by Frank Martinet
Once, long ago, there lived a beautiful little girl named Cindy. She had large blue eyes and long hair of gold like her mother. But one day, the day before Cindy was to become a teenager, her father was eaten by a huge wolf. Her mother, upon hearing this awful news, collapsed into a state of shock and never recovered.
Thus poor little Cindy found herself suddenly jerked from her harsh but cozy life in the mountains, to the teeming city where she was forced to live with a distant Aunt. The distant Aunt disliked Cindy because she was so much prettier than her own two daughters, who were spoilt and vain and quite ugly. She resented the extra mouth to feed and therefore rarely did, preferring to nourish Cindy with frequent cruel strokes from her long rattan cane. She made the young girl do all the chores in the house (including her own) and wouldn't hesitate to punish her for the slightest failure in her duties.
Now most young girls in Cindy's situation would have become depressed and morose, but not Cindy. Instead she whistled and sang and seemed to be very happy, for she had been taught that one must never let circumstance get you down. And though the mean Aunt doubled the chores and whipped Cindy's bare bottom almost daily, it did not deter the perky girl's spirits. It drove the Aunt and the sisters to distraction, so they decided to ignore her and pretend she didn't exist.
Life continued in this manner for Cindy for several years. Her days were long and difficult. She was up before dawn fetching the wood for the fire and water from the well, relieving the hens of their eggs and the cows of their milk, and watering and feeding all the animals. By the time her Aunt and sisters had awakened, Cindy had hot breakfast on the table. If Cindy didn't (which was unfortunately often the case, as the farm animals were never very predictable), she found herself bent across the kitchen table, knickers down around her ankles and skirt up over her head, and Aunt's thin cane leaving red stripes of pain across her bare buttocks.
On the days when breakfast was ready on time Cindy usually still found herself weeping and gasping from the sharp kisses of the cane, as it was almost inevitable that Aunt would find something inadequate about the meal. Perhaps the bread was burned or the porridge too hot. It didn't really matter. Aunt caned Cindy because it amused her, and there was nothing Cindy could do but wince and wiggle her beautiful bare bottom in supplication and hope for mercy.
One day Cindy awoke with a special sense of excitement. Today was her eighteenth birthday! As she fed the chickens she imagined a beautiful white cake like the one her mother had promised her for her thirteenth birthday, a celebration that had been forgotten in the midst of mourning and grief. She knew she'd get no such cake from her Aunt, but she hoped at least she'd be allowed to eat some breakfast today. She was so hungry!
There was also the matter of the Ball. The Prince had announced he was looking for a wife and had invited all of the single women in the county to a huge celebration at the palace. Everyone was invited - no one was to be refused. Cindy had secretly been sewing herself a gown late at night after everyone had gone to sleep and it was nearly finished. Surely Aunt would let her attend the Ball.
But alas! Cindy's Aunt was livid when she discovered that it was the girl's birthday. Sixteen was courting age and Aunt knew that Cindy would have no lack of suitors. This enraged her because it served as a painful reminder that her own two daughters, at eighteen and nineteen no less, were still husbandless. She caned Cindy twice as long after breakfast that morning, despite the fact that everything was on time and virtually perfect. After the caning she produced a leather belt and proceeded to lash Cindy's bottom and legs for a good half-hour for her birthday spanking as she called it.
The sisters watched and giggled the whole time, scolding the pretty girl and encouraging their mother to really punish Cindy for her naughtiness. But far worse than the whipping was the sight of the two girls trying on their expensive ball gowns and talking about what a wonderful evening it was going to be. Cindy realized from the way they spoke that no one expected her to go.
"Please, Aunt," she begged finally, "mightn't I be allowed to go to the Ball if I finish all my chores? It's just for a few hours."
Her Aunt stared at her in astonishment and the sisters cackled. "But you have nothing to wear!" said Aunt finally.
"But I have made myself a dress!" Excited, Cindy raced to her room and returned with the dress, almost completely finished. It wasn't fancy, but it was clean and elegant, and Aunt saw instantly the sparse material would show off Cindy's delightful figure.
"Why it's scandalous!" Aunt cried. "It will barely cover your bosom!"
Cindy looked crushed. "I'm afraid I ran out of cloth."
"Ah? And where did you get the cloth!"
"I took it from the scraps you threw out," said Cindy proudly. "It was very difficult piecing everything together and making it come out right and took me months, but it's almost finished."
Aunt hissed cruelly. "You stole it! You stole those scraps from my own garbage heap! How dare you!"
"No!" pleaded Cindy, but Aunt was already approaching with her long leather strap. Reluctantly but obediently, Cindy knelt and bared her bottom for the whipping that she knew was to follow. But after just a few dozen strokes Aunt stopped and Cindy looked up in surprise. Aunt had picked up the dress and to Cindy's ultimate horror she tore it to pieces. She tossed the shredded remains into the fire and Cindy wept as she saw all her dreams vanish in a puff of smoke.
"You must learn not to steal," scolded Aunt sternly. "If you had asked me for those pieces of cloth I might have given them to you but you had no right to just take them."
Cindy nodded, knowing it was pointless to argue. "But may I go to the Ball?"
Aunt shrugged. "Like that?" She waved a gnarled hand at Cindy's stained and shapeless rags. "Certainly, if you finish your chores."
Cindy smiled with joy. "Oh, thank you Aunt!" She hugged the large frame of her Aunt.
"Fine. Now shut up and get this floor cleaned. It's filthy!"
The next morning Cindy became very depressed for the first time in many years. For once her buoyant spirit was crushed. In her hand was the list of chores to be completed before she could go to the Ball. The list was over twenty items long, and many would take days to complete. There was absolutely no way she would possibly finish by the next night. Cindy worked herself to the bone all day and as long into the night as she could but she eventually found herself falling asleep. She wasn't even a third finished. There was no way.
Saturday morning began with her oversleeping and not having breakfast on time. She took her caning with her usual good spirits, but she resented the strokes this time because she really had tried her very best and didn't feel she deserved it.
After the punishment, Aunt told Cindy she and the sisters were going to be gone during the day to dress and prepare for the Ball that evening, and that she had better not show up unless all the chores were finished. Cindy nodded and plotted in her mind that perhaps she could still sneak away, though she dreaded thinking what awful punishment her Aunt would give her for such disobedience.
Cindy worked impossibly hard all day long and managed to complete a good two thirds of the list by evening in addition to cleaning her rag of a garment the best she could. It still looked like nothing more than slave rags but it was all she had and she'd wear it proudly. But when Cindy was preparing to leave she was surprised to hear horses. Aunt was returning! Cindy rushed to pretend to be hard at work scrubbing the kitchen floor. Suddenly she was lifted up and pulled by her hair. She was taken to the attic and locked inside, Aunt laughing and telling her, "See you in the morning, you lazy tramp!"
Cindy collapsed in a heap among the dusty furniture and cobwebs and began to cry, really feeling sorry for herself. She heard the carriage leave and knew that it was truly over now. She could not go to the Ball despite everything her Aunt said and all the work she'd done.
Suddenly there was a flash of light and Cindy looked up in surprise to see a tall man staring at her. He was very pale and beautiful with rather feminine features. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Cindy!" said the man.
"What?"
"Up here, crying as though there was no hope. There is always hope. You have always thought so before. Why do you not believe so now?"
Cindy looked at the man in bewilderment. "It's hopeless, now. I've tried everything. I tried being good, I tried being sneaky, I tried to work hard, but nothing worked. It's all over now. The Ball must be starting right now."
"It's never hopeless, Cindy. You ought to be spanked for even thinking such a naughty thing!"
"Oh," said Cindy, blushing and looking at the ground.
"Do you know who I am?"
"No."
"I'm your fairy godfather," said the man with a little curtsey.
Cindy smiled at him. "What does that mean?"
"It means, my dear, that you are going to the Ball!" With the snap of his fingers there came a puff of light and the door to the attic popped open. Cindy stared in amazement. She climbed down eagerly.
"But how will I get there? It's already so late!" There was anther flash and the man pointed to the window. Cindy looked out and saw a magnificent carriage with a half-a-dozen black stallions in front and its own footman and driver.
But there was still more. With the wave of his hand Cindy's frail dress disappeared (leaving her embarrassingly naked for a moment) only to be replaced by a gorgeous white gown made of the most expensive silk. It fit perfectly and was held in place by a purple sash that added color and dash to the dress. Crystal slippers completed the outfit and Cindy could barely breathe she felt so wonderful.
"It's incredible!" she exclaimed finally. "But my chores..." Her godfather smiled and snapped his fingers. Instantly Cindy noticed the floor was spotless, and the huge pile of clothing she had been instructed to wash was clean and folded. All her chores were finished! She laughed and hugged the man. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she gushed. "I've never been so grateful in all my life!"
The tall man held up his hand. "Please wait before you thank me. I'm sure you are aware that there is no free lunch. There is a price for everything."
"But I have no money!"
"That doesn't matter, because I don't accept money. No, I want your spirit, girl."
"My spirit?"
"Yes, your will. And nothing exposes a girl's spirit like a sound spanking, as I am certain you are aware. A girl being spanked is completely selfless and obedient."
Cindy stared at the fairy in amazement. "You want to spank me?"
"Yes. One sound bare-bottomed hand-spanking for each magic I did: the dress, the carriage, the chores, etc. claimable at my leisure. Do you agree?"
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