The Story Pattern

He hadn't planned it to be a story. It was just an offhand suggestion. A probe, to see if his intuition was working. It was.

He wallowed in self-congratulation for a bit... and realized he had fallen into his familiar pattern. He was good at recognizing patterns, and the pattern said he had a story. All he had to do was find it.

Situation, crisis, resolution... Where was the story? Of course - the probe itself was the story. The probe could have triggered the ending of the day-old acquaintanceship, or it could become the foundation for a most interesting friendship. The fear may have been unfounded, but to him it was real. Yes, the story was there for him to find.

She reported a fumbling of the fingers, and coyly asked if that was a punishable offense. If she was looking for brat-play, or a cyber-spanking, she had come to the wrong place. But what if...? Yes, a probe was in order.

If you would like it to be, yes. If you'd care to try playing along, here's how to handle it. This is only if you'd care to play along... if not, just skip to the next section and I'll hope I've not offended you.

Understand that I don't role-play, and at the moment I'm not joking. Blowing a download is NOT a serious offense... but it can serve as a means of giving you a taste. My story collection has a strong Dom/sub flavor, as you know. What I'm offering is a chance to taste of the emotion yourself, if that is your bent. Perhaps this will work for you, and perhaps not.

Let me describe the punishment, and then explain why it might be of interest to you. You will likely laugh at its silliness... but you *might* be able to use it as a means of capturing that emotion for yourself if you should care to. Again, understand I am not attempting to impose upon you. I am offering you a gift, a story of your own.

Your assignment, should you care to experience it, is to find a corner you can stand in. Set a timer for twelve minutes, preferably something audible so you don't have to look at it. Stand upright all the way into the corner, with both walls pressing against you, hands to your sides. Think of nothing except your punishment. Forget groceries, plans, questions, everything else that's day-to-day. You can think about those when the twelve minutes is complete. If you wish to "go there", think about the pleasure you are giving him by submitting to his instruction.

Okay. Why this silliness? If you wish, you can treat it as real and not silly. It *is* a punishment commensurate with the "crime". You messed up, you paid the price. Done deal.

But it's not a *spanking* you say. Quite true. But it *is* a chance to experience the dynamic that existed in our Playground of the Mind, if you should care to. Imagine her accepting such an assignment from a distance, agreeing it is fair and reasonable... and knowing she could lie about her compliance. But she does it because it is what he asks of her.

For her, my telling her to walk across the room and stand by the wall for a moment, carries the same erotic impact as being struck by a riding crop. How could one possibly explain that, unless it be to someone who already understands?

And thus I present you with the same choice. Accept the assignment as your fair punishment, look for the submission, search for the emotion. If you found it in the stories, I should think you could find it within yourself.

And now we come to the point. If you find that emotion within yourself, I'm betting you can put it into a story. In terms of mechanics, your writing is good, clean, crisp. You are well able to convey what you wish to say.

I invite you to cross over from fantasy to reality - even though the reality be merely in your playground of the mind. If you can *experience* an emotion, you can far more powerfully write about it.

If this little experiment should prove successful, *that* might be the story to write.

But I may well have stepped out of line with the suggestion. Please understand my intent here is to paint you a word picture, give you a feel for how I approach my stories. I write them as if I am reporting real life, and the intensity comes from the fact that the emotions *do* come from real life. For me, the emotion turns itself into a story.

She said she would like to try the assignment. Situation, crisis, resolution... He recognized the pattern, found the story. The key, for him, was to recognize the story pattern.

It is his way to express his thoughts in a story, and thus recognizing the story pattern from an offhand remark has become easy for him. But he writes his stories to make a real-life point, and perhaps she does not yet recognize this facet of the pattern.

The story pattern remains present; her own story is there for her to find. She too can turn the emotion into the story. How much was behind the coy question? Perhaps nothing; perhaps a lifetime of longing. His reply carried an emotional impact, else she would not have responded as she did.

A woman is suddenly informed she shall be punished. Surely she sees this as a crisis, with an emotional component. She has a story to tell if she can but find it. And to find him so pleased with her resolution that he places it in a story for her... perhaps that finding contains an emotional component as well.

The moment is fleeting... but if she can recall and set down her flurry of thoughts and emotions from that time, she has a unique and special story to tell. The story's form does not matter; a free-form journal often works best. It represents a snapshot of her life, and because of the emotions it captures, it becomes worth sharing.

How well he knows that in time, the written memories become the strongest. He is grateful of the snapshots he took along the way, because sometimes he feels they are all he has left. He has learned the importance of the story pattern, and keeps his camera ready.

She sees the situation, and is now come to the crisis... What will be her resolution? Perhaps she will please him by completing the story pattern. In performing the task for his pleasure, she will find her emotion, and she will have her story.

Perhaps in time she too will look back, and be glad she learned the pattern.