. me... the... paddle!" Okay now... Get over that chair."(shuffling sounds)Then the paddling started. The sound of the paddle on bare skin was very d...stinct, which made Collen suspect that the strokes were being applied very hard.(Several strokes later)"Aaaahhhh!"(More strokes) "Aaaaahhhhh!"(The paddling continued) "Owwww! STACY!"(One hard stroke)"No, get back in position!" (pause)(The paddling resumed) "Aaaaahh!" Oh God, Stacy!" Aaaah! Stacy, I can't -" You just stay there and hold on. Becky let up, but my momentum and Cathy’s guiding handcast me through the doorway and into the yard, fallinginto the grass below with an unceremonious thud. I lookedup to see the door wall slide shut and heard the lockclick.So there I was, sitting on the wet grass in a steady,cold rain, and three teenage girls were looking at methrough a locked door wall. I quickly covered myself as best as possible with myhands while staying seated. I looked around for anescape, but their privacy fence. And then she opened her eyes and smiled at me.Warmth immediately came rushing through my connection with her, warmth and relief and yes, love. A love so pure that I could no longer doubt its reality. Regardless of its root cause, regardless of how it had started, it was definitely real. Even more so, because I loved her more than I had ever loved anyone in my life, a fact that was driven home to me when I had seen her there, looking half-dead."Oh Master," she said softly, "You're back, you're. ‘Brian, spit it out or I’ll stick these in you,’ he brandished the tongs at me threateningly. ‘Don’t you trust me at all?’ ‘Now!’ ‘Youjusthavetoadoptone,’ I mumbled quickly. He froze. The tongs advanced until they were right under my nose. ‘I have to what?’ ‘You have to adopt one.’ I said warily, keeping my eyes on the sharp tongs twitching slightly in his grip. I could see his jaw clenching and unclenching as he processed this information. ‘You’re kidding me right? Please tell me.