Learning
How Boys Are Different From Girls - At Thirty
by Sterling
Chapter 2 of 4
One
by one, she had confided to her Council members that she had looked at
a book. As she had hoped, there was no great shock -- she'd told them
what she planned to do before they selected her. Then she revealed
she'd looked at more than one. In fact she'd looked at all of them. She
gave permission for the Council members to spread the word, and soon
all the sisters knew that their Mother Superior had looked at the books.
Julie
avoided Sister Catherine as much as possible. Even though Julie now
wore the cross and the ring, she could never forget the palpable sense
of authority that came from the older woman's eyes. And their gaze
always fed her doubts as to whether she was doing the right thing.
Among
the books, some had tidbits that would be helpful in building boats.
The encyclopedia had entries for various parts of boats and kinds of
boats. Sister Grace was the most adept woodworker. After appropriate
formalities marking the gravity of the step, she invited Sister Grace
into her private audience room and produced three books with their
short passages related to boat building. Sister Grace studied them and
took notes and sketches while Sister Julie looked on, never letting the
books out of her presence.
First they created a boxy tub that
floated. Then they created an elongated box, then one with sloping
sides and a gradually sloping front. At last they had a little boat
that seemed seaworthy. They hadn't been able to make oarlocks, so they
had to paddle instead of row. One sister paddled on the left side, the
other on the right. They could paddle it around the island and could go
away from shore for a considerable ways. It leaked, but by use of a
large clam shell they could bail the boat out faster than the water
came in. This was the responsibility for the third person in the boat.
A cooking pot also would have worked, but the shell was good enough and
the pots were precious.
After much prayer and counsel, Julie was
ready to order an expedition. Some of the sisters were strongly
opposed, none more than Sister Catherine, but after they had stated
their objections once they were obedient and said no more.
The question arose of who should go with the expedition.
Julie
wanted to go. Others thought this was unwise -- suppose she were lost
at sea? But she wasn't irreplaceable. The same drive that had made the
Council choose her made her want to go, not sit back and let others
report on what they had found.
For her companions Julie chose
Sister Frances and Sister Lisa. They were close to Julie in age, so
they had been novices together and she felt she really knew them. They
were also strong paddlers, and they believed in Julie's plan. But she
didn't share any of her knowledge about how to make babies -- that
would be for another trip, if at all.
So with most of the
sisters seeing them off -- Julie made attendance optional -- the three
of them set out shortly after dawn one morning. Julie took a turn with
a paddle now and then so Frances and Lisa could rest. Otherwise she
bailed the boat as needed but mostly rested. They had been paddling for
what seemed a very long time, and as noon approached the receding shape
of Our Lady was still much larger than the growing shape of Our Savior.
Julie ordered them to turn back.
There
followed more days of paddling practice, and this time Julie
participated seriously. Some of the older sisters muttered about the
insult to the dignity of the office of Mother Superiority, but Julie
ignored them. Along with building up their strength the three of them
sought more efficient methods so each paddle stroke would move the boat
farther. Grace watched from the shore and consulted the books in
Julie's presence now and then and they thought it was a little better.
In preparation for this second attempt, Julie made sure that they were
traveling with a full moon, so they could still see their destination
after dark.
When they were ready, they set off once more, this
time leaving before dawn. They paddled hard. When Julie took over a
paddle they kept moving at a decent pace. By late afternoon they
decided they were definitely closer to Our Savior than to Our Lady. On
they went, aiming for the moonlit shape of the island. The moon was on
its downward arc when they finally were within easy paddling distance.
There were no obvious signs of habitation, but then it was the middle
of the night. They rested to regain strength, and then paddled in to
the nearest beach. They all noted how momentous it was to step onto
another island. They bathed in the sea to get the worst of the sweat
off, then rested and waited for the dawn.
Julie had repeatedly
wondered how they would be received. She briefly worried that they
would be attacked. Surely if the men still followed the teachings of
the Church this would not happen, but assuming the boat to Our Savior
no longer came, who knew what changes that might bring to the island?
Decent men could descend into savagery; this she knew from her
forbidden books. If the men were merely hostile, they should at least
be able to make an escape.
Pulling the boat well up onto the
beach, the three changed from their work habits into nicer ceremonial
habits and began walking along the beach to their right. Before long
they spied a man at some distance, and then another. They waved but
weren't noticed at first. When one man did see them, he waved back, and
only after peering carefully did he decide they were unfamiliar. At
that, both men ran away at top speed. The three women kept walking.
Soon
they were met by a dozen men walking towards them, some holding long
sticks, a few balancing rocks in their hands. They all had beards.
At hailing distance, Julie called out, "Hello! I am the Mother Superior
from Our Lady."
"Hello!
I am Brother James. Why are you here?" He spoke with a funny accent.
The men who were carrying weapons considered briefly and dropped them,
one by one.
"Our boat stopped coming ten years ago. Do you have an annual boat?
Does it still come?"
"No," said James, but the others stopped him from saying more. "We
should consult with the abbot."
The
men turned around and a couple ran ahead, while the others uneasily led
the way and the women followed just as uneasily ten paces behind.
As
they left the beach and climbed the path to the settlement, Julie was
surprised at how much it resembled their own. It made sense, though. If
the Church had laid out the settlements over a hundred years before, at
the same time, they would have little reason to choose a different plan
for men as opposed to women.
When they were in the central
square, twenty men faced them. One of many with gray hair and beard had
a cross on a chain and a ring, and announced himself as the abbot. He
did not look at all friendly. "You say you are the Mother Superior.
Where is your cross and ring?"
"We thought we might perish on the journey, and felt those blessed
objects should remain safe."
That
seemed to satisfy the abbot. "Come inside," he said, and entered the
building that was analogous to the Mother Superior's residence. Only
two of his fellows joined them, so it was three men and three women who
sat in the receiving room.
The abbot bowed his head. "May the Lord God guide us as we meet today."
"Amen," said Julie and the others.
"So, Mother Superior, do you have a set of rules to follow like I do?"
"Yes, I do."
"Do those rules allow you to cross to this island?"
"No."
"Do they, like mine, specifically forbid leaving your island?"
"Yes."
"Then, might I ask, why are you here, in direct violation of
instructions from the Church?"
"Our boat stopped coming. The one that has a new little girl each year.
You get a similar visit?"
"We did, until ten years ago."
"Right.
We realized that without any new girls arriving, we would die off. We
thought it was worth being flexible and breaking the one rule to try to
save the community."
"And how would visiting us do that?"
"I
wasn't sure, but I thought we could exchange ideas." On a sudden whim,
she said, "And hey, I thought maybe our little girls were being
delivered here by mistake."
The other four suppressed smiles, but the abbot remained stone-faced.
"Or,"
she continued. "Perhaps the Church ran into difficulties and had time
to give you instructions but hadn't had time to get the word to us."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Could
we discuss this privately?" Julie asked. "As Abbot to Mother Superior?
With God as our constant companion and guide, of course."
"That is acceptable," said the abbot.
The two of them withdrew into the private audience room.
The abbot sat on his chair and Julie on the couch.
"So," she said. "How have things been going here since the boat stopped
coming? Has there been any impetus for change?"
"Some have spoken of it, but through prayer I have remained steadfastly
opposed."
"So, if nothing else happens, you will age and die off."
"Yes. I believe the Church is testing us. If not the Church, God
Himself."
"Um, do you have a library of books? Books you aren't supposed to read?"
"Do you?" he asked cagily.
"Yes. The Mother Superior's private collection. But I decided that this
was an emergency so I have read some of mine."
The
abbot looked at her with wide eyes. "I feel certain that was an error.
You're awfully young to be a Mother Superior, aren't you? Or do you on
Our Lady no longer honor age, either?"
"I was astonished to be chosen, I assure you. They said it was because
they felt our changed circumstances required new ideas."
"I feel certain you have made a series of errors here."
Julie sighed. "Let me just get some basic information here. You have no
idea why the boat stopped coming?"
The abbot shook his head.
"You have no idea how to get off this island or get more help?"
He shook his head again.
"And you have no idea how to get any more little boys?"
He shook his head once more.
Julie
thought. No new options presented themselves. She hadn't been planning
this, but it had been a long, grueling journey. Why wait?
"Do you have any idea how to make more little
boys?"
He
furrowed his brow and looked at her. Evidently the men's Book of
Innocence and the Abbot's Book said no more about how to make children
than hers had.
She rose and beckoned him to stand. She stood
fairly close to him and offered her hand. After a brief hesitation, he
took it, and she raised her other to sandwich his.
He wasn't a
pleasant person. But his voice was deep. He was taller than her and
muscular. She could just ask him simply if he would give her some
sperm, but she wasn't at all sure what he'd say, and she felt strangely
ill at ease. She knew from the books what he had in his pants. Sperm
came out of it. But she felt strangely emotional about the whole matter.
"There
is... I know from the books that there is a way to make more little
boys... It's kind of surprising, and may seem sinful... But surely
children are also blessed."
The abbot was looking uncomfortable.
"It
requires that we not be modest." She released his hand, then quickly
lifted her habit over her head so she stood before him in just her worn
bra and ragged underpants. What the heck was she doing? She was having
trouble keeping a prayerful attitude. Yet... Surely she had to be naked
to get his sperm into the right place?
He stared at her, eyes
bugged out. His eyes played up and down between her breasts and her
crotch. She pulled her underpants down to her knees -- she couldn't
stay covered and get the sperm into her.
"You're... You're an abomination!"
She realized he had no idea what women looked like.
"No,
not at all! All women are like this. It's the biggest difference
between us. To make a new boy, you... You need to remove your pants,"
she said.
Slowly he did, eyes fixed on her crotch, whispering "abomination."
Julie
was astonished. What the heck was that? It must be his penis! But it
looked nothing like the penises in the book. This one was stiff and
huge and stuck straight out. The books had spoken about insertion.
And... That kind of penis would need no threading like a rope into a
hole. That
kind of penis
could press itself into a vagina! But it was so big... Yet somehow
insertion was the only means of transfer she could think of right then.
She
sat on the edge of the couch, legs spread wide, and held her lips open.
"And you... Your penis goes..." She was both excited and terrified,
seeing the size of the thing that the books said was supposed to be
inserted into her.
But the abbot seemed to get the idea without
being told. His eyes glued to her vaginal opening, he lowered himself
onto her, aiming his huge, sinful organ at her dirty, sinful place. She
felt the tip touch her opening, then in a flash of motion his hands
were on her thighs, holding her legs apart, and she felt the huge thing
press into her. At first it didn't go, then it did, and down between
her legs there was a sharp pain -- but it never occurred to her to push
him away. Then he pulled it halfway out, then pushed it in again, as if
he couldn't make up his mind whether to be in or out. But seconds later
he gasped and held still briefly, then his huge penis slid out of her
as quickly as it had gone in.
Julie tried to collect herself. "So, if you did that and released some
fluid, then --"
"Oh, I did," groaned the abbot.
"How did you know to do that?"
"Just happened," he said. Suddenly he seemed to take in his
surroundings.
So
did Julie. She was sitting mostly naked on a couch, underpants around
her ankles, her legs wide apart so her sinful part was not just visible
but displayed and emphasized. The abbot's crotch was exposed, his large
penis shrinking.
"What did you do to me?" he asked.
"Nothing! I... It's about making boys..." She pulled up her
undergarment, leapt up and grabbed her habit, putting it on quickly.
"You
must be the devil. Tempting me to carnal sin! Go back to your island at
once and never come back!" By now his trousers were on, and he looked
like an abbot.
Julie was confused. It certainly had felt sinful, powerful -- almost
like she was possessed.
The abbot flung the door open and ushered her out.
The
two men and two women waiting in the outer room rose and looked at them
expectantly. Julie strode outside and the others followed.
"See them to their boat!" commanded the abbot to a pair of men outside.
As
they headed down towards the beach, Julie's mind spun. The plan
wouldn't work unless they could get some of the men to give them sperm.
To a knot of young men standing nearby she called, "Watch out for us!
We'll be back! At night! Secretly!"
"Ummm," said one of the men. The abbot's instructions hadn't said to
keep them from talking.
Lisa and Frances looked at her, perplexed, as they hurried down the
beach.
With the men watching, they got back into their boat. Soon they were a
hundred yards offshore, paddling for home.
"Ummm, Julie -- Reverend Mother, permission to speak freely?" said
Frances.
"Of course," said Julie, waving her hand.
"We're
exhausted, right? We could really use some more water. I know they
ordered us to leave, but, do we have to? He didn't say he'd kill us or
anything, right?"
Julie realized she was making complete sense.
Her own judgment had been thrown off by the intense experience with the
abbot. "You're right, of course. We should replenish our water and get
some food."
"Why did he want us to leave so fast?"
"I'll explain later."
Under
Julie's direction, they paddled parallel to shore away from the men's
settlement until they passed around a narrow spit of land. On the far
side was a cove with a much smaller beach. They landed.
Julie
looked carefully at the foliage bordering the beach and was delighted
to see a face looking out at her. For her plan she needed contact with
men. She suspected the abbot would decree that the men should have
nothing to do with them, and of course they would obey. It was vital
she make some connections before he made an announcement.
She
took three hollow coconut shells that they had drained of water on the
way over and casually walked towards where the head had been.
"Anyone there?" she said. "We need some more water for the trip back."
The
head reappeared, and then a young man approached. His hair and beard
were black, and he was much more appealing than the abbot.
"You are -- a woman?"
"Yes," she said, smiling. "From Our Lady."
"What... What are you doing here?"
"I
can explain that later. But here's the situation. We're leaving soon,
but we're going to come back again, over and over, and we need to meet
with some of you men. We already met the abbot, and he maybe doesn't
like that idea." That was an understatement. "So the main message, to
spread to any of the men you think might be interested, is that they
should be on the lookout for us to arrive at night. We want to talk."
"OK," said the young man.
"What's your name?"
"Brother Luke."
"Pleased
to meet you. I am the M -- I am Sister Julie. Can I ask you some
questions confidentially -- you promise not to tell anyone else?"
"Sure." He smiled and looked over his shoulder.
"If...
If some of the men disobey his orders and he finds out, will he punish
you very severely?" She didn't want that on her conscience.
"Mostly the brothers get seclusion. One guy was lashed in public when I
was a novice."
"What did he do?"
"I think he actually spat in the abbot's face."
Julie smiled. Fraternizing secretly with women should rank considerably
below that on the punishment scale.
Her
mind kept working over the possibilities. She was very aware of Luke's
maleness. Like the abbot, his very presence was different from that of
any woman. It threw her thinking slightly off kilter. What the women
needed was sperm. They could paddle back, then make another trip over,
but why not seize the day?
"Say, if you can help us replenish
our water, we'll leave. But if we came back after dark... Is there some
place we could pull in secretly? To meet you?"
"If you go that
way for a while," he said, pointing to his right, "there's a cove just
before the rock pile. I... I could be there."
"Great! And if you can find one or two others that would be even
better."
"OK."
"So, can you help us get water right now?" She held out the hollow
coconuts.
"Sure... the spring is some distance from here, but I should return
within an hour."
The three young women rested in the shade at the edge of the beach,
awaiting his return.
They
replayed the morning's events. Julie decided she was too embarrassed to
admit what had happened in the abbot's private sitting room, so she
left out that part. After a brief pause, she said, "What did you two
think of the men?"
"Excuse me?"
"You've never seen men before, right? Never even seen a picture. How
did they strike you?"
"They
sure look different, with all that hair on their faces. But in a lots
of ways they seemed like people, just like us," said Sister Frances.
"Did they make you feel funny, somehow? Like beyond being a curiosity?"
"Ummm, yes," said Sister Lisa. "But I don't quite know how."
"Did they make you feel perhaps a little more excited? Your heart
beating a little faster?"
"Yes,
Reverend Mother," said Frances. "I wondered if it was sinful. It didn't
feel entirely consistent with a prayerful attitude."
Julie
smiled to herself and reviewed her plan. Three babies wouldn't be too
much. And she knew that they weren't all guaranteed to have babies from
one dose of sperm -- maybe one of them wouldn't.
"Can I tell the two of you my secret plan for saving Our Lady? You
really mustn't tell another soul."
"Of course, Reverend Mother," said Frances. Lisa nodded.
"Just call me Julie for now, OK? For this conversation? Just Julie,
like old times?"
"OK, Julie," said Frances. Lisa nodded again.
Julie
proceeded to explain how babies actually grew inside women's bodies,
and that they could produce new little girls themselves, even if the
boat never came. the two sisters listened, incredulous. However, she
explained, it did require men. When it came time for describing the
actual sperm transfer, Julie was now armed with the information she had
been lacking a few hours earlier.
"The penis becomes hard, much
like a finger -- a big finger. That allows it to penetrate a woman's
vagina. The man moves it in and out and after a few seconds the sperm
comes out of the tip. When he removes his penis, the sperm stays
behind."
"So... One of the sisters will be chosen to be subjected to this?"
"Since
we haven't received any little girls in so long, I think we should try
to make several babies. I will ask for volunteers from among those who
are suitable."
After a brief pause, Frances said, "So, after
we've got the volunteers, three of them will have to make another trip
over here before long."
"Actually, I'm going to volunteer, and
thought I'd see if I can get some sperm on this trip. Brother Luke told
me of a place where we could meet tonight." She felt a tingling between
her legs.
"Would you like us to volunteer?"
"I think that is entirely up to you. It is a big decision. Apparently
pregnancy can be uncomfortable."
"What makes someone a good candidate?"
"Being between the ages of 18 and 30, a strong paddler, and committed
to not letting Our Lady die out."
Frances and Lisa both smiled. They were obviously both ideal candidates.
They
became aware of someone approaching. It was Luke, bearing not just the
replenished coconuts but some bananas and dried fish. They thanked him.
Julie asked if he thought he could get a total of three men to meet
them that night. He said he thought so. They reloaded their boat and
set off, paddling in the direction of Our Lady, but very slowly.
"How do we get the men to do it?" said Frances.
"I get the impression they tend to be willing."
"Will he know what to do exactly?"
"No,
probably not. You've got to remember that these men have no idea what a
woman looks like between her legs. They've never seen anyone without a
penis down there."
"That is so strange."
"I think it's
best if you lie on your back without any undergarments in the way and
spread your legs. The man lies down on top of you."
Lisa shuddered. "Reverend Mother, it... it sounds sinful."
"I
understand your concern. It seems to have that potential. Yet -- there
is no other way to produce children. So if it is sinful, it is a
necessary sin. If you don't want to Lisa, you don't have to. If your
own conscience is not right with it, you mustn't. I noticed you
shuddered."
"I didn't shudder because it sounded terrible," said
Lisa, smiling slightly. "Reverend Mother, perhaps you remember the sin
I have confessed to you more than once -- the sin of my hand between my
legs when not needed for cleaning?"
"Yes, I remember."
"And it's a temptation because it, um, feels good?"
Julie
smiled. "The Mother Superior has no idea what you're talking about. But
Julie knows exactly what you're talking about." She felt a little
shiver.
"Do you think it feels good because... because that's where things
happen to make a baby?"
Julie hadn't put that together before, but it made perfect sense.
"Probably, yes."
They lingered on the shore until late afternoon, then began paddling
towards Our Lady very slowly.
Luke's
heart pounded with excitement. Nothing new ever happened on Our Savior
-- until today! To finally meet a woman! Until today they had just
existed in theory and held no interest. Another kind of person -- big
deal. But these actual women -- very much like them in some ways, but
different in others. She talked funny -- her "o" sounds were weird. Did
all women talk like that? And her shape -- those bulges on her chest.
She was just so... so interesting! And now she wanted him to meet her
again that night.
Of course he should ask his superior brother
James before doing something so far outside of their daily routine, but
he would probably say no. Better to do penance later if he was
discovered. But he probably wouldn't be.
He rushed to make
prayers on time, and all through the hour-long service his mind was
even farther from humble contemplation than usual. She wanted two more
brothers, if he could get them. He wanted to please this sister Julie,
though he wasn't sure why. But also, for something this new and
exciting, he wanted to be able to have friends to talk about it with.
Who could he get? Not somebody devout, or timid, or in with the older
brothers, or looking to advance in the order. Somebody who could keep
quiet -- that was the biggest thing.
After prayers he caught up
with his friend Jacob. The other young man said at once, "Did you see
the women? When they came right up into the settlement? Three of them?
It was so strange --"
"I missed that, but --"
Jacob kept right on, explaining the exciting morning's happenings.
"Right,
right, but I've got something even better! I was walking along the
shore 'contemplating' and saw this boat with three women in it -- must
have been the same ones! But one of them came and talked to me! So I
helped her get more water and food before they go back to Our Lady."
"Amazing!"
"But that's not the only thing. They're going to hang around and want
to meet me again tonight."
"Jesus!"
"And here's the thing. They want me to bring another couple men. Do you
want to go?"
"Um, sure!"
"I didn't bring it up with brother James..."
"Of course not!"
"Who else could we get? Michael maybe?" After he said it he remembered
that he liked Michael more than Jacob did.
"No, not him. David! what about David?"
David
was lots of fun, it was true. "Yeah, but I don't think David could keep
quiet. No one can know about this, ever. What about... George?"
"George? I guess... He can be so clueless, though."
"Yeah, but he's a good guy. And if you tell him to keep quiet, he'll
keep quiet."
"Yeah, true, he's good that way. What do you supposed they want to do?"
"She said they want to talk. Probably to find out about our lives. I
sure want to find out about theirs!"
George agreed to be part of the plan.
They
all knew exactly how to arrange it. After evening prayers, after they
were in their cells, after Brother James's bed check, then they could
sneak out. He always checked at the same time, an hour or so after they
were supposed to be asleep, and then he himself was a heavy sleeper.
After
the sun's light had vanished, they turned the boat and paddled back
towards the island, retracing their afternoon's symbolic progress much
more quickly. They skirted the island to the left. Before long they
spotted the pile of rocks and pulled in to shore on the near side of
it. It was a secluded cove, with only ten feet or so of sand between
the water's edge and the start of the thick vegetation.
No one
was there. They paddled out and explored beyond the pile of rocks, but
there was no similar formation nearby. It had to be the right spot, so
they pulled the boat up out of the water and settled down to wait.
Finally they heard rustling among the plants, and then Brother Luke and
two others emerged on the beach.
"Thanks for coming," Julie said.
"Umm, sure," said Luke.
There was a brief but awkward silence.
"I'm Julie. This is Lisa and this is Frances."
"Oh, yeah," said Luke. "This is George, and this is Jacob."
Jacob
was a little taller and thin, with thick hair and beard, dark but the
color hard to make out in the moonlight. George had a bit of extra fat
on him, and thinner hair of some lighter shade.
"So you're women!" said George. "What are those bulges on your chest?"
"Um, they're called breasts," said Julie.
"What are things like over on Our Lady?"
"Um,
it's laid out pretty much like here. We spend most of our days praying,
some chores like growing potatoes and rice, and catching fish... Same
for you, pretty much?"
"Yeah," said Luke.
"But say, is there a place near here that's level and hidden from view?"
The men looked at each other. Luke said, "Not really. This is a pretty
rocky part of the island."
"But you're pretty sure no one else will see us here?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I guess the beach here will do."
"What do you mean?"
Julie
swallowed. What she was asking was so strange... "What I'm going to ask
of the three of you may seem really strange. It might even seem sinful.
Are you terribly afraid of sinning?"
The men looked back and forth and smiled. "Not us. I'm afraid we've all
done plenty of sinning and plenty of penance."
"Good.
This is actually... I think it is actually the will of God, but it's
different. Um, you all have penises between your legs, right?"
George laughed. "What, you don't?"
"Um,
actually no, we don't. You've never seen women before, right? That's
maybe the biggest difference. Until I told them today, Lisa and Frances
had no idea that men have penises."
"That makes no sense," said Jacob.
"Well, it's true," said Julie.
"What... What's there instead? Or don't you have to, um, urinate?"
asked George.
All
three women gave big smiles. Julie said, "Yes, we do. And I'll show you
what's there..." Suddenly she felt unsure and ashamed. How to
explain... "Um, this is hard, because we sisters were all taught that
part of our body is dirty and sinful, and we must never touch it except
to clean it. And never let another woman touch it. And keep it covered
as much as possible."
"Yeah," said Luke. "They taught us the
same about our penises. But it's one of those rules that's really hard
not to break sometimes. Probably the most common sin we confess."
The other men nodded.
"Why?"
"Well, you know... Or I guess you don't. It feels really good to touch
it, and touch it some more, and more..."
This
sounded promising, somehow. Julie took a deep breath. "So the big favor
we'd like to ask is if you could join your penises with our bodies in a
certain way. So I have to show you where..."
She reached under
her habit to grab her underpants and pulled them down and off. Then she
paused with her hands on her habit. It had felt strange to do this with
the abbot. In a way it felt even stranger to do it with five other
people watching. But they needed sperm!
She squatted and hitched her habit up, then sat on the beach and spread
her legs.
"Oh, my God!" said George.
"So,
if you remove your pants, Luke, and kneel down here below my legs...
You also have to get your penis hard. Can you do that?"
"No, no problem," said Luke. As he stepped out of his pants and
underpants, it was plain that he had already made it hard.
"Now lie down closer..."
But
like the abbot, once he'd got this far he seemed to know what to do
without being told. His penis nudged her, then the tip slid in. This
time it didn't hurt. Luke kept pressing his penis into her, much
farther than the abbot had, and then he began to go back and forth,
making little gasping sounds. It wasn't long before Julie felt a trace
of those same sort of good feelings down there that she'd gotten using
her own hand when she was being sinful.
During this procedure the other two men were making little exclamations
of disbelief and surprise.
Luke said, "Um, if I keep doing this... then something's going to
happen... Did you know?"
"You mean the sperm coming out? Yes, that's just what I want! I want
you to leave the sperm inside me."
"OK, shit..." he muttered. His thrusts in and out of her vagina became
deeper and faster, then very deep and very fast.
It felt... very sinful but very right.
"Oh,
oh, oh, oh, Nnnnnnnnnnnn!" The thrusts slowed, then stopped. But
instead of pulling away, he grinned at her and then let his body down
on hers so they were lying flat and he hugged her, his penis still
lodged within her vagina, though she could feel it getting softer. That
felt strange in a different way.
The other four were silent, then George said, "What are you doing now?"
That seemed to bring Luke back to reality, and he slid off.
"Did you leave the sperm behind?" she asked.
"Oh yeah," said Luke with a smile.
"Thank
you," Julie said. She felt kind of like getting dressed, but then the
plan called for the other sisters to get undressed, and she wanted them
to feel comfortable.
"So.... What now?" asked Jacob.
"Well, I'd like it if someone put some sperm into Lisa and Frances --
assuming they're still willing?" The two women nodded.
"I'm sure willing!" said George, taking his pants off.
"So, Lisa, do you want me to do that to you?" asked Jacob eagerly.
"I...
Yes, I do," said the sister, who copied what the Mother Superior had
just done -- undergarment off, habit pushed up around her waste. Jacob
copied Luke's actions to a point. The others couldn't see too clearly
what was happening down where penis met vagina. A second after his
penis disappeared into that area, Lisa started and said, "Ouch!" A
second later Jacob said, "Ohhhhhh!", then pulled away a few seconds
later, panting.
Julie was fascinated to see the process from outside. It certainly
looked sinful. Very sinful.
George
mounted Frances and the procedure was repeated. Instead of withdrawing
right after insertion, his bottom twitched and rotated rapidly, while
presumably down below, out of sight, his penis thrust in and out of
Frances's vagina. But after 30 seconds he went silent and froze, then
after a couple seconds slid off of her, gasping as he sat on the beach.
There
on the beach were three sisters in a row, sitting like mermaids with
their habits pulled down over their lower parts. By each one sat a man,
naked from the waist down, penis wilted to some extent.
Julie said, "Did you all release your sperm?"
George laughed. "Oh, yeah. We sure did."
"How did you know Jacob did?"
"You really never knew penises existed until today?"
"No," said Frances. Lisa shook her head.
Luke
said, "Well, that's the sin. All men know it. Our penis gets hard, we
rub it like this, and then the sperm comes out the end. It feels really
good, and we're satisfied, and then we stop rubbing. When a guy relaxes
like that, it means the sperm came out."
Jacob said, "But this is like ten times better! Why?"
Julie said, "Because out in the real world, men and women do this all
the time."
"Why?"
"It's how they make babies." She wasn't sure why she just blurted it
out.
George laughed again. "Make babies? That's ridiculous. I don't see any
babies!"
Julie said, "Did you ever wonder where the boys came from that showed
up every year?"
George shrugged. "Not really, or not for a long time. One of God's
miracles, I guess."
Luke said, "So how does it make a baby?"
"They
say that once the sperm is inside us, a baby starts growing. It takes
nine months, we get fatter and fatter, and then a baby comes out the
same place it went in."
"You've got lots of funny stories," said George.
Luke said, "How many of you feel like that was the most unholy thing
you ever did?"
Six hands shot up.
Frances
said, "So maybe that's why they set us up on different islands? Men and
women separate? Without even knowing what the other sex looks like
between the legs or how babies are made?"
George said, "Hey, one of you other women want my sperm? I've got more
to give." His penis was very stiff once more.
Julie
wasn't sure how she felt. She kind of did and kind of didn't. But they
were there for the sperm. More must be better than less.
"OK," she said, and lay back.
George
mounted her at once, a dumb grin on his face, and pressed in and out.
It didn't hurt, and it started feeling nice almost at once. Barely
audible above the sound of George's grunting was Luke's voice, "You
want to?", followed by an inaudible feminine reply.
"I guess that leaves us!" said Jacob in a clear voice.
George
slid in and out, insistently, over and over again. Occasionally he'd
mutter, "Oh, this is so great," "Man, it feels amazing", "Wow... wow".
He shifted around, sometimes holding himself up off her and looking
down, other times lying right on her.
She didn't really
understand what was going on. She wanted the sperm, and she didn't get
why he didn't just do his job and let it out. On the other hand, it
felt really good down there for her. The longer it went on, the more
sinful she felt -- and the better the sensations. Then his pace picked
up, his thrusts got faster and deeper, and seconds later he made a big,
"Oooohhhhh!", then pulled out and sat beside her once more. She felt a
brief flush of shame on wishing that he'd kept going.
When Julie sat up, she saw the other couples had finished before them.
Jacob
said, "I gotta take a leak," and walked ten feet away, facing away from
them. The women turned to watch. To Julie's great surprise, he didn't
squat down, but a long, thin arc of fluid went forth from his
midsection, rising as high as his head and landing in the greenery ten
feet away.
"What the heck?" muttered Lisa.
"Oh, right... whoa..." said George. "You've never seen a guy pee. How
the heck do you pee, anyway? Without a penis?"
"Well, I gotta go. You wanna watch?"
"Yeah!"
She walked close to where Jacob had been, the three men following and
squatting to look when she squatted.
"Whoa!" said George, laughing, when her stream came out.
Julie
began to feel a bit uncomfortable. It was vital that the women got
sperm in their vaginas. But this felt more like sin without a higher
purpose.
"I gotta go too," said George.
"Can I watch it come out of you?" asked Lisa.
Lisa
and Frances watched from up close and Julie from a distance as an arc
of fluid leapt right out the end of George's soft penis and arced if
anything a little higher than Jacob's had.
Lisa noticed Julie
sitting by herself, tapped Frances on the shoulder, and the two sisters
immediately came back and sat down by their leader.
The men gradually joined them.
"Well," said Julie. "If you're willing, let's do the last combination.
So we've each got some sperm from all three of you."
"We're willing," said Luke after a pause, "but I'm not sure we're able."
"Huh?"
"Yeah,
you wouldn't know, I guess. After we shoot it out, we can't get hard
for a while. And when we've done it twice, it takes even longer."
"What kind of muscle works like that?" asked Lisa.
"It's not a muscle," said George. "Here, you want to feel?"
Lisa looked quickly over at Julie, who just sat.
"No, thanks," said Lisa quickly.
Luke said, "So, are you each going to have two babies now? And a third
if we manage to do it again?"
"No," said Julie. "Still just one at a time."
"How do you know all this, anyway?" said George.
"I'm... I'm the Mother Superior... I had the responsibility for the
books... And I chose to read them."
"You! The Mother Superior!"
"She is," said Lisa, and Frances nodded. "God told her to read them. So
we don't all die out."
George said, "Even if this story is true, you say it takes a year for
the baby to be born, and then is it one year old?"
"No, it's zero when it's born."
"OK, so that's one plus three -- it will be four years before you women
can deliver another little novice guy?"
"Yeah,"
said Julie. "God willing." Suddenly she felt the weight of their
situation on her shoulders. "Would you be willing to join me in prayer?"
"Our father, which art in heaven..." The other five joined in.
She
went through another prayer, and another. Luke suggested one, and then
Lisa, and then George. On his prayer their unison broke apart as they
started reciting two different versions. The women's version repeated a
line, and the men's didn't. At first both groups were sure the other
version must be the mistake. They puzzled over why the elders would
make the men's and women's prayer differ in just that way. At last
Julie smiled and said, "I think it was a mistake." To the perplexed
looks of the others, she said, "When they were setting up the presses
for the books, they just made a mistake in ours. Repeated the line
twice." The other five looked thoughtful. "They were just human," she
said. "They made mistakes."
The next prayer was a long one, and
Julie noticed George's penis getting hard again. The others noticed
too, and soon Luke's and Jacob's were stiffening rapidly. Finally the
prayer ended.
"Ready to give us the third dose?" said Julie.
"You got it," said George.
Each
man mounted a woman, and drilled his cock into the only vagina he
hadn't yet explored. Each woman felt a third penis slide into her.
The three pairs fucked away in relative silence.
"Oh, could you move up a little," whispered Lisa, so that Julie barely
heard. "Just like that... A little harder..."
There was gasping and grunting. Suddenly Lisa said, "Aaiiiiiiiiiii!"
All three men stopped, and five pairs of eyes looked at Lisa.
"You OK?" asked Luke.
"Yes,
oh yes. But keep going!" urged Lisa urgently, and Luke resumed fucking
with a vengeance, while Lisa relaxed into a vague smile.
As if responding to the same suggestion, the other two men started
pumping away again. Seconds later they heard Luke groan.
Jacob
shifted position slightly, and Julie felt better down there than
before. Then he shifted again and the little magical extra faded. She
thought of asking him to go back to what he'd been doing before, but it
felt sinful. He was doing her a favor, and whatever worked best for him
to deliver his gift was what she wanted -- or ought to want. And within
a couple minutes she felt his tension rising, felt him getting more
excited. She even thought she could feel his penis getting bigger
inside her. And then, just at the moment when she thought he would, he
thrust really hard and relaxed.
Shortly the three pairs were sitting on the beach once more. The moon
was high in the sky.
George yawned.
Julie said, "We should try to get some sleep. We've got a long paddle
ahead of us."
Luke said, "I'll keep watch and let you know in case anyone comes."
"No one's going to come," said Jacob, as the men rose and dressed.
"Probably not, but just in case..."
"Bye, sisters," said George.
"Yeah, goodbye," said Jacob.
The women replied and the two men walked off.
"Luke,"
said Julie. "More women are going to come. Probably at night. It might
be days or weeks. But will you guys be watching? Can we count on
finding some men to give us sperm if we make the long trip?"
"Yeah," said Luke. "I think we'll have no problem at all."
"If the abbot finds out, he might stop you, though."
"We'll
manage it without the abbot ever finding out, I'm sure of that."
Suddenly he grinned, then knelt and kissed her hand. "Reverend Mother."
"Oh,
get up!" said Julie crossly. Why was she so annoyed? Because what they
had been doing very unlike anything a good Mother Superior would do. In
ordinary times.
Luke rose and grinned, then gave her a hug and held it.
Novices
hugged sometimes. Sisters sometimes hugged novices, and there was an
occasional hug between sisters at moments of peak emotion. Did men and
women hug? It felt awfully good. It was pretty close to the way their
bodies were lying down and transferring sperm, but this wasn't as
sinful as getting sperm. Maybe not sinful at all. She hugged him back,
but broke away after several seconds.
"Til next time," he said, and walked off to his lookout post, wherever
that was.
Frances and Julie peed. All three dressed. Then they assembled beside
the boat and lay down.
"I wonder if there's a way to keep the sperm up in there," said
Frances. "Some leaked out."
"Yeah, me too," said Lisa. "Maybe you don't need much."
"Permission to speak freely, Reverend Mother," said Frances.
"Granted."
"Holy shit," said Frances.
"Mother of God," said Lisa.
"Yeah, pretty amazing," said Julie.
"I think I must have sinned... a lot," said Lisa.
"Me too... more than ever before," said Frances.
"Me too!" said Julie. "I sinned too. Oh boy, did I sin! Talk about
temptations of the flesh!"
"And
those guys! They must have sinned a lot more. I mean, all we did was
lie there, but they kept doing it, on and on and on," said Frances.
"Unnh, unnh, unnnh..."
Julie said, "Lisa, you didn't just lie there completely. What happened?"
"Oh, oh yeah," said Lisa. "Something happened. Can I confess, Reverend
Mother. I'm so sorry.."
"No confession now, just tell your old pal Julie what happened."
"It felt really good -- really, really good. Is that just me?"
"No," said Julie, and Frances shook her head with a smile.
"It
felt just so great, and then he changed things, but I wanted it to feel
good like it had before, so I asked, and then... Oh, My God! O,
Reverend Mother, forgive me for taking the name of the Lord in vain."
"To hell with that, just tell me what happened."
"It just broke in waves -- fantastic waves. And then I felt relaxed and
totally, totally happy."
"I see."
"So, was that a sin? I'm terribly sorry."
"No,
Lisa, I don't think it was a sin. You were doing your duty in trying to
start a baby. It feels good no matter what. What's the sin in trying to
feel a little bit better?"
"Thank you, Rev ... Thank you, Julie. But if you knew just how good it
felt then, I'm not sure you'd say that."
"I'm kinda sore," said Frances.
"Yeah, me too," said Lisa. "I didn't realize quite how sore until I had
that feeling and it passed."
"Yeah, I'm sore too," said Julie. "And I've got a confession to make. I
actually got sperm from four different men today."
"Huh?"
"In the abbot's office there, I was trying to make him understand. One
thing led to another --"
"You're kidding!"
"No,
you've got to remember, I'd never been close to a man before like
that... Anyway, he gave me his sperm too, real quick like Jacob the
first time there, but then he looked like he really regretted it. He
said I was the devil who had tempted him. I had no idea he'd react that
way."
"Well, it sure is a powerful experience."
After a
while the pauses in the conversation got longer. Finally Lisa turned on
her side to face the boat, and Frances got up close behind her until
they were touching. It wasn't really permitted to touch another lying
down, but given what they'd been through... Julie in turn spooned up
behind Frances. It was getting just cool enough that the extra warmth
felt good.
At first light they set off for the long paddle home.
It
was still a long trip, but they knew what to expect and they all noted
that they felt energized as never before. They paddled all day and most
of the night until they approached their home island.
Lookouts
spotted them from a distance and a cry went up. Dozens of sisters came
down to the shore to greet them -- and no novices, Julie noted with a
pang, because there were no novices. As they approached shore, Julie
reminded her companions that she was now the Mother Superior again, and
the others nodded, understanding at once what she meant.
Julie said to the welcoming committee that she would speak to the
entire order at an assembly to be held at dawn.
In
the assembly she simply reported that they had made a successful
journey and had found the men's community much as they imagined it,
with a structure that paralleled their own. They too used to receive
one boat a year, theirs with a young boy instead of a girl, of course,
and the Our Savior boat had ceased its appearances the same year the
Our Lady boat did. They had no more idea what happened than the women
did, and had no further ideas as to what to do. But she felt she had
had a sign from God about a way forward for them, and she would reveal
it in good time, when she was more certain.