My name is Emily Lovett and I was born in Newcastle in March 2004. My parents are both doctors. They met at medical school, and I have no siblings. Although I was desperate to have a sister, I did enjoy the undivided attention lavished on me by my mum and dad and, if I'm honest, it also enabled them to somewhat spoil me. I always had the best that money could buy, along with an education that spared no expense. As an additional bonus I have inherited my mum's good looks. I'm tall for a girl, with shoulder-length dark hair, a friendly pretty face and a slim body with long lean legs. I played a lot of sport at all my schools and always excelled on the academic side. I was a top performer and knew it!

I went to local private schools in the city until I had completed my GCSEs and then my parents sent me to a top boarding school in Yorkshire for my two A-Level years. I loved it. It was a mixed school and I enjoyed the attentions of several good looking boys during my time there. But the firmest friendship I made was with a girl called Amber. She did the same A-Level subjects as me and we definitely helped each other to achieve outstanding exam grades. We eventually got places to study at our first-choice universities, but this account deals with the period of time between finishing our exams in June 2022 and starting our university courses in September of that year.

Our school careers had been marred somewhat by the Covid lock-downs and general disruption during 2020 and 2021. Amber and I would normally have looked like obvious candidates to take a gap year and go travelling. We were both confident girls with good backing from our parents to embark on an adventure. But we felt as though we had already lost time and neither of us wanted to take more than was necessary from our parents or run up debts to add to our inevitable borrowings during our university careers. We had parents who were well-off but not super rich.

So we decided that we would take out July and August of 2022 to go backpacking around the Far East. We were both 18, and relatively inexperienced, but we figured that the incidence of young people coming to harm in this part of the world was actually quite rare and that once we got there it would be quite cheap to live. We booked our tickets in the spring and started to prepare for our adventure during late June when exams were done and we were only loosely still at school.

So far my story is pretty normal and routine. Lots of kids have done what we did and many more will spread their wings in this way in the future. However what happened to me out there was, hopefully, far from normal and I'm sharing my experiences in the hope that others won't make the same mistakes as me and won't suffer the same consequences. I'm not in any way complaining about what I had to endure. If you visit any country in the world you should know their customs and practices, and play by their rules.

We were booked on a late afternoon flight to Singapore out of London Heathrow. We were then scheduled to have 4 hours in Singapore before getting a short haul flight to our first destination. I'm not going to say which country we went to after Singapore as I don't want to appear to be criticising their system of justice and I'm also not wanting to make it easy for anyone reading this to identify me specifically. There are lots of Emilys out there!

At this point I should explain that both Amber and I were a little wild at that time. Nothing too outrageous, but we were risk takers and were hell bent on experimentation and having a good time. We dabbled a little bit in mild drug taking. This was nothing worse than a bit of weed incorporated into chocolate brownies, but we loved the buzz that it gave us. Amber used to prepare them at her house but latterly I would always have a few pieces stored in a plastic box in my room at home. We were careful about when and where we would consume the drug and we decided that we would take a few pieces with us on our travels. We thought that it would give us a fun start to our holiday, given that our first destination was a lovely looking beach resort.

Amber had been spending a few days with her cousins in London before we met up the night before our flights out. We both had fairly large rucksacks packed and just before we left Amber produced a long, slim container filled with chocolate brownies. The plastic box was a bit like one that you would store bacon in and it was totally air tight with a clip on lid. To us it seemed totally safe to travel with it as it would be buried in amongst clothes and no tell-tail smell could escape. Amber's rucksack was jam packed so I said that I would find space in mine.

We left for Heathrow the following morning to ensure we were in plenty of time for the flight. We were both dressed in similar outfits; short sleeveless tee shirts, which just about came down to the bottom of our ribs, short wrap around cotton skirts plus invisible socks with trainers. I had gone for a bright red top combined with a black skirt as these are the perfect colours for my complexion. I had lots of bare skin on display but I wanted to have comfortable clothing for the flight and something cool for when we arrived in the tropical heat.

The flight to Singapore passed without incident and we didn't see our rucksacks until we arrived at our final destination. We were tired but excited to be on the cusp of what we thought would be the biggest adventure of our lives. We waited patiently for our rucksacks to appear on the luggage carousel and we soon had them on our backs as we departed via the customs area. Many times I've passed through the 'Nothing To Declare' isle in airports and wondered if anyone really took any notice of the passing stream of passengers. Suddenly a small man in custom's uniform appeared out of nowhere and asked me to follow him into a side room. Amber walked on beyond the controlled zone.

You can probably see where this is heading, but at the time I was completely unconcerned. Somehow I'd totally forgotten about the chocolate brownies and it was only when the man asked me to empty out the contents of my rucksack that the penny dropped; I might be in a spot of bother here! Even so, the contents of the box looked totally innocent and when he asked me about them I simply said that they were there in case I was hungry on the journey. Looking back, I was just so naïve. He knew instinctively what was going on and my heart sank when he said that he was going to get the contents checked out. He asked me to wait and I could hear the door being locked behind him as he left the room.

Half an hour went by and when he returned he didn't have the box with him. I knew this was a bad sign. He asked me to follow him and soon I was sitting in an office opposite another more impressive looking man who I took to be one of the head guys in the customs section. He spoke perfect English.

“Miss Lovett. We have reason to believe that you have just got off a flight from Singapore and you attempted to bring into this country some cake laced with cannabis. Have you any comment to make about this?”

I must confess that at this point I broke down in tears. The enormity of what I had done suddenly hit home. I was in big trouble and none of the people who would normally help me were anywhere close or available. I was on my own and even Amber was nowhere to be seen. I was simply too frightened to do anything other than own up. It was obvious there was no point in trying to lie my way out of it and my tears were a certain sign of guilt anyway.

“I'm really sorry sir,” was the best that I could manage when I'd regained a bit of composure.

“In our country the importation of drugs is a serious offence,” he lectured me. “Until a few years ago, serious offences were punishable by death and today we have many people in our jails serving long sentences for drug offenses.”

At this point I was sweating profusely and physically shaking with trepidation.

“However,” he continued. “I've got some better news for you. We have analysed the chocolate cake and the amount of cannabis in it is minimal. Also the total amount of cake is small which leads up to conclude that you had no intention of trying to sell this material to other people. These factors go in your favour but, nevertheless, you have committed a criminal offence according to the laws of our country. You have two choices. First option is that you will remain in custody here overnight and appear in court tomorrow. You have more or less confessed to the charge which will also go in your favour. It's not possible to guarantee the outcome, but at best you will get a $100 fine and at worst you may have to spend up to 7 days in jail. Alternatively you can agree to subject yourself to corporal punishment here and now. Once the sentence has been carried out you would then be free to join your friend and continue your travels. Your decision please.”

It goes without saying that both options were horrific. The fine on our limited budgets would not have been good news, but a spell in a foreign jail sounded even worse. I concluded it was time to be brave, but I wanted to have some idea of what I would be letting myself in for if I opted for the corporal punishment. I asked him.

“You would receive ten strokes of the cane across your bottom. You would be processed straight after this interview is concluded and you would be free to go within about two hours. I'm not supposed to give you advice, Miss Lovett, but I would recommend having the matter dealt with today.”

I knew he was right and told him of my decision to take the caning without further delay.

“OK, that's fine. I thought you would decide this way and I've already prepared the paperwork accordingly. This agreement is very straight forward. You are not going through the legal system, so you don't need a lawyer, and you are simply signing to confess to the charges and that you have freely decided to accept ten strokes of the cane as punishment. It is all in English and there are no complicated clauses or language.”

It was as he said. I signed the form and he gave me a copy for me to keep. I tucked it into a side pocket on my rucksack.

He then went on to explain the process going forward.

“I'm head of the Customs team here and this is now the end of your involvement with us. In a few minutes I will hand you over to the Airport Welfare team who will look after you until you are free to leave. The only other team who will be involved are the Punishment Squad who will be made up of two officers who will make the short journey from the neighbouring prison to carry out the sentence. That is as much as I can tell you.”

He picked up his phone and spoke to someone in his native language. A few minutes later, two young girls appeared dressed in western-style tight-fitting jeans and yellow tee shirts with 'WELFARE' written in large letters across their shoulders and a smaller 'welfare' badge positioned top right on the front of their shirts. They were introduced as Lin and Tai.

They thanked the customs man and Lin, who looked to be the senior of the two, addressed me. Once again, her English was flawless. This must be a condition of employment in these airport roles.

“OK Emily, we are fully up to date with your situation and the punishment that you have agreed to. We have to put you in handcuffs and you will then need to come with us to the Welfare Room where we will prepare you for your caning.”

With this, Lin produced a set of handcuffs and it wasn't long before my wrists were fastened behind my back and I was being escorted down a long passageway, further into the bowels of the airport complex. Eventually we came to a door at the end of a passage which opened out into a rectangular shaped room with no windows. There were chairs and tables, but these had all been cleared to the side walls. The total size of the room was probably four meters by eight meters with a tiled floor and bright fluorescent lighting. Our door was towards one end of the room and there were two more doors at the other end.

When we were in the room, Lin locked the door and led me over to one of the side tables. She took off the handcuffs while Tai drew up three chairs. We all sat down, with me between the two welfare girls. They were maybe a few years older than me but both lovely, not only with their beautiful Asian looks but also in the way that they dealt with me. They could see that I was frightened and they did everything that they could to calm me down and reassure me. Lin did most of the talking.

“Emily, we're not here to judge you. We are here to help make this process as easy as it can be for you. If you want anything, please ask. What will happen next is that the Welfare Team doctor will come in to check you over and prepare you for your punishment. Dr Chen is really nice and she will stay with us until this is all over and dealt with. Meantime, we will need to weigh and measure you.”

This seemed a bit odd to me but I was hardly in a position to question their methods. Tai produced a set of scales from a nearby cupboard, along with an old-fashioned tape measure. She measured my neck and wrists, then had me stand with my back to the wall so that she could measure my height. Dr Chen came in shortly afterwards and Kai gave her all of the data on me.

“My name is Dr Chen,” she introduced herself. She looked about thirty and, once again, she was obviously a very pretty lady despite being dressed in a white lab coat. “Please take off all of your clothes so that I can give you a full examination.”

I removed my shoes and socks first, placing them under the table. I then took off my top. I wasn't wearing a bra. My breasts are on the small side but firm and with good shape. I generally don't need to wear a bra and I had opted not to wear one for the journey. I then unfastened my skirt and unwound it so that I was then stood there in my panties only. They were my favourite white silky ones with a high cut on the tops of my legs, but a full coverage at the back. I hesitated, but a look from Dr Chen told me that keeping them on was not an option. I wasn't too upset at this stage as we were all females and I'm actually quite proud of my body for which, since puberty, I've always maintained a 'no hairs' policy.

When I was totally naked, Dr Chen got to work. She took my pulse and checked my heartbeat. She looked inside my mouth and my ears before asking me to raise my hands above my head and cough. She seemed satisfied.

“Please turn around, Emily.”

This I did. She then seemed to spend a long time checking my bottom. It's quite small but with a reasonable covering of firm flesh. I've always prided myself on having no wobble! I must say I like the shape of my bottom coming down from a slim waist and flaring out slightly to the fleshiest bit just before it tucks under to where my legs start. Many a boyfriend has told me that it looks fabulous in tight jeans. Dr Chen then told me that I could turn back to face her.

“You are a lovely girl in great condition, Emily. Part of my job today is to choose the cane that will be used on you. There are three options with the heaviest one best suited to the full body types, particularly men. The middle one is the most frequently used and it suits the rest of the males and the heavier built females. The so called junior cane is the one best suited for girls like you with slim figures. It is the same length as the other two but much thinner. It will sting more but you have great skin tone and I'm sure that you will handle it well.”

With that she went back to the cupboard where the scales were stored and she retrieved a cane from the top shelf that I took to be the junior version chosen for me. This was not a good moment, as I could now view the implement that was going to shortly be used on my bottom and it was all starting to feel a bit too real. She placed the cane on a table at the far end of the room.

Dr Chen then spoke to me again.

“I need to explain to you what happens next, Emily. You are to receive ten strokes of the cane on your bare bottom.”

This was bad news as I had hoped that I would be able to wear some or all of my clothes during the punishment.

“You will also be restrained during your caning. This is mainly for your own safety so that there is no danger of you moving and the cane landing where it shouldn't. We are members of the Welfare Team and we will prepare you before your punishment and look after you afterwards. Our job is to make this as easy as possible for you. That's clearly not the role of the Punishment Squad. They have their job to do and we have ours. It's that simple. Total separation.”

The significance of that last statement was lost on me at that time.

Dr Chen then offered me the option of putting my tee shirt back on, but she told me that my other clothing had to remain where it was. This I did and I felt a bit better.

They then got on with organising the apparatus and this was when events took a truly horrible turn for the worst. I had noticed four metal lined holes in the floor of the room positioned pretty much centrally from all of the walls. Dr Chen, Lin and Tai had all disappeared into a side door that evidently gave access to a store cupboard. A few moments later, they emerged with a modern looking metal frame upon which was mounted an unmistakable shape of a traditional-looking set of wooden stocks. I'd seen stocks illustrated in history books, but I had no idea that they were still in use. As I looked across, I could see the two narrower openings either side of a larger opening in the centre. Below the stocks was a solid panel and I could see the horizontal divide which split the holes for wrists and neck in two. There was a solid-looking hinge at one end and a clip fastener at the other. At ankle level there were two leather straps and there was little doubt in my mind what these were for.

I think they could see my look of horror.

Tai came over and took hold of my hands.

“Try not to think too much about the restraining apparatus, Emily. Yes, it looks awful but it is simply there to hold you steady. It won't actually make your punishment any better or worse. I've seen this process loads of times. You will come out of the other side OK. Trust me.”

The frame was soon fastened to the floor. I then saw Dr Chen checking the measurements that Kai had taken earlier and some minor adjustments were made to the height of the stocks. She also put in some small half liners into the wrist and neck holes, presumably so that they would fit more snugly around my slender limbs. I was then invited forward to take up position. Bear in mind that I was totally naked apart from a very skimpy top that barely covered down to below my breasts.

Dr Chen was clearly in charge of this bit.

“OK Emily, please come forward and stand with you ankles in front of the leather straps.”

This I did, and Lin and Tai soon had an ankle each secured. Dr Chen then unfastened the stocks and raised the upper part so that it was standing vertically to the right hand side.

“Now bend over and place your wrists and neck into the appropriate spaces.”

This was almost the worst bit. I knew that once the stocks were secured that there would be no means of escape. I first placed my lovely delicate wrists into the stocks and then put my neck into the appropriate place. Dr Chen lowered the top half of the stocks and carefully made sure that no part of me was being trapped before making it secure with the latch. My neck and wrists were tightly held, but not uncomfortably so, given the soft leather lining that had been used in the openings. Dr Chen then applied some light oil to my bottom explaining that this was to help my skin remain supple during the caning with the hope that any damage to my skin would be minimised. I could only hope that it was going to work as intended. It did feel nice, and somehow reassuring, to feel her hands sliding gently over my bottom.

To say that I felt vulnerable would be a massive understatement. I couldn't move any part of my body. My bottom was bare and unprotected, and I didn't even have the ability to look behind me. This latter situation got worse shortly afterwards as I saw Lin and Tai unfold some room partitions which, when in position, neatly divided the space into two equal halves. Dr Chen, Lin, Tai and my head and hands were on one side, and the rest of me was effectively in another room. This effect was completed when Tai then drew down a blind from the ceiling that blocked off the space above the stocks. I could then see why the room was shaped this way and why the stocks had to be so precisely located.

Meanwhile, Dr Chen was speaking on the phone, but not in English, so I couldn't understand what she was saying. She came over to speak to me shortly afterwards.

“I know this must seem a bit strange, Emily. The rooms are set up like this so that we have no knowledge of who comes across from the prison to give you your caning. We know the cane that they will use, because it's the only one in that part of the room, and we know that you will get ten cane strokes. Nothing more. We won't know whether the Punishment Squad are males, females or mixed. They might be old or young, but their identities will never be known to us. We will not hear them talking and we certainly can't see them. That is the law of our country and that is how it has to be. Anyway, I've let them know at the prison that you are ready. It normally takes them about fifteen minutes to get across here.”

There then followed the longest fifteen minutes of my life. I couldn't decide whether I wanted the punishment to be delayed indefinitely, or for them to get there quickly so that the nightmare could be over. It's not possible to describe what it is like to be in that situation and you can do nothing but wait. Those girls were so kind though. Lin and Kai both held one of my hands and tried to chat about their lives and with me about my plans for the next couple of months. There were a few tears, but generally I was composed and resigned to my fate. Dr Chen offered me sips of water which was thoughtful of her. But all this time I was acutely aware of my bared bottom in the other part of the room.

I don't know how much time had passed, but eventually I heard the door at the far end of the room open and close. I could hear footsteps, but nobody on either side of the divide was saying anything. More footsteps, and then I felt a hand running over my bottom. It was light as if whoever was just checking out my skin condition. Then I felt a few gentle pinches on each buttock, maybe checking out how fleshy my bottom was and making a judgement on how hard the strokes should be applied. I knew my time was almost upon me.

At this stage, I had no way of telling whether the guards were male or female. Predictably, I was praying that they were female. Surely they wouldn't send men to cane a young girl's bare bottom? I realised that gender was probably going to make no difference to the severity of the caning, but the thought of one or two men having sight of me in that state was horrible. I had nothing on my legs, nothing covering my bottom and most of my back was exposed. Yes, I had my tee shirt on, but my little breasts must have been visible if someone wanted to make an effort to look.

I thought that I heard the scrape of the cane being lifted from the surface of the table, but I couldn't be sure. Nothing happened for a few more minutes. ‘What are they doing?’ I thought.

Lin bent down and whispered in my ear.

“Not long now, Emily. Get yourself ready.”

Still time stood still.

“You'll get no warning before you get the first one,” she warned. “Just hold tight.”

Then it landed. I thought that I might feel the cane resting on my skin first, but no. It just arrived out of nowhere. And what an impact. Pain flooded through my bottom and seemed to spread all over my body. I let out an involuntary cry. It was totally consuming and I had nine more to go. I couldn't move and I had no choice but to hang on and see it out.

“One,” Tai whispered in my ear.

Throughout the caning, Tai continued to count the strokes in a low, barely audible voice. I got the feeling that she was doing this as much for her benefit as mine. “You cry out as much as you want, Emily, if it helps you get through,” she said.

I wasn't capable of answering. Numbers two and three came in pretty quick succession. Just as hard as the first one, still with no warning, but at least I knew what to expect. Just not when!

Then nothing for several minutes.

“They'll be taking photos, Emily,” Lin explained. “They have to take photos before and after, plus during the caning so that they are covered if anyone lodges a complaint. That could be you, your friend, your parents, anybody. They have to be careful not to damage you too badly and this will be their evidence that the punishment was delivered correctly.”

The thought of someone taking pictures of my naked bottom filled me with dread, particularly during my caning. Again, I had no choice.

The fourth stroke took me totally by surprise for some reason. Maybe my mind was focused on the photo-taking, but this one seemed to be the worst so far. I let out a massive scream and dissolved into tears. Please, this had to stop. But another one followed almost immediately and then Lin was whispering in my ear again.

“You're doing great, Emily. That's half way through. Keep squeezing Tai's and my hands and we'll get you through this. Do you want another sip of water?”

I shook my head. This was surreal. So courteous and almost normal at one end of me and total mayhem and carnage going on at the other side of the screen.

The sixth one was low, almost on the top of my legs. The strokes had started high but were now landing on what I knew to be the fleshiest part of my bottom. This felt a bit better, but the constant stinging sensation between strokes was really beginning to build. I've never sat my naked bottom onto a hornets nest but I can imagine that the sensation might be similar. The caner seemed to take a liking to that lower area. The first six strokes seemed to be well spaced out but maybe they were now running out of room to keep the strokes separate. Numbers seven and eight were both powerful blows to that lower area, and by this stage I was howling with the pain.

“Two left,” said Lin.

By this stage I was sweating profusely, despite the very efficient airport air conditioning system. Dr Chen was constantly towelling my face, both for this reason and to wipe away my tears. Such kindness!

The ninth was higher, and even more painful, but then there was another delay.

Tai spoke next, again, whispering in my ear. “Get ready for this one, Emily. The tenth stroke is always the hardest and it will be diagonal, linking up the previous cane lines.”

I think by that stage my bottom was going numb with the pain. Yes, it did seem to be the hardest stroke and I could sense that it was aggravating some of the existing raw cane marks. But was it worse than the first one? There was so much raw emotion in play that it would be impossible to give a reasoned answer to that question.

I was so relieved it was over. I knew that the Punishment Squad hadn’t left the room and I took it that they were taking their final photos. I was beginning to turn the corner and feel a bit better that the ordeal was almost over. Then something happened that made me break down in tears again. One of the guards coughed. It was unmistakably a male cough. I think I must have convinced myself that my assailants were fellow females but this illusion was shattered in a split second. It might have been a man and a woman, but what was certain was that at least one man had been present during my ordeal. Was it his hand that checked my bottom at the start? I'll never know the answer to that question.

I think everyone on my side of the divide had heard the cough too, but nothing was said. Confidentiality was obviously paramount. We heard retreating footsteps and the far door closed firmly behind them. For them, job done and a return to normal duties at the prison.

There's not much else to tell you. The blind above the stocks was raised and the screens folded back into place, returning the Welfare Room into one single long space again. Dr Chen came round to inspect the damage.

'You've got great skin, Emily. That was quite a caning but all you have to show for it is a mass of red lines. I'll rub some cream into it which will help you heal and hopefully keep the worst of the bruising at bay.”

The cool cream felt lovely and, again, Dr Chen's caressing hand strokes were both calming and, actually, bordering on sensual.

I was released from the stocks and walked over to the table to retrieve my clothes. I looked over my shoulder and I could see that my bottom was a bit of a mess. It was still throbbing constantly and this took several hours to subside. I gently replaced my panties and immediately felt better from feeling the smooth, cool fabric against my skin. I soon had my skirt, socks and trainers back on.

“You're free to go now, Emily,” said Dr Chen. “Go carefully!” was her only advice. “Lin will take you to the departures hall.”

And this she did after I had thanked the other two for supporting me so well. Amber was there waiting for me. She looked so concerned but by then I had regained most of my composure and spirit.

“That was a bit of painful bad luck,” I joked. “They've even pinched our chocolate brownies!”

The End

© Julie Baker 2024