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Crossed Wires
Alex Birch
alexbirch (at) blueyonder (dot) co (dot) uk
Category: Coming of Age

He looked at his watch as a key turned in the lock the door slammed shut, making him wince, and his bubbly blonde fourteen year old bounced into the room. Over protective he might be but there was just the two of them now and he was always relieved when she got home She kissed him, as she always did, then grinned and moved to go and change out of her uniform.

"Ah, Katie, I nearly forgot," he called after the retreating figure, "Mrs Foster called about your geography exam. Seems there is some kind of problem."

Her reaction startled him. She spun on her heel and stood facing him, her face red, her mouth open in shock and her small hands trembling. She was clearly close to tears. He knew when she was hiding something and decided to see how this played out.

"Well?" he said quietly.

"I-I didn't mean to cheat, daddy. I swear. Joanne took some pens back to Miss Foster's desk and she found the examination answers in the drawer. She copied them down before putting them back. I-I told her I wasn't going to look….daddy I swear I did…" She was shaking gently and the tears had begun. "…but she said nobody would know and anyway it wasn't the finals. It didn't really matter.." her voice was faint and unconvinced, knowing what a pathetic excuse it was. "I-I said it was wrong ,daddy."

Somehow he managed to control his voice, although his emotions raged between anger and sorrow.

"But despite your upbringing and clear understanding of how morally wrong it was, you looked at the answers anyway and then used them. Am I right?"

Now she was shaking.  "Oh daddy, I didn't mean to..I-I…Joanne said I was chicken and I wouldn't dare and…."

He shook his head. "It won't do, Katie. When did peer pressure and some childish dare mean more to you than the honesty your mother and I instilled into you?"

Her shoulders were heaving with emotion.

"Now I'll tell you what message Mrs Foster left, Katie.  She said the Examination Board had sent the wrong set of questions so all the papers had been thrown away without being marked and she apologised that you would all have to sit the exam again."

He looked at his daughter's horrified expression and managed a mirthless smile.

"So you see, had it not been for your guilty conscience, I would never have found out. Deceit has never been easy for you, you are too decent for that."

If she thought he was softening, she was soon disabused of the idea. He began to unfasten his trouser belt as she trembled in fear.

"But when you do stuff up…and don't compound your problems by telling me no harm was done…then there is a reckoning to be paid! So we might as well get it over with!"

Sobbing quietly, she reached under her skirt and began to pull her knickers down.
Readers Comments:
CK:  CrimsnKid6 (at) aol (dot) com

This in not an uncommon theme, either in spanking fiction particulary or in general fiction–an anxious guilty person ends up confessing to wrongdoing upon receiving even a rather generic (and in this case unintended) prompt from an authority figure. In a way it's a high compliment to Katie's sense of personal morality, and to the upbringing she has obviously been given by her father and (presumably deceased) mother, that she wasn't as cool and calculating as a less ethical student would have been.

Of course, Katie's posterior is about to become even less cool than her guilt-wracked mind was, but it will undoubtedly be a good lesson: If you have a strong conscience, you'd better be a good person because you won't be comfortable with immoral behavior and therefore won't cover it up very effectively. (Okay, that may sound cynical but it's not meant that way as I approve of strong consciences.)

So what's better, a cleansed conscience accompanied by a stinging behind or a guilty conscience but with no physical discomfort? In the long run I'd expect that Katie would vote for the former, although how she'd vote two minutes after this story's conclusion, with her bottom bare and her father's belt swinging into action, is another question.

I enjoyed the irony of the use of the British term "sit the test" (an American teacher would more likely say "take the test"), since Katie clearly isn't going to feel like doing any sitting (for tests or otherwise) in the immediate future. I certainly wish that more real-life students, on both sides of the Pond, had her sense of ethical academic behavior.

This is a fairly straightforward parent-child spanking narrative, with a plot twist that's not too uncommon, but written convincingly enough…
Mary:  gemcollector2001 (at) yahoo (dot) com

ohhhhhhh OWIEE now thats one NOT happy Daddy! LOL this was a very nice story and I loved the little tricky ending on it!  I loved how the author was able to put  detail into the piece about feelings as well as description and still keep the piece moving along so freely while keeping it within the word limit.

A very nicely done piece and very tantalizing ending. :)
Hal:  janhaltn (at) gmail (dot) com

I have been out of town and just got back home.  This was a very good story to start with.  I enjoyed all of the word pictures.  I could just see the girl standing there with tears running down her face. Yes, the belt coming lose was also clear.  I enjoyed reading this story.  It had a nice flow to it. I hope this writer continues to write for us.
Zoey:  zprymantis (at) smilingwithteeth (dot) com

Yes, she pulled her knickers down from under her school uniform. What a nice last impression this was as the story ends! Of course, I knew what she was wearing and what she looked like from the very first lines of the story, and that is what carried me right through to the ending.

That is what I liked the most about this story, that in so few words I pictured the room, the people, their clothes and even their faces. She was young and bubbly and he was worried until she got back home and kissed him like she did every day. I like school girl stories, especially ones with little twists like this where she stumbles and catches herself through guilt. Just lovely, but goodness - a belt!? I suppose though if he had taken her over his knee and spanked her with his hand on her bare bottom, he'd instead have been a pervert. :-)