Dear Lizzie

Dear Lizzie,

I'm so sorry my e-mails have been kind of vague and impersonal lately, Aunt Ruth insists on reading everything I send. So I'veresorted to writing you real letters...kind of outdated, I know. ButI have so much to tell you, and I don't want her to read about these things! I still don't know what Mom and Dad were thinking. Having us live with different people if they died? I guess they were thinking that they wouldn't die anytime soon huh? Wrong, wrong and wrong. And now I'm stuck here with Ruth, Burke and the girls. And you're with Martha and David....it must be so different there than it is here. Don't get me wrong, Ruth and everyone are kind and are definately making me feel at home, but...well...let me tell you what happened yesterday.

I went out for a walk (even though apparently I'm not supposed to go out alone...come on, I'm 14!), and when I got home I walked into thelivingroom. Ruth was sitting on the couch and she had little Hannah over her lap with her pants off and her panties pulled down around her knees and she was spanking her! Rachel was standing in the corner near them. As soon as I walked in Ruth noticed and stopped. Hannah was crying, and when she saw me standing there she covered her face and cried even more.

"Oh, Alana!" Ruth exclaimed. "I didn't know you'd be home so soon."

"I'm so sorry...I'll go," I said, and started to back out of the room.

"No, no. Stay, sit down," she said, and I hesitantly sat down on acouch across the room. Neither of the girls moved...even at 7 and 8years old, they must have been so embarassed."We were planning on waiting a few more weeks until we introduced our methods of discipline to you. We wanted you to settle in a bit more. But since this opportunity has presented itself, we might as well talk about it now," she said, as she held poor crying Hannah over her lap. I didn't say anything."We believe in spanking as the main punishments for the girls, and for you now as well. Did your parents spank you?"

"Um...no, well...maybe when we were little, but I don't remember any," I choked out, too shocked to really talk. I was seriously uncomfortable. I couldn't stop looking at Hannah's little bottom. It was so pink!

"Alright. Burke and I have been working on a list of rules we'd like you to follow. Nothing unusual, just household rules. And if you break one, you'll be spanked. Hannah and Rachel each have their own wooden spoon that sits on top of their dressers, and tomorrow I'll take you shopping for one to sit on your dresser too."

I swear, when she said this my face must have turned just about as pink as Hannah's bottom, it's embarassing! The thought of being spanked with a wooden spoon like a little kid? Do you think she's going to pull my pants down like she does to Hannah and Rachel? Surely not, I'm way older than them! And then she reached behind her and picked up this piece of leather. It was like...the same thickness and width of a regular belt, but shorter...maybe the size of a ruler or a little shorter, and it has a handle at the end to hold on to.

"And if you do something that we think is really serious, you'll be spanked with this strap. Hannah won't be today, but Rachel will. Rachel brought home a note from school this afternoon and didn't tell us. She was in trouble for not listening in class, and when I asked her if anything happened today she said no. She even had Rachel cover for her when I saw the envelope and asked what it was. So Hannah is being punished for lying to us, and Rachel is being punished for being in trouble at school, and for lying about it. So she'll be spanked with her wooden spoon, and with the strap."

I was so surprised that through this whole conversation Rachel didn't turn around once. She stood in the corner the entire time. She must have been so scared, she's just a little girl! Ruth told me to stay where I was while she continued to punish the girls. I felt so bad for them, I tried not to watch, but I couldn't help it. I needed to know what it would be like if (when) it was my turn.

She picked the wooden spoon back up and continued to spank Hannah. She alternated from her left cheek to her right, and the spoon made a sharp stingy kind of sound. Hannah seemed to cry out a little more each time the spoon hit her, and after a couple of seconds she reached her hand back and tried to cover her bottom.

"Hannah," Ruth warned sternly. "Move your hand right now" Hannah didn't. Clearly that was a big mistake. Ruth grabbed hold of it and pinned it by her side. She cried louder. After another minute or so of quickly and sharply spanking Hannah with the wooden spoon, which conveniently had "Hannah" written down the handle, Ruth stopped. She released Hannah's hand, and pulled her pink cotton panties back up. She then ordered Hannah to stand up, which she did, but continued to cry loudly.

"Hannah, what is the punishment for covering your bottom with your hand?" Ruth asked firmly. Hannah was still crying too much to answer. "Hannah?" she asked again. Hannah calmed her breathing as best she could, though I could still see the pained expression on herf ace. To be honest, I was a little shocked that there was a "punishment" for reaching your hand back!

"You....hit my hand" Hannah choked out through her tears, and then continued to cry. She was even shaking a little bit. It was clear that there was no coddling happening here.

"That's right. And how many times?"

"7" Hannah said through violent inhales, trying to catch her breath.

"Yes, because you're 7 years old, right?" Hannah nodded. "Alright,hold out your hands then." Ruth said. Hannah hesitantly (but very bravely, in my opinion), held out her hands, palms facing up. Ruth lifted the spoon into the air and brought it down sharply onto Hannah's open right palm, and then immediately after, her left. Hannah screamed a little at each, and made tight fists with her hands, clearly trying her best to erase the pain.

"Okay Hannah, open your hands back up" Ruth said, still without a note of compassion in her voice. Hannah did, and Ruth did the samething again. This happened twice more, and then Ruth pulled Hannah into a big hug. She told her that she loved her, and reminded her that lying was strictly forbidden and would not be tolerated. Once Hannah had calmed down a little and her crying had subsided to a quiet sob, Ruth took her to a corner of the room and had her stand init, with firm orders not to touch her bottom or rub her hands together. I could still see the bright pink colour coming through her panties. Her bottom must have been on fire!

Ruth then called Rachel to her. Rachel was shaken, and when shel ooked at me I could literally see the fear in her eyes. I wish I could have saved her from the spanking, but there was obviously nothing I could do. Ruth was seated on the couch and was holding onto Rachel's wrists.

"Why are you being punished Rachel?" she asked.

"Because I got in trouble at school and then lied about it" she answered quietly, with a shaky voice.

"And why is that wrong?"

"Lying is a sin and it makes God angry. And you tell us that we have to pay attention and not get into trouble at school, and we're supposed to always do what you say" she answered. Her voice was a child's but the words coming out of it were clearly fed to her by her parents...in my opinion.

"Very good" Ruth said, and without further discussion, she reached out and pulled Rachel's jeans down. She then took her arm and guided her over her lap. She began spanking her with her hand, and for several minutes she spanked her this way slow, and with hard spanks. Rachel didn't make much noise. She was a strong-willed girl, and tended to not conform to others. This is possibly what made crying difficult for her. Ruth stopped, and hooking her thumbs in the waistband of her flowery cotton panties, pulled them down so that they were just above Rachel's knees. I guess the embarassment was too much for her at this point because this is when she finally started crying.Ruth picked up another wooden spoon, very similar to Hannah's, but it had "Rachel" written down the handle instead. She spanked Rachel with the spoon the same way she had spanked Hannah with it. She slapped her cheeks, going from left to right, very quickly and sharply. Rachel was crying now without any hesitation, and was kicking her legs. Ruth then spanked her upper thighs a few times with the spoon,which she hadn't done to Hannah. This caused Rachel to cry much louder and kick a little bit more. I guess it was more painful than being spanked on her bottom, I don't know.

Anyways, Ruth put the spoon down and picked up the strap. She told Rachel why she was being punished severely and asked if she thought she deserved it. Rachel nodded that she did, and muttered a small apology. Ruth then lifted the strap into the air, and brought it back down onto Rachel's bottom. It landed right in the middle of both cheeks with a loud slap, followed by Rachel's cries. I swear Lizzie, I jumped every single time I heard the strap slap down on her bottom. It was so hard! She counted 8 slaps with the strap, and by the 8th Rachel wasn't fighting anymore. She was just lying over Ruth's lap crying. Ruth put the strap down and calmingly rubbed Rachel's back until she had calmed down a little. She slid her panties back into place, which must have hurt because Rachel cried out. Then Ruth helped her up and hugged her until she was calmer. She then called Hannah out of the corner and sent both girls to their rooms, with the promise of being up soon to talk to them about what had happened. I was so surprised. As the girls were heading out of the room Rachel turned around and said "Love you Mom" and then Hannah did the same. She told them that she loved them too, and that she'd be up in a few minutes. I just sat there...it was so awkward!

"Well, Alana..it's unfortunate that you had to see that, but it'sbest that you know what we expect of you and how you'll be punished if you disobey us." I just nodded my head, wishing I could go to my room too! "Tomorrow morning we'll go shopping for your wooden spoon...okay?" I nodded again. "Okay, you can go do your homework until supper's ready" she said, and I immediately got up and went upstairs to my room. I was SO happy to be away from her!

So this morning Ruth woke me up early and we went to this houseware store and there was a whole wooden spoon section! She told me to choose one, and I picked a regular wooden spoon, like the kind you cook with...the same ones the girls appeared to have.

"I think that one might be a little small for someone your age" Ruth said gently.

She picked up one that was larger, and had more of a squarish end...it looked a little bit more like a paddle I guess...without actually being one. We went to the checkout, she paid for it...and as we were walking away she said "I hope it'll be a while before we have to use this."

I was so embarassed!! I swear, everyone around knew what she was talking about!! I still can'tbelieve any of this...I'm scared! What if she spanks me with that...it'll hurt!!!

How have you been? Are Martha and David like this?

Love your sister,Alana