"O Isaiah! The Moon-Goddess! Greater than all other Deities and Potentates! I beg you! I plead with you! I implore you! End this most painful and humiliating punishment! I know I have offended you. I beg your forgiveness! I have done wrong in my spell. I am so very, very sorry! I've learned my lesson! If it be your will, I will stop practising Black Magic forever!"

Well, the Dark Power would not help her. As she was running her arms were extended, and her bottom was unprotected. Naturally a tempting target for the broom, which gave her whack after whack, too fast to cover her rear with her hands. The broom was chasing her mercilessly swatting her, leaving red welts on her backside, while that part of her was rosy-red. Her dire situation was compounded terribly by her collapse over a misplaced cushion, and her bottom was easily accessible to the birch for six more lashings. "OUCH!!!" she cried "No more! I entreat you!" The girl could not yet rise - besides, she knew she would be bending over to do so - she turned on her back, her butt hurting more because of its brush with the cushion, and put her hand over her face.

"Mighty Power!" she addressed the broom, "In the name of Isaiah! Please let me rise and go." Her voice became more resigned gradually as she addressed the broom. The birch was still, suspended over her, and, somehow allowed her to rise; she had to bend over with her butt exposed for just a moment to manoeuvrer herself to rise - she was, after all in considerable pain, and had to rise slowly. Then the girl ran as fast as she could, once again with hands thoughtlessly extended, her but helplessly exposed to the several swats of the birch broom, stinging as ever, once again happening too fast for her to cover. The girl and her pitifully sore bottom reached the back door, and yet once more Kajira had to stick out her hind-quarters to jerk open the door, long enough for the birch to thrash her twice, this time dead-on target of her "bottom line," the crease between her bottom and the very top of her back legs. She screeched in pain, stopped what she was doing and bent over backwards, screaming at the ceiling, her hands rubbing the afflicted area to try as much as possible to ease her pain. Then, suddenly, she pulled open the door and ran naked outside. She didn't notice at the time, since the birch was giving her three or four more lashes as she fled through the front door, giving her a swat or two more outside the door, but no one was around, and she began running to the more private, back part of the house. Meantime the broom started sweeping her effectively on the ground, then her legs and feet, and she ran even faster; then suddenly the broom dropped, lifeless and inanimate, no longer enchanted, but it has chastised this very, very naughty girl well. Kajira noticed there was no more sweeping at her feet. She turned around and saw the broom supine, motionless on the ground. She rubbed her bottom in bitter tears.

As she stared at the instrument of her punishment, Kajira, faced a more immediate situation. Was the "flame" of the broom truly extinguished? Dare she again go into the house. She had access to the back door, but having checked it before found it was locked or otherwise jammed unopenable. Kajira had to proceed with caution. First she tried to open the back door, but that indeed was locked. She looked at the windows to the back of the house and then she tried each one, but egress for the girl into the house was not possible for her. First they were locked, second, if she threw a rock at one of them she faced laceration on her naked body from the remaining glass in place in the broken window, as well as shards entering or otherwise injuring her bare feet, and 3rd, and perhaps most insurmountable, Kajira, even though she was on the slender size, was simply too thick to fit through the openings. Sighing, Kajira realized that she had only one other choice: she had to enter, somehow, through the front door. However, there were two matters that stood in her way. First, she asked herself, "Is the broom dead? or will it attack me again as soon as I pass by it?" She peeked out from the safety of the backyard of the house to look at the condition of the broom. It was just lying there, appearing not to move, lifeless, just a mortal-made tool. "Well," Kajira said to herself "It doesn't look like the birch is going to give me more trouble I hope!" But another difficulty faced the young girl. She heard a few voices; the house was located on a major avenue, and people walked down it all day long. She finally realized that some how no one had been around earlier in the morning, when the birch broom had literally thrashed and swept her out of the house; now a number of people were going up and down the street, some of whom were walking their dogs. The animals scented her presence and barked, seeming to alert their owners that she was there. The presence of dogs worried the girl. Some of the animals were so well trained that people didn't even take them out on a leash, and even though they were basically tame, they may come toward her as she was going to or trying to enter the house through the front door. She was desperate! Uncertainty about the broom, people and their dogs - what could she do? Her bottom was red, welted and burning. It demanded some kind of relief. She was also tired. She had been up for a long time preparing for her ill-fated adventure; but the event had led to a good result. Kajira, now, took the only sensible option that was available to her: she would get on the grass, lie on her stomach, and try to go to sleep.When she woke up, she hoped, traffic on the street will have slowed; and, even if it hadn't she hoped that night will have fallen and, hidden in relative darkness she could quickly go and slip inside the house, no one having seen her in her nakedness, which she knew would evoke laughter. So Kajira trudged onto the grass. With her feet she could feel there was no moisture on it, and it was only slightly cooler than the dust upon which she had been standing before, she could also feel there were no stickers to prevent comfortable rest. Fortunately, there also happened to be no insects around, such as ants or, worse, bees - but she did not think about this at the time. Gingerly she lay on her stomach on the grass, thinking about what had happened to her earlier, her failed incantations and alliance with the Powers of Darkness. It was now about 12 noon. The sun was high in the sky, but the temperature was comfortable. The girl had had a busy, stressful morning, and it occurred to her that she was exhausted, and she found the blades of grass comfortable; she was as comfortable in spite of the fact that it had been as if a hundred bees had stung her rear one at a time, and left their needles there. But, only about 30 minutes since she had decided to lie on the grass and sleep, and then wait until darkness fell--and it fell hard, since the ligting of the street was less than satisfactory - she fell asleep.

Story inspired by Kalidwen's game Elven Kingdom (which you may found here - https://kalidwen.itch.io/elven-kingdom)