" Stryker walked into his homeroom and waited for the bell." Stryker walked into his homeroom and waited for the bell. It rang and two minutes later, little Emily Farmer timidly came in. "That's a big Number 1 for you, young lady," he told her. "Go to your seat. We'll break fifteen minutes early,class, I'd like all of you to stay and witness Emily's punishment. After all, she's wasted everyone's time by arriving late this morning." The period dragged on and on. Poor Emily was terrified. She hadn't been spanked since she was a child of seven or eight, and then it had been over her mother's knee, not by a man she hardly knew in front of 22 of her closest friends. She'd have to see these kids again everyday for the whole year. Fifteen minutes before the bell was about to ring, Mr. Stryker announced. "Now, class, it's time for something even more instructive than our history lesson." He opened his desk drawer and removed a smooth, black leather ping- pong paddle. He held it in one hand and slapped it smartly against the palm of the other so that it made a loud smacking sound. "Emily Farmer will be the first, but I suspect, if your past behavior is any indication of your future actions, that most of you will get a taste of this." The class was dead quiet. Everyone was afraid, but no one more than little Emily, who's eyes were already beginning to fill with tears. "Emily Farmer," Mr. Stryker said. "Come up to the front of the room." She slowly walked up the aisle on shaky legs. "What have you got to say to me and to the class?" "I don't know, Sir." "Apologize!" he commanded. "I'm sorry, Sir," she stammered. "Say, 'I'm sorry for coming in late.'" "I'm sorry for coming in late." "Say it to the class. Face the class, Emily." Emily turned towards her classmates. Her face was bright red. "I'm sorry for coming in late, class," she said quietly. "Say it louder, Emily. We want to be sure you are sorry, because in a while you're going to be very sorry. |