by Mike London
It was the day before the start of a new school year at Waterfield School for Girls. Most of the girls were enjoying their last day of freedom as the summer holidays came to an end. Twelve senior girls, however, the newly appointed prefects for the forthcoming year, had been asked to come in at two in the afternoon that day and report to Mrs Burgess, the headmistress.
Kirsty Hughes met Dawn Campbell outside the school gates. Both girls were wearing their new prefects uniform, including the ties bearing the crest of the school and a special badge on their jackets.
"Do you know what all this is about, Kirsty?" asked Dawn.
"I'm not sure. I do have an idea - something Fiona said - but it seems really silly. Maybe it's an induction ceremony or something."
"Well, I wish she'd decided to hold it tomorrow so it came out of school time, instead of dragging us in while we're supposed to be on holiday!"
Kirsty agreed and the two girls walked together to the headmistress's office. They knocked and entered.
Mrs Burgess enjoyed the luxury of a large office, but it was already looking rather crowded.
"Good!" said Mrs Burgess. "Kirsty and Dawn. That means we're only waiting for Valerie Barr. I hope she won't be late."
Kirsty and Dawn moved into the room to stand among the other new prefects. Most of the nine other girls were wearing a similar uniform to the two latest arrivals, although a few had taken advantage of their right to wear dark coloured trousers instead of the blue school skirt. Claire Thomas and Sophie Beale, however, were not wearing their prefects' ties, or any ties at all. And they looked very miserable indeed. Once again, Dawn wondered just what was going on.
A minute or two later, just on the stroke of two, Valerie arrived. She crowded in amongst the other teenagers, and Mrs Burgess stood up to address the assembled prefects.
"First of all, congratulations to all of you on your appointment as school prefects. I have made these appointments on the basis of my own knowledge of your characters and on the recommendations made to be by your form teachers. I trust that you will not let me, or the school, down.
"As prefects you are in a privileged position, but responsibility comes along with that. I believe that you all have the character to accept that responsibility. As prefects you will be looked up to by the other girls at this school; I hope that you prove worthy of that. I and my staff will be relying on your assistance."
Mrs Burgess handed out photocopies of a sheet of paper headed, 'Duties for Prefects' and continued her talk.
"A rota of the duties of prefects will be posted in the Prefects' Room and the Staff Common Room. There are four main duties each day: supervising the corridors during assembly and identifying latecomers; morning and afternoon breaks, when you will supervise the rear playground and the corridors; and the dinner hour, when you will supervise all corridors and form rooms. The paper that I have handed out explains all this. Also, you may occasionally be asked to take charge of a private study or 'free' period in the absence of a teacher. Any questions?"
No one asked any questions, although a couple of girls looked rather puzzled.
"As prefects it will be your duty to report girls to me for punishment. Do any of you have any problems with that?"
A chorus of mumbled, "No, miss," and shaken heads.
"The problem that I have, is this," continued Mrs Burgess. "Prefects are, naturally, selected out of the better behaved girls at the school. The effect of that is, of course, that relatively few of you have had any experience of the punishments I will administer to the girls whom you send to me.
"So far as I know, only one of you has ever had the cane."
Mrs Burgess looked at Suzanne Brown.
"I had to cane you, Suzanne, a couple of years ago, didn't I?"
Suzanne blushed. She didn't like to be reminded of that humiliating, and painful, punishment.
"Yes, miss."
"Have any of you others ever had the cane?"
The new prefects looked at one another but no one raised a hand.
"How many of you have had the slipper from me?"
This time there was more of a response. Suzanne's hand went up again, but this time six other girls also raised their hand. It was not so easy to avoid the slipper at Waterfield School!
"That's what I thought. Five of you have never ever even felt the slipper. But you will now be sending girls to me for slipperings. I think that it is only right that you should have some idea of what they are going to get!"
Mrs Burgess pulled open a drawer of her desk and took out a large black plimsoll.
"This is the plimsoll that I use for slipperings. It's a man's size 12 slip-on plimsoll. I've only used this one for a couple of years so far, but the sole is already fairly worn away. Pass it round, look at it, and imagine or remember what it would feel like smacking onto your bottom."
Mrs Burgess passed the plimsoll to Michelle Lewis, who quickly passed it on to Valerie. Michelle didn't need to imagine the sting that that slipper could produce - she remembered it all too well!
Some of the previously unslippered girls, however, looked at the plimsoll with more attention. They were starting to suspect that they might find out what it felt like for themselves before too long.
The plimsoll was passed back to Mrs Burgess by Cassie Wyatt. The headmistress did not replace it in its drawer, but left it on the top of her desk.
"Before any of you take on the duties of a prefect I want to be sure that you all appreciate the nature of a slippering, and of a caning. I intend to demonstrate this to you. This is emphatically not a punishment, merely a demonstration. It will sting, but it will not hurt as much as a genuine punishment. Still, it is up to you. If any of you prefer, you may leave now and I will appoint alternate prefects. If you want to be prefects then, by the time you all leave the school today, each of you will have, at one time or another, felt both the slipper and the cane. I want to be sure that you will send girls to me with proper discretion and not just as the norm."
Mrs Burgess paused for a while. The girls looked at each other. A few had expected something like that - Kirsty's elder sister Fiona had been a prefect a few years back, and there had been a few rumours - but some of the girls were really taken aback. Nevertheless, no one elected to leave. They all wanted to be prefects.
Mrs Burgess smiled.
"Good! We'll start with the five of you who have never been slippered. The slipper is a much less severe implement than the cane, but it can still impart quite a sting. We'll start with one whack. Nicola, you can be first, bend down across my desk and hold onto the other side."
Nicola Underwood's mouth fell open. She was a small girl, rather serious and shy, and had never ever been in any trouble. But she was also very intelligent. She realised that Mrs Burgess had chosen her because she had happened to be standing close to the desk, and that it could be a good thing to go first. So, Nicki stretched herself over the desk without saying a word.
The other girls stood back to allow Mrs Burgess room and to see what was going on. The headmistress walked round to stand behind Nicki and to her left.
"I don't often award a single slipper whack as a punishment, but it is appropriate in some circumstances. Sometimes when a normally well-behaved junior girl is sent to me I will give her just one whack. The formality of the punishment is beneficial and the sting of just one whack warns them of what to expect if they ever come back. It can be very effective, can't it, Kirsty?"
Everyone, except Nicki, turned to look at Kirsty Hughes.
"Kirsty was sent to me as a second year for running in the corridor, after being warned. Weren't you, Kirsty?"
"Yes, miss."
"I gave Kirsty just one whack, but it must have worked because she never came back for more!"
"That was enough for me, miss," said Kirsty, trying to sound light-hearted.
"Well, I think it's time to start the demonstration. The slipper is not very effective over a school skirt, so I always slipper over just knickers. The LEA regulations require one layer of clothing."
Suiting her actions to her words, Mrs Burgess pulled up Nicki's skirt, revealing a pair of white knickers. She picked up the black plimsoll by its heel and tapped it against Nicki's bottom. The watching girls could see that its sole was large enough to cover the whole width of the new prefect's rear. Nicki shifted uncomfortably over the desk.
"Stay there until I tell you to stand up, Nicola. That applies to you all! If any of you wastes our time by standing up without permission or delaying the demonstration in any way, you might just find out what a real punishment feels like!"
Without further delay the headmistress drew the slipper back and slammed it forward across Nicki's waiting behind.
SMACKKK!
The impact sounded surprisingly loud. Nicki's bottom bounced up and down over the desk and the girls heard her emit a startled, "Ohh!"
Mrs Burgess stood back, satisfied with that first effort.
"Stand up, Nicola."
Nicki stood up and turned to face the headmistress. She pulled her skirt back into place and kept one hand behind her to gently rub her bottom.
"Did that hurt, Nicola?"
"It stung, miss, more than I'd expected."
Mrs Burgess nodded. "Yes. I don't want any of you to think that Nicola is making a lot of fuss about nothing. Just one whack with the slipper can produce a lot of sting. It wears off quickly, but at the time it makes quite an impression.
"Can you imagine what it would be like if you had to take another three or five whacks like that, Nicola?"
Nicki was still rubbing her bottom. "Yes, miss."
"So can the girls I really punish like that. So it does act as a deterrent. And with the right girls it's a real punishment, too. I seem to remember that you were crying after your slippering, Kirsty?"
Kirsty was really embarrassed at the headmistress's continual reversion to her own punishment, but there was nothing she could do.
"Yes, miss," she mumbled.
"Was that because of how much it hurt?"
Kirsty paused a long time before answering, collecting her thoughts.
"Not really miss, although, like Nicki said, it did sting more than I'd expected. It was more that I was so ashamed of having had the slipper and of having my skirt pulled up for you to see my knickers."
"I see. Remember that, all of you. Just the shame of being sent to me can be a real punishment for some girls. Right, Nicola, go and stand at the back and let someone else have a turn. Let's see - Gloria Fenton, I think."
Gloria smiled and walked over to stand in front of the middle of the headmistress's desk. She was a tall West Indian girl and was one of those who had elected to wear trousers instead of the school skirt.
"I said that the slipper was ineffective over a school skirt, but it does work well over trousers as I shall now demonstrate. Bend over the desk, Gloria!"
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