This is my first time. I’ve been in trouble before, but never bad enough to be sent to the Dean. I leave the lecture room and make my way down the long corridor alone. This is a ridiculous school, so many petty rules, I can not wait to leave it all behind. My parents have a diplomatic posting to this island backwater. A qualification from this anachronistic institution is my escape ticket to a proper university on the mainland.

I catch sight of my reflection in a window as I pass. Even though we’re all eighteen or over, they make students wear a uniform with shorts and knee-length socks. It truly is a throwback to the days of Empire. Miss Radner’s office is the very last before the sports hall. Her door is open. Before I can even knock, she sees me.

“Don’t say one word. Stay in the doorway. Turn around, facing out of my office. I am very, very disappointed in you. Put your hands on your head, and stand up straight.”

How does she even know why I’m here? I haven’t said one word. I hear Miss Radner rise from behind her desk and walk to stand behind me. Her shoes clack gently on the floor boards. Her very presence exudes authority. She doesn’t shout, or even raise her voice, she doesn’t need to.

“Your behaviour has been simply appalling. I am too busy to deal with you properly right now. But make no mistake, I am going to punish you. By the time you leave today, you are going to be sorry. Very sorry indeed.”

“You are going to spend some quality time bent over my desk. Naked and vulnerable, you will need to be on your toes and stretched tight to grip the far edge. You’ll have to wait like that, while I fetch a cane from the gym. Then, when I am ready, you will be thrashed. Every stroke of my cane is going to teach you a lesson.”

“You will be in shock after just one. Numb at first but pain will quickly follow. Two. Then three. You will want to move to protect yourself. But you won’t, because you know that anytime you take a hand off the desk, another stroke will be added to your total. Four. Five. Six. Those first half dozen will leave angry red stripes across your backside.”

Miss Radner takes a step closer. I dare not turn my head, but I know she is just millimetres behind me. Her tone is quieter and softer now, almost solicitous.

“After that it only gets worse. By twelve strokes, you’ll be crying like a baby. You will be red raw and starting to bleed. Can you imagine how that is going to feel? Whatever you’re anticipating, believe me, the reality will be worse.”

“The next six will be delivered slow and hard. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen.You will be sobbing & begging me to stop. Another three, and you’ll know you can’t bear any more. But more will come. Nineteen. Twenty. Your legs and arms will be shaking. Twenty one. Two. Three. Twenty four.”

“Will you have learned your lesson? Remember, extras will be added for not holding your position. Perhaps I will think after that, you have had enough? You know, I really haven’t decided yet. I’m sure you will be pleading with me to stop. Promising me, you will be better. Vowing to behave and show respect. Will I believe you? Only time will tell.”

She pauses to let her words sink in, then steps back again, out of my personal space.

“Take off your shoes and your shirt. You are going to have some time to consider your fate. I really hope today will be the last time we ever need to discuss your behaviour. Undo your shorts and drop them just down to your knees. And your pants as well.”

“Good. Its not very dignified is it? Now lift up your vest, and fold your arms behind your back. That’s right. Are you embarrassed to be standing there, in the corridor, on display? Without letting your shorts drop, step across the passage to the wall.”

“Shuffle closer. I want your nose touching, just there. Good, that’s right. Now, you are not to move from that position. Even when all the other students walk past at four o’clock, you will stay still. Stand there and just think. Think forward to when I call you back into this office, and you take your position. Imagine how the swish of the cane will sound, and the pain when it first kisses your skin. Prepare yourself for the discipline required to not lift your hands.”

“This is where your own behaviour has brought you. Nose to the wall. Bottom on display. Scared, and rightly so”

“I will be back in one hour. Until then, do not move a muscle.”

I hear Miss Radner’s office door close, and for now I am alone with my thoughts and fears.