Truck stops are good places for attending to all sorts of needs. Besides having gas and restrooms, the food’s usually okay and the portions are generous. I had just picked up my book and was starting to dig into my dinner when I spotted the driver of a car I’d seen several times in the last couple of hours. Now she was watching me, hands on shapely hips, and when she saw that she’d gotten my attention, she closed the gap and stood beside me.

We’d each passed the other twice. The first time, she’d come up from behind me, weaving through the traffic at 85 or 90 miles an hour, and cut me off in an abrupt lane change to avoid running up the tailpipe of an older car. Her passenger, another college-age girl, had made a crude gesture out her window as their car fish-tailed only a few feet from my front bumper. A few minutes later, I’d passed her stopped car, a police cruiser’s lights flashing behind it. Then she’d whizzed by me again, and she’d given me a feral grin and laughed when I shook my head at her reckless disregard for her own and other people’s safety. Then I’d seen her in earnest conversation with a second trooper.

“What’s your problem?” she demanded.

I smiled up at her, and it wasn’t a friendly smile. After a few seconds, she realized I wouldn’t be provoked into responding to her anger, so she shrugged and started to turn away.

“How’d you find me?” I asked quietly.

“It wasn’t hard,” she replied. “When I caught up to you, I followed you here.”

“Why?”

“We needed to make a pit stop anyway, and I was curious. Why were you making faces at me when I passed you?”

“Your driving was dangerous. I hope you got tickets from both cops.”

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you,” she said too sweetly, “but they let me off, and I didn’t even have to put out for them.” She gestured across the restaurant toward her blonde passenger, waiting by the exit door. “And neither did Janet, when she got stopped this morning.”

“How truly wonderful,” I replied, “but what you really need, young woman, is to have your behind paddled. Speed can kill, and driving recklessly worsens the odds. You’re going to hurt somebody if you keep driving like that, and the more you get away with it the worse driver you’ll be until it’s too late.”

That got a genuine chuckle out of her, and she smiled as she folded her arms under her breasts. “Do you think you’re man enough to try?” she challenged.

“If you mean, am I man enough to overpower you, the question is moot,” I told her. “I only discipline women who willingly submit themselves to it and are mature enough to understand what they’re doing and why.”

Her smile faded and her nostrils flared, and the twinkle in her eyes changed to an icy glare. “Are you saying I’m immature?”

“Based on your driving, and this limited conversation, res ipsa loquitur.”

“So ‘the thing speaks for itself’, huh, asshole?” she said nastily. “I’ll have you know I’m not some dumb bimbo, I’m in the top tenth of my class, and, and …” She sputtered on, clearly trying to think of a suitably scathing response, then stopped and bit her lip.

“I never said I thought you were unintelligent,” I said gently.

“You sure as hell implied it,” she retorted.

“I didn’t imply you were stupid; I said what you were doing was stupid. There’s a difference.”

“I know,” she whispered, and then she gestured toward the empty bench opposite me. “May I please sit down?”

“Yes, since you asked politely,” I said, and as she slid into the booth I waved to her friend and pointed to the place next to her. While Janet was walking across the room I turned back to the pretty brunette seated across from me. “What’s your name?”

“Shelley.”

“Was there something you wanted to say to me, Shelley?”

“Yes, mister, ah …”

“Mister works for me.”

“Oh.” She looked down at her hands on the table, then met my eyes with a level gaze. “Please, mister, I’m sorry. I owe you an apology. I was rude out there on the highway …” I looked at Janet, now seated beside her, and she blushed and bowed her head, “… we both were, and then I was rude again, approaching you the way I did a few minutes ago.”

“Then why do you do things like that?”

“I get kind of wild sometimes, and I can be really bratty when the mood strikes. But I’m not a child, I know what I’m doing.” She hesitated, and when I didn’t respond she looked down again and spoke to her hands, or to herself, more than to me. “I guess I’ve been lucky. I know I’m pretty, and I take advantage of that. I’ve never had anyone read me out the way you just did since my dad died, and I know I deserved it.”

“I’m sorry about your father.” She needs his discipline, I thought to myself.

“Me, too,” she said. “I really miss him.”

I nodded, and then she surprised me. “You were right in what you said; if you’re willing to do it, I want you to.”

“Let me make sure I understand you,” I said. “Are you asking me to take you somewhere and paddle your butt?”

She looked up at me again, and her voice was firm and steady. “Yes, that’s right, I’m asking you to punish me for my bad behavior.”

“Why should I?” I asked quietly. “Do you think my doing that would have any real long-term effect on you?”

“I don’t know, and that’s an honest answer,” she replied. “Maybe I’m not as mature as I thought I was. You’ve made me think about the way I’ve been acting, just like my dad used to do, and now that you’ve rubbed my nose in it I’m not very happy with myself. I haven’t been spanked since I started junior high, and maybe suffering that way will help me remember not to behave that way any more.”

I hadn’t really offered, but I had suggested it. We were heading for potentially dangerous waters, and I tried again to dissuade her. “You don’t know anything about me, Shelley. I was a complete stranger to you until today. Why are you willing to trust me?”

Shelley looked straight at me. “Because what you said before made sense, and because you’re asking the right questions.” She tossed her hair back defiantly. “If you meant to harm me, you wouldn’t be trying to talk me out of it.”

It was my turn to shrug. “All right,” I said. “If you want me to do it, I will. Meet me in the lobby of the Oyster Point Days Inn in Newport News at eight o’clock tonight. Don’t be late, and bring Janet with you.”

That startled both girls; Janet started to shake her head, and Shelley asked, “Why do you want Janet there?”

“Because this isn’t a game,” I told them, “and I want a witness to whatever happens, if anything. I don’t want to have to defend myself against an assault or attempted-assault charge. I’ll see you tonight, both of you, if you haven’t thought better of it by then.” I picked up my book and my check and headed for the cashier’s booth by the door.

*

I was genuinely surprised when the girls walked into the hotel lobby on the dot of eight, dressed alike in shorts, tank tops, and sandals. Shelley was the cheerleader type; she had a compact but well-curved body on a short frame. Janet was built more along model lines, slender and several inches taller. I’d changed into my black shirt and slacks, and when they stopped in front of me I handed my car key to Shelley.

“Go back outside,” I directed, “and bring the large duffel bag and the fishing-rod case from my trunk.”

“Why?” Shelley asked. “What’s in them?”

“Implements of torture,” I replied, and their eyes flew open.

“You’re joking!” Janet gasped out.

“No, I’m not joking,” I told her, and I kept my expression cold and unsmiling as I aimed my next words at Shelley. “I told you back at the restaurant, this isn’t a game. You probably thought I would spank you with my hand, maybe like your father did when you were a child. This is supposed to be punishment, and it’s supposed to hurt you, not me. You asked me to do this, and you can still walk away with no hard feelings.”

Janet jumped in again. “I don’t believe this!” she exclaimed. “You carry whips and chains around in your car? Come on, Shel, this guy’s a real sadist, you don’t want any part of this!”

I kept my face blank, and Shelley neither spoke nor moved during her friend’s outburst. When I responded, I ignored Janet and addressed Shelley directly. “She’s wrong, you know,” I said softly. “I’m not a sadist; I don’t enjoy giving pain for its own sake. There’s a woman I’ll be meeting while I’m in this area who will get down on her knees and beg me to do to her what you asked for, although she’ll be asking for our mutual pleasure and not for punishment. I don’t need to do this for you, but I’m willing if you are.”

I was sure she’d change her mind, but she didn’t. After a few seconds, she turned and said, quietly but with determination, “Come on, Jan, let’s go get the stuff out of his car. I’m ready to take my medicine, and I’ll take the chance that he’s less of a man than I think he is.”

Shelley closed her hand around the key, turned on her heel, and headed for the door, her head high and back straight. Janet watched her go, then followed her outside. I stayed where I was, fists on hips, and watched Janet carry the rod case and Shelley struggle with the weight of the duffel bag as they walked back through the lobby. Then I strolled to the elevator and pressed the call button, and when the door opened I went in and pushed the button for my floor, making no move to help them as they hurried to get aboard. When the door opened again, I walked down the hall to my room, opened the door, and went inside. I’d gone past the dresser and was standing at the far side of the bed, in front of the single easy chair by the window, when the girls came through the doorway.

“Put the stuff down next to the dresser,” I said, “and one of you close and bolt the door.” After they’d done so, I crooked my finger at Janet and then pointed to the chair behind me. “Sit there,” I told her, “and keep quiet. You’re a chaperone, not a referee, understood?”

Janet nodded, her expression grim as she crossed the room and plopped down in her designated seat. Shelley stood facing me at the foot of the bed, arms akimbo and looking more nervous than she had downstairs. I watched her breasts move as her chest rose and fell, her breathing still heavy from exertion. I waited silently, letting her stew in her own thoughts until she began fidgeting.

“Kick off your shoes, face the head of the bed, and drop your shorts,” I ordered quietly. She toed down the back straps and stepped out of her sandals, then pushed them aside in a graceful sweep of one well-curved leg. She turned as instructed, unfastened the front of her shorts, then wriggled them down over her hips. When they reached her knees, she let them fall in a heap, then lifted her feet clear and swung her leg again to slide them away.

She started to turn her head in my direction, but I cut the movement off by saying, “The panties too, Shelley.”

Her body froze, but her mind was still working, and she tried the obvious pretty-girl ploy. “Don’t you want me to take my top off?”

“No,” I said coldly. “I’m sure your entire body is very attractive, but I don’t wish to be distracted. Now take off your panties and kneel on the end of the bed.”

Shelley bit her lip for a moment, then slowly repeated the thumbs-in-waistband motion and stepped out of her sheer white bikini, revealing a flat tummy, a neatly-trimmed dark bush, firm buttocks, and tan lines that showed her preference for very brief swimwear. She knelt on the bed, feet hanging over the end, her body erect and her chest thrust out proudly. I pulled back the covering spread and tossed a plump pillow where I figured her head would rest.

“Put your head down,” I said, and the blood drained from Shelley’s face; the reality of what she’d asked for was finally sinking into her brain. She hesitated for several seconds, and again I was sure she’d call things off, but then she slowly bent forward and reached out both hands to cushion her controlled drop. She rested her left cheek on the pillow, so she was facing her friend; her eyes were open and her lips were set firmly together. “Put your hands under the pillow, and keep them there,” I ordered, and she slid them up.

I walked around the bed and unzipped my duffel bag, and I watched Shelley move her hips from side to side in nervous embarrassment and humiliation at her vulnerable position. She really does have a great body, I thought. I’ve never seen a more spankable butt, and I’m damned glad I didn’t let her take that top off. I reached my left hand into the bag and grabbed my leather-covered paddle, and behind me I heard Janet gasp when she saw it emerge. I put my other forefinger to my lips, admonishing her to remain silent, and I moved to stand behind Shelley and to her right.

“I’m going to give you your punishment in two parts, Shelley. How old are you?”

“I’m 20,” she whispered.

“In that case, I’ll give you 20 to start,” I said. “Then I’ll stop to let you think about those and prepare yourself for the second round. How well you take these first 20 will determine how many will follow. Do you understand?”

“Y-y-yes, mister,” she whispered.

“Are you ready?” I asked her gently.

She nodded without speaking, her hair brushing against the pillowcase. I took the paddle back and swung firmly at about half of my maximum speed and strength. It landed dead-center on her left ass cheek with a loud smacking sound, and her body jerked forward as the message of the impact and its painful effect traveled up her nervous system. I heard two simultaneous sounds, a high-pitched gasp, almost a squeak, from Janet, and a grunted oof from Shelley.

I waited, counting seconds to myself, and when I got to 15 I swung again, this time hitting her on the right side. “Ooowww,” she yelped, and I watched the shape of the paddle appear on her right ass cheek to match the pink imprint already visible on the left side. Again taking time between blows, I landed four more, alternating cheeks, and her moans and groans became louder and more insistent with each swat.

“Use the pillow,” I told her. “Bite down on it, or cry out into it.” She turned her head to put herself face down, and I increased the force of the next strike. The sound of the paddle slapping into her butt was louder than before, and so were her noises despite the pillow’s muffling effect. I was starting my arm back for the eighth stroke when I saw her ass cheeks clench, and I held up my swing. She’s timing me, or trying to, I told myself; I’ll have to vary the pattern so she can’t anticipate the swats. I waited until she couldn’t hold her muscles tight and had to relax, then immediately landed the next blow.

Shelley writhed on the bed, her firm behind wiggling as she whimpered into the pillow. Her ass was already bright pink, and I swatted her four more times in quick succession before she could react. When she rolled onto her left side to get away from the blows, I stopped swinging and asked gruffly, “Had enough, Shelley?”

She froze for several seconds, then shook her head and slowly swung her body back until she’d resumed her original position. I continued to swat her every few seconds, still alternating cheeks and increasing the force a little each time I hit her. Then I waited a full 30 seconds before crashing the final blow dead center on her ass, striking the inside of the sweet spot on both cheeks.

Shelley bucked up into a kneeling posture, holding the pillow tight against her face, then flopped back belly-down as soon as her flame-red butt touched her heels. She was shrieking and crying at the same time, and I stood unmoving, watching her body shudder with the wracking sobs.

*

Shelley eventually took hold of herself and turned her head to the side. Both the pillowcase and her face were streaked with makeup-darkened tear-tracks. I moved around the bed to block Janet’s view, then bent over and said softly, “Are you all right, Shelley?”

“My ass feels like it’s on fire,” she replied in an equally quiet voice. “Other than that, and feeling humiliated in this position, I’m okay, and I want to thank you again for doing this.”

“You took it pretty well,” I said. “Do you think you’ve learned your lesson?”

“Yes, mister, I really have,” Shelley responded. Then she lowered her voice even further and whispered, “Is it like this when you … meet with your friend?”

I chose my words carefully. “Not exactly,” I admitted. “There’s more of a … sensual quality to it, and … other parts of her body get warm also, in a kind of … induced reaction.”

Shelley seemed to drift away in thought. Then she fixed me with a steady gaze and whispered, “I … think I know what you mean.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, oh.” She hesitated again, then added, “I don’t know why, because my behind hurts like crazy, but my … nipples are like rocks and my … pussy is so wet I can feel it leaking. I don’t think I’ve ever been this horny in my whole life.”

“What do you want to do about it?” I asked, and she didn’t mince words.

“I want to get fucked, mister. I want you to fuck me, and I want you to fuck me in the ass.”

“I understand your being horny, Shelley; I’ve seen it happen lots of times. I won’t play amateur psychologist with you, but is there some special reason why you want to get butt-banged?”

She thought even longer this time before answering. “I’ve always enjoyed the flirting game, but I guess deep down I want to lose the contest. I push, and when a man asserts himself and shows me he’s not afraid to take charge, I like the feeling of being overpowered, of having him do what he wants with me, and being fucked up the ass seems like the ultimate realization of that. I wasn’t flirting with you, but I was pushing, and even though you hurt me, you took control, and that turned me on.” She paused again, then said, in a very little-girl voice, “You told me you would start with 20 swats; are you going to punish me some more?”

“Not if you can tell me truthfully that you’ve decided to be a better driver and be more selective about whom you push.”

“After this experience, mister, that’s a definite.”

“Okay, stay put; I’ll be right back.” I went into the bathroom and returned with the little complimentary bottle of lotion. I poured some into my palm, rubbed my hands together to get them well coated, then slid them lightly down her bright-red ass cheeks.

“Ooouuummm,” she purred as I smoothed the cool lotion across her hot skin in swirling motions. Her butt muscles started to relax and her eyes closed as she accepted the soothing sensations. When she started moving her hips in slow circles, I dribbled more lotion, working it into her ass crack with one hand while I pushed up the back of her top and unhooked her bra with the other. I slid my hand around her ribs and cupped one firm breast. Her nipple was a long, stiff prong, and when my palm slid over it her reaction was an audible inhalation, followed by a low moan of pleasure. Her moans got louder and longer when I worked one finger all the way down her crack and touched her anal rosebud. She shivered and humped up off the bed, not objecting but encouraging, when I started to gently work my finger into her.

“Mmmm, that’s nice,” Shelley cooed, “but what I really want is your cock in me.”

I was trying to decide how to respond to that when I glanced to my right and caught Janet with her hands between her legs. She was staring at my hands on Shelley’s behind and rhythmically rubbing her pussy through the crotch of her shorts.

“Well, well, well,” I said in my most sarcastic tone, “what have we here? Shelley, look what Janet’s doing. Don’t move your hands,” I added sharply as Janet, her face flushed, started to assume a more ladylike posture. “It’s too late to pretend, Janet, we both know what you were doing.”

Shelley had opened her eyes and focused on her friend across the room. Janet was blushing even more furiously now, and she refused to meet Shelley’s alert gaze.

“Gotcha!” Shelley pounced. “You were so concerned downstairs about how I was going to let this man brutally beat me, and you gave me a big ration of crap when I told you I could hardly accuse him of being brutal when I’d asked for it. So how come you got so turned on watching it, huh?”

Janet shrugged, still unable to meet Shelley’s eyes with her own. “It wasn’t that part. But afterwards, when you were talking, and then he began, you know, touching you, and you started making those noises, like you were really liking what was happening, well, it just started getting to me, that’s all.”

“Oh, my, Janet,” I said mockingly. “We can’t have you turned on and then frustrated, now can we? I think you should join our little party. Don’t you agree, Shelley?”

“That’s another definite, mister,” Shelley replied. Janet started to shake her head, then looked up, saw the fire in Shelley’s expression, and shrugged again.

“Take your clothes off, Janet,” I ordered, “and get your butt on that pillow Shelley’s been using.”

Shelley looked at me over her shoulder, her face suddenly a frown, but before she could verbally react I slapped her still-pink butt with my free hand, then slid a finger up her sopping-wet pussy to bump her erect clit. Shelley twitched like she’d been zapped with an electric shock, then moaned again and tried to hump herself onto my finger. I pulled my hand away and resumed my command voice.

“This is how things are, Shelley,” I told her. “You get what you want my way or not at all.”

Shelley thought it over and then sighed. “Whatever you say, mister, but I’ve never–”

“That’s all right,” I interrupted. “I’m sure you’ve had guys go down on you; just do what you wish they’d done. Go on, Janet, get in position.” When she was on the bed, ass on the pillow and legs spread around Shelley’s body, I said, “Janet, put your hands behind your neck and keep them there.” As she complied, I reached into my toy-bag and withdrew a few items, placing them on the edge of the bed within easy reach. Then I pulled my finger away from Shelley’s ass, grabbed a new one-inch-diameter butt plug, squirted a shot of Astroglide onto it and swirled the slick liquid around, then pushed the well-lubricated plug into her back channel.

“Hey, what are you–”

“You want the real thing, Shelley? Earn it. Get your mouth down on that neat blonde twat and start licking.”

Shelley lowered her head and began, tentatively at first, then gradually building enthusiasm as she slid her tongue repeatedly up between Janet’s puffy labia to glide over her engorged clit. Moving to the side of the bed, I wiped my hands on a towel, then slipped one hand behind Janet’s neck to pin her hands in place. I traced my other forefinger around the darker pink areola surrounding her left nipple and watched the nipple rise to full erection. When her hips started to move in response to what Shelley and I were doing, I transferred my free hand to her other breast, repeating the teasing touches, and lowered my head toward the nipple I’d been circling with my finger. I opened my mouth and let my lips contact the tawny skin surrounding the areola, then sent the tip of my tongue to just barely contact the end of her nipple.

Janet let out a gratifying groan of pleasure and hissed, “Ohhh, Goddd, that’s goood.” I applied moderate suction and started flicking my tongue against her nipple while simultaneously tweaking her other nipple between my thumb and fingers. Shelley instinctively increased the speed and pressure of her oral action, and her slurping sounds got louder. She twirled her tongue on Janet’s clit, and she felt, and I saw, Janet’s body jump in reaction; from the quick panting noises she was making, I figured Janet was close to orgasm.

Just as Janet humped her pussy hard into Shelley’s face, let out a wail, and started coming, I bit down on the nipple in my mouth, still flicking my tongue against its tip, and pinched her other nipple with my thumb and finger. I held her hands firmly as she tried to pull them loose, and then she relaxed, stopped fighting the pleasure/pain combination, and rode the ecstasy wave as it rose higher and higher within her. I was totally unsurprised to hear her start repeating, over and over, “Ohhh, good, more, more, ohhh, good …”

I released both of Janet’s nipples, Shelley slowed her activity, and Janet gradually wound down from her orgasm. I stripped off my pants and shorts, tore open a packet and rolled on a condom, then removed Shelley’s butt plug. She groaned at the sudden emptiness, then changed her tune and straightened her arms to support her upper body off the bed as I slid my cock into her asshole. When my cock-head rested firmly against her sphincter ring, she relaxed to admit it, and I pushed myself slowly onward until I was buried inside her, my upper thighs pressing against the warm globes of her ass.

I stayed still for a few seconds, savoring the sensation of her hot, tight passage surrounding my rock-hard cock, then began a slow, steady, long-stroking butt-fuck. Shelley moved with me, already breathing hard, and I reached around to fondle her breasts and pinch her swollen nipples with one hand while diddling her clit with the other. She was moaning and gasping with every thrust, and then she suddenly cried out, “Harder, harder, I’m coming,” and let out a mindless primal scream of orgasmic pleasure. Still fingering her clit, I pounded into her, slamming my groin into her ass as I bottomed on every thrust, and her ululation rose in pitch as she climaxed a second time.

Shelley collapsed onto her chest, and my cock slipped out of her back door. I stripped off the condom, then looked up and saw Janet watching me. “Get over here and finish me off,” I ordered, and she didn’t hesitate. She lifted her leg over Shelley’s prostrate form and rolled off the bed, then moved lithely to stand and then squat before me. Raising her arms, she captured the base of my cock with one encircling hand, cupped my balls in her other palm, and opened her mouth to surround my cock-head. Then she tightened her lips around my shaft and began moving her head back and forth, and I could feel her tongue sliding along the underside of my cock.

Janet was very, very good, able to deep-throat my thicker-than-average shaft with no problem, and she worked diligently to get me off. It didn’t take long for her to have me right on the edge, and I was building up to an enormous eruption. But I had a surprise for her; just as I was about to come, I pulled my hips back, bringing my cock out of her mouth. I watched her startled expression change to eager acceptance as I shot a monstrous spurt of hot cum at her face from a distance of only a few inches. She was looking directly at the head of my cock when the first squirt let loose and hit her chin. It splashed, and she got some in her mouth. She milked my pulsing cock with both hands, and the remaining streams all hit in or near her mouth. When she felt my cum start to drip out, she closed her mouth and swished it around, then reopened her lips, and the pool of cum on her tongue began to ooze down her chin.

Janet opened her mouth wide and drooled some cum down onto her breasts, where it ran right over her nipples. Then she used her tongue to swish the cum still in her mouth around and swallowed with a big gulp. She turned and slumped down, resting her back against the foot of the bed, and started fingering her pussy with one hand while rubbing my spend into her breasts with the other, finishing with a slight pinch of each still-fully-erect nipple. “Aah,” she breathed, sliding her fingers across her clit and reaching up to collect the remaining facial cum and push it into her mouth. She took in more and more, then looked up at me and swallowed twice. Her body shook and shivered as she sucked her fingers to get the last bits of my cum, and I watched as she gave herself over to a monstrous second climax.

*

Showering with a double armful of cuddly young hard-bodies in the satiated afterglow of a mutually pleasurable threesome is a highly recommended sybaritic experience. We didn’t manage to run the hotel completely out of hot water, but we gave it a good try. The girls took turns, one soaping and scrubbing me and herself while the other kept me occupied with languid necking and whispers in my ear.

Later, having pulled my slacks and shirt back on, I leaned against the wall and watched the two girls finish dressing. Janet picked up her purse, walked over to me, and kissed me on the cheek. “Thanks for a fun time,” she said, then turned and walked away from me. “I’ll wait downstairs,” she said as she passed Shelley, and then she was out the door and gone.

I stood silently as Shelley, seated on the end of the bed, cast speculative glances at my toy-bag as she slid her feet into her sandals. Then she sat, hands in her lap, eyeing it frankly for several seconds before rising to glide across the few feet of space separating us. She flowed up to me, tilted her face up, and closed her eyes, and I wrapped my arms around her and gently kissed her soft red lips. Her mouth pressed back, opening in invitation, and I let my tongue fence lightly with hers before extending it firmly to push hers back. She molded her body more closely against me, and her tongue surrendered to mine before she broke the kiss and opened her eyes.

“How long will you be in town?” she asked quietly.

“Why do you want to know?” I countered, teasing because I sensed that I already knew the answer. “Do you think you’ll need to be punished again?”

Her head moved fractionally sideways. “No,” she whispered, “I’ve learned that lesson.” She bit her lip, knowing that I wouldn’t let her off the hook, that I would make her say the words herself. “It’s just that I’m … curious … about what other things you might have in …” She turned and looked again at my toy-bag, and this time her stare was intense.

Close enough, I thought to myself, and I told her my name. “I’ll be here for a few days. Call me when you’re ready.”

Copyright © 1998 by Left Side Signals