand. After a few minutes of this touching, Cecilia noticed a small drip of something on the tip of his penis. She pointed it out to him.

“Oh, that? That’s precum. Let me show you what to do with it…” He swung one foot up to the couch as before. Cecilia couldn’t help but shrink back from the looming male parts but she found herself once again pinned between her uncle and couch. He tilted her chin up with one hand so she was gazing up at him. He used his other hand to wipe his penis across her cheek, leaving a trail of wetness.

Cecilia felt somewhat bemused by his actions. It was as if her face were a blank canvas, she imagined, and he was painting on her. His fist worked his erection, milking out another drop and he repeated the same action on her other cheek, this time dragging the tip across her lips as well. It was an odd blend of sensations: the cool wetness of the precum combined with the warm heat of his penis head.

“How does that feel?” he asked her. “Pretty neat, isn’t it?” Cecilia nodded gamely. He moved his penis back to her hands so she resumed her earlier motions. After a few minutes, another drop appeared. Uncle Manny painted on her face again, this time on her forehead and eyebrow. He paused to admire his handiwork, pleased with himself. Cecilia tried to smile.

“Oh hey,” Uncle Manny noticed something on the TV. He fiddled with the remote. “You missed it. I wanted you to see something.” The scene rewound jerkily and abruptly resumed in smooth motion. The woman was still simultaneously touching the man while moving him in and out of her mouth. Suddenly, she pulled off him. Keeping her mouth open, she continued to jerk on his erection as it erupted with white fluid that shot into her mouth.

Cecilia was bowled over, her face a mix of sheer, uncomprehending awe.” Why is she doing that? What’s happening? Is the man okay?” Uncle Manny remained silent, however, so she didn’t ask the dozens of other questions flooding her mind. Only once the man stopped squirting did Uncle Manny finally pause the movie.

“That’s the objective of sex,” he explained to Cecilia. “Well, there’s a few more details but what you just saw is the end result. The goal.”

“So… when adults have sex, this is what they’re doing?” asked Cecilia.

“Sometimes yes,” her uncle answered. “Although there are a lot of different ways of getting to this end goal. You play soccer, don’t you? What’s the goal of soccer?”

“To get the ball into the net.”

“And how can you do that?”

“You can kick the ball. Or head it. You can’t use your hands though.”

“Exactly. Sex is the same idea. The goal is to get the man to ejaculate.” He paused, seeing Cecilia’s confused expression. “Ejaculate. That’s what it’s called when that white stuff shoots out. That’s the goal, but there are all sorts of ways to get it to happen.”

“So adults… like doing this?” pondered Cecilia. “Isn’t it kind of, well, gross?”

“Of course. It feels good to have sex. Didn’t it feel nice for you?” Seeing her blank expression, Uncle Manny shrugged. “Maybe you’re too young to understand.”

Those were fighting words for Cecilia. She thought rapidly. “No, I do understand,” she contradicted. Her uncle waited for her to continue. “I.. it’s like… it’s like how adults like the taste of beer. Or coffee. It’s like how adults like to listen to boring radio stations or watch boring TV shows…”

“Or how adults like to kiss,” Uncle Manny volunteered.

Cecilia blanched at the thought but her mind continued to race. She understood perfectly what it meant to be an adult. You do adult things. Cecilia had pushed herself to do adult things all her life… The phone suddenly rang and her uncle left to answer it. He spoke in low tones for a minute before returning.

“Well, kiddo,” he retrieved his shorts and pulled them back on. Cecilia was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice how his hands shook as he got dressed. “I think I owe you an apology, Cecilia. I’m sorry I pushed you into learning about sex when you clearly weren’t ready. One day when you’re older I’ll bet you – “

“No, wait,” Cecilia interrupted. “I’m old enough! I really am, Uncle Manny. Really.” She could tell he was dubious so she pushed on. “I’m glad you taught me about sex. It was really neat.”

“You honestly mean that?”

“Yes,” answered Cecilia with conviction.

“What if I offered to teach you some more about sex the next time you come visit? Would you be interested in that?”

“Yes.”

Uncle Manny seemed to brighten at the thought but then his face fell again. “Actually, your parents won’t be too happy if they find out I’m teaching you about sex. Lots of people think little girls like you are too young to know about it…”

“It’s okay,” Cecilia urged him. “I can keep a secret! I won’t tell them.”

“What about your friends?”

“I won’t tell them either,” Cecilia pledged. “Cross my heart and hope to die. I swear. I never told anyone about that time you took me for a ride on your motorcycle either. Remember?” She put on her best earnest face.

“All right,” Uncle Manny chuckled. “I guess we have another secret to keep then.” Cecilia held out her hand. He shook it to seal the deal. “By the way, that was your father who just called. He got off of work early so he’s on his way right now to pick you up.” He picked up the remote and turned off the TV.

“Oh,” said Cecilia, crestfallen.

“Next time you’re over,” Uncle Manny told her, “we’ll pick up right where we left off. That’s a promise.”

“Okay.” Cecilia followed him to the kitchen where she began gathering her forgotten math homework. “Do you think the other kids in my class know anything about sex yet?” she asked.

“I don’t think they do,” he reassured her. “I’m willing to be that even after today’s single lesson that you already know more than them.” Cecilia seemed reassured about this. “Hey, look. I just saw your father’s car pull up.”

Cecilia finished cramming her books into her backpack and hurried to put her shoes on. Uncle Manny went to answer the door. “Hi there, Jacob! She’s just packing up her things.”

“Hi, daddy,” Cecilia called from where she sat on the floor, tying her shoelaces.

“Hi, sweetie. Did you behave for your uncle?”

“Of course.”

“She wanted to do her math homework but I made her watch TV with me instead,” Uncle Manny told her father. Cecilia held back a giggle. Uncle Manny, standing behind her father, made a zipping movement across his lips and winked. Cecilia nodded conspiratorially.

“Got everything?” her father asked. “Manny, thanks again for taking her on such short notice.”

“Anytime! It was no problem at all… Oh! I almost forgot! I wanted to give you something, Cecilia. Just a minute.” He opened his art supply closet and rummaged inside. He pulled out a rolled-up poster that he handed to his niece. “Something to hang on your wall,” he told her. He poked around the closet some more before returning with a small piece of paper. “And this is for being such a good girl today.”

Cecilia took the paper he handed her. It was a small piece of wax paper with a sticker on it. A silver star that sparkled iridescently. “Thanks, Uncle Manny,” she said, pleased.

Her father grinned and shook Manny’s hand before they left. When they got home, Cecilia hurried to her room to carefully unroll the poster. It was a beautiful picture of Tinkerbell, flying majestically against a golden sunset, her arm upraised in a triumphant gesture as she pointed her wand. The only thing that puzzled Cecilia was that the poster curiously faded to white where Tinkerbell’s wand ended.

The sticker! Realizing what it was for, Cecilia dug in her pocket and produced the sticker Uncle Manny had given her. She carefully affixed it to the poster, just beyond Tinkerbell’s outstretched fingers. The glittering silver star perfectly matched the poster’s color scheme.

Absent-mindedly scratching her forehead, Cecilia fingers touched something that felt dry and scaly. Rubbing a bit harder produced some flakes that sloughed off her forehead. The seven year old realized it was that stuff Uncle Manny had smeared on her. Precum, he called it. An odd word. She was familiar with preschool or precook, but precum? Come where?

She would have to ask Uncle Manny for more details, Cecilia decided. She returned to admiring her new poster as she rubbed off the precum encrusted on her cheeks. Tinkerbell looked so pretty! Her wand could produce a beautiful spray of glimmering silver, if only she had more stars…

Cecilia had to be patient. She didn’t get another chance to go back to Uncle Manny’s house for another week. Many hours were spent staring at her beautiful Tinkerbell poster with its lone silver star next to the fairy’s fingers. One day, Cecilia vowed. One day there would be a magnificent cluster of stars next to Tinkerbell’s hand.

Cecilia could barely hide her glee when her teacher Mrs. Cooper informed her that her mother would be picking her up after school that day. Once again, both her parents were working late so would Cecilia mind staying with Uncle Manny for a few hours? Neither party found this objectionable.

“Hi Uncle Manny!” Cecilia greeted him as he answered the door. Her mom honked the horn. Cecilia gave her a quick wave before she pulled away.

“Hi Cecilia,” he replied, letting her in. They went to the kitchen where Cecilia set down her things on the table. “Are you hungry?”

“No,” she answered. She sat down and kicked her legs impatiently. “Are you going to teach me more about sex today?”

Her uncle laughed. “Cutting right to the chase, aren’t we?”

“Well, are we?” she pressed. “That Tinkerbell poster you have me is great! I figured out what to do with the star. Are you going to give me more stars?”

“That depends on how good a girl you are,” Uncle Manny told her. “But first of all, you haven’t told anyone about our secret, have you?”

Cecilia shook her head.

“Excellent.” Uncle Manny filled a teakettle with water and set it on the stove. “What did you learn last time? Can you summarize for me?” He hunted for some mugs in a cupboard.

“Well, um…” Cecilia thought for a moment. “Adults like sex. They do it by, um, a woman puts a man’s thing in her mouth and pulls it until stuff shoots out. That’s called… jack something. She lets it… well, the white stuff goes in her mouth. But there’s also stuff that comes out before the white stuff called precum.”

“Very good,” Uncle Manny said. He opened two teabags and placed one in each mug. “The white stuff is called semen. When it comes out of a man’s penis, he’s ejaculating. Got it?”

“Uh huh.”

“Let’s hear you say it.”

“Semen is, um,” Cecilia stumbled, “when a man ejaculates from his penis.”

“Close. A man ejaculates semen from his penis.”

“A man ejaculates semen from his penis,” the seven year old dutifully repeated. “And that’s what having sex is?”

“It’s one way of having sex, remember?” The teakettle began whistling on the stove. Uncle Manny turned off the heat and poured the steaming water into the mugs. “Come on,” he said, taking the tea. “Let’s go to the living room. There’s something I want to show you.”

The mugs were set on the coffee table. They sat down together on the couch and Uncle Manny turned on the TV. He pressed a few buttons with a remote. Cecilia watched as couple began kissing on the screen. She must have been making a face because Uncle Manny chuckled at her.

“You still think kissing is gross, don’t you?” he asked her.

“Well, no,” Cecilia lied. Only little kids think kissing is gross, she reminded herself. Adults do it all the time.

“Don’t worry, they won’t kiss for long,” he reassured her. Sure enough, the couple began undressing each other until the were both naked. Cecilia watched eagerly. The man sat down as the woman knelt in front of him. She kissed the length of his penis several times before gently taking him in her mouth.

“It’s called a blowjob when a woman does this to a man,” her uncle said.

“A blowjob,” Cecilia nodded. The funny feeling between her legs, the same sensation she felt last week with her uncle, had returned. The woman was slipping more and more of the man’s erection into her mouth until she had swallowed it to the root. She remained like that for a few seconds before pulling back.

Cecilia was astonished. “How did she do that?” she marveled. “Where did it go?”

“She let his penis go all the way into her throat,” Uncle Manny explained. “It takes a lot of practice to do that. Think you could do it?”

“Maybe. I don’t know…” Cecilia watched as the woman once again enveloped the hard penis in one smooth motion. It had literally disappeared. And then it magically reappeared. They watched her do it one more time before Uncle Manny paused the video.

“Why don’t you try?” he suggested.

“On you?”

“On who else, silly?”

Cecilia tried to hide her embarrassment. She inexplicably felt awkward about the whole situation all of a sudden. If Uncle Manny noticed her discomfort, he didn’t let on.

“Come on,” he said, leaning back on the couch. “Help me out of my shorts, will you?”

Cecilia leadenly moved to his side. She had been looking forward to a new lesson from her uncle for a whole week. Now it was here and she didn’t want to go through with it? Stop being so childish, she admonished herself. Cecilia grasped his shorts by the waistband and pulled them down, revealing his underwear. He was wearing boxer briefs this time and there was a prominent bulge.

“Remember I told you, Cecilia, why a man gets hard?” he asked her.

“Umm…” Cecilia recalled last week when she slipped a hand inside his underwear. His penis had been soft at first but it had grown in her hand. “It’s when… it gets hard when a man sees a woman he likes. It means he is ready for sex,” Cecilia recited, perfectly remembering her uncle’s words.

“Or a girl he likes,” Uncle Manny smiled. The bulge in his underwear clearly indicated he was already quite hard. Cecilia didn’t know why, but it greatly pleased her to know she was the cause of his erection. Forgetting her earlier hesitation, Cecilia took hold of his briefs and eased them down.

“Should I kneel here? Like the woman on TV?” Cecilia asked.

Uncle Manny nodded. “Do you remember how to touch a man?”

His penis pointed straight up like a flagpole. Using both hands, Cecilia began stroking it up and down. It felt surprisingly warm to the touch. “Like this, Uncle Manny?” He smiled and nodded again. After a few short minutes, Cecilia noticed a glistening drop had appeared at the tip.

“I think I see some precum,” she informed her uncle. Without waiting for his direction, she leaned forward and let his erection brush her face, in the process leaving a smear of precum on her cheek. Settling back on her heels, she was pleased to see Uncle Manny smiling even more broadly.

“I wondered if you would remember, Cecilia. Smart girl!”

His words of praise sounded like a fanfare of trumpets to her ears. She resumed touching him again. “Why is it called precum?” she asked.

“Remember what semen is?”

“Yes,” Cecilia said without hesitating. “It’s that white stuff that comes out when you ejaculate.”

“Right. Instead of saying semen, sometimes people like to call it cum.”

“Come?” Cecilia repeated, confused.

“Not like the verb,” he corrected. “Cum, like a noun, because it’s the same thing as semen. So they call it precum because…” He trailed off, watching Cecilia put together the pieces of the puzzle.

“It’s called precum because… because it comes before the cum,” Cecilia reasoned. “Just like how a pregame comes before the game.”

“Smart!” Uncle Manny nodded.

“Here’s another drop of precum,” the young girl noted. She moved to wipe it against her other cheek but Uncle Manny stopped her.

“Wait,” he said. “Instead of doing that, why don’t you taste it?”

“You mean put it in my mouth?” Cecilia dithered. “Well… okay.” The thought of putting precum in her mouth wasn’t terribly appealing. But hadn’t she once thought the same about eating raw fish? Sushi was delicious after she had given it a try. Maybe precum would be the same. The seven year old tentatively stuck out her tongue and gave Uncle Manny’s penis tip a quick swipe. She could immediately discern the slippery consistency of his precum against her bumpy tongue but it didn’t have much taste to it. The word “buttery” popped into her head but it certainly didn’t taste like butter.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, right? Why don’t you try taking the whole tip in your mouth? Like the woman on TV?”

Leaning forward, Cecilia obediently opened her mouth as wide as possible. Once he entered her mouth, she realized she had misjudged his size and was holding her jaws open way too far. She let her lips close around the rubbery head, feeling the now-familiar texture of precum on her tongue. A pool of saliva was already forming in her mouth. The process of swallowing it inadvertently made her tongue brush hard against the underside of Uncle Manny’s penis, momentarily squishing him against the roof of her mouth.

“Mmm…” Uncle Manny moaned, startling Cecilia. She withdrew her mouth from his penis.

“Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, sweetheart, you’re doing just fine. It feels very nice for me when you do this.”

His answer satisfied her. Cecilia opened her mouth, not quite as wide this time, and re-admitted him. This wasn’t so bad, she decided. She couldn’t really describe the taste of his penis, but it didn’t taste bad and that was important. The idea of eating his precum was still weird, but if it was still leaking out then it was imperceptibly mixing with her saliva.

“You’re doing a good job, Cecilia,” he encouraged her. “That’s really nice when you use your tongue like that. Mmmm! And then you can gently suck on it too… yes, just like that. And your hands! Don’t forget to use your hands.”

The seven year old was concentrating with all her might. She was reminded of soccer practice when her coach would urge them run fast while dribbling the ball while keeping their eyes downfield. It wasn’t easy to coordinate her hands with her mouth with her tongue. She was almost getting the hang of it when Uncle Manny interrupted her.

“Hey, remember what I just showed you on TV? How the woman was swallowing the man’s penis? Why don’t you try it?”

Cecilia held his shaft still as she forced her head downward. Uncle Manny’s penis slid smoothly into her warm mouth until the tip reached the back of her throat. Cecilia’s gag reflex kicked in, causing her to quickly retreat.

“I couldn’t….” Cecilia said, disappointed. “I’m going to try again.” Her small mouth engulfed the hard erection again. She urged herself downward but once again her gag reflex immediately protested the moment Uncle Manny’s penis touched it. The young girl withdrew in dismay. She had barely gotten any of his shaft in her mouth!

“I don’t get it.” Cecilia’s brow furrowed in frustration. “The woman on TV made it seem so easy. How come I can’t do the same thing?”

“Well, keep in mind she’s had a lot more practice than you,” Uncle Manny consoled. “Plus she’s older than you.”

“I bet I could do it if I kept trying,” declared Cecilia. She didn’t like being told she couldn’t do something because of her age.

“I bet you could too,” Uncle Manny said, “but I think you’ll have to be patient. You know that feeling you get when it touches the back of your throat?”

“It makes me want to take it out right away.”

“That’s called your gag reflex. Everyone has it. But it’s possible to learn to control your gag reflex. Have you ever seen a sword swallower?”

“Yes, at the circus last year.”

“They can swallow that entire sword because they’ve learned to control their gag reflex. So did the lady on TV. And so can you, if you practice.”

“How?”

“All you need to do is make the back of your throat get used to touching something,” Uncle Manny advised. “It’s like wearing earrings. You know when you put on a new pair of earrings and you constantly notice their weight dangling from your ear? What happens if you wear those earrings for a week?”

Cecilia considered this for a moment. “You stop noticing they are there.”

“It’s the same thing with your gag reflex. It can become accustomed to being touched. So when something comes in contact with it, you won’t feel the urge to gag.”

“I want to try again,” Cecilia said with determination. Uncle Manny watched, bemused, as Cecilia audaciously took him in her mouth once again. She did it more slowly this time, pausing when she sensed him nearing the back of her throat. The seven year old cautiously pressed forward but the slightest contact with her gag reflex made her retch. Annoyed, she immediately tried again with the same result.

With steely resolve, Cecilia forcefully shoved her head down making his cockhead slide past her gag reflex and deep into her throat. Her success was short-lived as she instantly began choking, her throat spasming around the male intruder. Cecilia instinctively pulled back, her uncle’s penis slithering unceremoniously past her tongue and lips as she ejected him. Coughing and wheezing, Cecilia tried to catch her breath but she couldn’t hold back the tears that welled up in her eyes

“I’m okay!” she gasped unconvincingly as Uncle Manny sat up in alarm. “I just…” A severe coughing fit interrupted her. Uncle Manny scrambled from the couch and returned with a glass of water which Cecilia gratefully sipped.

“I’m okay,” she said again. Her breathing was almost normal now although her voice was a little shaky.

“You’re going to have be patient, Cecilia,” Uncle Manny counseled. “I know you’re used to being good at everything right away, but this is going to take time.” She nodded and sipped her water, although she inwardly did not agree with him at all. Cecilia had encountered many new things that she wasn’t naturally inclined to do. But her solution was not as much patience as it was to simply practice until she was beyond perfect.

“I’m going to try again,” Cecilia informed him. “This time I’m going to…”

“Cecilia,” Uncle Manny stopped her gently. “I don’t think we should try again today. Why don’t we try something else?”

Cecilia tried not to pout. “Like what?” she asked shortly.

“Let’s take a break. We can watch the rest of the video. How does that sound?” He patted the couch. Cecilia reluctantly sat down next to him. Her disappointment slowly melted away as she once again became engrossed by the action on the TV. The young girl intently studied every move of her on-screen counterpart: the way her hands moved, the things they squeezed, the motion in which she bobbed her head…

Cecilia was so mesmerized that a grunt from the actor startled her. “Oh god! Oh god! Yes…” he groaned. The actress removed her mouth from him, just enough to show the white stuff spurt into her mouth twice, before swallowing him up again. He must have kept shooting in her mouth because some additional white fluid leaked from the corner of her mouth while she worked on his cock.

“What’s that white stuff called, Cecilia?” her uncle quizzed her.

“Semen,” she answered, not taking her eyes from the screen. The actress used a finger to wipe up the dribble from the side of her mouth before seductively sucking her digit clean. The scene then began fading to black so Uncle Manny turned off the TV.

“Think you’re brave enough to try that?” Uncle Manny inquired.

“Um, okay” Cecilia answered. “What does semen taste like? Will it be the same taste as your precum?”

“Yes, exactly the same,” he reassured her. Cecilia resumed her earlier position, kneeling at his feet. Leaning forward, she very deliberately took his penis in her mouth although not as deep as before. Her tongue immediately encountered his buttery precum which soon became swirled into a mix with her saliva.

“Don’t forget your hands,” Uncle Manny reminded her. Cecilia meekly complied, using both hands. The seven year old mentally walked herself through the steps as she pleasured her uncle. Hands stroke up, bob head down, hands stroke down, swirl tongue, bob head up, hands, head, hands, tongue, head… It was a dizzying combination but Cecilia tenaciously kept at, pausing only when she made a mistake and had to reset.

After several minutes though, her jaw began to ache. She could feel her arms getting tired too. She wondered how much longer it would be until her uncle… what was the word? Ejaculated? Her motions became more mechanical and her rhythm faltered more often as she lost count. Her mouth grew tired of being forced open until her jaws merely sagged against Uncle Manny’s firm erection.

He must have noticed her flagging enthusiasm. “Need a break, Cecilia?” She gratefully leaned back on her heels, her jaw opening and closing in an exaggerated fashion as she tried to work the kinks out.

“Are you going to shoot soon? I mean, ejaculate soon?” asked Cecilia.

Uncle Manny gave her a grin. He knowingly began fisting his erection. “You want to see it happen, don’t you?”

Cecilia innocently nodded. Seeing happen on TV was one thing, but she had to admit she was curious about seeing it in real life. The young girl watched her uncle masturbate for a few minutes. Her jaw had stopped aching so ventured forward, closer to his penis, so she could resume her earlier duties. But Uncle Manny didn’t stop touching himself.

“You want to see it, Cecilia?”

Cecilia blinked. Hadn’t they just gone over this? “Yes,” she answered.

“Tell me what you want to see.”

“Um… I want to see you ejaculate.”

“And what does that mean?” He was rubbing his fist a little faster now.

“It’s when… uh, semen comes out of your penis.” It took her a moment to recall the terminology.”

“Uh huh.” He had started to breath faster too. “Is it just going to come out? Is that how it happens? It just trickles out?”

Cecilia understood what he was trying to say. “No. It’s going to shoot out. Like this.” She gestured little spouts with her fingers.

“What’s going to shoot out?”

“Your semen is going to shoot out.”

“What’s another word for semen?”

“Cum?”

“Tell me again what’s going to shoot out.”

“Your cum is going to shoot out.”

“Where am I going to shoot it?”

“In my mouth?”

“Ask me to do it. Ask me to do it, Cecilia.”

“Uncle Manny, I want you to shoot your cum in my mouth.”

“Say please…”

“Uncle Manny, please shoot your cum in my mouth.”

“Open your mouth! Open!” Uncle Manny grabbed a handful of Cecilia’s hair and pulled her close. It hurt but Cecilia didn’t have time to protest. The first spray of semen erupted from her uncle’s penis, scoring a direct hit on her half-parted lips. She was able to open wide in time for the second spurt which shot forcefully onto her waiting tongue. A third followed, then a fourth.

Cecilia was conscious only to only two things: her uncle’s iron grip on her hair and the hot splatter of semen in her mouth. Otherwise she was in a rapturous state of being half-scared and half-excited. Her uncle was making strange noises, sounds she had never heard before. She remained motionless until she felt his hand gradually loosen its grip on her hair.

His penis rested against her chin, still oozing warm semen. A small puddle formed on her fair skin. It was an odd sensation, to say the least, and it made Cecilia want to scratch. Instead, she closed her mouth and tasted semen for the first time in her life.

Uncle Manny was wrong when he told her it would taste like precum. His precum hadn’t really tasted like anything, but his semen was a foreign symphony of flavor, texture, and scent that contradicted itself in every sense. The taste reminded her of both the sea and earth. It was somehow more watery yet also thicker than his precum. And the smell was undoubtedly chemical-like in its pungency but also organic in its masculinity. She wasn’t sure if she liked it.

She realized Uncle Manny was watching her as she processed these thoughts. “What do you think, Cecilia?” he asked softly.

“You pulled my hair,” she responded accusingly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” he apologized. “I just got very excited.”

“Did it hurt? You made some strange noises.”

“Not at all,” he reassured her. “It felt wonderful.”

“You pulled my hair because it felt wonderful?” wondered Cecilia.

He smiled ruefully at her. “I’ll try never to do it again,” he said. “But you’re such a pretty girl that I’m afraid I’ll lose control of myself.”

Cecilia returned his smile. She could understand that he thought she was pretty, but she wasn’t sure why it would make him lose control of herself and pull her hair. Nevertheless, Uncle Manny was clearly pleased with her performance although…

“Uncle Manny?” she began. “How come you didn’t let me touch you again? And let me use my mouth? Like the woman on the TV? This wasn’t how it happened on TV.”

“I guess I got too excited that I didn’t want to stop myself. I’ll definitely let you do it next time, Cecilia. That’s a promise. All right?” She nodded. “Come on, let’s get you a tissue so you can clean yourself off.”

He sent her to the bathroom to clean herself off. When she returned, Cecilia was surprised to see Uncle Manny fully dressed and puttering away in the kitchen. She thought they might continue with the lessons, but her uncle insisted she get started on homework. Cecilia reluctantly did as she was told. Dinnertime was next. He had prepared her favorite, lasagna, and gave her grape juice served in a wine glass. Afterward they settled on the couch and watched TV together. (The regular kind, not the adult kind, to Cecilia’s disappointment.)

At 7:30, the doorbell rang. “Hi Manny!” Her mother greeted her uncle. “Thank you so much for taking care of Cecilia again.”

“It was my pleasure,” Uncle Manny said.

“Has she been behaving? “ her mother fixed Cecilia with a haughty glare. “I hope so, because the office just told me today that there’s a new project they want me to lead. It means staying late four days a week but I’m thinking of taking it, what with the economy the way it is. It will only be until for the next six weeks and then the holiday rush will be over so I…”

“Susan,” Uncle Manny interrupted her. “Would you like me to watch Cecilia during these six weeks? I can do it. It won’t be a problem at all.”

“Oh, are you sure Manny? She can be such a handful at this age…” Her mother chattered on but Cecilia remained focused on what she just heard. The next six weeks? Four times a week! That would mean a lot of lessons with Uncle Manny. She still had so many questions for him. It was perfect.

Uncle Manny must have been thinking the same thing because he slyly winked at Cecilia. There was more back and forth before Cecilia’s mom finally accepted Uncle Manny’s generous offer to babysit Cecilia after school for the next six weeks. Cecilia put on her shoes and patiently listened to the adults talk. They slowly migrated outside as the adults continued chatting.

Cecilia got in the car. Her mom slowly followed suit. Finally, she heard her mom say, “Thank you again, Manny! You should really come over for dinner sometime, you know.”

“I will,” he promised. “Bye, Cecilia! See you next Monday.” She waved at him. Her mom started the car and began backing out of the driveway.

“Uncle Manny is so nice,” she said. “I still don’t understand why someone so nice never got marr-“ She stopped the car. Uncle Manny was hurrying down the driveway and waving his hand. He came to Cecilia’s side of the car so she rolled down her window.

“I almost forgot!” he said. “Here you go, Cecilia. You earned it!” He handed her a silver star. The seven year old’s face lit up at the sight of it.

“Thank you!”

As they were driving away, her mom asked, “What did he mean when he said you earned the star?”

“Um… I don’t know,” shrugged Cecilia. “I guess he likes me.” She turned her head to hide her smile. “He likes me a lot!” she thought to herself. If adults had sex because they loved each other, then the mere fact that Uncle Manny had sex with her must mean that her love for her was unparalleled. Cecilia remained silent for the rest of the drive home but the small smile on her face never faded.

The minute they got home, Cecilia raced up to her room. Bounding onto her bed, she carefully added her new silver star to the Tinkerbell poster. After ensuring that it was properly secured, the young girl leapt of her bed to admire from afar. The pair of stickers glimmered side by side. True, there were only two stars, but that was still one more than she had yesterday.

May 2, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly, hoping Uncle Manny wouldn’t notice the uneasiness beneath her smile. After a half-dozen visits to Uncle Manny’s house, the seven year old girl was no longer a complete stranger to sex, yet she was still unsure about certain things. It helped, however, that she had come to recognize the patterns and repetitions in their activities together.

For example, Cecilia knew what was going to happen next when her uncle laid her down on the carpeted living room floor and began fisting his penis while straddling her chest. As he was doing now. He towered over her, making his large erection seem even more massive to the trapped girl underneath him. Unsettling, but it wasn’t this sense of claustrophobia that made her nervous (although she had to admit it used to).

Uncle Manny gasped. Cecilia had learned to recognize this as well. Knowing what was coming, she watched her uncle close his eyes and throw his head back. Right on cue, his penis twitched in his tight grip and began squirting, followed by more grunts. Cecilia inhaled sharply at the sensation of the hot fluid striking on her flat chest.

This was what she felt apprehensive about. It confused her to see her uncle lose control like this. Sometimes she wondered if he was transforming into a wild beast as he groaned and twitched above her, spilling his seed so willy-nilly. She imagined the hair on his chest growing wild, spreading to cover his body. His face would metamorphose from the friendly uncle she knew into that of a growling animal.

It never happened of course. The spurts of semen slowed, then stopped. Cecilia heard Uncle Manny’s breathing return to a more controlled pace. He dismounted, flopping down on the carpet next to her.

“Mmmm,” Uncle Manny sighed. He was always relaxed afterward, Cecilia noticed. “Did you like that, Cecilia?”

“Um, sure! It was neat.” She lay meekly on the floor, unsure of what to do next herself, but very sure of what her uncle would do.

“Let’s see,” he said, propping himself up on an elbow. He examined the artful mess on her chest before using his finger to scoop up a dollop. “Have a taste?”

“I don’t know, Uncle Manny.” Cecilia felt ashamed that she refused her uncle each week but she couldn’t help it. That stuff had just come out of his penis. Gross!

“Don’t be such a baby,” he teased. “Come on. Just one little taste?”

Needing to prove her mettle, the little girl reluctantly stuck her tongue out for a quick swipe. The strange consistency filled her mouth first, followed by a stranger taste that she had difficulty describing. Cecilia had hoped that she would get used to it, but each week was the same.

May 7, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly. “Hey, that didn’t taste so bad this time,” she thought to herself.

May 11, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly at the mess Uncle Manny had just made on her body. Propping up her elbows on the living room floor, she examined the long strands and irregular splotches of semen that adorned her flat chest. All their games so far had ended in this manner and she was eager for what was to come next. His semen had barely cooled before she asked, “You’ll give me a star, right, Uncle Manny?”

He laughed. Uncle Manny was straddling her body as he knelt, his penis still somewhat hard in his fist. He just came all over his niece’s chest and all she wanted now was a tiny cellophane star that cost $4.99 for a roll of five hundred. “Don’t I always give you your star? Have I once tried to cheat you out of it?” But Cecilia’s face remained earnest so he gave up joking. “Come on,” he said ruefully, standing up.

Both man and girl were still naked as they made their way to the hall closet. Uncle Manny always closed the blinds whenever Cecilia came to visit. “This stuff sure smells,” Cecilia said, still inspecting her chest.

“What do you mean, ‘this stuff’?” Uncle Manny asked. He opened the closet door.

“Your cum really smells,” Cecilia corrected herself. Uncle Manny didn’t like it when she failed to use the proper terms he had taught her.

“You don’t like it, huh?”

“Well, no,” Cecilia said, taken aback. There was disappointment in his voice. “I just meant… well… it always smells different. I guess I meant it just smells more than usual.”

He handed her a silver star. “Here you go, brat.”

From the glimmer in his eye, Cecilia could tell that he was only teasing. She took the proffered star. “You have gold and red stars too?” she asked, unable to keep from peeking in the closet.

“Sure do.”

“What are they for?” Cecilia asked. “How come I only get silver colored stars?”

Instead of answering, Uncle Manny led her to the kitchen where he used a paper towel to clean her off. The roughness of the paper against her sensitive skin distracted the little girl and she soon forgot about the gold and red stars. Uncle Manny had a thoughtful look on his face though.

May 13, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly when she heard Uncle Manny grunt. Or rather, she beamed as much as she could since her mouth was filled with his cock. She was taking him in her mouth as deep as possible while her both her hands tugged at the remainder of his erection that didn’t fit in her mouth. After watching so many adult movies, the seven year old had come to recognize the sounds that men made when they got excited.

“Ow!” Uncle Manny said. “Watch the teeth!” Her elation turned to disappointment . Uncle Manny wasn’t excited, he was in pain. Cecilia withdrew him from her mouth, taking care to spread her jaws as wide as possible so as not to scrape him with her teeth.

“Sorry,” Cecilia apologized.

“Come on, Cecilia. How long have you been doing this?” Uncle Manny scolded. “We’ve had weeks of practice. You should know better than this.”

“I do know better. It’s just that…”

“What?”

“Nothing.” His penis, still stiff, pulsed in her hand. “Can I try again?”

Uncle Manny nodded. Cecilia opened her mouth wide to admit his hardness, minding her teeth this time. The little girl was frustrated. In the movies they watched, the women were always able to make a man orgasm with no help. Things were far different with Uncle Manny. A frustrating pattern had developed. No matter how long she would use her mouth, Uncle Manny always used his own fist to make himself squirt. Cecilia found this most vexing. Each visit, she would steadfastly resolve to finish him all by herself but this goal proved maddeningly elusive.

“Maybe today…” Cecilia vowed, her head resolutely bobbing over his erection.

“Try taking it deeper,” Uncle Manny encouraged.

She did as he requested, pushing the hard rod deeper in her mouth until she gagged. To her surprise, Uncle Manny reacted positively to the involuntary clenching of her throat. Experimentally, Cecilia bobbed deep again and heard him grunt. In pleasure not pain.

The drawback was that Cecilia tended to tear up when gagging. She could already feel her eyes getting wet. Instead of complaining however, Cecilia tilted her chin against her chest to make her hair fall like a veil around her face. She didn’t want Uncle Manny to worry that she was crying. The seven year old gagged violently on the adult cock filling her throat, her lips stretched tight against the hard shaft. She was rewarded with another groan.

A tear spilled out of her eye. Cecilia wiped it away and tenaciously bobbed her head deep once again. She had a goal. Cecilia wanted was to give him an orgasm, all by herself, and nothing would stop her.

May 16, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly as pressed another silver star onto her Tinkerbell poster. Stepping back, she stood with her hands on her hips while she proudly surveyed the blossoming multitude of stars.

“Cecilia!” her mom shouted from downstairs. “Dinner is ready!”

“All right!” she called back. The seven year old girl scratched between her legs where it felt oddly damp. Cecilia had noticed this phenomenon before. This wetness mystified her. At first she thought it had something to do with visiting Uncle Manny’s house because it always seemed to happen there. But lately she had noticed the wetness at other times, like when she was at school. Or when she was alone in bed. Having ruled out peeing her pants, Cecilia was positively baffled.

“Hurry up, kid!” her father hollered. “We’re eating without you if you’re not here in thirty seconds!”

It actually felt so wet this time that she considered changing her underwear. “Ummm…” Cecilia was caught in a moment of indecision. She knew her parents weren’t bluffing when they said they would eat without her. Her hunger winning out, Cecilia scrambled downstairs to join her parents at the dinner table.

May 19, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly. She had heard Uncle Manny just fine, but she asked him to repeat himself anyway. She liked hearing it.

“You’re such a pretty girl,” he told her again. “I bet you love watching me squirt my stuff, don’t you?” He was towering over his niece’s body as she lay naked on his couch, his hand masturbating in a furious blur.

Cecilia nodded, sensing what he wanted to hear. “I love it when you cum on me,” she recited. He had taught her to say this during their first lessons. Over time, however, Cecilia found the statement to be true. It had been strange at first but she had grown to enjoy watching Uncle Manny’s semen shoot through the air and feeling the brief heat wherever it landed.

“I want to cum all over your pretty face. Can I?”

Cecilia smiled at the familiar praise but wasn’t sure how to respond. “Uh, okay! You mean… Do you want to cum in my mouth?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I want to cover your pretty face with my cum. Can I do that?”

“Sure…”

“Say it. Ask me to cum on your face.”

“Will you cum on my face?”

“Say please…”

“Please cum on my face, Uncle Manny.” Cecilia didn’t understand why he liked to make her repeat things, but she always humored him.

“Close your eyes,” commanded Uncle Manny.

“What?”

“Close your eyes. Or else it will get it in your eyes. Hurry!” Cecilia had barely squeezed her eyelids shut when she felt a drop of something hot on her forehead. She heard Uncle Manny groaning, followed by further sensations of warm liquid. On her cheeks. Her lips. Chin. Completely blind to what was happening, Cecilia felt a little disappointed.

“All right, you can open your eyes now.”

Cecilia cautiously opened one eye. The first thing she saw was Uncle Manny’s dangling scrotum, heavy with its cargo. He was kneeling above her, straddling her shoulders. Though his hands were on his hips, his penis hung over her face, drooping slightly, like a fishing rod.

“That was neat,” Cecilia ventured. The tell-tale scent of semen was overpowering, much more pungent than usual, she assumed, since it was on her face instead of in her mouth (or on her chest) like usual. “Can you get me a Kleenex? This feels kind of funny on my…”

“Ah-choo!” Cecilia was cut off by a tremendous sneeze from Uncle Manny. The loudness startled her, but the little girl was even more amazed to see a stray wad of semen squirt out of Uncle Manny’s penis. Since it had been dangling right over her face, Cecilia had an excellent view of its trajectory as the fluid plopped squarely between her eyes.

Uncle Manny was completely unaware until he noticed Cecilia going cross-eyed at the dollop of semen between her bemused eyebrows. He began to laugh. Cecilia did too.

May 20, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly. “I swallowed it all,” she told Uncle Manny, opening her mouth. “See?”

“Good girl,” he praised. His head rolled back as he relaxed in his armchair.

“None of it even spilled out of my mouth,” declared Cecilia. She puckered her lips to demonstrate how the sides of her chin were dry. “Can I go get a red star?”

Uncle Manny rolled his eyes, but he waved her off. Cecilia gleefully skipped to the hall closet. Ever since she had spied the roll of red stars, the little girl had asked her uncle to give her one of them instead of the silver stars. But he had told her she would have to earn them. Red stars, he informed Cecilia, were only awarded when she could swallow every drop of his semen.

At first, Cecilia thought this task would be easy. The seven year old soon learned however how copious her uncle’s output could be. Cecilia also discovered how difficult it was to swallow with her mouth full of cock. She could usually swallow the initial spurt, but the second and third shots always came before she was ready. By the fourth or fifth spurt, Cecilia would often be chagrined to find the semen leaking from her mouth, no matter how tightly her lips clamped around Uncle Manny’s throbbing erection.

“Not today though!” Cecilia thought. She located the roll of stickers in the closet and tore off a single red star for herself. She couldn’t wait to add it to her Tinkerbell poster.

“How many red stars do you have now?” Uncle Manny inquired.

“Seven,” Cecilia said without hesitation.

“Wow. You must really like the taste of cum.” He winked at her.

“I like it when you cum in my mouth.” Cecilia told him. He had taught her this. The little girl had grown to like saying it because it sent odd twinges of excitement through her whenever she said it.

“Liar. You just love your red stars.”

Cecilia blushed, caught by her uncle. She indeed loved the sight of the red stars around Tinkerbell’s hand, but she actually felt quite ambivalent over the taste of semen. “That’s not true,” she contradicted.

Uncle Manny spread his legs. “Then come back. I’ve got some more for you.”

Cecilia warily knelt between his feet. She knew how difficult it was to coax another orgasm so soon. Nevertheless, her mouth accepted Uncle Manny’s partial erection once more. She milked a leftover drop of semen onto her tongue. It reminded her of very bitter cucumbers.

The taste of Uncle Manny’s semen wasn’t exactly pleasant, but she willingly swallowed since it so clearly pleased him. Eating vegetables was a similar chore that she did to please her parents. Ultimately though, Cecilia loved doing adult things. If occasionally swallowing acrid semen was the price of admission, then so be it.

She paused her work on his slowly inflating penis. “Can I have a gold star if I swallow your cum again?” she asked earnestly.

Uncle Manny laughed and shook his head. “Didn’t I already tell you how to earn a gold star?”

May 24, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly, even though she inwardly felt troubled.

“Very good, Cecilia,” Mrs. Cooper told her. “President Lincoln was indeed the man who delivered the emancipation proclamation. Now class, who can tell me what happened after…”

Cecilia tuned her teacher out again. She had merely guessed President Lincoln and had gotten lucky. Her teacher had (correctly) suspected Cecilia wasn’t listening and had tried to catch her. But Cecilia couldn’t help daydreaming. Lately, she had found it harder and harder to concentrate during class as her mind kept wandering. More often than not, she found herself thinking about after school. And Uncle Manny. And the things they did together.

Her daydreams were unlike any others she knew. For instance, at the moment she could quite clearly sense the bitter taste of her uncle’s semen on her tongue as clearly as if he had just ejaculated in her mouth. Then she would remember all the times swallowed Uncle Manny’s semen. The thought made her flush with a strange excitement.

It was the same feeling she sensed at Uncle Manny’s house when she was in the moment, slurping and sucking, listening to him groan his encouragement. The same excitement would fill her body. And then she felt almost eager for him to finish. Her body would feel tight and shaky, coiled in an elated anticipation that she had never felt before. If she felt like this, Cecilia knew she would greedily swallow every last drop, controlled by a hunger she could not name.

Cecilia eventually came to describe this sensation as feeling “sexy,” a word she had heard on TV and from her parents but had never fully understood. It was this peculiar “sexiness” that had now invaded her daydreams, keeping her preoccupied at school. Sitting here in class, the only thing on her mind (she was embarrassed to admit) was her uncle’s penis. She could picture it, dangling limp at first, but then ballooning to life as she undressed in front of Uncle Manny. She imagined it filling her mouth. She imagined hearing his groans. And yes, she even imagined tasting his semen, possessed by an inexplicable craving to taste its pungent bitterness.

(She couldn’t imagine why she would crave something so unpalatable. She could even recall a time when the thought its taste made her want to throw up.)

Stuck in class, Cecilia could feel these subtle sexy feelings bubble up and take over her thoughts. She would obsess about it for a little while before trying to forget it so she could concentrate on her schoolwork. Given enough time, though, she knew it would fade.

May 26, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly as Uncle Manny opened his door. “Surprise!” she greeted him, holding out her arms and twirling so he could see the new dress she was wearing.

“Cecilia! Hi!” he said, not expecting her visit. He saw Cecilia’s mom still sat in the idling car in the driveway.

“Hi Manny!” she waved. “Cecilia just finished her last class for First Communion so we went to pick out a dress for her ceremony next week. I told her we could go out for ice cream for a treat but she said she wanted to come here instead.”

“How nice!” Uncle Manny answered.

“Surprise!” Cecilia said again. She hopped across the threshold and hugged her uncle. The little girl had sincerely wanted to see her uncle, but not for the exact reasons her mother had said. “Mom said you can take me out for tacos to celebrate while she does some shopping on her own.” While she spoke, Cecilia let her hand brush against the front of his shorts. “But-first-I-want-to-get-a-star-from-you,” she finished quickly in one breath.

Uncle Manny’s eyes grew large. “The door’s open and your mom’s right there!” he hissed.

But Cecilia knew her body sufficiently obstructed her mom’s view of what was happening. “She can’t see,” Cecilia said confidently. He was wearing thin workout shorts and she was easily able to identify the tube of flesh underneath the smooth fabric. She gave it a squeeze, making Uncle Manny jump.

“Cecilia said she wants you to take her out for dinner,” her mom called across the driveway. “Is that all right? I have some shopping to do. I’ll be back in a few hours though.”

“That’s fine,” Uncle Manny croaked. They both waved goodbye to Cecilia’s mom as she drove away. Once the door was safely closed, Uncle Manny turned an accusing eye to Cecilia. “You really shouldn’t have done that,” he admonished.

The sight of the tent in his shorts told Cecilia she wasn’t really in any trouble. Without any fanfare, she pulled his shorts down. Now freed, his erect penis bobbed several times. “I wanted to get a star today,” Cecilia told him in a matter-of-fact tone. She got down on her knees.

“Um, what about your new dress?” said Uncle Manny. “We don’t want to get any, um, stains on it. Right?”

“I’m not going to let any spill,” Cecilia said coquettishly. “I want a red star.”

May 28, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly, though her jaw ached with profound fatigue. Uncle Manny’s cock was erupting in her hands, sending spray after spray of hot cum onto her chest. He stood, grunting in pleasure, while she knelt before him, coaxing out his semen as he had taught her. The seven year old girl’s lower back and legs hurt from being in the same position for so long but she didn’t care. She had finally given Uncle Manny an orgasm all by herself. A gold star. At last.

May 30, 2011
Cecilia beamed proudly. Uncle Manny had stopped by unannounced on a Sunday afternoon and she showing him her room.

Cecilia’s mom walked by with a laundry basket. “Is she showing off that Tinkerbell poster?” she asked. “I swear, Manny. That’s all she talks about sometimes. She gets back from your house, the first thing she does is run to her room to put up her latest star,” Cecilia’s mom laughed. “Jacob thinks she’s OCD.” The adults laughed. “Come on downstairs for tea when you’re done here,” her mother urged.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Cecilia asked.

“It is.” Uncle Manny was genuinely impressed. The entire upper right quadrant of the poster was now filled with dozens of glittering stars. “I can’t believe how many you have.”

“I earned them,” Cecilia said coquettishly, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Um, Cecilia?” He lowered his voice, even though they were alone in the room. “You’ve been keeping it a secret, right? I mean, the things we do? Together?”

“Yes, Uncle Manny.” She swatted his leg. “Don’t you think I can keep a secret?”

“Of course I do.”

“I’m going to be eight in six months,” Cecilia reminded him as they descended the stairs. “It was my half-birthday yesterday.”

“We should celebrate!”

“Really?”

They found her mom in the kitchen. “Susan? Is it okay if I take Cecilia out for some ice cream?”

Cecilia whooped and ran to go put on her shoes before her mother could answer. “Really, Manny? I don’t know…”

“We’ll be right back, I promise.”

“Well… Cecilia? Only one scoop, all right? Don’t you dare order that sundae with all the whipped cream.”

“I won’t,” Cecilia promised. Grabbing Uncle Manny by the hand, she pulled him out the door with his shoelaces untied. Cecilia was bouncing on her heels the entire elevator ride down to the parking garage.

“I’m over here,” Uncle Manny pointed to the small guest parking area of the garage. Cecilia recognized his red pickup truck and skipped over to it. She climbed in and fastened her seatbelt. Uncle Manny, slowed by his flopping shoelaces, lagged behind. When he finally got into the truck cab, he surprised Cecilia by reaching over unbuckling her seatbelt.

“Hey!” Cecilia started. But he silenced her by moving her hand to the crotch of his jeans.

“I missed you,” Uncle Manny said softly. “Feel. Can you see how happy I am to see you?” His hand clamped her wrist, keeping it in place. Cecilia could easily feel the hard bulge through the blue denim.

“Uncle Manny!” Using her free hand, she re-fastened her seatbelt. “You said we would go out for ice cream!”

“We will. I just want you to do something for me first.”

“Here? What if someone sees us?”

“No one will see us.” Leaning back, he unzipped and opened his jeans, revealing a familiar friend to the little girl. “Come on, Cecilia. Don’t you want to earn another star?”

Nervously glancing around the empty parking garage, Cecilia undid her seatbelt. Why not? She did feel a little “sexy” inside after all.

Cecilia was dreaming. She was at her school’s annual science fair with her parents. They were browsing the exhibits, marveling at the amazing mouse who could run a maze or the giant homegrown tomato as big as her head. Then they arrived Cecilia’s entry: a real miniature volcano with actual hot lava.

“Be careful!” Cecilia cautioned passersby. “That’s real lava. It will burn you if you touch it.”

She could tell her parents were very pleased with her. Her dad kept patting her head while her mom urged everyone to stay for the next “eruption”. Cecilia was on top of the world until she noticed a red ribbon adorning her exhibit. Second Prize, it read.

She couldn’t believe it. She had worked so long and hard on the volcano. So many people had praised her exhibit. Second Prize?

Cecilia stalked off alone but it occurred to her to find what exhibit was awarded First Prize. She walked from end to end of the gymnasium but didn’t see any exhibits with a blue ribbon. Her science teacher strolled by and she asked him where the First Prize exhibit was.

“You haven’t seen it? Why, it’s incredible!” he exclaimed. He pointed her to another area of the gym. She eased her way through the thickening crowd who was chattering loudly about the winning exhibit. The words of acclaim only deepened her annoyance and curiosity. She finally was able to push her way through the front of the crowd.

But there was nothing there. “Excuse me,” Cecilia politely stopped an elderly woman. “Is the First Prize exhibit over here somewhere?”

“It’s over there, child,” she pointed to the opposite corner of the gym. “You really must see it. In all my years, I’ve never seen such a splendid science fair exhibit. Genius!”

Sighing, Cecilia pushed her way through the crowd once more. Now there were newspaper reporters with notebooks and cameras who were hurrying to see First Prize. But once she reached the appointed area, it too was empty. Just like the last time.

Frustrated, Cecilia craned her neck to find her parents. “Mom?” she shouted.

“Over here, honey!” she called back. “Come on! They’re about to do another demonstration of First Prize!”

“Hurry!” her dad yelled.

But the swarming crowd enveloped her parents and Cecilia soon lost sight of them. She was shoulder to shoulder with strangers now, feeling like a sardine in a box. An angry buzzing noise filled the gym. The crowd surged once more, sweeping her off her feet.

Cecilia gasped and woke up. Her bedside clock read 6 am. She blearily thought for a moment before remembering it was Sunday. Was that a dream, she wondered. Surely it was. She looked to the top of her dresser. The familiar First Prize blue ribbon was still there. It was just a dream. A silly dream.

Dream. A feeling of anxiety filled the young girl. She crept out of bed, careful not to wake her parents, and felt underneath her mattress. For a moment, she was relieved to feel nothing but the soft sheets and the mattress. But her heart sank when her fingers made contact with something that she knew was there.

Cecilia pulled out a plain yellow folder from underneath her mattress. Stealing back into bed, she opened it with trembling hands. Inside, there was a thin children’s book entitled “The Right Touch” and some loose papers. Cecilia stuck a finger behind the papers, searching for something. Please let it be a dream, she prayed. But she found something. A Polaroid.

Cecilia lay on her bed, playfully stomping her feet against the wall. Sometimes she liked to pretend she had special magnetic shoes that would let her walk up the wall. In her fantasy, she would be able to walk straight up the wall and then even continue to the ceiling until she stood on the ceiling. And then her ponytail would dangle from her head as she wandered, upside down, on the ceiling.

Sadly, she did not possess these boots so she had to be content with tapping her feet against the wall near her bed. Cecilia loved having her own room. Some of her friends had to share a room with a sibling and Cecilia knew from the stories that sharing a room was not fun. This space was completely her own. An entire wall had been decorated with a glow-in-the-dark solar system. Her dresser was a careful arrangement of ribbons from various science and art fairs, as well as an assortment of trophies from tee-ball and running 3k races. Over a dozen dolls were neatly posing in the corner. On the back of her door were a plethora of meticulously colored fairies that she had made herself.

Her most prized possession at the moment though… Cecilia’s gaze settled on the Tinkerbell poster hanging above her head. She could never grow tired of admiring it. It was beautiful: Tinkerbell’s dainty little shoes, her pale green dress, her luminescent fairy wings, her pert blond hair, and, yes, the magnificent spray of stars emerging from her wand like a swarm of butterflies.

There were over almost three dozen stars, each one earned from her time spent with Uncle Manny over the past two months. Each time she looked at Tinkerbell and her stars, Cecilia could feel the ends of her mouth tugging up in a proud smile. The stars shone even in the faintest light, such that she could see them even in her darkened room in the middle of the night. They were predominantly silver colored, although a red star was scattered here and there, mixing beautifully with the silver ones. There were also two radiant gold colored stars that were unmissable.

Someone knocked on her door. Cecilia hastily stopped stomping on the wall and sat up straight before calling out, “Come in!”

Her mom appeared. “Don’t forget, Cecilia, tonight is the church sleepover night.”

“Tonight?” Cecilia balked. “Do I have to go?”

Her mom rolled her eyes. “You’re the one that asked to go! You saw it in the church handout and asked if you could go.”

“Oh.”

“Do you want to go? Yes or no?”

Cecilia considered. She couldn’t remember why she wanted to go. It was unlikely that her school friends would be there. It would be church kids, none of whom she knew well. She vaguely remembered reading something about free pizza and popcorn though. “I’ll go,” she told her mom.

“All right. We’ll leave in an hour so you better start packing. I’ll get your sleeping bag from the basement so you can take care of your toothbrush and clothes. Okay?” She shut the door. Cecilia bounded out of bed. She rifled through her closet until she found a suitable duffel bag to hold her belongings.

Exactly one hour and ten minutes later, Cecilia was trudging toward the church door carrying her bulging duffel bag in one hand and her sleeping bag in the other. Two women seated behind a folding table greeted her as she entered.

“Hello there!” one woman said. “Are you here for the sleepover?”

“Yes.” Cecilia gratefully set her things down. They were getting heavy.

“What’s your last name?”

“Kowalski.”

“Hmmm,” the woman peered at a list. “Cecilia? Yes? All right, honey, please go to room 114. Mrs. Larsen is there and she’ll be taking care of you tonight.”

She went down a set of stairs. Cecilia had never been in this part of the church before but it looked familiar anyway. She passed an old fashioned porcelain water fountain and several framed paintings of Jesus. She finally arrived at room 114 and peered inside.

There were already a few girls in the room. All seemed to be about her age but she recognized none of them. A very elderly woman sat behind a desk. Cecilia thought she looked positively ancient. “Yes, dear?” she asked, peering at Cecilia through her thick glasses.

“Mrs. Larsen? The women at the door told me to come to this room.”

“What’s your name, dearie?”

“Cecilia.”

The old woman seemed to take forever to go through the list. Cecilia was almost certain she wouldn’t find her name but she finally did. “Ah,” the woman muttered, crossing something off with a shaky hand. “You can set your things down over there,” she pointed. “In a few minutes, we’ll go over to the church for a prayer session before dinner. Movie and popcorn after that.”

Cecilia crossed the room which was divided in two by an accordion-style partition. The half where the Mrs. Larsen and the other girls sat was set up like a normal classroom. Beyond the partition, the room had been cleared and several gym mats had been set up to serve as makeshift mattresses. Cecilia found an empty one and unrolled her sleeping bag on it before going back to the other side of the partition.

Two girls were standing next to an aquarium, peering at the fish inside. One of the girls was wearing a bright pair of pink Converse shoes that Cecilia had long coveted. “I like your shoes,” Cecilia told her. “I asked my mom to get those for me but she wouldn’t.”

“Oh thanks,” the girl answered. “I like your shoes too though.”

They began chatting. The girl with pink shoes was named Mindy. She had a delicate face and long blond hair that Cecilia admired. Her friend was a pleasant girl named Julie who had mousy brown hair that was cut in a bob to frame her round face. Cecilia took an immediate liking to both girls and began regaling them with the tale of the time her father flushed some fish down the toilet.

“So my dad is taking the dead goldfish to the toilet one by one using a spoon… Plop… Flush! Plop… Flush!” Mindy and Julie were both laughing so hard their faces were red. Cecilia continued, “But all of a sudden, my mom calls out, ‘Wait, Jacob! Fish float belly up when they’re dead! These were just floating on their side!’ And then…”

“Girls,” Mrs. Larsen rapped the desk with her ruler. “We’re going over the church now so please calm yourselves and line up.”

Cecilia glanced around the room and realized with surprise that the room was now almost full of other girls. Mrs. Larsen had been assigned at least twenty children to watch over that night. She wasn’t finished with her story, however, so she continued to whisper the rest of it to Mindy and Julie as the group filed toward the church.

“I hear talking!” Mrs. Larsen said crossly. She brought the line to a halt in the dark hallway. “Who’s talking?” She squinted at the group of twenty girls.

No one answered of course so they resumed walking. The quiet whispers started again and by the time they reached the church, the group of girls had gone back to full blown chattering. Mrs. Larsen didn’t pay attention to them now, however. Cecilia’s group joined up with another group of girls her age, as well as a group of younger girls being herded by a rather large woman.

The large group of girls slowly filtered into the church. Cecilia sat down on a hard pew in between Mindy and Julie. Father Grayson greeted them and gave a short speech before beginning his prayer. Just as Cecilia’s leg was falling asleep, he concluded the prayer and invited everyone to the cafeteria where pizza was being served. The group of girls, practically comatose during his prayer, came back to life and surged toward the exit.

Cecilia and her friends lined up for pizza. Her stomach grumbling, Cecilia remembered why she had wanted to go to the church sleepover. Her mom frowned upon junk food so it was rare that she got the chance to eat pizza. She helped herself to two slices, a big Rice Krispie square, and a can of root beer.

“Where should we sit?” Julie asked. The three girls paused for a moment, scanning the room. Cecilia’s eyes landed on a lonely girl sitting by herself at a table.

“How about over here?” Cecilia led the way. “Hi! Do you mind if we sit with you?”

The girl’s face broke into an expression of relief. “Sure!”

“I’m Cecilia.” She gestured to her companions. “This is Mindy and that’s Julie.”

“I’m Beth.”

“Are you in Mrs. Larsen’s group?” Cecilia asked, taking a big bite of pizza.

“Yup.”

“Don’t you think she kind of looks like Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter?” Cecilia asked. The three girls tittered. “She’s even wearing a pink dress, just like the movie!”

Cecilia held court among the three girls, steering the conversation to include everyone when she could. Mindy, she learned, could be a bit bossy and liked to talk about herself. She spoke at length about the latest shopping spree with her mother when they bought nearly $!000 of clothes for the two of them. Cecilia changed the subject by asking if Beth had any brothers or sisters. She didn’t but they learned that her family had just moved to town last week and that she lived only a block away from Julie. lived only a block from each other.

Cecilia was having a good time with her new friends when they were interrupted by the loud squawk of a megaphone. It was one of the younger chaperones, a girl who was old enough to be in high school.

“Excuse me! Can everyone listen up? We’re done with dinner now so we’d like you to throw away your trash, push in your chairs, and go find your chaperone. Thank you!”

The four girls did as they were told. Mrs. Larsen was standing across the garbage bins, leaning on a chair and looking as if she would fall asleep any second. Once she determined that twenty girls were waiting with her, she led the group out of the cafeteria and back to the classroom where they had left their belongings.

“What are we going to do now?” Cecilia asked, raising her hand.

“Don’t talk out of turn…” Mrs. Larsen began crossly before noticing Cecilia’s raised hand. She frowned. “We have a short workbook activity,” she informed the class. “And then we’ll watch a movie before going to bed. Please take your seats, girls.”

“Let’s sit over here,” Mindy told the other girls. She pointed to some seats in the back row. Cecilia would have preferred sitting closer to the front but she had no choice since Julie and Beth eagerly took seats in the back along with Mindy. Reluctantly, she chose a desk near the back and sat down.

Mrs. Larsen was opening a cardboard box at the front of the room. “Please take one booklet and pass the pile to the next person,” she announced, removing a stack from the box. “But please do not work ahead and…” Mrs. Larsen trailed off. She frowned once again as she studied the booklets. “Oh for heaven’s sake,” she grumbled. “Mrs. Dean gave us the wrong box. She gave me her box and now she has mine.” She sighed. “Is there a volunteer who can bring this box back to the supply room and retrieve our proper box?”

Only Cecilia raised her hand. Mrs. Larsen nodded approvingly at her so she hurried to the front of the front of the class. “The supply room is next to room 229, just upstairs,” she told Cecilia. “Look for a box marked 17-B.” Cecilia nodded and took the box. It was so heavy that she staggered.

“Is it too heavy, dearie?” Mrs. Larsen asked. “Maybe it would be easier with two girls. Is there another volunteer to help carry the box?”

“It’s okay!” Cecilia grunted. Summoning all her strength, she managed to grip the box and hug it to her chest. Mrs. Larsen raised a questioning eyebrow but Cecilia gave a wry smile. “I’ll be right back,” she called over her shoulder. She hurried down the hallway. By the time she reached the stairs, however, her arms felt like they were about to fall off. She set the heavy box on the first stair and took a break.

Her arms felt a little rubbery. Cecilia realized that she should not have refused the help that Mrs. Larsen had offered. But it would be foolish of her to go back now and ask for someone to help her carry the box.

“I can do it,” Cecilia told herself with steely resolve. “I just need to rest my arms for a bit.” She flexed her arms back and forth to loosen them up. The cardboard flaps of the box were partially open so Cecilia peered inside, unable to resist her curiosity. “Good Touch, Bad Touch” was the title of the book. A smaller subtitle read, “A Read-Aloud Story To Help Prevent Child Sexual Abuse”.

Cecilia’s eyes lit up at the word ‘sexual’ even though she didn’t really understand the context. There must have been at least forty of these books in the box. Surely, they didn’t need them all? Her heartbeat quickening with a sense of daring, Cecilia took a copy and crammed it inside her sweater.

She managed to lift the box again and lurched her way down the hall. She found room 229. Next to it was a non-descript door. The space was dark but she groped the wall until she felt a light switch. The narrow closet was filled with tall, industrial-strength shelves that held several boxes. Cecilia read the labels until she found the one marked 17-B.

To her relief, the new box was far lighter than the previous one. She quickly returned to Mrs. Larsen’s room where the correct books were distributed. She was disappointed to find that these books were about the importance of faith for girls who were growing up. There was no mention of sex whatsoever.

Mrs. Larsen led them through several activities in the books. Cecilia only half-listened since she was much more curious about the book that remained hidden in her sweater. Once the girls were finished with the prayer book, however, Mrs. Larsen immediately segued into the movie. Disappointed, Cecilia took advantage of the darkened room to surreptitiously remove the book from under her sweater and crammed it into her duffel bag.

The movie unfortunately wasn’t very exciting either. It was about a boy who started experimenting with drugs and who subsequently lost his friends, alienated his family, and got kicked out of school. Based on the amount of fidgeting she saw in the room, Cecilia guessed none of the other girls were very interested in the movie either. Mrs. Larsen sternly shushed the group each time she heard whispering so the girls had no choice but to endure the movie.

A palpable wave of relief swept across the room once the movie ended and Mrs. Larsen sent the girls to get ready for bed. Bottled up for too long, the group of girls erupted into a frenzy of movement and chatter. Cecilia retrieved her small toiletry bag and joined her three friends.

“That was the most boring movie ever!” Mindy proclaimed. Like the other girls, she walked stiffly since her legs had fallen asleep during the movie.

“I’ve never been so bored,” agreed Beth. “I thought Mrs. Larsen was going to fall asleep.” The girls reached the bathroom which was a hive of activity as girls brushed their teeth, used the toilet, and changed into pajamas.

“I’m not even really sleepy yet,” Julie said. “Is she just going to make us go to bed now?”

“I hope not,” said Mindy, taking off her shirt and pulling on her pajamas. They had cute pictures of sushi on them. Cecilia realized that she was the only girl who had brought a nightgown instead of PJs. Feeling a little self-conscious, she quickly undressed and put on her plain pink nightgown.

“Oh Beth, I really like your pajamas!” Julie said. The girls crowded around Beth, admiring her red silk pajamas decorated with large pink cupcakes. This made Cecilia even more aware of her boring nightgown so she went to brush her teeth. Mindy joined her, followed by Beth and Julie.

“Wait you guys, don’t leave without me,” Mindy pleaded through a mouthful of toothpaste. The other three girls dutifully waited. The other girls slowly finished and drifted back to Mrs. Larsen’s room, leaving only the four of them.

“Hey, you know what we could do that’s really fun?” Mindy said mischievously. “Let’s put toothpaste all over the toilet seats!”

Beth laughed out loud. “Yes, let’s!” Julie clapped her hands. Only Cecilia was hesitant.

“Are you sure we should do that? What if we get caught?” Cecilia said doubtfully.

“We won’t get caught,” Mindy declared confidently. “How would they know it’s us?”

“Well… One of us might have to use the toilet later,” Cecilia pointed out.

“We’ll just leave one toilet seat clean,” said Beth. “Like that one next to the wall. That will be the safe one.”

“Good idea!” Julie exclaimed. The other three girls rummaged in their toiletry bags. Armed with a tube of toothpaste, each entered a different stall, giggling all the while. Cecilia stood forlorn. Stealing the book inside her sweater was one thing, but vandalizing the toilet seat was another. There wasn’t much risk-reward here for her. Besides, it had been highly unlikely that she would get caught stealing the book.

“Come on, Cecilia! Don’t be a chicken!” It was Mindy.

“Yeah, come on,” Beth chimed in. “I’m making pretty flowers on mine.”

Not wanting to feel like an outcast, Cecilia reluctantly retrieved her toothpaste and entered the last stall. She uncapped the tube and began making swirly shapes on the seat. It was a little fun, she had to admit.

When they were finished, the girls took a quick moment to admire each other’s handiwork before hurrying back to Mrs. Larsen’s room lest their absence be noticed. They shouldn’t have worried. Mrs. Larsen was busy unfolding a cot upon which she arranged a set of dark purple blankets. The four girls meekly went to the back of the room and joined the others. With so many sleeping bags rolled out around the room, it resembled a giant slumber party.

“Now girls,” Mrs. Larsen said, wearily stretching out on her cot. “I know you’re all tired. So let’s all behave and get a good night’s sleep. We’ll have a nice breakfast in the morning and then your parents will come pick you up. All right?” Hearing no dissent, she switched off the lights on the group.

The room remained silent for a few minutes until a gentle snore was heard from Mrs. Larsen’s cot. Then pockets of whispering began across the room. Giggling soon followed, and stifled yelps and shouts. Propping herself up on her elbows, Cecilia watched a group of girls move into the far corner of the room where they began rolling a ball across the floor. Two girls began rifling through a storage cabinet on the lookout for any treasures. Some girls pulled out headphones and began listening to music.

“Hey, you guys.” It was Mindy. “What should we do? No one is going to sleep yet, except for Mrs. Larsen.”

“I have some cards,” offered Beth, speaking softly. “Want to play Gin Rummy?”

“No, it’s too dark, dummy,” Mindy whispered.

“I brought a flashlight,” Cecilia murmured. She felt in her bag until she found it.

“Perfect!” Mindy said. “Come on! Put on your shoes!”

“What?” Cecilia said, surprised. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see! Come on!” Julie and Beth immediately began pulling on their sneakers. Not wanting to be left out, Cecilia did the same. Mindy got up and led the girls out the room.

“Where are we going?”

“What are we going to do?”

Mindy took the flashlight from Cecilia. “Follow me,” she commanded, leading the group down the darkened hallway. They stopped by the bathroom where they had put toothpaste on the toilet seats. The first two stalls were exactly as they had left them, but the third had an unmistakable imprint on the swirls of toothpaste.

“Look! Someone sat in it!” Beth squealed loudly and had to clap her hands over her mouth. Despite her misgivings about this expedition, even Cecilia had to laugh. Mindy led them out of the bathroom. Cecilia expected her to return to the room now, but she went the opposite direction instead.

“Hey! Where are we going now?” Cecilia asked.

“Oh, come on, Cecilia,” Mindy called. “Don’t be such a goody-two-shoes. Let’s go have some fun.”

The words immediately stung. Julie and Beth were already following Mindy so Cecilia hurried to catch up with them. “I’m not a goody-two-shoes,” she said indignantly.

“Oh, sure you aren’t,” Mindy teased her.

“I’m not!”

“Then prove it,” Mindy retorted.

“Um…” Cecilia stalled. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“Hey, look! A vending machine!” Mindy beckoned the others. “I have some money. You guys want some soda?” She pulled a few crumpled bills from her pajama pocket. “How about you, Cecilia? Want some soda? Or did you already brush your teeth like a good girl?”

“Shut up!” Cecilia said crossly. “I’m not always a good girl.”

“But you can’t prove it, can you?” Mindy waggled her eyebrows. Cecilia glared at her. Beth and Julie had remained silent through this exchange. She realized they were waiting for her reply to Mindy. She suddenly had an inspiration.

“Who wants to have soda?” she shrugged. “I think we should go get candy instead?”

“From where? There’s only this soda machine.”

“There’s a twenty-four hour drugstore across the street,” Cecilia pointed out. “We just have to sneak out of the church and come back. It’ll be easy.” But even as she spoke, Cecilia wondered if it were true. The little voice in the back of her head spoke up again. What if they got caught?

Mindy was obviously thinking the same thing. “We might get caught and get into a lot of trouble,” she said.

“Come on, don’t be a chicken,” Cecilia teased. “Beth? Julie? You guys want to go get candy, don’t you?”

“I guess so,” Julie said hesitantly.

“But we’re in our pajamas,” Beth pointed out.

“Who cares?” Cecilia said. “The clerk at the store won’t care as long as we buy something. It’ll be fun. No one will see us anyway since it’s so dark between here and the drugstore.” She could see Julie and Beth nodding with her. Neither were exactly daring, but they would be willing to follow if they had the right leader. Cecilia took her flashlight back from Mindy. “Let’s go.”

To her relief, the girls followed her. The reached the great wooden doors at the entrance to the church. Cecilia briefly wondered if they would be locked but they opened easily when she pushed. The cool night air prickled her skin. It felt a little funny to be outside in her nightgown but it was too late to back out now.

“Come on!” they began trotting along the darkened sidewalk. Cecilia had been right. There weren’t many streetlamps so they remained virtually invisible. It wasn’t a busy street so there weren’t any car headlights to expose them either. Two blocks away, they could see the glow of the commercial center that housed the drugstore.

Five minutes later, the four girls casually sauntered into the store. The clerk was a teenage girl who didn’t even bother to glance at them. They headed straight for the candy aisle where each girl picked out some treats. They paid with Mindy’s money and exited the store, triumphant. There was less fear of being caught now so they loitered in front of the store as they ate their candy.

“Did you guys see that old man in the magazine aisle?” Julie laughed through a mouthful of Reese’s peanut butter cups. “He wouldn’t stop staring at us!”

“I waved at him!” Beth proclaimed. She unwrapped a Jolly Rancher.

“You did not!”

“I did!”

They giggled for a few more minutes before Cecilia spoke up. “We should probably head back now,” she said, stuffing the last of the Laffy Taffy in her mouth. The girls started shuffling back the way they came when Mindy stopped.

“I have an idea,” she said, still sucking on her Sugar Daddy. “I think we should take a shortcut.”

“What shortcut?”

“We should go this way,” Mindy pointed. “There’s a passage that goes past the parking ramp. It’ll take us right back to the sidewalk to the church. It’ll be a lot faster.”

“Should we?” Julie wondered. Cecilia noticed that both she and Beth had glanced at her. Mindy was clearing trying to re-establish her leadership of the group. No matter. Cecilia had proved she wasn’t a goody-two-shoes by leading them here. If Mindy needed her time in the spotlight, then so be it.

“Sure,” said Cecilia.

“Give me the flashlight,” Mindy requested. Cecilia handed it over. They followed her through the passageway.

“I wonder what we’ll have for breakfast?” Julie mused as they walked.

“Who knows? I bet Mrs. Larsen will sleep right through it.”

They turned into an alley. On their left was the high walls of the parking ramp. On their right were the rear of the stores. They had been only walking a few yards when they saw a lone figure approaching them in the distance of the alley. Mindy, still in the lead, faltered for just a split second before continuing. The girls fell silent as the stranger approached.

The silence soon turned to dread. The figure was now thirty feet away and they could see him clearly. He was wearing a facemask that completely hid his features.

Cecilia immediately knew that something was wrong. Form the man’s gait and posture, she instinctively sensed danger. And the facemask, of course. Had it been cold night in the dead of winter, perhaps the ski mask could be explained. But it was a relatively warm night. They were, after all, comfortably wearing pajamas without any jackets.

“Maybe we should turn around,” Cecilia said quietly.

“Okay,” Mindy said, immediately spinning on her heel. Cecilia could see by the look on her face that she too was nervous. She wasn’t prepared for the strangled yelp that escaped Mindy’s lips.

“What?” asked Cecilia, turning to see what Mindy was staring at her. Her heart sank. Another man had been following them. He was wearing a facemask too. Beth and Julie both gasped.

No way out. There wasn’t anywhere to run to with the parking ramp to their left and the cold brick walls of the store to their right. Cecilia looked around wildly. Her eyes lit upon a partially opened door painted bright red. She seized Beth and Julie’s wrists.

“Run! This way!” she yelled. She stole a quick glance and was relieved to see Beth had grabbed Mindy too. Hand in hand, the four girls quickly dashed into the red door. Mindy had barely passed the threshold before Cecilia slammed it shut. Behind her, the three girls broke into fearful cries that overlapped.

“Oh my god, oh my god that was so scary…”

“- wearing masks… Why would they be wearing-“

“- follow us? Is the door shut? What…”

Cecilia grasped blindly at the door. The room they had entered was pitch black and closing the door had shut off the only available light from the alley. Frantically she tried to feel for a lock but all she felt was the smooth metal of the door.

Suddenly, the room was flooded with light. Someone must have found a light switch. “That helps,” Cecilia said, “Was that you Mindy?” Hearing silence, Cecilia glanced over her shoulder and saw the three girls standing with mouths agape, staring at something to Cecilia’s right. She turned her head.

Another man. There was another man in a facemask. He was leaning nonchalantly against a door on the opposite wall. Otherwise, the small ten by ten foot room was bare. Nowhere to hide.

“Why hello hello,” he said, graciously tilting his head to greet them. The four girls stood petrified. A loud clank made them jump. It came from the door they had just entered. The two other men from the alley entered the room and shut the door with a loud clang. The girls skittered away into the far corner. Cecilia watched as they locked the red door with a key.

Mindy and Julie were now sobbing softly. Beth was silent but pale as a sheet. Cecilia swallowed a lump in her throat. She was scared but not crying. The three men watched them closely from across the room. They were all dressed similarly in dark jeans and black turtlenecks but their facemasks were of a different color.

“What are you girls doing out so late?” the one in the red mask asked.

No answer. Mindy sat with her head bowed between her knees as Julie and Beth hid their faces in each other’s shoulders. Answering slowly, Cecilia said, “We were at the drugstore buying candy.”

“Buying candy in your pajamas,” Red Mask said, expressionless. “You live close to here?”

“N-no,” Cecilia said. She decided to tell the truth. “We’re having a sleepover at the church. We… snuck out. To get some candy.”

“That’s not the smartest thing to do,” Red Mask shrugged. “Girls your age walking around at night all by yourselves.” For a moment, Cecilia wondered if these were policemen. Were they just going to drive them back to the church? Wake up Mrs. Larsen and tell her what happened?

“Does anyone else know you’re snuck out?” asked Black Mask.

“No.”

“You sure? You didn’t tell any of your friends? No one else saw you?”

“No.”

The men glanced at each other. “No one’s going to know they’re missing until the morning,” said Red Mask.

Blue Mask was counting on his fingers. “That gives us plenty of time.”

“How old are you, anyway?” This question came from the man in the black mask.

“Um, seven,” Cecilia volunteered.

“You, blondie,” Blue Mask barked. “How old are you?”

Mindy was still sobbing, too scared to look up from between her knees. “Mindy,” hissed Cecilia. She was starting to think it would be best to cooperate with these men as much as possible. “How old are you?”

“E-e-eight,” Mindy replied through her tears.

“She’s eight,” Cecilia told the men. She glanced at Beth.

“I’m seven too,” said Beth, her lip trembling.

“Seven,” Julie said quietly.

“These girls are sort of young for my taste,” complained Black Mask. He was speaking to the other men. “I know you guys will do any age but I like there to be at least a little grass on the field.”

“Shut up,” Red Mask replied. “You don’t like it, you can sit this one out. I’m going to have a fine time though.”

“Hey, I want to choose first this time,” objected Blue Mask.

“Hurry up then.”

Cecilia shivered. She didn’t understand what any of them were talking about, but she was keenly aware that the men were staring very intently. As if they were sizing them up for…

“I want the blond,” Blue Mask announced. Mindy’s head snapped up. Cecilia could see the panic in her eyes. The man in the blue facemask took Mindy by the wrist and pulled her to her feet.

“No!” Mindy screamed. “Leave me alone!” She continued screaming as Blue Mask dragged her across the room toward the unmarked door opposite the exit to the alley.

“You gonna go now too?” Black Mask asked Red Mask.

“Yeah,” he answered gruffly. “You keep watch.” He studied the three remaining girls. “Girl on the end. Long haired brunette. Come with me.”

Very slowly, Beth got to her feet. Unlike Mindy, she was able to retain her composure but her face was ashen behind the brown hair that fell over her face. Red Mask ushered her through the door and closed it behind them.

Julie scooted closer to Cecilia. In a gesture of solidarity, Cecilia put her arm around her. Frowning, the man in the black mask watched them for a long moment before he started to pace the length of the small room. Her heart still beating wildly, Cecilia tried to calm herself by studying the room but there wasn’t much to see. She and Julie were huddled on a dirty concrete floor. A single bare light bulb hung from the ceiling, illuminating their surroundings in a harsh yellow-green light. The walls were made of cinderblock and completely bare except for a crooked clock that ticked loudly.. The red door through which they entered appeared solid with a heavy duty metal locking brace. The door through which Mindy and Beth followed the two men, however, was a standard office door with a glazed privacy window and wooden frame.

Through the closed door, she heard a loud wail. It sounded like Mindy. She and Julie made eye contact but said nothing. The man in the black mask stopped pacing and shook his head. Then he started pacing again.

“I’m cold,” Julie whispered.

“Me too,” said Cecilia. Unable to do anything else, they just held each other tighter. They could hear nothing from the closed door now except for the occasional murmur of low voices.

Miserably long minutes passed. Finally, the door opened. Beth came out first, her face bright red. She stared straight at the ground and didn’t even acknowledge Julie or Cecilia as she sat down next to them again. Cecilia wanted to ask her what happened but she couldn’t because Mindy came scurrying out the door. She was crying, her face streaked with tears. Her hand was cupping her crotch and the gait of her walk seemed unsteady. She collapsed in a pile next to Cecilia.

“What the hell happened?” demanded the man in the black mask. He approached the door where the other two men shuffled up.

“Jesus Christ!” Blue Mask said angrily. He was speaking to the man in blue. “What are you? Some sort of idiot?”

“Fuck off!” thundered Red Mask.

“What the hell happened?” Black Mask asked again.

Blue Mask folded his arms across his chest. “Goddamn shit-for-brains here,” he sneered at Red Mask. “You think that shoving your finger in the kid’s pussy is going to make her want to suck your cock? You moron!”

“Screw you, asshole!” Red Mask retorted. “I suppose if you could have it your way, we’d take these girls to some spa and give ‘em massages before we work out way to second base.”

“Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Black Mask demanded.

Blue Mask pointed at Red. “He just shoved his finger in the little blondie’s pussy. No lube or nothing. Then he acts real surprised when she starts screaming even louder. So he shoves his cock in her face and tells her to suck, only now she’s bleeding and the shit has been scared out of her. Like hell she’s gonna suck anything.”

“Well, how far did you get Romeo?” Red Mask asked sarcastically.

“Well, I at least talked my girl into taking my cock in her mouth for a little bit,” Blue Mask retorted. “Only she completely froze up when her friend there started screaming bloody murder.”

“Well, why didn’t you keep working her?”

“Ah, what was the point? She was just sitting there with my cock in her mouth. Blank look. Not licking or anything.”

“Well, we still got two more to work with,” Red Mask said. He glanced at the girls in the corner. The girls shrank under his gaze. Julie was completely lost while listening to their conversation but Cecilia felt a faint glimmer of understanding. Surely these men weren’t talking about…

“Look buddy, I’m going in alone this time,” Blue Mask insisted. “I don’t want you around to mess things up.”

“Fine.”

“And then it’s my turn,” Black Mask interjected.

“You?” Red Mask exclaimed. “I thought you were sitting this one out.”

“I never said that.”

“Where does that leave me then?”

“I guess you’ll have to settle for sloppy seconds.”

The man in the blue mask pointed at Julie. “Come with, honey,” he commanded. “Don’t be afraid, all right? I’m not going to hurt you…” So saying, he led her into the other room and closed the door.

A silence descended upon the room. The man in the black mask resumed pacing while the man in red leaned against the wall. Cecilia watched as he began biting his nails. The two of them made awkward eye contact every so often. Cecilia looked away first each time.

Next to her, Mindy lay on her side on the dirty concrete floor. Her blond hair was splayed out from her head like a burst of light and her hand remained between her legs. Cecilia winced. There was a rusty stain the size of a teacup on the crotch of her pajama pants.

“Mindy? Are you all right?” Cecilia whispered. Hearing no answer, she touched the girl’s ankle but Mindy recoiled as if she had been slapped. Her eyes were still wild with fear.

Cecilia withdrew, uncertain of what she should do. Beth sat quietly in the corner, her face pale yet oddly blank. Cecilia decided not to say anything. Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. The only sound was the ticking of the clock, for the office remained eerily silent.

After twenty-five minutes, the door opened. All heads in the room swiveled to look. Julie came hurrying out, her face beet red. Cecilia was shocked to see her friend was naked except for her shoes. Julie’s hands clutched her pajamas in a bundle to her chest as she darted to the corner to rejoin the other girls.

The man in the blue mask appeared at the door. The other men looked at him expectantly. “That was a long time,” Black Mask said. “Was it good?”

Blue Mask waved his hand in disgust. “I spent twenty minutes eating the little cunt out. I thought I would get her good and ready to suck me off but she wouldn’t do it either.”

“You gotta make them.” Red Mask insisted. “Hold her jaws open and then…”

“You’re an idiot,” Blue Mask snapped. “A complete moron. Maybe that would get me off if I were a sadistic asshole like y-“

“You guys shut the fuck up,” ordered Black Mask. “It’s my turn.” Cecilia felt a creeping dread. She could feel his eyes on her but she didn’t dare look back.

“Heh. Sorry you got stuck with ugly one pal,” Red Mask chortled. These words struck Cecilia like a slap to the face. She suddenly felt very small inside. The ugly one. She had never heard an adult be so mean.

“Shut up.” Black Mask approached and gently took her arm. Without being told, Cecilia slowly got to her feet and entered the office.

“You guys keep an eye out,” Black Mask told them before closing the door. Cecilia looked around the room. It appeared to be a partially abandoned office. A dusty file cabinet stood in one corner. There was a worn wooden desk as well as a set of rickety, mismatched chairs.

“Have a seat,” Black Mask pointed to a chair in the center of the room.

Cecilia did as he directed. The shame of being called ugly still stung deeply. “W-what are we going to do?” she asked. It was odd to converse with someone wearing a mask.

The man smiled. A chilly smile. “Isn’t the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard?” He swaggered up and stood close to her chair. “You’re just a sweet, innocent little girl. Aren’t you?” Cecilia didn’t know how to answer. He was standing uncomfortably close now.

“What’s your name, anyway?”

“Cecilia.”

“How old did you say you were?”

“Seven.”

“You like being around a man?”

“… I don’t know.”

“You ever wonder about what a man has inside his pants? Between his legs?:

Cecilia fell silent. She remembered how Uncle Manny always reminded her, each time she came over, that what they did was a secret.

“Aw, are you shy? Don’t be shy. Why don’t you go ahead and feel my between my legs? Go on. Let’s see what you find.”

Reluctantly, Cecilia did as he said. Her fingers touched the coarse denim of his jeans and ran lightly across his crotch area.

“Don’t be shy. Give it a good squeeze.”

She did. There was a bulge in his jeans now. She knew what it was.

“You can feel that, can’t you? I bet you’re dying to see what it is. Right?”

Cecilia looked up at him. She was blushing now. She had touched Uncle Manny here many times. She had done much more than just touch through his clothes. But it felt weird to do it with a stranger.

“Let’s see you unzip my jeans. Let’s see what you can find.”

She undid his zipper with a practiced hand and reached her small hand through the opening. Her fingers took only a moment to discern that he was wearing boxers. It took another short moment before she was able to locate the flap opening that she knew was there. Her fingers closed on his partial erection and fished it out. It was easy. No hesitating, no fumbling.

“It’s a big snake, isn’t it? Do you know how to pet snakes? Don’t be afraid. It won’t bite.”

Cecilia almost rolled her eyes. His patronizing tone of voice insulted her. With knowing hands, she reluctantly began to jack him off.

“That’s good,” he told her. “That’s very good. You’re a quick learner, aren’t you?” He let her jack her off for several minutes. Cecilia saw a telltale drop of moisture form at the tip of his penis.

“Mmm…” Black Mask said. “See that there? It’s precum. Do you know what little girls do with precum?”

Cecilia couldn’t help herself. All her life, she had made it a point to show adults how much she knew. Instinctively, she traced the man’s cock across her cheek , leaving a long smear across her cheek. Cecilia looked up at the man’s face. Even through his black mask she could read the expression in his eyes: a mixture of pleasant surprise and great admiration. It was familiar to her. It was the same face her teacher made when Cecilia had spoken fluent Japanese to the sushi restaurant waiter on the field trip. It was the same face her father made when they played tee ball and she hit one out of the yard.

Knowing she had impressed him, Cecilia simply followed her next instinct: impress some more. Lifting his erection so it pressed against his belly, she leaned in close and gave him a long lick with her tongue that ran from the root of his erection all the way up. When she reached the tip, she engulfed him in her mouth. Her tongue swirled around the familiar, rubbery helmet for a moment before she pressed onward.

Cecilia fell back to her routine with Uncle Manny. Take as much as she could manage in her mouth and use her hands on the rest. Compared to her uncle, Black Mask’s penis was a bit smaller in all dimensions but the same technique applied. She glanced at his face to gauge his reaction.

“I guess you’re the smart one in the group,” Black Mask told her. Cecilia felt a surge of elation from the praise. Being called the smart one was much better than the ugly one. “Who taught you? Dad? Older brother?” Cecilia chose not to answer and continued working his hard cock. But he wouldn’t let it go.

“Come on, Cecilia. You’ve done this before. With who? I’m not mad. I’m just curious.”

Cecilia withdrew from him from her mouth. “Do… do you really think I’m ugly?” she asked, changing the subject.

“What?”

“The guy in the red mask. He called me the ugly one.”

“Oh, him? Just ignore him. He’s just a dumbass that we keep around to lift heavy things,” Black Mask reassured her. “Besides, haven’t you heard the story about the ugly duckling?”

She had. But before Cecilia could answer, the door to the room swung open to reveal Blue Mask and Red Mask. She quickly released Black Mask’s penis and put her hands in her lap. It was obvious what she had been doing though.

“Hey man,” Blue Mask said. “Looks like you’re having some luck there huh?”

“What the hell are you guys doing in here?” demanded Black Mask. “You’re supposed to be watching the other girls.”

Blue Mask waved a hand dismissively. “They’re just huddled in the corner and whimpering. They’re not going anywhere.”

“We thought it would be more fun to watch you,” Red Mask added. They both entered the room and closed the door.

Black Mask shook his head in disgust. “You guys… Well, how about it, Cecilia?” He wagged his hips, making his erection bounce in the air. “Show the guys what you can do.”

Now things really felt strange. Cecilia had performed in front of an audience before during school plays and violin recitals. Stage fright had never been an issue before, but being asked to perform oral sex for an audience was simply too strange. He may as well have asked her to use the toilet while he watched. Cecilia sat straight in her chair, frozen.

“Oh come on,” Black Mask pleaded. “You were doing so well before. What happened to that eager little girl swallowing my cock like it was a big piece of candy?”

“Maybe she doesn’t like you anymore,” Red Mask interjected. He reached for his belt. “Let’s see if she’ll like me.”

“You stay right where you are, buddy-boy,” ordered Black Mask. “This one is mine. Maybe she just needs a little… encouragement.” Without warning, he picked up Cecilia and laid her on the wooden desk in the center of the room. It was not exactly comfortable to lie on the hard surface, but Cecilia did not protest.

Black Mask crouched low so his face was level with hers. “Here’s the thing,” he whispered so the others couldn’t hear him. “It’s obvious that you’ve had a little.. experience with this sort of thing. Maybe with a family friend? Neighbor? Uncle?”

Cecilia couldn’t control the guilty blush that spread across her face but Black Mask didn’t notice it because he was snaking a hand under Cecilia’s nightgown. She remained frozen as he tugged her underwear down her legs. They easily slipped past her ankles. Much to her embarrassment, he examined her underwear with great curiosity.

“How pretty,” he told her, running his fingers across the small flowers decorating her white underwear. He then sniffed them, turning cotton fabric inside out and pressing the crotch to his nostrils. Cecilia was mortified.

“You smell nice,” he whispered confidingly. He reached back underneath her nightgown. “But since you’re so shy all of a sudden, I’m going to see what I can do to make you.. not shy.”

Cecilia’s spine stiffened at the feel of his finger between her legs. His fingers were rough. Probing. They explored with untroubled abandon the most private places of the troubled little girl.

“Keep those legs spread,” advised Black Mask in a soft voice. “Be a good girl now.” His intrusion had caused her to involuntarily close her legs. Cecilia didn’t want to, but she inched her legs apart nonetheless. Inattentiveness to adults in position of authority was not something Cecilia was particularly known for. And Black Mask had definitely established himself in a position of authority.

His touching had grown concentrated on one spot. His finger felt smoother now, no longer possessing the abrasive texture from when he started. It was soft. Gentle. As he fondled her, Cecilia found herself at a growing crossroads of contradictions.

Despite the strange anxiety of being touched by this stranger…

Despite the leering presence of his two colleagues whose eyes she could feel…

Despite the shell shock of being kidnapped with her friends in the middle of the night…

Despite the discomfort of the hard desk digging into her back…

Despite all this, Cecilia felt strangely… soothed. It was a very familiar feeling, frustratingly familiar, like when a word was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t think of it. Feeling overwhelmed, Cecilia closed her eyes. Just as she did, however, a jolt of recognition struck her.

She was feeling sexy.

Like when Uncle Manny straddled her. Or when he pulled her aside into his tent on a camping trip. Or when she felt him throbbing in her hands. Or when she daydreamed in class about the things they did together.

Cecilia felt alarmed at this turn of events. But once she realized she was feeling sexy, the sensations multiplied at an accelerated rate. It was like a snowball rolling down a mountain, gaining size and speed. She wanted him to stop but at the same time she wanted him to continue.

“Open your eyes,” she heard him say. Cecilia did as he asked, looking into the clear slate eyes hidden behind his black mask. “I bet this feels nice and familiar, doesn’t it?” he whispered.

But of course it did not. Uncle Manny never touched her. Not between her legs. Not like this. A whole new sensory experience was cascading over the seven year old girl. She had previously felt the vague twinges of sexiness when pleasuring Uncle Manny. But it was nothing compared to what she felt now. Her body felt like it might explode, a terrifying yet thrilling prospect.

“You’re a squirmy one, aren’t you?” Black Mask smiled at her. It was true. Cecilia hadn’t realized it, but her arms and legs were repeatedly clenching and releasing as she lay on the hard wooden desk. His fingers continued their assault. Cecilia wanted… she didn’t know what!

Unable to control herself, Cecilia grabbed the arm of Black Mask as her spine tensed. Black Mask nodded approvingly. “Ah, that’s what I was looking for,” Black Mask said as his fingers instantly changed from confident touching to a more lazy and wandering style before abruptly stopping altogether.

It was still enough, however, to send a multitude of shivers though Cecilia’s body. The seven year old girl had never felt anything like it. Little earthquakes made her clench her tummy and curl her toes.

Black Mask gently turned her head so she was staring right at him again. “I want you to be honest now. Did that feel nice, Cecilia?” Too embarrassed to say yes, Cecilia ears turned bright red. Black Mask smiled at her.

“What if I told you I could make it feel even better?” he whispered to her. “I could make you feel so nice you would beg for more. Would you like that?” Not giving her time to answer, he pulled her to her feet. Cecilia tottered a bit, unsteady from all the blood rushing to her head. Before she could even fully gain her bearings, however, Black Mask pushed her to her knees where she found herself face to face with his very erect cock.

“I think you know what to do,” said Black Mask.

She did know. Opening her mouth, Cecilia leaned forward. She heard appreciative murmurs from the other two men in the corner of the room but she didn’t care now. It felt sexy to have this man in her mouth. It felt sexy to run her hands along the pulsing veins gilding his shaft. It felt sexy to see the way he was looking at her.

There was silence in the room for several minutes. Cecilia soon heard footsteps behind her, followed by the sound of unzipping. “Looks like you have company, sweetie,” Black Mask informed her.

The little girl saw a flash of movement over her left shoulder. She stopped what she was doing to see what it was. One of the men was standing close behind her, his jeans and underwear pulled to mid-thigh as his hard cock pointing at her accusingly. She looked up to see Blue Mask towering over her. Someone tapped her other shoulder. Cecilia looked to her right and found Red Mask also standing by, also free and erect.

Unsure of what to do, Cecilia looked up at Black Mask. “Go on,” he said. “I promise I won’t be jealous.”

The men had formed a tight triangle around her. Not having much choice, Cecilia shifted left on her knees so she was now facing Blue Mask. She opened her mouth again.

She immediately noticed two things. First, Blue Mask’s cock was much thicker. It hadn’t occurred to her until now but Black Mask and her uncle shared very similar dimensions. Secondly, his taste was distinctively different. Sharper. More pungent.

“Damn,” she heard Blue Mask say. “This girl knows how to get the job done!”

“Just wait until she gets her hands in there too,” Black Mask said. “Come on, Cecilia. Don’t be shy.”

Feeling self-conscious, Cecilia moved one hand to cup his dangling balls while her other stroked his shaft. Again, she was struck by the minute differences of doing this to someone other than her uncle. It felt just a little different, like riding someone else’s bicycle or reading a familiar book in paperback instead of hardcover.

“Hey come on guys,” Red Mask protested. “I want a turn too.”

Once again Cecilia stopped what she was doing and did a quarter turn to her left. She glanced up tentatively at Red Mask only to see him grinning lasciviously. His cock was pulsing with so much heat that it felt exceptionally hot against her lips when compared to the others. His girth was much more conservative, which she appreciated since Blue Mask had been so big that jaw ached from opening so wide.

“Here, sweetie,” Blue Mask said, taking her small hand and wrapping it around his cock. “You just use your mouth on him.” He motioned her hand along his shaft.

“Let’s find out if Cecilia can multi-task. What do you say, boys?” Black Mask took her other hand.

Cecilia blinked. Her mouth was now full of Red Mask’s erection while her hands were full of two more. It took her a few minutes to fully coordinate her movements, concentrating hard to keep her head bobbing on one cock while her hands serviced the other two. She had just started to get the hang of it when one of the men declared, “Trade places!”

All three of them shifted counter-clockwise while the seven year old girl remained kneeling at the center. She was now back where she had started, taking Black Mask orally while manually pleasing the other two men. After only a few minutes, they shifted places again, putting Cecilia in front of Blue Mask’s extra thick member. She was starting to feel dizzy from all the switching places.

The men, however, had started to feel something other than dizzy. Whenever they switched now, Cecilia was beginning to notice small strands of precum, particularly with whomever she had been using her hands. Remembering how impressed Black Mask had been, Cecilia took the time to show off her trick using an erection to smear the precum on her cheek.

It happened to be Red Mask. “Goddmamn,” he breathed. “She is so fucking hot.”

Cecilia was bemused to hear him swear but she correctly interpreted his words as praise. The little girl was a little embarrassed to admit it, but she was enjoying being the center of so much male attention. She did the same precum trick with Blue Mask, holding his throbbing member steady in her hand as she traced a pattern on her face with his precum. Instead of swearing, he merely stared at Cecilia with a look she recognized all too well.

It was the same look she always saw in Uncle Manny’s eyes before he ejaculated on her. A glassy look of excitement and joy. Had she been older and wiser, she would have identified the expression as pure lust. Instead, Cecilia redoubled her efforts and bobbed her head as fast as she could, her chestnut brown hair flopping with her movement.

She heard Blue Mask grunt. “Oh god. Oh yeah, baby… Suck it just like that…” His penis expanded, growing even harder in her mouth, before exploding in heady throbs. The familiar taste of semen filled the seven year old’s mouth as she feverishly swallowed to keep up with the multiple spurts of creamy fluid. Cecilia tried to breathe through her noise to mask the flavor. She knew she would gag if she actually tasted it.

“Oh Christ, that was so hot,” she heard someone say before yanking her shoulders. It was Red Mask. Her small mouth was summarily pulled off the penis she had been servicing. He aggressively positioned her on his own cock. She barely had time to get it in her mouth before Red Mask shot a mouthful of hot, bitter semen into her mouth. She blanched at the taste, not having time to hold her breath. Having no choice, Cecilia quickly gulped, feeling his watery ejaculate slip down her throat before she swallowed twice more.

“Sweet Jesus, I love this girl,” Red Mask groaned as he held her head tight against his midsection. Cecilia was feeling a little wicked now. She had never swallowed two loads in quick succession from two different men. The salty taste of their semen, unpalatable as it was, filled her with a warm glow of sexiness. She suddenly thought of how she had succeeded to please these men where her friends had utterly failed. It was a pleasing thought for a girl accustomed to outdoing her peers.

Hey Cecilia.” It was Black Mask. “You still have one more to go. Are you up for the task?”

Glancing at the man’s hidden face, she accepted his challenge. Since he was the last one, both her hands were now free which she used to her advantage. Cecilia expertly massaged his shaft as her tongue flitted against his erection, her lips puckering around his bulbous head. At the moment she felt him pulse in her mouth, Cecilia moved a hand to his hairy sack and squeezed gently, just like Uncle Manny taught her.

“CHRIST!” Black Mask shouted, rewarding Cecilia with another mouthful semen. She kept milking his shaft, skillfully timing her swallows to avoid gagging. This time, Cecilia didn’t hold her breath. Instead she let the runny sourness run over her tongue. The taste, she discovered, was making her feel powerful waves of sexiness. She didn’t particularly care for the taste, but she liked the way it made her feel.

Black Mask finally stopped squirting, leaving Cecilia to suck out the straggling dribbles that leaked from him. Pleased with herself, Cecilia realized that she would have earned three gold stars for bringing the men to orgasm all by herself and then swallowing every drop of their seed. There was no reward system in place here, of course, but it was a proud accomplishment nonetheless. Three gold stars in one night was far better than the several months it took to earn two from Uncle Manny.

Red Mask and Blue Mask had retired to chairs to watch the action from the periphery of the room. Black Mask joined his drained colleagues, gratefully dropping into a chair that creaked dangerously when he sat down. All three penises, which none of them made any attempt to put away, were now drooping lazily.

Cecilia got to her feet. Her knees hurt from kneeling against the dirty floor. Wiping her mouth when her hand, she wondered what was going to happen next. The men, despite their calm, were still eyeing her greedily.

“Hey, little girl,” Red Mask said. “Why don’t you lift up that nightgown and show us what you have underneath?”

Cecilia hesitated. When Black Mask had pulled her underwear off earlier, she never had the chance to put them back on. Uncle Manny had never asked her to take her clothes off so she never did. Feeling bashful, Cecilia slowly lifted her nightgown, exposing her hairless crotch to the three men who murmured their appreciation.

“Mmm,” Blue Mask said. “That looks so beautiful.”

“Delicious,” said Red Mask

“Prettiest little girl we’ve ever seen,” declared Black Mask.

To her surprise, Cecilia felt another twinge of sexiness. She realized she enjoying hearing the men’s words of praise. She could clearly see how she was holding their rapt attention and she liked it. They were all staring between her legs as if they were starving while she held a big platter of food.

“I’ve got an idea,” Blue Mask said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out an iPhone. “You guys go move your chairs into opposite corners of the room,” he ordered. “You know how to play musical chairs, don’t you Cecilia?” He tapped a few buttons on his phone.

“Yes.”

“Perfect.” His phone began playing a simple nursery rhyme song. He put it on the desk in the center of the room before returning to his own chair. Then he motioned for Cecilia to approach.

“Lift up your nightgown again.”

Unsure of what was happening, Cecilia did as he said. Once again, she felt a little thrill at exposing herself like this. Blue Mask licked a finger and began fondling between her legs. Cecilia flinched at his touch but he steadied her with a hand on her shoulder. At first his digit felt rather coarse as it sawed into her plump slit but Cecilia’s unknowing body began adding its own moisture. The little girl was starting to feel funny tingles down her spine when the music from the phone stopped.

Blue Mask immediately stopped touching her. “Time’s up!” he told her. “Move on to the next station.” He pointed to the corner where Black Mask was sitting. The music started playing again as the perplexed Cecilia walked over to Black Mask.

Instead of speaking, he merely gestured with his fingers. Cecilia suddenly understood he wanted her to lift her nightgown. She did. Smiling, he licked a finger and reached between her legs.

Her superheated clit, already warmed up by Blue Mask, reacted instantly to the stimulation. Cecilia flinched again, but not because she was nervous. His touching made her feel warm inside. It felt nice. It felt…

The music stopped. Black Mask withdrew his hand and winked at her. Understanding the game now, Cecilia moved on to Red Mask’s corner. Without being told, she lifted her nightgown.

Not even looking at her face, Red Mask plunged his finger between her smooth slit. He hadn’t even bothered to lick his finger. Subsequently, his touch felt far more abrasive then the others. Cecilia gasped a little as he roughly fingered her, but more out of discomfort than pleasure. She was happy when the music ended, signaling the time to move on.

Cecilia was back at the beginning now with Blue Mask. She shyly raised her nightgown for him. “Are you enjoying the game?” he smiled pleasantly at her.

The touch of his gently finger was positively soothing when compared to Red Mask. Cecilia nodded. Just as the warm feelings were starting to envelope her, Cecilia heard the music stop. Time to move again.

Several rounds passed as the music stopped and started. Cecilia didn’t mind being touched by Blue Mask or Black Mask but she found Red Mask’s groping to be far too rough. The other two men would kindle a warm fire within her belly which would be coldly extinguished by Red Mask’s boorish mauling. Moreover, she found it maddening that the music would stop and start so erratically. Sometimes the music would play for several minutes, allowing her long moments of mounting pleasure as the men fondled her. Other times, the music would cruelly stop after only a few seconds.

Eventually, Cecilia found herself practically running from station to station whenever the music ended. She could sense a growing dampness between her legs. She thought she had been imagining it at first but now the men’s fingers were making sloppy wet noises whenever they touched her. After several rounds, even Red Mask’s coarse touching was heightening the building feelings within her. Her sexual frustration boiling over, she began wishing that they didn’t have to play Musical Chairs anymore. Every stop/start required time for her body to return to the previous level of pleasure.

The three men were enjoying the sight of the aroused young girl running from corner to corner and innocently lifting her nightgown to offer herself up. As she gamely trotted along, Cecilia noticed that each man’s penis was slowly inflating. After several passes around the room, each man had a proud erection jutting from his legs as he molested the seven year old girl.

Cecilia, however, was mostly concerned about the escalating quivers and tingles that were threatening to overtake her body. At one point, Blue Mask was enthusiastically rubbing between her legs when Cecilia felt the pleasure rapidly ramp up. Just when she thought it would explode, though, the music ended abruptly. This process repeated itself again with Black Mask.

Cecilia’s legs were shaking a little when the music ended and she jogged over to Red Mask. It took only a few seconds of his petting to make her spine tighten up. “I like how you’re pushing your little pussy right at me,” Red Mask smirked. “You weren’t doing that before you know.”

Cecilia wasn’t sure what he was talking about. All she could concentrate on were the intense shivers running throughout her body.

“I gave your friend my big finger,” Red Mask told her. “But since you did such a great job of sucking me off, I’m going to be nice and use my pinky.” Cecilia once again had no idea what he was talking about. She watched him bring his other hand between her legs. The little girl could feel him probing for a moment before becoming aware of something going inside her body.

“What have we here?” Red Mask said. “I can feel your cherry. I wonder if my pinky is small enough to slip through…” Cecilia felt a brief twinge of pressure before feeling his finger go even further up inside her.

Red Mask smiled. “Looks like I saved your cherry for a lucky dick. Now I want to see you cum.” Cecilia was confused. Cherry? Come? His words made no sense. What did make sense, however, was the feel of his two fingers roughly pinching her clit. Cecilia yelped in pain.

“Got your attention, didn’t I?” Red Mask grinned. He began rubbing her clit hard. Cecilia her the music end but he didn’t stop touching her. She was trapped, impaled on his finger that held her captive. On either side of her, she saw the other two men approach with eager eyes.

“Come on, come on,” Red Mask’s finger was dancing across her swollen clit. “You can do it…”

Cecilia wasn’t sure what he wanted her to do. But her body knew. Her hips bucked once, then twice, as a concentrated series of tingles emanated from between her legs. Suddenly, the blood rushed to her head so fast that Cecilia saw stars.

“Oh!” she said, both in surprise and delight. “OH!” Cecilia’s first orgasm, long bottled up, burst free like a racehorse from the starting gate. Her head swam. All she could feel were the warm waves of pure bliss lapping at her body. Thrilled, Cecilia rode the waves until they carried her no more.

It was lucky the other two men were standing close by because as soon as she was finished, Cecilia’s knees gave away. She felt hands catching her and then a brief disorientation as her vision went fuzzy. Her limbs felt as limp as noodles. The little girl realized she was being set on the wooden desk again.

Cecilia realized they were talking, but the words seemed oddly syrupy and unintelligible. As she lay on the table, they entered her field of vision: one to either side and the third man standing at the end of the table so he towered directly above her head. All three were stroking their erections. She heard one of them making noises, then another. Still in her own post-orgasmic daze, the seven year old could only watch as, one by one, the men began to ejaculate on her.

Something warm and wet landed on her cheeks. Then her chin. Her forehead. Cecilia listened to the men grunt and swear as they sprayed her over and over with warm, pungent semen. One shot landed on her left eye but the little girl luckily closed her eyelid just in time. Scrunching her face, Cecilia kept her left eye closed while her other eye remained open. Never having witnessed three men in the throes of orgasm, Cecilia didn’t want to miss a thing.

“Goddamn… God… damn,” one of the men kept repeating. Cecilia couldn’t identify who it was but she could clearly see Black Mask towering above her head now. Their eyes were locked together as he squeezed the last remaining drops of cum from his cock. Cecilia felt it dribble onto her right ear and hair. He was smiling now, a warm, sincere smile which surprised her.

Cecilia’s surprise was magnified even further when she saw him aiming a camera at her. “Come on guys,” Black Mask said. “Get in the picture. This is a night to remember.” Cecilia felt two pairs of hands guiding hers. She found herself holding the still-weeping cocks of Blue Mask and Red Mask who stood on either side of her. Having had so much experience handling penises, Cecilia noticed that though they were no longer rock hard, both men were doing an admirable job of maintaining their post-orgasmic erections.

“Smile, sweetie,” Black Mask directed. He had positioned his own semi-erect penis alongside her face where her hair made a sort of bed for it. Cecilia automatically beamed for the camera. The flashes went off, blinding her momentarily.

“Come on, real smile!” Black Mask urged. “Don’t close your eyes like that either.”

Cecilia cautiously opened her left eye. A clump of semen hung on the eyelid like incorrectly applied mascara but she didn’t feel any stinging in her eye. Hazy white spots from the bright flash dotted her vision but Cecilia was able to see just clearly enough to make out Blue Mask stick his tongue out at her. Unable to help herself, Cecilia laughed.

The flash fired again, followed by a whirring sound. Her face still covered in congealing strands of semen, Cecilia grinned blindly as he took several more photos. Finally, the click-and-whir sounds stopped, followed by sounds of shuffling in the room. The two penises she held unceremoniously slipped away. She heard the sound of zippers. It took a minute, but Cecilia’s vision slowly returned to normal.

“Well Cecilia, that was really fun,” Black Mask said. He was bent over near her head, scribbling a note. “We’ll never forget you,” he told her. “Here’s something to make sure you never forget us.” He put something on the desk, tapped it twice, then winked at her. Then he turned and disappeared.

Cecilia lay on the hard wooden desk for a long moment. Warily, she peered form side to side before propping herself up by her elbows. She was alone. The chairs were vacant without any sign that anyone had occupied them. From beyond the slightly ajar door, she heard the sounds of quiet whispers.

“Were they coming back?” Cecilia wondered. The door opened further. Instead of the three men, Cecilia saw the pale faces of her three friends peeking at her from behind the partially open door.

“Cecilia?” Julie whispered. Cecilia could see the anxiety on her face. Mindy’s eyes were puffy and red from crying. She was leaning on Beth for support. All three girls’ eyes were nervously darting about. They had the air of a pack of frightened rabbits.

“Are you all right?” Beth asked. None of the girls dared enter the small office where Cecilia still lay on the desk. Instead they spoke to her from a distance.

“We should go now,” Julie said, nervously looking over her shoulder. “Those three guys left in a real hurry. They didn’t even say anything.”

“They left the alley door open,” Beth said. “Let’s go!” Her three friends turned and disappeared from the door.

Cecilia swung to her feet. She staggered to the door, finding her balance. When she got to the alley, the other three girls were waiting.

“Come on,” Julie hissed. “Let’s run!” They took off at a gallop. Mindy was the slowest, her loping figure slowed by occasional winces. Nevertheless, the four pairs of feet pounded the pavement for three blocks, not letting up until they finally arrived at the church door. Cecilia’s lungs burned from the exertion. She stood with her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

“D-do you think t-th-they saw us?” Mindy panted. “F-followed?”

“They w-would have grabbed us by now,” Beth reasoned. The girls were quiet for a moment. Mindy made a strangled sound, burying her face in her hands. Julie put a consoling arm around her.

“Don’t cry, Mindy,” Julie whispered. “They’re gone. It’s over now.”

“That guy she was with put his finger inside her… you know,” Beth told Cecilia by way of explanation. “He made her bleed real bad.”

“At least he didn’t but his mouth down there like he did to me,” said Julie, making a face. “Gross! Can you believe he did that?”

“Well, did he try to put his thing in your mouth?” Beth rejoined. “He made me lick his thing! It tasted awful!”

As Cecilia listened to her friends, she suddenly realized how immature and unknowledgeable they sounded when it came to sex. A smug sense of superiority was filling her when she noticed Beth staring at her.

“Cecilia?” she said slowly. “What’s that on your face?”

Blankly, Cecilia touched her cheek. In their daring escape, she had forgotten about the copious amounts of semen that had been deposited on her face.

“You’re covered in… some… some kind of weird slime,” Julie observed. Through all the running and sweating, most of the semen had dripped off onto her nightgown in wet splotches. What remained no longer resembled distinct strands of fluid. Instead, gravity had smoothed them out into long sheets that coated her face in a glistening shine.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Cecilia said at last. She was tired and didn’t feel like explaining.

“Are you sure?” Mindy asked. Cecilia’s strange appearance had piqued her curiosity enough to make her stop crying. “You smell really bad. I can smell you all the way from over here.”

Before Cecilia could think of a retort, Beth pointed at something in her hand. “What’s that?”

“It’s a note,” Mindy said, taking it from Cecilia’s hand. Cecilia narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Mindy had apparently recovered sufficiently to resume her bossy ways. “It says, ‘Cecilia! You’re a super sexy slut! We love you!’” read Mindy out loud.

“Slut?” repeated Beth. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a bad word,” interjected Julie. “I heard my dad say it once and my mom got really mad at him because I heard.”

“This is kind of a funny paper,” Mindy said, feeling it between her fingers. “It feels really thick. Almost like…”

Cecilia snatched it out of her hand before she could continue. “Never mind all that,” she said. “Are we going to tell Mrs. Larsen what happened?”

“Tell Mrs. Larsen?” echoed Julie. “We have to tell her, don’t we?”

“But if we tell them, they’ll know we snuck out of the church,” Cecilia countered. “In the middle of the night.”

“We’d get in trouble,” Beth said, stating the obvious.

“But… you guys,” Mindy began. “Those guys kidnapped us! We have to tell!”

“No, we don’t,” Cecilia said coolly. “Beth is right. We’d be in big trouble for sneaking out of the church. We should just keep all this to ourselves.”

“But they hurt me!” Mindy said, breaking into tears again.

“They did bad stuff to all of us,” Cecilia conceded. “But…”

“But they didn’t make you bleed!” Mindy retorted. “All they did was cover you in this weird slime! And you don’t even care about it so…”

“Shhhhh!” Beth and Julie and Cecilia said at the same time. They glanced about nervously but the church windows remained dark.

“I don’t care what you guys do!” Mindy whispered angrily. “But I’m telling!”

“Don’t be such a chicken,” Cecilia taunted. “Beth had to lick that guy’s co… uh, thing,” Cecilia said, catching herself. “And Julie got licked. Down there. Neither of them are crying. So maybe you should stop crying.” An edge had developed in Cecilia’s voice that silenced Mindy. “It was your idea to sneak out of the room in the first place. You’ll probably get in trouble the most.”

From the look on Mindy’s face, Cecilia could see that she was winning the argument. She continued, “Now we’re going to have to sneak back in so we have to be really quiet. Right?”

Beth and Julie nodded. Defeated, Mindy grudgingly nodded as well. Cecilia quietly opened the church door and led the group down the hall. Locating the classroom, the girls crept in one by one. Cecilia was relieved to hear Mrs. Larsen snoring as loudly as before. If any of the other girls noticed their absence, they didn’t say anything. Finding their sleeping bags were exactly where they left them, the girls settled themselves in.

Safe in her cocoon-like sleeping bag, Cecilia finally took a moment to wipe her face using her nightgown. Most of the semen had become crusted over by now but she was able to get most of it off. She would be covered in stains in the morning, but it was better to have a soiled nightgown than a dirty face.

Despite the fact that she was exhausted, Cecilia found it hard to fall asleep. The strange and surreal events of the evening kept replaying in her mind. Sneaking out of the church, being chased by the men in the alley, finding themselves cornered. She remembered the anxiety of being alone in the room with the three men, the things they made her do, the odd combination of arousal and fretfulness when they touched her.

She must have fallen asleep eventually because the next thing she knew the classroom was bright and sunny. Mrs. Larsen was speaking loudly, asking everyone to please pack up their things before going to breakfast. A quiet buzz of activity enveloped the room as the girls changed their clothes and rolled up their sleeping bags.

Breakfast was a sullen affair. Cecilia, Mindy, Julie, and Beth sat next to each other but there was little conversation. None of them had slept well and were simply too tired for any meaningful interaction. Awkward goodbyes were exchanged while they waited outside to be picked up. Mindy hadn’t said much of anything all morning but she was pointedly avoiding all contact with Cecilia.

She didn’t care. Mindy bossiness had grated her nerves anyway. Cecilia was glad to see her father pulling up in the Prius to pick her up. Waving goodbye to the other girls, she clambered into the back seat.

“How was the sleepover?” her father asked as they drove off. “Did you have fun?”

“It was all right,” Cecilia answered, sinking into the deliciously soft seat. A few minutes later, she was fast asleep.

Cecilia woke up in her bedroom. Her father must have carried her inside because she was tucked into her familiar and comfortable bed. She had slept right through lunch because it was now 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Cecilia yawned and stretched at the same time, a very satisfying feeling.

Her Tinkerbell poster, covered in its usual array of glittering stars, caught her eye. Cecilia admired it for a moment before sitting bolt upright in bed. The memories of the previous night came tumbling back. Her head finally clear, her body now well rested, Cecilia wondered if she had imagined it all.

Her sleeping bag and duffel bag lay in a pile in the center of her room. Cecilia got out of bed, a sheet wrapped around her foot trailing behind her. She opened her duffel bag and felt inside it. There were the usual items: her sweatshirt, nightgown, toothbrush, towel… Her fingers felt something flat and thick, like a thick envelope.

Cecilia pulled out a familiar looking square-shaped card. It had been no dream then. More memories resurfaced: swallowing the semen they deposited in her mouth, playing musical chairs, seeing the men tower over her. Having her picture taken.

Cecilia suddenly realized what this little square card was. She recalled her father showing her an old camera that printed out photographs immediately. A Polaroid, he had called it. Remembering that day, Cecilia tentatively scratched at the black translucent sheet that covered one side of the card. It peeled off easily in her hand.

Stunned, Cecilia stared at the Polaroid. It was a photograph of her, covered in semen. She held a penis in each hand and a third was artfully draped next to her face. She turned it over, reading the words, “CECILIA! YOU’RE A SUPER SEXY SLUT! WE LOVE YOU!!!”

Blushing, Cecilia turned the Polaroid over again and examined the picture a while longer. She didn’t know why, but she liked looking at it. Knowing better than to leave it lying around her bedroom, Cecilia tried to think of a hiding place. Under the mattress was the safest, she decided. Pushing her blanket and sheets aside, Cecilia lifted the heavy mattress and slid the Polaroid underneath it. Her mom had started asking her to change her own sheets so it was unlikely to be discovered there.

Returning to her duffel bag, Cecilia resumed unpacking the rest of her things. She tossed a few things in the laundry hamper, stuffed her sleeping bag into her closet, and put away her toothbrush in the bathroom. But the duffel bag wasn’t quite empty yet. At the bottom, Cecilia found the forgotten booklet she had pilfered from the box she delivered for Mrs. Larsen.

“The Right Touch” was the title. The cover was illustrated with colorful art that was clearly meant for someone younger than Cecilia but she opened the book anyway. She began reading about Jimmy, a young boy getting tucked into bed by his mother before bedtime. Bored, she was skimming the pages until a passage caught her eye. The mother was telling Jimmy a story about a little girl who went to a neighbor’s house. Once they were alone, the neighbor asked the girl to sit on his lap. And then he tried to put his hand inside her underwear.

Cecilia sat up straighter. She began reading more carefully now.

Cecilia and her mom were stuck in traffic. It was Tuesday afternoon. Cecilia’s mom had picked her up and they were en route to the big library downtown.

“Sometimes this traffic really makes me wonder why we live in the city,” her mom sighed.

“You said you like living here because of all the great restaurants,” Cecilia reminded her.

“That’s true,” her mother admitted. The car inched forward. “Are you sure you want to go the library today? Uncle Manny said you’re more than welcome to come over to his house, you know.”

“I know,” Cecilia responded. “I think I’d rather go to the library though.”

Her mom drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “Okay. But he said he misses you. You haven’t been over to his house for weeks now.”

Cecilia looked out the window at a hot dog truck where two businessmen were merrily dressing their hot dogs with ketchup and mustard. “I know,” she said again. Her hands fidgeted in her lap, picking at the nylon strap of her backpack that was wearing away. “I just like the library better.”

They slowly weaved through the city traffic until her mom pulled the car up to the curb of the library. “Here we are,” she said, shifting the engine into park. “I’ll pick you up here at 7 o’clock sharp, all right?”

“All right,” Cecilia said, accepting a kiss on the cheek. She hesitated a moment before getting out of the car. “Mom? Do you… do you think I’m a good girl?”

Her mom seemed surprised by the question. “Well of course I do, Cecilia,” she answered. Her brows knit in motherly concern. “Why do you ask? Of course I think you’re a good girl.”

Cecilia shrugged. “No reason,” she said. She got out of the car and began climbing the steps up to the library. Once she reached the tall doors, she turned and waved to her mom who waited until she entered the library before driving off.

Once inside the library, the seven year old got a drink of water before setting off. She walked past a librarian who smiled warmly. Cecilia smiled back but she kept walking until she reached a section of the library she had come to know quite well. She was in the children’s section, but it was a sort of no-man’s land, sandwiched in a small corner between picture books and young adult fiction. Cecilia’s eyes examined the titles on the shelves.

“I Said No! A kid-to-kid guide for keeping your private parts private.”

“Your Body Belongs to You.”

“Some Parts are Not for Sharing.”

“It’s My Body.”

“A Terrible Thing Happened.”

“The Trouble with Secrets.”

Selecting a book, Cecilia went to a sitting area and settled herself in. The little girl was still confused about a lot of things, but with each book read she felt as if she were getting a better handle on who she was and what had happened.