DSP-- Little One: We Just Had To

(Disclaimers: This story involves the spanking of two fictional children.
The authors in no way advocate spanking of real life children.)

Sammie:
It wasn't really my fault. But it wasn't Megan's fault either. We couldn't
help it. It was just something that was bound to happen when the two of us
got together.

What happened was, Megan was visiting at my house for a playdate. We were
in the sandbox in my backyard and were playing okay for a while. But you
know how sandboxes can bethey get real boring after a while. I thought of a
good idea to make it more interesting.

I got the hose and put some water into the sandbox. Oh yeah, that was much
better. Now the sand was nice and wet. It's real good for making sand
castles when it's wet. The sand really packed then. We played for another
really long time, but then Megan had another good idea.

She got the hose this time and filled a hole that she had dug in the sandbox
with water. It was nice and cool. And you know what she said she just
absolutely had to have in her little pool? A duckie.

Yep, we're just both absolutely infatuated with duckies. It was a need we
had. Kinda like adults are with coffee. They just gotta start their day
with it.

So I looked at her and said, "Meggie?" She said, "Yeah."

"Why don't we go down to the pond and get ourselves a duckie?" I asked. You
probally already know that I live right down the block from the park, where
there is a pond, with real live duckies in it. And if you didn't know, well,
you do now.

Well Megan thought this was a great idea. Of course, she's only four and
thinks every idea is a great idea. But since it was my idea, I was excited.
I'm seven and am not so sure I always come up with such great ideas. But
this one seemed great.

And aside from leaving the yard and going to the pond without permission, I
didn't think getting a duckie was any great big deal. I figured Daddy liked
duckies just as much as I did, and he would like it if we had one of our very
own to play with.

I guess I kinda forgot the part about duckies gotta stay in the pond, with
their mommies, and that I wasn't allowed to have a pet duckie. But hey, when
you're faced with such a good idea like this, you forget those simple things.

So I took Megan's hand and we walked to the pond. There was lotsa duckies
today. Lotsa little ones. Meggie was so 'cited, and so was I. We both
loved duckies so much. And Meggie had bread in her pocket, too. I'm not
sure where it came from. I think maybe she knew we was gonna see the duckies
and brought it with her from home.
~~~

Megan:
I pulled the bread outta my pocket and handed some to Sammie. (I know that
Sammie loves the duckies as much as I does so I figgered it was a good idea
to bring some.) We crumbled it up and tossed it to the duckies and they came
runnin up to us. I was in duckie paradise.

I saw a cute little fuzzy one. He was yellow and so sweet looking. I knew
right away that he was just perfect for us. He was little so he wouldn't eat
much and he was just so cute. I pointed him out to Sammie.

"That's the one we needs, Sam," I said. Sammie grinned real big so I knew
that she agreed with me.

"Okay, Megs, I'll hold the bread out and you can try and catch him. Be real
careful though. Don't scare him off," Sammie answered, taking a piece of
bread.

Sammie held out the bread and the tiny duckie waddled slowly to us. I
reached out and petted it carefully. The duckie just kept eatin that bread
so I slipped my hands under him and scooped him up in my cupped hands. Sammie
grinned over at me. We did it!!!!

Sammie spotted a box sitting by the bench and went to get it. We 'cided it
would be a lot easier to carry our duckie home in a box. Plus we could
prolly slip it by the growdups better. While she was getting the box, I went
closer to the pond to watch the other duckies.

I was bein real careful and petting the baby duckie so he wouldn't be
scared. Then all of the sudden, I heard Sammie yell.

"Megs, watch out for the Mama Duck!!!!" she screamed. I turned around to
see what she was talking about and there was a great big duck charging at me,
quacking at the top of her lungs. As I turned, I lost my footing on the
ground by the pond and started to topple over. Sammie must have seen me
falling, cuz she rushed over and tried to grab me. But the Mama Duck got her
first.

The last thing I saw before I splashed into the pond was that big duck
trying to bite my friend. Luckily, it wasn't very deep where I fell and I
was able to stand up right away, but I was soaked. As I stood there staring
down at my wet clothes, I heard that awful quacking. The Mama Duck was after
me!

I tried to climb up but she was already there. She started pecking at me
and trying to bite and I screamed. I didn't want that duck to eat me! And
Sammie was crying because the duck had already bited her. When I pulled away
from the mean duck, the baby duckie fell outta my hands. He swam away really
fast. I didn't know that little ducks could swim that fast. He must have
been really scared of that mean duck...

When her baby started swimming off, the Mama duck swam away, too. I climbed
out of the pond and then sat down and stared at my wet clothes. I looked up
at Sammie and started crying.

"Are you okay, Megs? That duck didn't hurt you, did it? I tried to stop her
but she bit me," Sammie said.

"I's OK," I sobbed. "But my cl-clothes is all wet and I din't g-get the
d-duckieeeeeee." The last thing I wanted to do was go back to Sammie's house
all wet and muddy. And to top it all off, we had nothing to show for it. No
duckie.

"It's okay. I don't think the little duck wanted to come home with us
anyways. We'll hafta catch one another time," Sammie said. Then she glanced
back at the direction of her house and her face got real serious. "But we'd
better get going back home. We don't want anyone to come and find us here."

I nodded and sniffled and got up to my feet. I was a little afraid of what
would happen when we got home and they asked why I was all wet but maybe we
could just slip back into the yard and no one would notice. Maybe......
~~~

Don:
I heard the phone ringing as I was coming out of the basement. I ran to
grab it before the machine picked up. It was Kyle. He said he was on his
way to pick up Megan. The girls had had a long afternoon of playing and he
wanted her to take a nap before they had to go out that evening. I said,
"Okay," and thought to myself what a good idea that was. Maybe my little one
would go down for a nap.

As I replaced the receiver, something out the back window caught my eye. I
went over to the screen doors and looked out. There was the hose pulled up
to the sandbox. The water was still pouring out of it, getting my grass
soaked beyond belief. I could see the mud that was made and the big pool of
water in the sandbox. What I did not see was my little one and Megan.

I went out back and straight over to turn off the hose. I checked to see if
maybe the girls were hiding, but after a quick search realized they were not
in this backyard. "Oh man, where could they be?" I thought to myself. I
hadn't been in the basement ten or fifteen minutes. But I guessed it only
took those two a minute to get into some kind of trouble or another.

They were probably in the front doing chalk on the driveway, even though
they only had permission to be in the backyard. Megan, after all, was only
four. I probably shouldn't even have trusted them to stay alone in the
backyard for those ten minutes.

I went through the gate, noticing that it was open and made my way to the
front of the house and looked around. No sign of them. I was beginning to
worry. Samantha knew better than to leave the property. I walked to the
edge of the driveway and looked to the right down the street. No girls.

I looked to the left. In the distance, I saw two little girls walking
towards me. There they were. And it figured, coming from the direction of
the park. I knew two little girls who were going to have very sore bottoms
today.

When they were about six feet away, they saw me standing there with my hands
on my hips staring at them. I could tell my little one wanted to turn and
run as fast as she could. But she knew she couldn't. She and Megan walked
up to me and very innocently, Samantha said, "Hi, Daddy!"

Hi? Hi, she says? I couldn't believe it. I was so angry; I didn't know
what to do first. Then I noticed that Megan was soaking wet.

"Megan? What happened to you?" I asked, pulling the little girl out of the
street and onto the driveway.

"That's what I'd like to know, too!"

I turned and looked and there was Kyle standing next to me. I hadn't even
heard his car or heard him approach. He stood, similar to how I was, with
his hands on his hips, staring down at the two little girls. This story was
going to be good, I could tell.

I looked down at my little one and as calmly as I could manage, said, "All
right, Samantha. You are older than Megan, so you are the responsible one
here. Let's hear what happened and let's hear it now!"

She looked up at me and said, "Um, nothing, Daddy, we just went for a walk,
right, Meggie?" As she said this, she turned to her little partner in crime.

I didn't give Megan a chance to answer, though. I said, "You didn't ask
permission to leave the yard, did you? And how did Megan get all wet and
muddy? I want the whole story, young lady."

My anger was beginning to show. I looked over and saw that Kyle was still
staring down at Megan. The little girl couldn't even meet his gaze. I think
she knew she was in big trouble. Unlike Samantha, who would try to get out
of this for as long as possible.

Samantha looked at Megan then and said, "She um, she" My little one
couldn't even come up with anything good. And before she could think of
anything else, Megan started to cry. We both watched as she put her arms up
to Kyle.

She cried, "Daddy, the duckie bited me and Sammie."

Kyle picked her up and started examining her. I looked down at my little
one. She quickly put one of her hands behind her back.

I said, "Duckie? What duckie?" Kyle was asking Megan the same question. I
looked down and very sternly said, "Samantha, show me your hand and tell me
the whole story."

She showed me her hand. The skin wasn't broken. It was a little red and
there was a bite mark. I was glad she was all right. "Well?" I asked, not
too patiently.

"Um, the mother duck, Daddy," Sammie said.

I needed to sit down. I noticed that Kyle was sitting on the stoop with
Megan in his lap. He was still looking at her hand and holding and
comforting her. I sat down next to him and pulled my little one in close.
"The mother duck, eh? Were you bothering one of the little ducks, Samantha
Karen?"

She started shaking her head. "No, Daddy, we wasn't bothering it...we was
petting it and Meggie was holdin it and we was gonna take it home to put in
the pool that Megan made in the sandbox and, and"

She just kept going. Now that she had gotten started, the whole entire
story came spilling out. I looked at Kyle and we both shook our heads. Kyle
and I were friends from way back. We had grown up together and now our girls
were growing up together, too, although Sammie was ahead of Megan by three
years. (Megan called me "Uncle" and Sammie called him "Uncle").

I know he didn't hold me responsible for this latest escapade. We knew our
girls pretty well and knew that they would have found some way or another of
getting into some kind of mischief.

Kyle stood up then, with Megan still in his arms and said to me, "I think
I'm going to take this one home." He looked right at her and said to me, "We
have a lot to talk about."

I stood up then and sighed. "You sure? Why don't you come in and get her
dried off? She can borrow one of Samantha's t-shirts to wear home," I
offered.

But Kyle just shook his head. "No, thanks, Don, I don't think so. I need
to have a long talk with her. And I know you are going to be busy with your
little one."

I nodded and the two of us shook hands and promised to talk later on.
Samantha watched Kyle walking away with Megan in his arms. She waved to her
friend and then turned to look at me.

"All right, then, Samantha, you will come inside with me and get cleaned up,
and then we will *talk*. I am not happy about this, Samantha Karen."

She nodded and softly answered, "Yes, Daddy," and followed me into the
house.

I took her into the bathroom and started to run a bath. "Get undressed and
into the tub. You are filthy, young lady." I was clearly upset.

She didn't say a word, just did as I told her. I think it was finally
dawning on her that she was in a lot of trouble.

I quickly soaped her up, scrubbed her down and rinsed her off. There was no
playtime or bubbles. I helped her step out of the tub and dried her off. As
I put the big bath towel around her, I said, "What were you thinking of,
young lady? You know not to go to the park on your own, and we have talked
about making pets of the ducks, right?"

Samantha looked up at me and nodded and started to cry. "I know, Daddy, I
guess I forgot. It seemed like such a good idea, and Megan likes ducks just
as much as I do...I didn't think about what we talked about."

"Or about the rules, like staying in the yard? Or about not touching wild
creatures?" I asked, getting upset all over again. I knew we had had this
discussion many times in the past. I found it hard to believe that my little
one just "forgot".

"No, Daddy, I guess I forgot that part, too." She looked up at me then and
said, "I guess I'm in big trouble, huh?"

"You are in very big trouble, young lady. When you are playing with Megan,
I expect you to set a good example and help her remember the rules -- she is
much younger than you are," I scolded.

"I know, Daddy, but we just forgetted. We was having so much fun!" she
cried.

"Come with me, Samantha." I took her by her ear into her bedroom and
slipped a long t-shirt over her head. I didn't even bother to put her
bottoms on and I'm sure she knew why. I sat on her bed and stood her in
front of me. "Do you understand what you did that was wrong, and why I am
going to spank you?"

She looked down and did not answer me. I thought maybe I should refresh her
memory. I slipped my hand under her chin and lifted it so that she was
looking right at me.

"Samantha, you left the yard without permission. You went to the park
without permission. You touched the ducks, which are wild and should be left
alone. You got yourself bitten, which could have been very serious." I
paused to make sure I had her full attention. Then I continued. "And your
antics led to Megan falling in the pond, and both of you getting very dirty.
You didn't help Megan follow the rules, so now she is in trouble, too."

She nodded and continued crying. "But Daddy, don't you wanna hear my side
of it?" she asked softly.

"If you have anything to say for yourself, you may. I will listen, and
consider it. Now what is your side?"

My little one hesitated and then said, "Well, we uh, we was just gonna get a
duckie to put in our pool; we wasn't gonna hurt it or nothing." She looked
up at me as if that had explained it all.

"Samantha Karen, I have told you that the ducks should stay in their own
pond, and -- what pool, we don't have a pool!" I did a double take then,
because I had no idea what she was talking about.

She jumped up then and said, "We made a pool, Daddy. In the backyard, in
the sandbox. I don't know if we turned the water off." She started to run
for the door but I grabbed her.

"I did. That's another thing, young lady, you are not to play with the hose
without asking. Now it is time for your spanking, Samantha Karen." I lifted
her up across my lap and picked up the hairbrush that was waiting.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the hairbrush and yelled out, "No,
Daddy, not the brush. I sorry! I won't do it again."

"Young lady, you would do well not to argue. I had thought of using the
ruler, and if you complain about the brush, I will." I began to spank her
with the brush. {Whack!}{Whack!}{Whack!}{Whack!}{Whack!}

She started to cry more and yelled, "Oowwwwwww!"

{Whack!} "You will not {Whack!} leave the yard {Whack!} without permission.
{Whack!} You will not {Whack!} go to the park {Whack!} without an adult.
{Whack!} You will not {Whack!} try to catch {Whack!} or pet {Whack!} the
ducks in the park" {Whack!}{Whack!}

I had to hold her tight now, as she was wriggling and kicking her feet.
"Oowwwww, yes, Daddddddy! waaaahhhhh!" she cried.

But I didn't think she was sorry yet. And besides, I hadn't lectured her
for all that she had done yet. She had had a very busy, naughty afternoon.
I paused for a second and then resumed the spanking.

{Whack!}{Whack!} "You will not {Whack!} make mud puddles, {Whack!} in the
sand box {Whack!} or play with the hose {Whack!} without permission {Whack!}
either, young lady!" {Whack!}

"Oowwww, Yes, Daddy, I'll be good, I promise, pleeeease!" she cried, kicking
and struggling to get off my lap.

I was almost done, but I wanted her to hear the rest of what I had to say.
{Whack!}{Whack!} "And when you play {Whack!} with Megan, {Whack!} you set her
a *good* {Whack!} example {Whack!} and follow the rules. {Whack!} {Whack!} Is
that clear, young lady?" {Whack!}

"Yes, Daddy, very clear." She was sobbing over my lap now and I could tell
she had learned her lesson.

I gave her three last smacks with the hairbrush and then set it on the night
table. {Whack!}{Whack!}{Whack!} I stood her up and hugged her tight to me.
"All right, little one, your spanking is over."

I pulled her into a cuddling position on my lap, careful not to let her
bottom meet my thighs. She hugged me tight and cried on my shoulder. "I
didn't think, Daddy, I really messed up. I so so so sorrrrry!"

I rubbed her back and her bottom and soothed and quieted her. When she was
calmer, I said, "Well, you have got to learn to think. Maybe the spanking
will help you remember the rules. If not, maybe being grounded for today and
tomorrow will. After that, maybe you can be trusted outside again."

She took her head off my shoulder then and looked at me. "Two days, Daddy?"

"Yes, two days -- but then there isn't that much left of today. Of course,
if you want to argue, we could always make it three."

She shook her head to that. "No, no, two is fine," she said. She was quiet
for a bit and then quietly asked, "Daddy? Even though I really messed up, do
you still love me?"

Samantha did that a lot, after a spanking. I know she knew I loved her, but
she just wanted that extra reassurance, I think. It just about broke my
heart whenever she asked it, too, because I always tried to reassure her of
my love for her.

"Oh, little one, of course. Of course, I love you, and I always will, no
matter what you might do. And I forgive you for what you did today. But
please try to remember the rules another time, little one."

She nodded and said, "Yes, Daddy, I'm gonna try real hard."

She buried her head in my chest then and started on a fresh wave of tears.
I hugged and cuddled her until she calmed down. "There, there, little one,
it's all right now."

Teary-eyed, she looked up at me. "Promise, Daddy?"

I held her tight to me and whispered, "I promise, little one. It's over --
except for your grounding, of course. I forgive you, and I love you, and I
am sure that you will behave yourself now -- for a while at least."

"I will, Daddy, honest."

She got quiet then, and I'm sure she was thinking about her friend, Megan,
and what was happening to her at that very moment.

~~~

Kyle:

After verifying that Meggie was fine and hadn't been hurt by her encounter
with the duck, I decided that it was time to go home and discuss this
afternoon's adventures with her. I had a feeling that Don and Sammie were
going to be having a similar conversation very soon.

Meggie waved sadly back at Sammie as I buckled her into the car seat. She
knew that she was in a lot of trouble and her little face showed her concern.
She looked down at her mud-covered sneakers and chewed on her lip as we made
the short drive home in silence.

Once we reached the house, I immediately stuck her in the tub. She didn't
argue about not getting to play. She was unusually cooperative (I usually
end up almost as wet as she is when I bathe her.) I guess she knew that it
wouldn't help her any right now to push me. I tried to discuss some of what
had happened today while I dried her off and put her into one of her
sleepshirts.

"Megan, do you know why Daddy and Uncle Don were so upset with you and
Sammie?" I asked.

Meggie nodded and looked down. "Cuz we goed to the pond wifout tellin
anyone and I falled in."

"Yes, and that was very dangerous," I agreed as I picked her up and carried
her from the bathroom. I stopped off at the kitchen first and dug the wooden
spoon out of the drawer. Meggie immediately started crying when she saw the
spoon. I didn't comment but carried her on up to her bedroom and sat down on
her bed with her still on my lap.

"You know that you are never supposed to go off without an adult, Megan. And
you definitely know that you are NOT supposed to play anywhere near the pond
alone. You could have fallen in where it was deep and then what would have
happened? Sammie isn't big enough to jump in and get you out. Especially if
the water had been deep."

Meggie nodded and kept crying softly. She didn't argue with me- but the
tears were worse than arguing. She looked up at me with those huge blue
eyes. "I'm sowwy, Daddy. I jus wanted a duckie so much. I wasn't tryin to
do nuffin bad."

"We have talked about the duckies, too, Megan. You can't take a little duck
away from the pond. Baby ducks need their mommies. And the mommy ducks
don't want to let you have their babies. Thats why that mama duck bit you,
honey. It was trying to protect its baby."

I sat her down on the floor in front of me. "Baby, I hate having to spank
you. And I know that you don't want me to have to either. But you have got
to remember to stay away from the pond and NEVER EVER to go away by yourself
without an adult. I hope that this time you can remember this rule."

With that, I pulled her over my lap. She cried and kicked her feet for a
second, as I pulled the shirt up. "Megan Elise, you better stop fighting me.
It won't help."

Smack!! Smack!! I started the spanking with my hand. She was already crying
before I started but she starting wiggling and kicking her feet in earnest
now. "I's sowwwwy."

"I know Smack!! you are. Smack!! And I Smack!! hope that Smack!! you learn
Smack!! from this. You must Smack!! learn to Smack!! obey the Smack!! rules.
You will NOT Smack!! Smack!! go anywhere without Smack!! an adult and you
will Smack!! NOT Smack!! get near Smack!! that pond again. Smack!! And
furthermore, Smack!! you will Smack!! leave those ducks alone. Smack!!"

By now, Meggie was sobbing and had stopped fighting me. I knew that she had
had almost enough and was truly sorry for what had happened. I picked up the
wooden spoon. She realized what I was doing. "N-not the sp-spoon, D-daddy.
I's sowwwwwwyyyy."

"I want to make sure that you understand how serious I am about this Megan.
Now how old are you?"

"F-fourrrrr," she sobbed.

"OK, then 4 more. And then it's over." I brought the spoon down on her
little bottom. Crack!! Crack!! "Are you going to remember to follow the
rules now?" Crack!! Crack!!

"Yesssssssssss," she sobbed.

"Good, because I don't want to have to do this again."

I let her lay over my lap for a little while, rubbing her back and speaking
softly to her. Once she had started to calm down some, I picked her up and
hugged her to my chest.

"I's sowwwwy D-daddy," she sobbed into my shoulder.

"I know you are, baby. Shhhhhh. It's over. It's OK now," I soothed,
rocking her back and forth.

She stuffed her thumb in her mouth. She had outgrown sucking it most of the
time but when she was tired or upset she reverted back to it. Today she was
both.

"I love you, Meggie. And I know that you will try to remember the rules
better next time. It's Ok, now." I continued to talk softly to her and rock
her.

She snuggled up in my arms and her crying started to taper off. I looked
down and her eyes were shut; she had fallen asleep in my arms. Kissing the
top of her head, I tucked her into her bed for a nap, glad that she was home
safe and sound.

~~~

Epilogue by Sammie:

I spoke to Megan the next day on the telephone. We were both grounded. And
I also think our daddies thought we needed a break from each other. We
compared our punishments. I had gotten it much worse than she did. But I
usually did. After all, I was three years older. And also, as my Daddy
pointed out to me a million times, I was s'posed to set a good example for
her, cuz she was littler.

Megan and I discussed what happened and where we thought we went wrong. We
both knew we shouldn'ta left the yard and gone to the pond by ourselves. We
got serious on the phone and decided we were both gonna think of new ways
that we could get our duckie. One day we'd figure it out. We both hoped it
would be soon. J