Assignment 2 by anonymouse
Fantasie du Jour - Desperate and Domless
Pelagie Simpson cursed the memory of her estranged husband. She cursed herself also, for the way she so desperately wanted him back. The home they'd shared through ten years of marriage seemed empty without him; the garage dungeon he built now just another room to dust and keep clean. She dabbed a felt cloth with some linseed oil and rubbed it into the dark timber frame of a pillory.
Of all the furniture in the dungeon, it was the pillory that Pelagie enjoyed most. She associated many of her first experiences with the pillory. The first time Pelagie was caned, she was locked in the stocks; the first time she'd sucked her husband's cock, was in the pillory. It was while locked in it that Pelagie was initiated into the BDSM scene. Pelagie rubbed oil into the smooth rounded holes that once had regularly trapped her neck and wrists.
Memories of all the wonderful parties had in the dungeon filled Pelagie's mind. She missed those days terribly. Many friendships were forged with men and women alike, but mostly with men. Pelagie's husband invited them into their relationship, and she grew to love the way they dominated her in play. Pelagie gave the wood of the stocks one last wipe and then went to wash her hands.
'What's wrong with you?' Pelagie asked her reflection in the bathroom mirror. 'You're not young and glamorous anymore, but you're still attractive.'
Pelagie rinsed the soapsuds off her hands. She dried her hands and then looked closely at her reflection again. 'I need a change,' Pelagie said. She gathered her blonde hair into a bun and imagined what she'd look like with short hair. She turned her head to the left, and then to the right. 'No,' she finally said. 'Maybe I'll dye it red again.' Pelagie recalled the way her blue eyes appeared to be extra blue when she had red hair. She also remembered the way people treated her differently as a redhead - with more respect.
'I might just dye it red again to spite you.' Pelagie imagined herself talking to her husband. 'You mightn't have liked it red, but I did.'
There was a sense of irony, Pelagie felt, in that her husband always claimed he preferred blondes. However, the woman he had an affair with; the woman that ultimately ruined their marriage was a redhead.
'Bitch!' Pelagie grumbled at the unwanted memory. She let her hair fall down around her shoulders and turned her back on the mirror.
Pelagie remained restless for the remainder of the morning. The television provided no distraction, and the coffee she'd poured went cold before it was finished. 'Let's see who's online,' Pelagie said to herself. She clicked a remote at the television, then went into the kitchen to wash her cup.
'Mid-day.' Pelagie noted the time on the microwave and wondered where the day had gone.
The computer whirred to life and the screen flickered through the start-up routine. Pelagie distracted herself while she waited. She looked around the walls and imagined them painted various different colors; none seemed any better than they were already - salmon-pink. The sound of a cable modem connect to the Internet caught Pelagie's attention.
As expected, Pelagie opened her mailbox to find it flooded with SPAM. She slowly trawled through the headers and checked each for deletion. After they vanished into the ether, Pelagie surfed through a few of her favorite web sites until she arrived at 'The Library'.
The Library was a collection of several things. It housed a large archive of erotic fiction, including a number of fantasy stories Pelagie had written. There were also forums and a chat room, though the latter was a part of the site Pelagie hadn't visited since she was with her husband. She stared at the chat room link and wondered how many of her old friends from the BDSM scene still chatted there. 'One way to find out,' she said to herself.
Most of the user names were unfamiliar to Pelagie, except for one: Bitch Goddess.
'Oh no!' Pelagie mumbled. 'What's she doing here?'
"Hello Pelagie," Bitch Goddess said. "How are you this fine, Monday afternoon?"
"I'm fine, thank you," Pelagie replied. She desperately needed an excuse to quickly leave the room, but couldn't think of one fast enough.
"It's nice to see you again. How have you been?"
'Bitch!' Pelagie cursed under her breath. To anybody else in the chat room, Bitch Goddess' greetings would be interpreted as warm and friendly. However, Pelagie sensed they dripped the same, smugly superior tone Bitch Goddess used throughout the affair with her husband - a tone that became worse after Pelagie was made aware of their tryst. "I've been well," Pelagie replied. She wasn't interested, but she asked anyway. "How about you?"
"I'm doin' fine," Bitch Goddess replied. "I'm a Pro-Domme now."
It wasn't as though the statement came as a complete surprise to Pelagie. She had always suspected 'the bitch' only pretended she was submissive to attract the attention of her husband. In fact, right from the outset, Pelagie intuitively knew 'the bitch' wasn't really after her husband at all - she simply had the sadistic intention to wreck her marriage. This was confirmed soon after her husband moved out to live with 'the bitch'. Pelagie heard he split from her after less than a month.
"That's good," Pelagie responded. She didn't mean it, but it seemed pointless to get into an argument about the past. Pelagie liked to think she'd moved on.
"Do you still have your dungeon set up?"
Pelagie immediately tensed at the question. Her mind grappled with possible answers. 'If I say no, she'll make some sarcastic remark. If I say yes, she'll...I don't know.'
"Yes." Pelagie slowly typed the three letters, thought about them for a moment, and then pressed the 'enter' key.
"Excellent! I have an offer I'd like to make to you," Bitch Goddess said. "How would you like to rent your dungeon to me?"
Pelagie stared at the words on the screen. 'Surly, she's kidding!' she thought.
"I'll pay you well for its use," Bitch Goddess said. "Ten Dollars per hour."
Pelagie burst into laughter. She had no idea how much 'the bitch' charged her clients, but ten dollars seemed a ridiculously small percentage. "Ten dollars?"
A 'private message' window popped open on Pelagie's screen. "Make it twenty, and I'll do you for free every day."
The suggestion caused Pelagie to tingle. It was a strange sensation; one she hadn't felt in quite a while. It was the same sensation that accompanied the mixed feelings she had toward perverse surprises. On the one hand was the thrill of expectation, while on the other, the dread of a humiliating or painful inevitably.
"It will work out to about six hundred dollars a week for you," Bitch Goddess added. "Think about it."
Pelagie felt a compulsive urge to say 'yes'. The more her mind turned over 'the bitch's' offer, the more compelling it became. Especially the part, 'I'll do you for free every day.' Finally, Pelagie tapped out the letters of her reply, "Yes." The agreement instantly solidified as text in Bitch Goddesses message window.
"Good," Bitch Goddess replied. "I'll be at your place in an hour."
Comments About This Assignment
Working without spellchecker isn't particularly difficult for me, but it does slow me down. Not so much the spelling part (my spelling ability is quite good) but rather, for catching all those little typos that creep in when typing at speed.
Insofar as proof reading goes, I read through several times with the notepad window re-sized in various ways. I find it especially useful to use narrow windows so that the text is seen more easily as individual words, and not large blocks of sentences.
