“I think she just needs a good spanking.”

“A what, Admiral?”

“... nevermind, Instructor Treppe.”

Admiral Tarses let out a sigh, as loud as his artificial lungs would let him. Didn’t these people have a clue about discipline? These Academy teachers were so focused on their lessons, blueprints and rankings that they lost focus on the few things that really mattered. Order. Discipline. Firmness.

The old man rolled his wheelchair away from the window. Beyond the glass, sitting on a chair in a deserted classroom, was Melody Nocturne. The blonde-haired girl was playing with her hands on her lap, knowing her instructors were in the adjacent room even though she hadn’t seen them.

“A spanking,” said Cleric Narayan. “I am surprised you do not know what that is, Treppe.”

She was a tall woman with a gaunt face, albeit a pleasant one. Her flame-red eyes sparkled in the darkened waiting room with the solemnity that only a Cleric could have.

Members of her guild would often be asked to assist and counsel within the Academy, as they were highly respected in most educational facilities. Those attached to Christianity and other cults often saw little more than a sect in the Clerics, who valued Humanity as a self-ruling species who was the only architect of its own destiny. However, an ever-increasing number of people, especially among youth, found comfort in their firm but soothing voices, the way they could be down-to-earth and still retain a somewhat magical aura, and how they favoured advice over judgement.

“Well, I don’t expertise in etymology,” said Instructor Treppe with sarcasm.

“Still, you do know what a whipping was?”

“Of course...”

“A spanking used to be the same, but milder. And in a different position.” The Cleric smiled.

Treppe shrugged. “Corporal punishment is obsolete. And this girl is only fourteen anyway. Thought your guild abhorred violence?”

“Oh, we do,” said Cleric Narayan, in a soft tone, “but Admiral Tarses doesn’t seem to agree.”

“With all due respect to him,” said Treppe as he and the woman stood cross-armed near the glass, “Nocturne is my student, and the final decision on any punitive measures rests with me.”

“I concur. Although you must admit she is quite... boisterous,” Cleric Narayan mused to herself.

“Yeah,” said a pensive Treppe, “but usually under control. I wouldn’t have expected this from her.”

Melody had been in charge of the starship’s main reactor core during a drill. Normally not her field, but the Committee for Interdisciplinary Studies had insisted all Pilots, even the commanding and the most promising ones like Melody, took on a few lateral assignments from time to time.

Since deep down she had a passion for Engineering, Melody had chosen that course. But not two weeks into it, during the first official drill, she thought she could have increased the reactor power outage by herself, thus not respecting the procedures all engineers had been ordered to follow.

Once again, her enthusiasm led to trouble as the reactor didn’t ‘react’ well to her instructions, and first went into a major overload, then breached through its containment field, and finally imploded. Had that not been a simulated mission, hundreds would have died for her negligence.

“Let me get this straight, then,” said Admiral Tarses in his rough voice, having overheard the conversation. “What do you think Miss Nocturne should get for her serious disobedience to direct orders? Ten minutes kneeling on peas?” he smirked.

Instructor Treppe shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know yet. The repercussions will have to be severe, though.”

“True,” echoed Cleric Narayan. She nodded, causing her silken white robes to wave slightly in response. “According to my experience, the School Board will not accept anything less than an official reprimand and a demotion.”

“I’m afraid it might have to be something more serious,” said Treppe. “If it was any other student, I would expel her without a second thought.”

Admiral Tarses raised an eyebrow. “Let’s hear from her, before taking a decision.”

When the door whooshed open, Melody got to her feet immediately, standing stiffly at attention.  Instructor Treppe held back a small smile of approval.  The three of them, Instructor Treppe, Admiral Tarses, and Cleric Narayan, moved to face the girl, Treppe and Narayan sitting down in high backed, wooden chairs.  Each of them held a neutral expression, betraying nothing of what they knew, though the Cleric’s face could never be seen as ‘tight’, under any circumstance.

“Miss Nocturne,” said Treppe, “You asked for a meeting regarding the reactor accident?”

Melody nodded.  “Yes sir.  Three days ago, I was put in charge of the main reactor core of a Scout class starship.  In examining the reactor I realized that I could make some improvements, increasing the power outage by half, thus increasing our chance of completing our mission ahead of schedule.  I brought the idea up to our captain, but was informed that we would proceed by the specified plans and to make no modifications.  After two weeks, our team had fallen behind schedule.  Disregarding the instructions of both my captain and the engineering regulations, I made my modifications.  The reactor imploded.”

Melody stopped speaking.  She could feel her hands shaking and clasped hem firmly behind her back, wincing slightly as they brushed against her bottom.  She took a deep calming breath, trying to lower her heart rate to its normal level.

All was silent.  Melody avoided looking at the three officials, afraid that if she did she would be unable to control her already raw emotions. 

“So,” said Treppe eventually.  “You are saying that you are responsible for the accident.  An accident that, had the mission not been a simulation, would have been responsible for hundreds of deaths.  Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you wish to explain yourself?”

“I have no excuse, sir.”

“I see.”

Instructor Treppe fell silent allowing Cleric Narayan to speak up.

“What I wish to know,” said the woman, “Is why you confessed at all.”

Melody blinked.  “What?”

“Why did you confess,” repeated Narayan.  “From what I understand, the mistake was untraceable.  No one would have known if you had not confessed.  So, why, Melody?”

“Well... because it was the right thing to do.”

“Then why not confess right away?” persisted the Cleric.

Melody hesitated.  “I... I was ashamed.  I was frightened of what I had done.  I knew I had to tell what I had done, but... it was hard to bring myself to do so.”

Cleric Narayan nodded but said nothing else.  Melody knew that, behind the glass, the other instructors and those brought in to determine her fate, were listening to her testimony.  Their decision would be based on what she said now.

After a few more moments of silence, Instructor Treppe looked over to Admiral Tarses.  “Do you have anything you’d like to add, sir?” he asked.

Tarses shook his head silently.

“All right then,”  Treppe said.  “Miss Nocturne, stay here.  We shall return and inform you when we have reached a decision.”

Melody sat back down as they exited, and Admiral Tarses could not help but notice that she winced a bit as she did so.  He smiled slightly.

The girl was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice that. She’d barely even noticed the whole talk, actually. Her mind kept drifting back to recent events... most of which unpleasant... but also to her earliest youth, when her parents were still alive.

They were Johann and Clara. Two composers’ names, which seemed to match the ‘Nocturne’ surname and the girls’ music names, and also all of their middle names. She’d never really wondered why.

All she knew is that they were wonderful persons, always there for the girls, always helpful. She remembered how bad it was for herself as a kid to disappoint them and not live up to their expectations.

No. Those were actually *her* own expectations, and no-one else’s.

Melody winced again on the rigid chair, and a tear escaped her eye as memories of another time when something very similar had happened drifted into her mind.

As a kid, her talent in logics, taking quick and correct decisions based on little elements, and overall leadership, were already quite obvious. Every teacher said she could go on and enter the Academy before the required sixteen years of ages. She had at twelve, like her sisters.

But that had taken sacrifice, big sacrifice at times. Melody favoured school over anything else, not because of what she studied, but because she wanted to be the best in every class to have the perfect score for the Academy. She had been a young girl, back then, not much older than seven or eight perhaps, when she’d been a little lax on studying during the last semester. She had scored 100% in all tests thus far, but there was no way she could do that again in the last exam of the year.

Afraid she was going to lose (future) privileges for not being perfect, she’d taken a courageous decision for such a young child.

Her teacher wasn’t very smart, and was known to keep the test answers in a drawer right there in the classroom. A locked drawer, yes, but Melody had heard enough of her sister Harmony’s mathematical stuff to know how to break a code as simple as that.

With the answers in hand, she’d scored another perfect 100%, and everyone had congratulated with her, once again. She’d been happy... though somehow aggravated.

“I don’t feel too good, ya know?” she’d confessed Symphony one day, not long after the score results were out.

“About what?” Symphony had replied, while her little talented hands drew a life-size, beautiful eagle with crayons on a large paper sheet.

“That stupid test... I...” Melody had licked her lips, then got up from the couch and spoken in her sister’s ear, shielding her mouth with a hand. “I got the answers and cheated,” she had murmured.

Symphony’s eyes had grown as large as could be, then she’d shaken her head. “But... but that’s not fair, Mel...”

“Well would it be fair that I lost my 100% thing only because of one mistake?” Melody had retorted, hands on her hips and not wanting to show her own indignation with herself.

“Oh... well... yeah.”

Symphony had shrugged, and like she always did, given in to her sister. But that wasn’t the end of it.

Only one day later, the secret was out. Melody had never found out just how her parents had learned of her transgression, but they did.

The three young Nocturne girls sat upon the couch, identical in their green eyes and blonde hair, listening as their father lectured them in a stern voice.

“You girls are smart. But just because Nature has blessed you doesn’t mean that you have to be the absolute best at everything. Your mother and I want you to do well but...” Johann sighed. “It doesn’t matter the pressure on you to do well, cheating is never the answer.” He pointed at Melody. “Come with me, Mel.”

Swallowing hard, Melody stood up and followed her father to his bedroom. He sat down on the bed and lifted his daughter into his lap. “Do you understand?” he asked her. “Do you understand why what you did is wrong?”

She nodded and sniffled, a tear running down her cheek. “Cheating is bad ‘cause it’s like lying. I didn’t really do the work. I only pretended to.”

Johann nodded. “That’s right.” He squeezed her tightly. “I’m going to have to punish you, Mel. I’m going to spank you. It’ll hurt, but you’ll remember this lesson for a long time.”

Melody didn’t say anything as her father draped her small body over his lap, pulled her dress up over her hips, and began smacking her bottom. She had never been spanked before, neither had her sisters. She barely knew what the word meant, only reading it in Ancient Literature class. But then there she was, receiving a first hand lesson in its meaning.

At first, she didn’t react, to surprised at what was happening to do anything more than lie there. Then the burn began to intensify and she cried out. “Owie!”

But her father didn’t stop. Instead, he seemed to pick up in speed and intensity. Melody had always been a proud and stubborn girl. Despite this, she found herself breaking down in her vulnerable position. Her sit spots, bottom cheeks, and thighs were all smacked over and over. Tears spilled down her cheeks, her legs kicked involuntarily, her whole body felt as though it were on fire. She became focused on that one reality so completely that when the spanking was over she didn’t even know it.

Minutes later, cradled in her father’s arms, her tears began to subside. “I’m so sorry daddy,” she cried, “I won’t ever cheat again.”

“I know baby, I’m sorry too.”

And she hadn’t. Until now. Another tear trailed down 13-year-old Melody as the events played back in her mind, never before so vivid. She’d always remembered that spanking, but now it seemed like it was happening all over again. She remembered how good it felt to be cradled on her dad’s lap. It was rare for her to let go and be cuddly. Contrarily to her sisters, she’d always felt better by herself.

Now, eighteen months after the tragic loss, she just wanted to go back and un-do what happened. She would convince them not to ride that shuttle to Uranus, and to stay home instead, so they would never be caught in the accident that killed them both, and twenty more people.

But it wasn’t to be. The realisation that she and her sisters were alone dawned on her again, now stronger than ever. Melody felt a thrill of fear, and she didn’t like that. She never felt fear.

Her sisters had taken it hard, back then. The triplets had just turned twelve when they learned of their parents’ death. It was the last days of winter on the iced lakes of Europa, a Jupiter-based holiday resort, and they were to start the Earth Academy for Talented Youth in a couple of weeks.

Mom and Dad were their only family. No aunts or uncles, no grandparents, or cousins. Only friends, who in turns offered to take care of the girls. At twelve, the girls had just gained the status of Responsible Youth (not old enough to vote or drive space vehicles, but old enough to have jobs and live alone), and the Office for Family and Child Services declared that they could live at the Academy if they maintained the purpose to enrol. The Academy accepted its youngest students since decades, with warnings to all teachers to keep an eye out on the three of them.

The girls turned out to be very self-sufficient, but that largely depended on Melody’s resolution. Not a week into their new Academy life, both Harmony and Symphony wanted to quit. The loss was recent and still burning, and even though teachers were understanding, the girls couldn’t do much of what was required. Melody was finding strength in her pre-flight training, but not her sisters.

One night Melody found Symphony packing a bag, Harmony sitting with her. “What’s going on?”

“Leaving,” said Symph.

Harmony nodded. “I... we don’t want to stay here, Mel.”

“And where will you go??”

“Dunno... somewhere. Anywhere.” Symphony was already on the verge of tears as she said that.

It didn’t take long for Melody to realise she had to act quick. She grabbed Symph’s arm and spun her around, then pushed down on her back and aimed six solid swats to her clothed backside.

“Owwww! M-Mel... why... why are you hitting me?”

Melody caught her breath. Harmony was looking at her wide-eyed, incredulous. “I... it’s a spanking, Symph. It’s a punishment. And you too, Harm...”

She pushed Harmony on her back on the bed, then rolled her over and smacked her rotund bottom too, eliciting the same “oww”ing reaction.

“Girls... we... we are on ourselves now,” Melody said, struggling to find the words, and choking back her own tears. “We’ve got to hold on and stick together. We don’t give up, ever, you get that?”

Symph and Harm were rubbing their bottoms, and were too shocked to say anything. They both nodded though, then hugged her sister, letting go and crying hard. Only then it sunk in that their parents were really gone, and only then Melody realised she was taking a huge burden on her shoulders.

~*~

The body of Academy officials sat around the table, discussing Melody’s testimony and what to do about it.  So far measures as extreme as expulsion without hope of returning to the Academy and as lenient as a private reprimand, had been suggested.  Cleric Narayan had recommended as severe a punishment as was allowed by the Academy without expulsion, but most were favoring even stricter measures.  Finally, as the body of officials were beginning to repeat themselves, Instructor Treppe raised a hand for silence.  As it was he who would decide the fate of the girl, all turned  to him.

“I would like to hear Admiral Tarses’ opinion,” he said.

There was some murmur of agreement and all attention was turned to the senior man.  He sat quietly for a few moments before speaking.

“Miss Nocturne is a rare talent.  She is absolutely brilliant.  Top in her military classes, in the top ten of every other class she attends.  Undoubtedly she made a serious mistake in her disregard for her orders, but she damn near succeeded.  Furthermore, her sisters are equally as brilliant.  The only reason they do not dominate every single class they’re in, is because their interests are somewhat narrow.  If we are to lose Melody Nocturne, we will likely lose the others as well.  This is simply not an option.”

The decorated man paused, allowing his mechanized lungs to draw breath into this battered body.  It was rare that he would speak so much at once.  Soon, he continued.

“I recommend strict punishment.  Strip her of all military rank and privilege.  Require an ethics course.  But keep her here.  We must be able to teach and shape this talent.”

At that, he fell silent.

~*~

In the classroom, Melody knew very well that her future in the Academy – and hence her whole life – was being discussed in the adjacent room. And still, she couldn’t bring herself to focus on that. Whatever would come, would come, and she’d take it.

Her mind kept going back in time as memories resurfaced, as if the incident had opened a wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding and she was forced to face her scariest memories... but also the fondest.

Like a conversation had with her mother and father when she was twelve. They were on Europa, at a holiday resort. They had been visiting a Military History museum, and they were walking back home, just the three of them. Harm and Symph were skating on the planet-wide iced lakes.

Melody remembered her mother Clara with her hands stuffed in her pockets, and a scarf to protect her from the intense cold. She looked worried, deep in thought. Her dad Johann was white-faced from the wind, and he too wasn’t very talkative.

“Can I ask if anything’s the matter, Dad?” Mel asked, politely as ever.

Johann’s face lit up with a gentle smile, as he circled his child’s shoulders with his big arm. “No, dear. It’s just that Mom and I need to leave.”

“Oh,” Mel said. “So suddenly?”

“Yes,” Clara said, with a weak smile. “We’ll only be away a couple of days. There’s a report we need to write, and photographs to take. On Uranus. You girls will do fine, right?”

Melody nodded promptly. “Yes, mother. No problem at all.”

Johann hugged her tight, and said: “You’re special, Mel.”

“Dad, I...”

“No. Listen.” His voice was suddenly firmer, and the girl instinctively stood straighter. “You *are* special. All three of you. There’s something that... makes you stronger. Must run in the family. But you are never, ever to let that choose for you, Melody.”

She wasn’t understanding, so her mother spoke. “What Dad means, is, act with your brain, Mel. This whole Academy thing is great, but... we want you girls to be yourselves, not super-girls just because you’re smarter.”

“Being part of an elite is a burden, Melody. Always remember that.”

The girl didn’t quite grasp what they meant, but those words were carved in her memory ever since anyway. As was the look in her mother’s eyes... so algid-blue, almost white, and yet so deep, with her long blonde hair cascading on the coat. And his father’s square face, and high temples, and the unique feeling it gave when he’d hold her in his big, muscled arms. Even she, taller and stronger than the average twelve-year-old, would feel tiny with him... but somehow, because of that, safe.

That is how Melody would always remember them. When they reached the house, and they left her at the door, she received a small kiss from both on the lips. Then they rode the car, and off they went to the spaceport to catch that flight to Uranus.

That was the last time she saw her parents alive.

Oh so many times Harmony and Symphony had asked what their last words had been, and how they were like. Melody couldn’t quite stop thinking that part of the reason why her sisters saw her a leader was that she’d been the last to speak to Mom and Dad. As if that was a... relay, of some sort.

But Melody wasn’t thinking about that now. Her mind focused on her parents’ words, again, and in the light of Harmony’s recent discovery in the lab, they sounded scary.

~*~

Nearly an hour had passed.  The sun was setting and the room was being cast slowly into darkness.

Melody sat on her chair, willing herself not to squirm.  Her bottom still hurt, and Mel was relatively certain that she would be sore for many more hours to come.  She sighed.  Not because of the pain, but because of her mistake.  How could she have been so incredibly stupid?  Sure, she could justify it all she wanted, saying that she did it to get the mission back on schedule, that she had nearly succeeded, that no one had been hurt since it was only a simulation anyway, but the honest truth of the matter was that she had made a mistake.  A mistake that she had been warned of. She wasn’t an expert in Engineering, how could she have thought that she knew better than those who set down the rules?  Further more, she was an expert in military procedure, and directly disobeying the orders of her captain had been... Well if anyone under her command had done the same, she would have thought them enormously stupid and in need of strict disciplinary action.

Melody sighed again.

The door opened.  She leapt to her feet, standing to attention, as Instructor Treppe entered.  It was only him this time.  He stood before Melody, his expression grim.

“You will not be expelled, nor lose any credits. However, you will be demoted to the lowest rank of Private. You will be removed of all leadership positions within the Academy, including HoverHoops.” 

Instructor Treppe looked as though he was about to say more, but stopped.  Instead, he turned sharply and moved to leave the room.  At the door, he paused.

“You are dismissed, Miss Nocturne.  I suggest you follow all rules to the letter until you have regained the trust of this Academy.”  Then he was gone.

Melody sagged, and sighed.  Tears stung her eyes and she had to wipe them away, hoping that there were none still behind the glass to see her momentary show of weakness.

She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. Her hand flew back to her bottom, and this time she allowed herself a more generous rub.

She got herself together and walked out of the room, and down the familiar corridors that led to the elevators and her quarters. All along her mind kept wandering backwards, as it had done all afternoon.

She remembered ignoring the Captain’s order to leave the reactor core settings alone, and walking in the Engineering room instead, when no-one would see.

She remembered altering the settings to her liking, the way she thought it’d benefit the mission... and then seeing the reactor overload and the ship simulating an implosion, causing a complete failure.

She remembered being asked if she had anything to do with it, and lying about it, saying that no, she had no idea, that she’d followed orders.

She remembered the shame of walking back to her quarters, knowing she’d screwed up and deceived everyone... and how soon she’d fallen apart and confessed everything to her sisters.

She remembered the sound scolding she’d got, especially from Harmony, even though it had been Symphony’s words to cut the deepest in her: “I wouldn’t have expected this of you, Mel,” Symph had said, and Melody realised that not only she’d let herself down, but also those who looked up at her for an example in morality and rectitude.

She remembered not saying a word when Rhapsody, who’d been sitting awkwardly with her sisters, asked if this warranted a spanking – and how Harmony had said that yes, of course it did.

She remembered taking off her uniform and underwear, and submitting to her sister’s punishment, still without a word, but starting to cry, just like that, feeling so sad like never before.

She remembered being taken across Harmony’s lap, and how her bottom had stung horribly under her sister’s hard blows. Smack after smack had fallen on her bare, upturned cheeks, causing the tears to increase and the sobs to go up several notches.

She remembered Symphony’s hands holding hers, as Harmony kept up with the strictest punishment she’d ever delivered, making Melody’s bottom bright red, and a little bit more.

She remembered Harmony stopping after several minutes, and how Mel, in-between a flood of tears, had found it in her to ask Rhapsody for her slipper, and handing it to Harm.

She remembered Harmony nodding in silence and taking the implement, and then the slipper completing the task of inflicting hard, searing pain into her nether regions, until she felt she would never sit again, but was finally free of some of the intolerable guilt that was gripping her heart.

And finally, Melody remembered taking a shower to get her sobbing and wild emotions under control, and also how, after nursing her crimson bottom in front of the mirror, she’d worn her uniform again and headed for the Instructors’ Office to confess, the final act of her punishment.

But at last, all of that was behind her, in more ways than one.

She rested her head against the cool metal doors of the lift.  Her hands were unconsciously on her bottom again, rubbing lightly through the skin tight material of her uniform.  That uniform, which normally she was so proud to wear, was becoming a bit of a pain.  Quite literally.

It was a welcome distraction though.  It was better than thinking on the Academy’s punishment.  Demoted and stripped of privileges.  She had worked so hard to where she’d been, and now it was all gone in one exceedingly stupid mistake.  Soon she was at her door, swiping her key card and entering the apartment.

On the couch sat Harm, dressed in a pair of regulation grey panties, but nothing else.  Idly, Mel wondered if Harm put on clothes when she thought Mel was upset so as not to upset her even more.  The thought made lightened her heart somewhat.  Rhapsody too was dressed in only underwear, and was in the kitchen rummaging through the cupboards.  Symphony was nowhere to be seen.

When Melody entered, the two girls looked up.  A moment later, Symph scurried into the common room.  She too was wearing only panties, though bits of brightly colored paint speckled her body.

“So,” said Symphony slightly breathlessly, “How’d it go?” All three looked at her anxiously.

“I’m not suspended,” Melody said quickly while she still had the nerve to speak, “But I’m demoted, stripped of all privileges and leadership positions.”

After she choked out the words, Mel was unable to stop the tears from following.  Down in the classroom, it would have been unseemly, but here, in front of her sisters, it would be okay.

Immediately Symph had embraced her.  She made soft crooning noises and rubbed Mel’s back.  Mel just rested her head on Symph’s shoulder and cried.

Soon Harm too was standing with them.  She patted Mel’s shoulder.  “You’ll earn it back Mel.  No problem.  You’re the best they’ve got, they’ll have to reinstate you soon.”

“Yeah,” agreed Rhapsody from where she was leaning against the back of the couch.  “Though I imagine I’ll be taking over HoverHoops now.”

Melody looked up at Rhapsody, her red rimmed eyes glaring, but then she smiled faintly at Rhap’s cocky grin.  Rhap winked and Mel began to chuckle though her tears.  “You’re probably right Rhap.”

Soon the girls were involved in a four way hug, and the fact that Rhapsody had joined them without hesitation brought yet more tears to Mel’s eyes.

About an hour later, when Mel had regained control of her emotions, the four of them sat in the living room, sprawled on the couch and chairs.  Music played from the speakers mingling with the sounds of the city drifting in through an open window.  The lights were dim.  Mel was half dozing, the ache in her bottom finally beginning to recede.  She had conceded to comfort and stripped to her underwear too, with the result that the sisters were all dressed alike, a rare occasion for them.

Her mind drifting, Mel though about what Harmony had told them recently.  About the genetic anomaly.  At first they didn’t have any idea what it was, but after speculation of broken computers, they had decided to do some research. 

Continuing with the mapping assignment in their apartment, with some computer modifications by Rhapsody, Harm had discovered the mathematical pattern the assignment had called for.  With some major defects.  According to all the basic manuals, Harm wasn’t human.  So they had tested Mel next and found the same defects.  Unsurprisingly, Symph and Rhap were also declared by the computer to be not human. 

Then they had gone digging.  It was surprisingly easy to discover the Madigan Phenomenon.  This was a rare condition that allowed for increased firing of neurons and overall brain activity resulting in much higher than average thought processes. 

Mel had immediately decided that they needed to keep this discovery quiet and the others agreed. 

Thinking about this discovery led Mel’s sleepy mind to that time so long ago, the first spanking from her father.  Perhaps he had known. 

Melody spoke her thoughts aloud.  “He said something weird that day.”

“Hmm?” replied Symphony sleepily.

“Who did?” Rhapsody asked, more awake than Symph, but not by much. “What day?”

“Dad,” said Melody.  “When I got caught cheating and he spanked me, he said that just because Nature had blessed us didn’t mean we had to be perfect all the time.”

“Yeah,” spoke up Harm, “I remember that.  Never really understood it though.  I just chalked it up to babbling cause he was so mad.”

“It makes me wonder,” Mel yawned and the yawn was echoed by the other three.  Symph began to snore softly.

“Wonder what?” Rhap asked, her words slurred by sleepiness.

“Why they were so scared all the time. Especially Mum.”

“Scared?” asked Harm.

“He didn’t want us to be perfect,” Melody mused.

Several moments of quiet followed.  The window had closed itself and the music turned down to silence triggered to do so at nine o’clock in the evening.

“What did he think would happen if we were too perfect?”

But Melody’s question fell on sleeping ears.  For a moment, she considered getting everyone up and shepherding them to their beds, but decided against it.  It felt so companionable to be sleeping with her sisters close by.  Comfortable.  She let sleep take her from her worries.  Worries about her parents’ past and her own future.

Tomorrow. There would be time tomorrow.

– The End –

This story does not necessarily represent the authors’ point of view about anything. It is simply a work of fiction . The characters herein portrayed are invented and do not resemble reality to the best of the authors’ knowledge. This account is entirely fictitious . Any similarities to other persons, living or deceased, is purely coincidental.

This story is written for the sane amusement of adult readers. It does not intend harm and does not promote violence of any kind, including spanking. No offence is meant to any group, ethnicity or individuals.

The authors do not necessarily endorse the non-consensual disciplinary spanking of actual children and / or teenagers.

Copyright © 2004 Haley Brimley , Lawrence Kinden . Contact for information and / or feedback.