The Recidivist

Here is yet another great story from the imaginative pen of ‘Slave Paul’. I am very grateful to him for submitting this excellent story for publication!

If any other readers would like to submit stories for publication, please email me for details on how to submit them! Thank You!

The Recidivist

By Slave Paul

It seemed so long ago now that he had been originally found guilty and received his first of three severe Gynarchy sentences. Indeed it was so long ago now that even he could not remember his real name.

For the last twenty two and a half years he was only ever referred to as ‘prisoner’ or ‘prisoner No 4298’. Many myths had built up over the years in the Gynarchy regarding his long history of defiance and repeated run-ins with the law.

One thing about Prisoner 4298 was certainly true, he was a recidivist criminal. He was initially arrested half way through a robbery in the Female Advanced Centre for Education (FACE). This was one of the institutions responsible for producing the research and production of the dreaded concentrator device used on disobedient foot slaves. He was stealing electronic equipment to sell on the second hand market and unwittingly tripped the silent alarm which immediately contacted the female police force Headquarters. Needless to say he was quickly apprehended by the highly trained female matrons of the law!

Most criminals in this situation would have simply surrendered, but not Prisoner No 4298! He resisted arrest and even lashed out at one of the officers in a vain attempt to escape the inevitable consequences of his actions. By the time he had been subdued, the controller of the F.A.C.E unit had arrived to reset the silent alarm.

She was a very attractive, yet dowdily dressed, young brunette known as Miss Carla who had swiftly risen through the ranks to become Controller of one of the Gynarchy’s most successful institutions. She was quite wealthy and owned a beautiful house nearby but lived alone. She wore quite dull clothes in an attempt to hide her wealth. She had a tatty pair of formerly blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Miss Carla was also wearing a pair of very expensive looking black ballet flats. Owing to the criminal’s enforced kneeling position, he had a clear view of her feet. He could see that she had a small tattoo on the top of her left foot that said FEMALE PRIDE! And what appeared to be an angel’s wing.

She was astounded to see that the prisoner was still resisting the officers that had responded to the automated alarm system! On her way in from her opulent house situated ten minutes away from the institution, she had a small amount of time to contemplate what she was going to say to the criminal filth that had taken it upon himself to invade her beloved institution. The fact that he had still not submitted to the female officer’s collective will infuriated her all the more! However, when she got closer she could see that he was a well built and quite attractive man in his mid-thirties. The type that she would normally be interested in dating if her busy lifestyle permitted it!

Once the officers had suitably restrained their new prisoner, all but one of them returned to the police vehicles parked at the back of the premises to organise the safe transport of their ‘cargo’. Miss Carla could now get closer to the prisoner and his one remaining guard to begin her questioning. What the hell are you doing! Don’t you realise that you have destroyed months of hard work and experiments? What could possibly be worth the wilful destruction of all that hard work, WELL?...

Through his laboured breathing and sweating, caused by all of his previous exertion, he mumbled you would not understand woman, it’s impossible to get a job that pays the bills in this land, but what would you know about that?

SLAP!

She lashed out at his face much to the apparent amusement of the one remaining young police officer. How dare you talk back to me like that, get him out of here now! The police removed their new charge to the high security cells in the Central Gynarchy Police Station for further interrogation.

In the meantime Miss Carla was deep in contemplation about the deep feelings that were building within her. These were not feelings of compassion as she first thought, but feelings of hatred and malice! She wanted her revenge!

THE FIRST TRIAL BEGINS:

Fortunately for the new prisoner, he had already built up a following of secret admirers within the legal profession. Nearly all of the successful Lawyers in the Gynarchy were female. It is true that these women normally only get to deal with submissive slaves and minor criminals or insignificant male cases! He was to prove something of a rare treat for one such lucky Lawyer!

Miss Lucy was appointed as his defence Lawyer. She was a highly educated young woman in her early thirties with long blonde hair, tied in a neat pony tail, and always wore smart power suits to emphasise her importance. She was never to be seen without her four inch stiletto heeled shoes!

She would normally charge in excess of one thousand Fems a day for her skills, and she was worth it. It had been decided that her daily charge was to be added to his eventual sentence (he was clearly guilty). The trial lasted for two days with all of the female newspapers following the proceedings closely. Miss Carla was allowed to sit in the front row of the court and follow the proceedings first hand.

The prisoner was lead up from the cells by two heavily built, black female guards wearing the standard prison guard uniform consisting of navy blue shirt and trousers with flat heeled, zip up, black ankle boots. The two guards never spoke to him while he was in their charge. They merely shoved and pulled him along the corridors of the court building, slamming and locking doors as they went. He was heavily restrained in chains so as to emphasise his violent criminal nature to the court and to the public!

The female judge walked in and called the court to order. She was in her early forties, white with brown shoulder length hair and had a friendly rounded face. The defence lawyer Miss Lucy knew that this was just a façade, and that beneath this pleasant demeanour was a real sadist!

The court is now in session, the Honourable Lady Judge Miss Caroline presiding.

Today was the last day of the trial, and the summing up prior to sentencing the criminal to a life of pain and humiliation. Until now he was able to front it out and show a brave, if disinterested, demeanour. But the strain was starting to show through now, and an ever more jubilant Miss Carla was watching every grimaced expression on the prisoner’s face as the proceedings took place above him!

Miss Lucy completed her eloquent plea for mercy on the prisoner’s behalf and all was silent in the court. The Honourable Miss Caroline banged her gabble down to bring the process to an abrupt end.

Prisoner in the dock, I have listened patiently to the evidence given by the court and have arrived at my final sentencing decision. My first intention was to sentence you to a life in prison with no chance of release! However, as this is your first crime, I am compelled to be more lenient! I hereby sentence you to twenty years hard labour on a prison road gang.

I attach the following conditions to your sentence:

1- You will receive fifty lashes of the female whip on returning to the cells

2- while in prison you shall spend one week in every month confined in a kneeling pillory to contemplate your crimes

3- you be fitted with a permanent ball and chain weighing fifty pounds (one for every lash you will shortly receive).

I have taken into account your defence counsel’s eloquent plea for clemency, and decided against the permanent shackling of your wrists as suggested by the leader of the prosecution! So you see feminine justice can be merciful! Take him away!

So, that was it then - the next twenty years as a road building slave in the Gynarchy! He, however, had other plans!

IN PRISON

Following his sentencing he was immediately lead back to the cells to receive his harsh whipping, to be administered by his two nameless, black prison guards.

For once the shorter of the two guards deigned to whisper in to his ear a few words of encouragement, I think ya will get to ten stokes before ya let out ya first scream boy!

Her accomplice was busy securing him across the punishment trestle. It soon became apparent that his female guard was wrong. The newly sentenced prisoner only made it to the fourth harshly applied stroke of the lash before screaming out for mercy!

This terrible ordeal lasted for what seemed like an eternity. As soon as the first part of his sentence was completed he was dragged away to the hard labour prison where he was due to spend the next twenty years!

Upon arrival he was swiftly introduced to the female blacksmith, who sounded quite intimidating and spoke with a Russian accent. She was huge! She wore a leather apron and had mad, curly brown hair protruding from under her red head scarf that was saturated in sweat! She took great delight in riveting on the heavy ball and chain restraint knowing that it was to remain on his right ankle for the next two decades! The shock of the heavy iron bracelet being hammered on was quite overwhelming.

The two black, court house prison guards remained to watch this spectacle of oppression, and for the first time Prisoner 4298 saw both of them smile an evil smile!

The blacksmith looked down at the newly secured prisoner and said to him Da, now you ready to beginning pay back of society! You will kiss my boots to thanking me for prisoner new jewellery!

He took this statement to mean his new ball and chain. Although he had not sunk as low as a footslave he thought it would be unwise to displease such a powerful looking woman! He knelt closer to her heavy and cracked work boot and began to kiss the toe area. He found it was rough and had metal swarf attached to it as a consequence of her hard manual work.

His only thoughts were, I hope she does not order me to remove her boots as they must truly stink! He had seen many footslaves being humiliated in the Gynarchy in this manner and quite dreaded it.

He actually felt quite relieved when the lady judge sentenced him to hard labour and not foot slavery!

Once this was done to her satisfaction, he was ordered to pick up his new digging tools (a brush and small hand-held trowel) and report to the roadside digging force to begin his penance. Once there, his new taskmistress Pratima told him of his new daily routine.

Taskmistress Pratima looked after three of the forty road slaves. She had emigrated to the Gynarchy five years ago after seeing a documentary on how male prisoners were treated in this country. Her native India had similar ideas on prison reform (albeit a century or so ago). She believed in the power of the whip as a motivational tool and enjoyed explaining the rules to Prisoner 4298 in great detail.

Dirty convict, you are being digging from six o’clock in the morning to nine o’clock. Then you are being sweeping what you have been digging with your tiny hand-brush. Then I am being deciding which of you shall be vipped for not working hard enough! Also you will be required to take it in turns to be licking clean my uniform boots while I am watching you sweat. You will be stopping working at eight o’clock and marching back to prison to be locked into a small windowless cell until next morning. Also I am seeing that the court is sentencing you to be kneeling in the stocks for one week in every month! How very lucky of you! You getting rest while other prisoners are being worked to death! Ha, now you begin…Dig you scum!

He began his nugatory, thankless task under the burning sun, and with Taskmistress Pratima cracking the whip to ‘encourage him’.

A week had passed and he had already lost some considerable weight. He was feeling quite sick from all of the exertion and reduced food and water rations. Little did he know that tomorrow was to be his first of many ‘rest’ days.

The next morning the other prisoners were released from their respective, below-ground cells and sent out to work the road. Prisoner 4298, however, was left to sweat in his cell.

It was around lunch time when Taskmistress Pratima came to release him. The inrush of what felt to him of cool fresh air was such a relief! She simply smiled and said Be picking up your ball and chain and following me to the stocks prisoner!

When they arrived at the roadside pillory he dropped his heavy, cast iron ball-weight to the dusty ground and stood in awe of the medieval looking, ragged pillory that stood anchored to the ground.

His supervisor told him to quickly position himself in the pillory as she had to return to whip the other prisoners on the road gang. She did not even help him to lift the heavy wooden beam. He struggled to get comfortable before Pratima simply dropped the beam roughly enclosing his arms and neck in the ancient device. She knelt down to lock the pillory and stood back to say Be enjoying your week of rest slave as I will be expecting you to work twice as hard when I get you back!

She briefly explained that it would be the job of the blacksmith girl to feed and water him if she had the time.

The first day passed agonisingly slowly and he grew weak from all of the sweat pouring out of his body under the hot sun. As the afternoon drew to a close he heard footsteps growing ever closer from behind. It was the foreboding, blacksmith girl with a small bottle of warm, dirty water and a bowl of gruel.

She said nothing and simply bent down to feed the prisoner. He watched as her thick, cracked leather boots bent and contorted as she knelt down. Then she gave him some of the foul tasting water from the plastic bottle. She took great delight in telling him that the water was tainted with the flavour from her thick, cotton boot-socks that she had washed this afternoon!

He felt physically sick at this point but held it back as he could not afford to lose any more water. The nameless blacksmith mistress then untied her boots and removed them! To his utter surprise and dread she was barefoot in her boots. She was on her way home from the prison and had stopped by to check on the prisoner.

Vell, prisoner I now leave you vith a special treat, I tie boots to prisoner’s ears and you can smell all night long until Magda come back to vork tomorrow! Ha.

With that she roughly tied the heavy work boots to his ears and stood back to have a good laugh at his expense! She then proceeded to put on her white plimsolls, pick up her bag, and left him in the warm, evening air to contemplate his fate!

The first thing that struck him was the terrible weight of the boots tied so roughly to his ears; the second, and much worse, thing was the evil smell assaulting his nostrils! His sentence was working; he had never felt so low.

As dusk was setting in across the dusty flats, the solitary prisoner on the roadside was the only feature for miles. Some cars drove past with the windows wound down and the sound of female laughter could be heard as they slowed down to take a closer look at the hapless prisoner. Just when he thought he could take no more, a car pulled over and stopped on the side of the road. A woman got out and started out towards him.

The only way he could tell it was a woman was the choice of foot-wear. It appeared to be a young, white girl wearing expensive looking, black ballet flats on her bare feet. He thought the feet looked familiar but could not remember why.

Then he saw the small tattoo of an angel’s wing and the words FEMALE PRIDE! It was Miss Carla from the F.A.C.E institute - the same young woman he had been convicted of robbing nearly one month ago!

Well well well, you do look more submissive now, don’t you? I wanted to make sure that you were not having too much fun in your new job! I am glad to see that is not the case, prisoner scum! Still, look on the bright side, you only have nineteen years and eleven months to go! HA I don’t think you will make it. I wanted to give you a free sample of our latest slave concentrator device. What a pity the courts settled on hard labour instead. I am sure you would have made a good footslave prisoner.

With that she simply left the prisoner to suffer in the cruel contraption. He watched her car’s headlights speed off into the distance, pulling up a trail of dust as it went. He began thinking to himself that he could not take much more of this, and that, as soon as he was let out of the pillory next week, he must try and escape!

The rest of the week passed agonisingly slowly for the prisoner in the stocks. He was still something of a celebrity in the Gynarchy, and attracted a large female following (known as ‘slave spotters’).

Blacksmith Mistress Magda continued to feed and humiliate him on a daily basis throughout the week. Finally, he was released late on Sunday afternoon to go back to his cell. It was agony to move so quickly after a whole week confined in the wooden pillory! Every muscle ached violently. He knew that Taskmistress Pratima would work him hard tomorrow; he could not take much more!

The next day soon came round, and Mistress Pratima was indeed unsparing with the whip!

During the mini morning break he found a short length of rough steel cable buried in the dust. He quickly coiled it up and tucked it into his prison-issue shorts for safekeeping. When the day finally ended and he was locked into his airless cell once again, he began working the wire around the rivet in the leg iron of the ball and chain. He eventually cut through most of the mushroomed head of the rivet by five AM and promptly fell asleep.

Mistress Pratima was delighted to wake him abruptly at six o’clock! One hour’s sleep, that’s all he had the whole night! Now another day on the grinding road gang beckoned. He had decided that it was going to be today or never!

Once taskmistress Pratima was ‘supervising’ the other prisoners in the group, he used his trowel to prise the top of the rivet off, and pull it through from the other side of the ankle bracelet. He quickly tossed it to one side and ran for his life into the nearby undergrowth. He had done it! Free at last, he thought, but he must stay on the move. The alarm was swiftly raised by the roadside guards and mistress Pratima was mortified to find one of her prisoners had escaped from her charge. The other prisoners were marched back to prison while Pratima joined the search for the escaped convict.

ON THE RUN

Prisoner 4298 made it to an old farm and hid in a hay shed. He was frantically looking for a set of rags or clothes so he could cover up and try to blend in. He found an old tractor that had been stripped down for spares; on the floor next to the large wheels was an oily pair of overalls! He swiftly put them on and hid in the hay pile. If he could just stay hidden until night he would have a chance of getting to the Gynarchy border and real freedom!

Unfortunately for No 4298 he was spotted by the owner of the barn. The farmer simply crept out of the house and alerted the guards searching for the escaped convict! It did not take long for him to surrender when he heard the calls from the guards outside the barn with their loaded rifles! He had been free for a mere thirty minutes, and was now being sped away in a prison van to the Gynarchy courthouse again!

Once back within the familiar, dark, concrete building, he found himself in the charge of his erstwhile captors, the two black court room guards! How they laughed as they locked the door to his cell once more!

THE SECOND TRIAL

For the second time inside of a year, he was brought up before the Honourable Lady Judge Miss Caroline! He was also fortunate enough to obtain the services of Miss Lucy the defence Lawyer again. She was astounded at his stupidity at attempting to escape feminine justice, and had very little sympathy for him this time round! The court had invited Miss Carla back from the F.A.C.E institute to witness the prisoner’s second trial. The female press were also watching on with intense interest.

The Honourable Lady Judge sat patiently and listened to the prosecution council. Little defence was offered in view of the criminal’s behaviour and lack of respect. Eventually the Judge called the court to order following the summing up.

I have never dealt with a case such as this before, and am at a loss as to what to do with you! Take the prisoner away while I decide what the sentence should be!

The court was dismissed for the day, and all the women who had assembled for the day’s exciting proceedings slowly filed out of the room. Miss Carla was still sitting in her seat opposite the dock. She had a plan formulating in her pretty head! She swiftly jumped to her feet, and left to seek an audience with the Lady Judge.

The next day the court was called to order once again. The Honourable Miss Caroline announced that she had arrived at a suitable sentence for the criminal in the dock. Prisoner 4298 knew this was going to be a harsh sentence for sure!

Prisoner in the dock, it gives me great pleasure to give you a much harsher sentence than your previous term. I hereby sentence you to life as a personal footslave under maximum security! I also order that you be fitted with the new experimental foot slave concentrator device! Furthermore I order that you be made the legal property of Miss Carla Fairfax and serve her as the pathetic slave that you are, so that she may see the new concentrator prototype in action! Take him away!

He was immediately dragged away by the two black lady guards to the cells, to be fitted with a slave collar and a set of maximum security shackles! The iron collar was locked around his neck with the word footslave engraved into it. He was then fitted with a set of leg irons that had a short, heavy chain attached, and ran up his back to an iron belt locked about his waist. He would never be able to stand again thanks to his shackles!

Now it was off to the surgical unit to have the newest of the slave concentrator devices fitted! It seemed that all of his worst fears were coming true after all!

He awoke some time later with a strong sense of nausea, most likely caused by the drugs used to render him unconscious during the procedure. He felt a small bump at the back of his head that was not there before he passed out. It became apparent that he was in some kind of recovery cell, under observation following the operation. He could hear voices outside the door saying The new prototype was installed in the criminal successfully and we can begin trials soon!

Before long, the sense of nausea began to return and he fell unconscious for a second time. It must have been three hours later when the newly named Foot slave 4298 awoke in what appeared to be rather more opulent surroundings than he was used to. The floor was covered in a thick woolly carpet and the vast room was furnished with many items of decadent looking furniture. It dawned on the newly convicted slave that he must now be in the house of his erstwhile accuser and future mistress Miss Carla!

He tried to get to his feet but had forgotten about the cruel shackles that kept his ankles permanently attached to his thick and heavy, iron waist-belt! He simply fell to the carpeted floor again with a loud thud. As he lay there pondering his fate, he drew some comfort from the fact that, even with the new concentrator device fitted, he was not thinking about women’s feet or footwear. His mind must be too strong for the newest prototype device!

Escape was still his priority thought. He even briefly remembered Taskmistress Pratima, and couldn’t help but wonder what happened to her following his escape from the road building slave prison! I wonder if she was punished or even fired he thought! Even after all of this he was still quite arrogant and strong willed!

THE NEW LIFE OF A FOOTSLAVE BEGINS

After half an hour or so had elapsed. Miss Carla nonchalantly walked into view. On your knees slave! She barked with a fierce voice.

Foot slave 4298 stumbled in his shackles to get to his knees as ordered.

Miss Carla then sat herself in a comfy looking armchair, and put her feet up on a small stool. She was still dressed in the same casual manner as when he first ‘met’ her in the F.A.C.E unit all those months ago. A tight white t shirt, tatty blue jeans frayed at the bottom, and her leather ballet flats on bare feet.

Miss Carla then helpfully began running through some of the details that would be making a very big difference to the hapless prisoner’s new life from now on!

To save time I have decided to simply call you ‘criminal’ rather than use your silly prison number, do you understand that you dumb criminal?

A forlorn ‘yes mistress’ was the criminal’s only reply at this stage.

As you can see, I have done rather well for myself, thanks to my own hard work at the Institute. I am going to make the rest of your life a living hell for attempting to destroy my Institute’s hard work and ingenious ideas. Ironically, I have had you fitted with the new type 4 concentrator device. This is one of the items you attempted to steal all those months ago. A lot of research went into making this one the most fiendish of devices produced to date, and I can’t wait to see it in action!

At this point the criminal simply stared at her ballet flat clad feet as he was required by law to do.

Miss Carla went on to explain A lot of research went into the pain and smell receptor units, and the fear amplifier, contained within the device itself! I have estimated that the new device is three times as painful as its predecessor, and the olfactory booster is infinitely more powerful!!! I hope, for your sake, that you like the smell of a girl’s sweaty, bare feet, criminal? HA HA HA!

To his utter dread, the device had not been activated yet!

He was already dreading his new existence, but this cruel, vindictive girl - some ten years his junior -was about to make his life a real nightmare!

With that introduction over, Miss Carla bent down to fit her own ankle with a silver bracelet that locked on with a click. This is the focusing generator you ignorant criminal scum! This innocent looking bracelet would permanently link his brain to her feet, and occupy his every waking thought from now on!

Miss Carla then produced the remote control and said If you are thinking of anything other than my feet, criminal, you had better get it over with, as I am turning this baby on Ha! And don’t think the battery will ever need changing, the cells are self-charging!

BANG!

He felt a sudden intense beam of energy running through his mind, focussing in on her ballet flats. The rest of the room and indeed Miss Carla herself went all blurry! The only thing his eyes could focus on was Carla’s feet!

His strong willed, independent mind would not submit however; he desperately tried to think of something else.

The next thing to happen to the criminal was the most intense bolt of pain to ever invade his body! Pure agony one hundred times more powerful than the female lash! He let out an agonised cry of pain much to the amusement of Miss Carla. Oh joy! It works, and very effectively it seems too! I did not expect even you to rebel so quickly, criminal!

He fell to the ground panting and sweating in front of her feet.

Miss Carla then decided that there was no time like the present, as she put it, and this would be an opportune moment to test the device’s new smell amplification unit!

Okay, criminal, remove my shoes and kiss them before you give a big audible sniff!

He swiftly set about divesting his new cruel mistress of her outer footwear, and was immediately confronted by her bare, soft, white feet. She had shapely toes, and the nails were well kept and painted a dark purple colour. The smell hit him like a brick wall, invading every scent receptor in his nose! It made him feel violently sick and fully violated! He had no choice but to obey. He sniffed and sniffed as he was ordered. This made Carla feel so powerful; she had won! Now he truly was her slave at last!

A year passed by before anyone knew what had happened. Thanks to the experimental suffering of her new slave, Miss Carla had been awarded two more trophies from the Gynarchy for her valuable contributions to the field of slave control!

The criminal formerly known as Prisoner 4298 was also furthering his own knowledge! After the first terrible year under the dreaded concentrator, he noticed that the device was strongest after sleep. On several occasions he went without sleep, whilst kneeling and sniffing at his mistress’s feet, laying in the bed above him, of course! This had the effect of lowering the device’s power! Could he use this weakness to escape her evil clutches?

Miss Carla, although quite wealthy, nearly always wore the same clothes about the house. She particularly enjoyed wearing her, now very tatty, black ballet flats, and storing them in a plastic container to preserve the putrid aroma to further humiliate her slave. His now foot-obsessed brain was actually craving items like socks and boots to worship! He would have even settled for the old boots and socks of Miss Magda, the prison Blacksmith! Everything Miss Carla was doing to her slave was to ‘punish him to the very max’, as she frequently put it!

Yet more time passed, and the criminal had reached the point of collapse. He decided during the searing pain caused by concentrating on things other than his mistress’s feet that he simply must escape!

He managed to go without three nights’ sleep, and was beginning to imagine things! But he was imagining things with no pain! The device was causing him some mild discomfort, but that was all!

Before going to bed one night, his mistress ordered him to file down her big toenail on her right foot as she had chipped it earlier in the day whilst kicking him in the face! For him this was the last straw!

When he was sure she was asleep, he crawled away from his mistress and out into the living room. Ironically he found the diamond coated nail file used for pampering his mistress’s feet! He began frantically filing away at the locks on the ankle bracelets and the iron belt. This took real effort in his weakened state. Miraculously however he was now free of his shackles after more than a year!

He slowly got to his feet, causing some discomfort due to the muscles that had wasted away. He stumbled about the house looking for some clothes to put on to cover up. He finally found a manly looking rain coat that fit snugly, and a pair of running shoes that pinched his feet, but at least covered them for the first time since his original conviction! He then took a scarf to cover up the heavy iron collar that he had no time to remove, and set off into the night! For the second time in his life he was now an escaped convict, on the run in the streets of the Gynarchy!

ON THE RUN AGAIN

It had been almost one week since the newly liberated foot slave 4298 had taken his first steps of freedom on the streets of the Gynarchy. He had taken some old clothes from a charity donation bin to alter his appearance, as he did not want to be seen wearing his former mistress’s rain coat and running shoes! He still looked quite conspicuous wearing a thick, woollen scarf tightly wrapped around his neck in the warm air of the Gynarchy spring!

He was heading south to the border to make good his final escape. For the first time in longer than he could remember, he was in control of his own destiny and could think clearly. All he had to do was evade capture for a few more days. The best way of doing this was to move at night and keep out of site.

This late night travel was problematic at times, as he would encounter the hordes of young women stumbling out of the many female-only drinking establishments. He would frequently pass down-in-the-dirt, public foot slaves, and men being punished in the town kneeling pillories for minor offences.

The fear of re-capture was never far from his mind even when he slept! Two more nights of near continual walking had exhausted him. He had no money or food and was near total starvation. As he paused by a telegraph pole to catch his breath he happened upon a sign stapled to the broad, wooden post. It read ESCAPED SLAVE Property of Miss Carla Fairfax contact Gynarchy 4311 if spotted do not approach. His photo was affixed at the bottom of the poster! ‘I must keep going’ was his only thought!

Although his mind was still strong, his body was weak. He had only been fed on the thin, slave gruel rations that his mistress frequently served with additives to make it bitter and revolting. As a result he would go days with no food, as even a starving slave could not contemplate eating such a stomach churning mixture! He eventually passed out on a concrete stairway into a public building.

When the dawn broke he was in the shadow of a short, black girl looking down at him. The fear welled up from inside of him. He thought the game was up and this was the moment he had been dreading! She however simply bent down and said ‘Hello, my name is Maria and I run this rescue centre! Can I help you in some way?’

He sat there stunned by her kind words; he could not formulate a response. Miss Maria simply helped him up and brought him inside the refuge. Once they were seated inside the large hall, she began telling him that her mission was to help any person that genuinely needed it without prejudice! This was unheard of in the Gynarchy even in these modern times! He simply could not believe his luck!

Maria fed him up, and gave him a real bed to sleep in. He felt safe and secure. It also occurred to his, now peaceful, mind that the longer he stayed hidden in the refuge, the less likely that the police would be looking for him!

Another week had passed, and foot slave 4298 was washing up the dishes when Miss Maria came up from behind and swiped his scarf from around his neck saying sorry my dear but this simply must go through a boil wash as it stinks Ha!

Before he had time to pull his collar up, she saw the heavy iron slave collar clamped around his neck! What! You are a runaway slave! He nearly passed out with fright.

He managed to calm down and attempt to explain. I simply had to get away; my mistress was insane, and her harsh regime was killing me!

She looked at him with compassionate eyes, and said oh you poor thing! Don’t worry, I will not call the police, but if I get caught... He interrupted and said, don’t worry I will leave tomorrow night, I promise!

Miss Maria agreed, and sat down in a wooden chair to collect her thoughts. The foot slave went on to explain his immense gratitude, and asked if he could do anything in return. Miss Maria simply laughed, and said sarcastically well, you are a foot slave; clean my sneakers!

He immediately fell to his knees and went to kiss and lick-shine her black, plastic running shoes. She recoiled and quickly chirped I was only joking I did not mean it! He continued and said that it was the least that he could do, and that he only had this act of humble gratitude to offer! Miss Maria found, to her utter surprise, that she did, actually, enjoy this new form of attention!

He too was strangely drawn to her feet, as his mind was, no doubt, altered by the concentrator device! He also wanted to kiss her black ankle socks as they looked so mesmerising to him.

This act of humble servitude went on for some time, culminating in the order he had been wishing for, you may remove my shoes and sniff my sock if you wish! He wasted no time in doing just that.

This was a new experience for him, and he was genuinely contented at her feet. If only Mistress Carla would have worn different boots, shoes and even socks occasionally, he may not have bothered to run away, he thought!

Night came, and the pair went their separate ways. Miss Maria left to go home, and the foot slave prepared for his last night in a comfortable bed.

It was approaching midnight when all hell broke loose! BANG! The door was bashed in, and police trooped in through all of the windows, brandishing guns and handcuffs! Freeze prisoner!

BUSTED

For the third time in his life he was under arrest by the Gynarchy police! They bundled him into the police van and sat round the prisoner confined on the floor. How they all grinned a self-congratulatory smile! Miss Maria had obviously tipped them off on the way home! What a fool he truly was. This was the end for sure!

He arrived back in the same cell, in the same courthouse prison, with the same court house prison guards! Miss Lucy the defence Lawyer had even come to the cell this time to see if it was truly him; she could not believe any male would be so stupid! Not only did you escape, you continued to steal from the Gynarchy charity boxes and mislead a volunteer worker in a refuge! You even got arrested two miles from the border, you idiot! Why did you stop? You should have been free by now!

He could not understand how his own defence Lawyer was criticising his escape plans! Miss Lucy went on to explain that he was very lucky that the Gynarchy had abolished the death penalty two decades ago, as that would undoubtedly be the sentence this time round. The Gynarchy has a three strikes and you are out rule, fool! He simply lent forward to kiss her stiletto heel shoe as a penance. See you in court tomorrow, slave! was her only parting comment.

THE THIRD AND FINAL TRIAL

The previously merciful, Worshipful Lady Judge Caroline was presiding over the latest trial once again. She never took her eyes off the prisoner. She sat calmly, and listened to the evidence from both sides.

Eventually, she banged her gavel to end all discussion in the court! Silence! I have decided what is to be done. I remove you from the custody of Miss Carla Fairfax and award her a new foot slave as reparation. As for your sentence, prisoner, it would give me immense pleasure to award the death penalty, were I permitted! The only option open to me is to sentence you to life in the foot-hole dungeons beneath this court!...

A feeling of despair arose within his very soul!

…But, the Lady Judge continued, I do not think that this would be a fitting punishment! I will not tell you what I have decided prisoner! Sometimes the worst thing of all is not knowing! Take the prisoner to the cells while the sentence is read out to the court.

He was dragged away, knowing that his future was being decided above his head! How cruel this woman was!

A whole day passed, and one of the prisoner’s black, female guards entered the cell. It was the one that had counted the fifty stinging lashes all that time ago! Well mi prisoner boy, you is gonna be terrified ta know that your sentence has been decided. I is actually feelin sorry for ya; this has never been decided by a real court before! She explained nothing else and left the cell saying what a way to go, eh?

A few days passed, and Miss Lucy, the Defence Lawyer, came to visit the convict, and told him to prepare for a ‘living death’ sentence. She refused to divulge anything more. She simply said all I can say is that preparations are under way, prisoner, so get as much rest as you can! She pointed out of the small barred window. She chuckled and added we will never meet again, so you may as well kiss my feet now prisoner!

She slipped off her shoe to reveal a very attractive feminine foot, with long slender toes lacquered with black varnish. He added several sincere kisses to each foot, before she withdrew each in turn and left the cell, with no goodbyes or parting words!

Outside the window, was quite a commotion. A lot of drilling was under way, and what appeared to be the bright blue flickering caused by welding torches! The prisoner had nothing to do but ponder his fate!

Two days later all was revealed in terrible detail! He was lead unceremoniously from his cell by the two prison guards. They dragged him out into the street in front of what was his cell in the court house. Below his window stood a kneeling pillory. However this was no ordinary kneeling pillory. It was made of solid steel and anchored deep into the ground by means of broad metal beams. Next to the pillory stood a tasteless looking neon clock with the words ‘time elapsed since confinement’ in bold letters.

The prisoner was shown over to the pillory, and helped roughly into position. The neck hole had a lump machined into it, to press on the voice box of the prisoner. He would not be able to communicate whilst confined in the steel pillory!

The guards held his arms and head in place while the top section was lowered into position. Normally this is the point where the padlock would be affixed. He was no stranger to being confined in a pillory and knew the procedure. This time however, a set of clamps were fitted! Then the guards beckoned to a welder to come over!

To his utter dread he was going to be welded into the pillory!

He squirmed and struggled, much to the amusement of the guards. Once the welding was completed, the Lady Judge Caroline came over to inspect the work. Once she was satisfied, she explained to the gathering crowd, I have sentenced this recidivist criminal to life in the kneeling stocks! He will be here for ever more and never escape again. I hereby sentence you to a living death criminal! Start the timer! The clock started counting the time since the pillory had been welded shut!

THE REALISATION

The prisoner awoke to another morning in his permanent pillory. He had received his twice weekly, court-ordered massage therapy to maintain circulation. This was, of course, deliberately painful, and not meant to be enjoyable.

Another day of ‘posing’ for photographs, kissing women’s shoes and socks, beckoned when he looked up at the clock. It said ‘time elapsed since confinement = twenty two years six months and three days’.

If only he had stayed in prison he would be a free man now!

The end.