The Worst Punishment

I think I've discovered what my worst punishment is. Well, a slight lie, my second worst punishment. The first would be "no spanking, ever again", and in all fairness, as a threat that one works pretty damn well.
I experienced the second worst punishment this weekend though, and it rather surprised me just what it turned out to be.
As you may have noticed the other day, Eliane and EmmaJane were in rather a lot of trouble. They had been ordered to attend Saturday detention and be punished, in preference to being expelled for their (brilliant, if I may say so) masterminding of Muck Up Day.

So, come Saturday afternoon, two very sorry girls were waiting outside the study to be called inside. Once inside they stood in front of the master, who was holding fearsomely whippy looking cane being lectured about their disgraceful behaviour. Then the question was asked:
"Which of you will be caned first?"
Silence. I didn't want to speak up in case EmmaJane preferred to get it over and done with, but I also didn't want to force her to go first if she didn't want to. I was also in no particular hurry to make the acquaintance of the cane being flexed in front of me.
The silence seemed endless. After what felt like three hours but in reality was probably only thirty seconds, I volunteered to go first. EmmaJane was sent to stand facing the wall, I was told to raise my skirt, lower my knickers and bend over the desk.
Once I was bent over, I was asked how many strokes of the cane was the standard punishment for "Gross Misconduct". Which I should have read in the school rules, it seems. When I admitted I didn't know, EmmaJane was asked. She guessed twelve. We were informed that it was actually eight, but as neither of us knew the rules, we could take the twelve anyway...
I can't remember that much about my caning. I can remember counting on my fingers to focus on saying the count correctly, as I'm not actually that good at keeping count, especially if I'm being distracted (with lectures). I remember focussing on making sure I SAID the count, and gave my thanks for the stroke. I remember sucking in my breath after each stroke, and kicking up my legs, and trying so, so hard not to break position, but not quite managing it. I remember mentally just holding on for dear life, trying to get through it.
I think I might remember the sound of the cane just before it slashed into my buttocks, but that might have been later that I heard it. I only sort of remember the actual pain as it struck.
What I do remember though is being very conscious of EmmaJane being over the other side of the room, with her head to the wall, having to listen and knowing that her turn was next.
Eventually my twelve was over. I was chastened, but not crying. I was told to rearrange my clothing and to swap places with my co-conspirator. As we passed, we managed to briefly squeeze each others hands.
And now here comes the worst part of the punishment. I was standing away from the table, facing the wall, so I couldn't see anything. But boy, could I hear it. I had to stand there and listen as twelve times that horrible cane whistled through the air and impacted on EmmaJane's bum. Twelve times of sharing that pain with her, cringing as the cane hit home, of hearing her count, of wondering how she wasn't in tears yet. At one point I actually peeped round and tried to watch on the basis that it might be slightly less traumatic watching than it would be just having to listen. Unfortunately, I was spotted and threatened with more of the same if I didn't turn back to the wall.
I'm finding it hard to describe how intense it was listening to someone else be punished like that. It was far, far more upsetting than being punished myself. My own caning had left me chastened, as I said, but I was so very, very close to tears by the time this one was done. I actually had to stop myself at one point from running over and going "Stop hurting my friend!".
I think I can say that it's probably one of the most intense scenes I've ever done, which, given it only contained 24 strokes in total, is pretty impressive really. It still makes me shiver to think about it.
I think one of the reasons it was so intense was that there were only the two of us being punished. That dynamic between us became very intense. Even though we were separated by the width of a largish room, we were completely connected over that distance. I was certainly "with her" for every single stroke, and I'm sure she was for me too. Very special, very intense, and very much something I want to do again.
Once EmmaJane's punishment was over, we were called back to the centre of the room, lectured and dismissed. Outside the study door we came out of character and hugged a lot. Then we were joined by the mean man who inflicted such nastiness on us, and more cuddles helped us come down from the scene.
As I say, very intense, and even though listening to someone being punished in a scene like that is probably at least ten times worse than actually receiving it yourself, it's still something I'd like to experience again.