"How old are you now, Alec?" his mother asked.
"Fifteen," Alec replied, his voice a bit shaky.
"Well, not quite yet. Your birthday is still more than 4 months away. But either way, dont you think you are getting too old for such childish pranks?"
"Im sorry, Mum," the boy replied, looking down at his feet.
"Well, now that you have bought your own long trousers out of the allowance we give you, you think you will be permitted to wear them, do you?"
"But, Mum," Alec whined, "I am so tall now, I look silly in those very short shorts you make me wear."
"First of all, you are not so tall, young man. And you have just proven to me that you are not old enough to be wearing longs, so you will wear whatever shorts we give you, and we will not stand for any further arguments. Is that clear?"
"Mum, the boys make fun of me. They call me the "bare-legged stork. All the other boys, some younger than I, already wear long trousers."
"They probably behave better or their parents are misguided. While you live in our house, you will do as we say, not as your friends do. Now go downstairs and take these trousers to your father. He would also like to have a word with you."
Alecs face fell. This bode nothing good. He took the new long trousers, bought with his own money, and reluctantly trudged downstairs and to his fathers study. After being told to enter, Alec stood shyly before his father, seated behind the wide desk, tugging at his tight shorts.
The father let him wait for a few minutes, then looked up.
"Alec," he said quietly, "I am very disappointed in you. Buying these trousers without our consent, on the sly, is like cheating and lying. A boy your age should know better, dont you think?"
"But, Dad," Alec was whining again, "Mum never lets me wear anything except these childish little shorts. They are much too tight by now and much too short. The boys laugh at me."
"Your childish behaviour confirms the reason why you are wearing childish shorts," his father replied. "You have not yet outgrown them. They are close-fitting, I agree, but that is necessary because you do not wear underpants."
"Well, why cant I have pants?" Alec demanded.
"Because your mother and I feel such garments are superfluous for young boys. Once you have proven that you are mature enough for long trousers, you may be allowed underwear as well. We will see how you behave in the next year or two."
"But, Dad -"
His father cut him off. "Enough, Alec. It is my sad duty to punish you for your underhandedness, the cheating and lying that resulted in your secretly purchasing items we did not allow. Please bend over the desk and hold on the the far edge. I dont want you to move out of position or I will have to add extra strokes. Over!"
After a moments hesitation, the boy bent over the edge of the desk and, stretching himself as far as he could, raising himself to his toes, reached the far edge and grasped it tightly. His shorts, which ordinarily just barely covered his bottom, now rode up to display a portion of bare buttock.
"Spread your legs properly," his father reminded him. Then he went leisurely to the cupboard and brought out the cane. "You will get six," he said.
He tapped the boys tightly encased buttocks, then the cane rose and lashed swiftly across the boys bare thighs.
"Ooowww!" Alec howled. "Not on the legs, Dad. Please, not on the legs!"
The second stroke fell just below the first and Alec screamed again.
"Oh, oh, oh, Dad. Please!"
But despite the boys entreaties, all six cuts landed high up across the thighs. When it was over, the boy was sobbing. "Dad, the marks will show. The boys will make more fun of me when they see the cane marks."
"Good. That will remind you to be honest with us the next time. I will not have you disobey our instructions. Now get up and take your shorts down. You will get another six across your bottom so that the boys dont see the marks."
"Dad! No! No more!" the boy wept.
"More disobedience, boy?" his father asked, slowly getting angry with the little brat. "Do it now, or I will give you eight."
Alec kept up his childish protests but finally unbuttoned his tight shorts and pushed them down his legs.
"Back across the desk with you," the boys father snapped impatiently when he saw the sniveling boy just stand there squirming.
When Alec had resumed his place across the desk, the cane went back into forceful action, this time the small, round buttocks as the target. There were still some lines across them from a previous caning, but the father ignored them. He was angry with the boys sneaky action and had no qualms about giving him a few more across that chubby little behind. As a matter of fact, he rather enjoyed the prospect of lacing into them. The boy had it coming and there was no reason to hold back. Some pain may do him a lot of good in the long run, he thought, and whacked the cane sharply across the fleshy bottom.
Alec howled out loud when he felt the sting of the first lash but this did not deter his father. The next few strokes were applied full force across the lower half of his sons backside. The boys screams gradually increased in volume after each lash until he was bellowing lustily at the sixth.
"I think I will give you two more for all that noise," his father said placidly. "And you will take them in complete silence or you will get two more. Do you understand, boy?"
"But Dad, I -"
"Do you understand?"
"Y-yes, Dad."
The father decided to give the two once more across the upper thighs, eliciting frantic cries from the young culprit.
"Very well, son," the father said, laying the cane down on the desk. "You may get up and go into your corner. Keep your hands behind the neck or you will get more. You will remain there until I get back. You can leave your shorts around your ankles."
The next morning, on his way to school, he met some of his school mates and it was even worse than what he had feared. There were disparaging hoots and loud laughs as they saw those dark, black and blue marks on Alecs upper thighs. From the way that some of them disappeared under the brief hems, they knew that Alecs bottom must be similarly decorated.
"Hey, Alec," one shouted gleefully, "take those little shorts down and lets have a look at what your Daddy did to you back there."
"Yes, did the little boy in his little shorts get his little bottom smacked," yelled another.
"Will Daddy spank if you are naughty? Will the little boy have to bare his bum?"
When one of them actually tried to pull his shorts down, Alec gave him a shove that made the boy trip and fall, then made a dash for school with a crowd of jeering boys behind him.
Once in class, he received another shock. The master called on him as soon as the bell had rung.
"Alec, stand up."
Alec stood.
"I have been informed that you were fighting with another boy on your way here. You know that fighting is not permitted, dont you?"
"Y-yes, sir," Alec squeaked, his face flushed. "But I didnt. That boy was -"
"Did you push him so hard he fell, Alec?"
"Well, yes, sir, but -"
"To me that is fighting. A boy wouldnt just fall down unless you had hit him. You did hit him, didnt you?"
"Yes, sir, but -"
Again the master interrupted. "Enough. If you dont want to be reported to the headmaster, I suggest you get those shorts down very quickly and bend over. Six of the best should teach you not to fight. Quickly now, shorts down and over!"
Alec did as he was told but already he was in tears. Not only was his vividly striped bottom now fully exposed to some of the boys who had jeered him earlier, but it was also still quite sore and tender and he really had little desire to experience the cane across it again. He bent.
The laughter he heard from his mates didnt help matters. He felt the cane stroke his buttocks lovingly before the sudden onslaught. Six tremendous strokes across the lower buttocks, just where the worst weals were accumulated, and young Alec was roaring once more.
He was allowed to get back to his seat when it was over, shorts tightly buttoned and braced. He sat down gingerly, gasping as wealed flesh met unforgiving wood. More titters in the classroom.
The note from the master burned a hole in his shorts pocket on his way home that afternoon. How could he tell his parents that he had been in trouble again at school? The cane had left marks that still hurt at every step and he really did not want to incur his parents wrath once more.
However, when he arrived home, his mother had already learned of the incident. The school had contacted her and Alec had no opportunity to hide anything, even if he had dared to do so. His mother shook her head when Alec told her what had happened.
"Alec, you always make excuses for your poor behaviour. You know very well that fighting is forbidden, so regardless of the provocation, you had no right to push the boy so hard he fell. I will speak to your father when he gets home and see what he says. Maybe he will let you off the caning today and leave it for tomorrow. But, if you ask me, I dont think you deserve such leniency."
Alec spent the rest of the day in nervous tension until his fathers return. Would he be caned yet again today or would he have to wait until tomorrow? How many strokes would he get?
As it turned out, his father gave him an option. Six strokes today or nine strokes tomorrow. Alec, his bottom still stinging, opted for nine tomorrow and accordingly spent a sleepless night thinking about it and wondering whether it wouldnt have been better to take the six right away and get it over with. But now it was too late.