Both Sides of the Story

This story was written solely by me, Sampast. It involves the mere mentioning of two spankings of two young girls. The story is entirely fictitious. The author in no way advocates corporal
punishment of children. This story asks you, the reader, to participate in the ending. You must read both sides, and decide for yourself, which one was right. Please send all comments to
[email protected]

Both Sides of the Story

Copyright © 1999

The sixth-grade teachers were sitting at lunch one day,
each bragging about their students. Mrs. Pappas, Mr. Fried, and
Mrs. Spiro were discussing the American Presidents' Reports that
had been due the previous week. The best report from each class
was going to be entered in a district-wide contest.

Carol Spiro said, "Well, you should read the one my twin
wrote. It's absolutely amazing!"

"Really? Because my twin also wrote a great report. On
Abraham Lincoln," Sue Pappas announced.

"Wait a minute. Robin wrote her report on Abe Lincoln
also?" Carol asked.

Sue stopped. "You mean, Jennifer did hers on Lincoln?"

"Yes," Carol said. "That's strange. I didn't know both
girls did their report on the same president."

Sue replied, "Hmm, that is odd. Well, let me read
Jennifer's and you can read Robin's."

John Fried jumped in, "Of course, you haven't seen the
report on John F. Kennedy that Jimmy, in my class did. He'll
probably blow both your twin reports away!"

Later that day, Sue and Carol compared notes.

"I can't believe it," Carol said. "The reports are
almost identical."

Sue sighed. "Hmm, just like the twins."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robin and Jennifer sat in the living room waiting for
their parents. They didn't usually have a family meeting in the
middle of the week, and wondered what was up. Both girls had
been pretty good lately, so neither of them thought they were in
trouble.

After putting one and a half-year old Stephen to bed,
Charlie and Lisa came into the room, and joined the twins on the
couch. No one spoke.

"Daddy, is something wrong?" Robin asked.

"You might say that," Charlie replied.

Jennifer was scared. "What? What happened?"

Lisa said, "Your teacher called."

Robin and Jennifer exchanged looks. Their mom hadn't
said whose teacher called. Jennifer thought hard and tried to
remember if she had done something at school that she didn't
tell her parents about.

"Who's teacher? Mine or Jenn's?" Robin queried.

"Both," Charlie answered.

Jennifer laughed and said, "Both? Why?" Charlie looked at
Lisa. She spoke first. "It seems girls that both Mrs. Pappas
and Mrs. Spiro both wanted to enter your president report into a
contest."

"Really?" Jenn asked.

Robin smiled. "That's so cool!"

Charlie agreed, "Yes, we thought so, too. Unfortunately,
there's a problem."

"What kind of problem, Daddy?" Jenn asked.

"Well, when they were going over the final reports for
the entry into the contest, all the sixth-grade teachers read
all the reports," Charlie explained.

He hoped he wouldn't have to keep going. He hoped one of
the girls' faces would show guilt. He stared at them both, but
neither showed anything but wonderment at what he was trying to
say.

"Right? And?" Robin asked. She was getting impatient.
Why wasn't her father just saying what it was that needed
saying?

"Daddy! Tell us!" Jennifer remarked.

Lisa stated, "Your reports were almost exactly the same!"

"What we'd like to know, is how is that possible?"
Charlie asked.

Both girls stared at their parents. Jennifer felt that
they had just dropped the bomb on their living room. Robin was
shocked. They looked at each other and stared.

What happened next was a bunch of shouting, and
screaming, and accusations were flying. Each girl accused the
other of copying from her. Charlie and Lisa had a tough time
breaking up the fight that ensued.

"Enough! The next shouter is going to get a spanking!"
he announced.

The girls froze. Neither of them wanted a spanking.

"Now, sit back down," Charlie commanded.

Both girls sat back on the couch. Neither looked at the
other. They waited for their dad to take charge.

"Now I want you to tell me which one of you copied from
the other. Because that has to be what happened," Charlie
requested.

"It wasn't me, Daddy," Robin offered.

Jenn sneered, "Well, it wasn't me, either!"

"Girls, one of you had to have copied from the other.
You didn't each write almost the exact same report," Lisa
explained.

"Well, it was on Abe Lincoln's life. Maybe we each had
the same information," Jenn suggested.

Aha! Charlie thought, Jenn was the guilty one!

"But," he said, "your teachers said the writing style was
exactly the same. You both wouldn't have written the exact same
sentences."

"Maybe we did. There's only a few ways you could write
the same information, Daddy!" Robin mentioned.

Hmm, Charlie thought, maybe Robin copied Jennifer.

"Well, I didn't copy Robin. I spent a long time on my
report!" Jennifer said.

"Well, so did I. I always do my work well. I would
never copy!" Robin reported.

This started the girls arguing again, and Charlie
realized it was not going to be so easy to find out who was
telling the truth.

Lisa saw the look on her husband's face. She tried to
break up the girls' squabbling.

"GIRLS!" she warned.

The twins stopped arguing. Jennifer said, "Hmmph! and
folded her arms across her chest. Robin sat down and pouted.

"Well, one of you copied from the other. I want to hear
both your sides, separately. Go to your room! You're both
punished until we find out who is the guilty party," Charlie
informed the twins.

"I'm not going anywhere with her," Jennifer announced.

"You are going to go over my knee, young lady, if I hear
that tone of voice again," Charlie warned Jennifer. "Now, I
told you both to go to your room. Go to bed. I will hear the
first side of the story in the morning."

Jennifer got up and stormed out of the room. Robin got
up and hugged and kissed Lisa and Charlie goodnight.

"Who will you listen to first, Daddy?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. I'll talk to Mommy and decide by the
morning. Now, up to bed!" Charlie ordered.

"Yes, and don't even talk to your sister. If there's any
problem with you two, buzz us, and we'll come up," Lisa
declared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~






Robin's Side of the Story

It was the beginning of January, and my teacher, Mrs.
Pappas told us that we were going to start a unit on the
presidents. She told us that Presidents' Day was coming up in
the beginning of February. She wanted us to each choose a
president to write about. No one in the class could pick the
same one.

Well, everyone wanted to do John F. Kennedy or George
Washington. Except me, and this boy, Jason. We both wanted to
do Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. Pappas said I could do Lincoln and
Jason got to do Thomas Jefferson, which was his second choice.
Anyway, so I got Lincoln, and I was really excited.

I came home and I told you about it. Remember Mommy?
Anyway, my teacher told us we had to make an outline on what we
were going to write about. We had to hand the outline in by the
end of the week.

Then Jennifer came home and told you that her class was
going to be studying about the presidents, too. I guess it was
a sixth-grade assignment. I couldn't believe it when she told
you she was going to be writing about Abraham Lincoln.

I also remember that Jenn was mad. She didn't want me
writing about the same president as her. She said, "But we're
not allowed to write about the same person." "Yeah, in each
class, we're not. But there are three sixth-grade classes," I
explained to her, "and only 42 different presidents. Some
people would have the same ones."

But she was still mad. But Mommy thought it would be
good. She thought we could help each other. I wasn't so sure,
but kept my mouth shut. Jennifer carried on and complained
until Mommy told her to stop.

I worked on my outline all week. Daddy, you took us to
the library one night and I took out a few books. I also
checked the almanac and the encyclopedia for certain important
dates. I had my outline finished by Thursday. It was all ready
to hand in on Friday.

I remember sitting at the dining room table that Thursday
night. Mommy, you had been out and Daddy, you were watching us
and Stephen. Stephen was playing in the playpen, and Jenn and I
were doing homework.

Jenn started complaining. She said, "Daddy, this is too
hard. I can't do it." You came over to see what Jenn was upset
about. She told you she was having trouble finishing her
outline. You asked to see what she had so far. You got mad
because she hardly had anything on her page.

"What have you been doing all week, Jenn?" you asked.
Jennifer started to cry and said, "It's hard, Daddy. I don't
know what to do." Daddy, you were trying to help Jennifer but
she was being impossible. I just sat there, minding my own
business.

Jennifer was whining a lot, and you started to yell at
her, and warn her not to whine. You asked me if I could show
Jenn how I did my outline. I really didn't want to, because I
didn't want her to copy me, but I agreed to show her how to do
an outline. But she didn't want to listen. She didn't want to
take my help.

I tried to show her how I had looked up Lincoln in the
encyclopedia, and had listed the main events of his life: his
birthplace, his early childhood, his later childhood, being a
lawyer, getting married, etc.

But she wouldn't listen. She was still whining.
Finally, Daddy, you yelled at her to come to you. Jennifer went
into the living room. You must have pulled down her pants
because the next thing I heard was a loud smack. It sounded
like bare hand to bare skin.

Jennifer was getting a spanking and she was yelling so
loud, I thought the whole neighborhood could hear her. You told
her to stand in the corner afterwards and think about her
attitude. I didn't say a word. I didn't want any trouble.

I continued to work on the beginning stages of my report.
Daddy, I asked you to come into the dining room. I wanted to
show you what I had so far. I had a problem and I explained it
to you.

I told you that it said in the book that Lincoln's mother
had died when he was nine years old. Then it said he loved his
mother so much that he called her, "My angel mother." You
looked through the book until you found the part I missed, where
it said that his father had remarried. It was his stepmother
that he called his angel mother.

I was confused. It didn't say his stepmother. Daddy,
you looked at me and asked me if I called Mommy my stepmother.
I was astounded. I said, "No, of course not." I mean, she is
the only mother I remember. Daddy, you explained to me that
Abraham Lincoln loved his stepmother so much that he didn't
think of her that way either.

I really understood it then. I continued to work on my
report. Jennifer was in the corner, listening. It's possible
that she could have copied me, but I don't know.

Mommy, Daddy, I worked on my report every day. I went to
the library after school a lot, and I used the books I took out
at home. You made me share my books with Jennifer, because we
were doing the same topic. We used a lot of the same books. We
got the same information.

Mommy, Daddy, I didn't copy from Jennifer. Really, I
wrote my report myself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Jennifer's Side of the Story

It was the beginning of January. My teacher, Mrs. Spiro
told us we could pick any president to do a report on. I wanted
to do Abraham Lincoln because I knew his birthday was coming up,
and there would be a lot of books on him at the library. My
teacher let me because I was the first one who picked him. The
other kids were mad, except for Sarah, 'cause she got to do
George Washington. We winked at each other.

I came home and told Mommy about the report. She looked
shocked. I thought it was because I was actually enthusiastic
about a school assignment. But that wasn't why she was
surprised. It seemed that Robin, also, had chosen the same
topic.

I was mad. I wanted to do a good job on this report. My
grade in social studies wasn't too high, and I knew this report
would improve it. I didn't want to have to share my books with
Robin. But Mommy said we had to. She thought it was nice that
we could work together.

But not me. I wasn't going to help Robin at all. She
was a good student, but she hated social studies. She would
have to suffer through it like all the rest of them. I was
going to get started on this right away.

It was harder than I thought getting started. All the
books said basically the same thing, but it was hard for me to
make an outline. Daddy, I asked you for help, but you said I
had to do it on my own. The outline was hard, but once I got
started, it got easier.

I went to the library and took out lots of books. Robin
had taken some out, too, but they were different ones. We
worked on our reports at the dining room table. We had all the
books spread out, and we shared some. Robin could have easily
looked at my papers while we sat there.

One night, it was right before the report was due, maybe
a week before. Robin was crying that she couldn't do this one
part. Daddy, you were at work. Mommy, you were busy with
Stephen, so you asked me if I would help her. I tried to see
what the problem was, but Robin didn't want to take any help
from me.

She said she had written the whole report without my help
and was going to keep it that way. I said, "Fine, I won't
help." And she said, "Good!" Mommy, you got mad at Robin
because she was behaving like a two-year-old and you warned her
that if she didn't stop, you were going to send her to our room.

Well, I just sat there and minded my own business. I was
trying to finish my report and stay out of trouble. I was
really getting into Abraham Lincoln's life. The report was due
the next Monday. I was up to the part where Abe and Mary were
at the theater.

I was just writing the part where John Wilkes Booth shot
Lincoln, when Robin threw herself on the floor. I couldn't
believe it! My sister, at eleven years old, was having a temper
tantrum. Mommy put Stephen down and asked me to watch him for a
minute. She grabbed Robin's arm and led her to her bedroom.

I tried to listen, but I couldn't hear much. Besides, I
was trying to watch Stephen while I wrote. After a few minutes
of silence, I heard loud noises and then Robin screaming and
crying. I figured she was getting a spanking.

Next thing I knew, Robin came back to the dining room
with a red nose, and watery eyes. She was rubbing her backside.
I couldn't even look her in the face, because I was afraid I
might smile. Hey, it isn't like she never sees me get punished!
And it's very rare for me to see her in trouble.

Mommy, you came to get Stephen. You told us it was
getting late, and that we should quit for the night. I told you
I just wanted to finish my sentence about Lincoln's funeral.
You said I could, but then you wanted me to put my stuff away
and start getting ready for bed.

I looked over at Robin. She was gathering all her papers
and materials together and putting them into her folder. I
finished my sentence and put all my stuff in my own folder.
Then I put my folder on top of my books and went upstairs to get
undressed.

Robin didn't come up until twenty minutes later. I don't
know what she was doing down there still. Mommy, you had gone
to put Stephen to bed. Maybe she was copying from me. I don't
know.

But I didn't copy from her. I really worked hard on my
report. I wanted to get a good grade.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Who do you think was telling the truth?


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Both Sides of the Story-The Conclusion

The next day, Charlie called Robin and Jennifer into the
living room for another family meeting.

"Girls, Mommy and I have heard both your sides of the
story. And we still have no idea who copied from who," Charlie
stated.

Both girls held their breaths. Maybe they were off the
hook.

"So, we've decided that you're both grounded for a
month!" he explained.

"What?" Robin said.

"Daddy, no!" Jenn remarked.

Their dad was nodding. "Yes, I'm afraid that's what
we've decided. No t.v., no phone calls, no friends."

"And you'll do your homework separately from now on,"
Lisa added.

Their dad frowned, "You see, I can't tell what happened
here. And I can't pursue the issue anymore. I'm very unhappy
about it, too. You know, girls, I love you as much as ever, but
I think I trust you both a little less now."

Lisa agreed. "Yes, one of you lied to us. Maybe both.
It's a shame that you couldn't just come clean and tell us the
truth."

"You know," Charlie began.

"Uh-oh," Robin thought. "Nothing good ever comes after
Daddy says, 'you know'. Here it comes!"

"I can understand the temptation to cheat. Here you both
were, doing the same report, using the same books, everything
all under one roof. But, you should know, nothing good can come
out of cheating and lying. This whole thing resulted in making
the whole family suspicious and unhappy," Charlie concluded.

Both Robin and Jennifer stared down at the floor. They
both felt miserable. They both felt guilty.

"Go to your room. You're to stay there the rest of the
day. I want you to think about why you're being punished, for a
whole month, yet," Charlie commanded.

Neither girl moved.

"NOW!" he roared. "You should be grateful you're both
not getting spankings.

Robin and Jennifer ran upstairs. Robin flopped down on
her bed, and began to cry. Jennifer laid on her bed, looking
forlorn.

Downstairs, Charlie turned to Lisa and said, "Well, what
do you think?"

"I think one of them is sure to confess, even if it isn't
true," Lisa laughed. "Neither of them wants to be grounded for
a month. You are a genius, honey!" Lisa gushed.

Back upstairs, Robin was finding it difficult to read her
book for English class. She turned to her sister, who was
filing her nails. "Hey, Jenn, this sucks! Why don't you just
confess that you copied from me? You'll get a spanking and then
we won't be punished anymore!" Robin exclaimed.

"Me, confess? Why don't YOU confess?" Jenn screeched.
"I certainly didn't do anything wrong."

"Well, it wasn't me!" Robin shrieked.

Next thing anyone knew, Robin and Jennifer were rolling
around on the floor, screaming, and trying to pull each other's
hair. Charlie and Lisa heard the screaming and thumping on the
floor above them, and came running.

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE? STOP IT, THIS INSTANT, YOUNG
LADIES!" he yelled.

Robin and Jennifer stopped the minute their father
started screaming. They just looked at each other with venom.

Lisa was shocked. "I am very surprised at you two!" she
said, disapprovingly.

"Get over here," Charlie called to both girls. He had
sat down on the edge of Robin's bed. "What, may I ask, is going
on?"

Jennifer pointed at Robin. "She started it, Daddy!" she
whined.

"I did not. You did!" Robin said, jabbing her finger in
her sister's direction.

"You know what, I don't care who started it! You two
know better than to fight. You're both getting spanked!" he
uttered.

"Daddy, no!" Jenn shrieked.

"Please, Daddy, I'm sorry!" Robin pleaded.

"Jennifer, go lay on your bed. Robin, get over here,"
Charlie said as he pulled Robin to stand in between his legs.
He put his finger in the waistband of her pajama bottoms and
with her underwear, pulled them down to her ankles. He then
laid her over his lap and began to spank her.

Charlie spanked and spanked while Jenn and Lisa watched.
Robin was more upset about her sister watching her, then the
fact she was getting the spanking in the first place.

When Robin's bottom was the color of a fire hydrant,
Charlie stopped. Robin was crying hysterically. Charlie stood
her up and pulled up her panties and pajama bottoms.

"Here, lay on your bed, and cry it out," he said, kissing
her on the cheek.

Then he went over to Jennifer's bed. He motioned for
Jenn to lay across his lap. He pulled her pajama bottoms and
panties down to her ankles as well. Then he began to spank,
first one cheek, and then the other. He continued, alternating
cheeks as he went. Jenn's bottom turned as red as her sister's
and that's when he stopped.

Charlie stood Jennifer up, and told her to step out of
her panties and pajamas. He laid her down on her bed. Lisa
came over and slipped a pair of pantsies underneath her.
Charlie kissed Jenn on the cheek and said to both girls, "I love
you, girls, I just want you to remember that."

Charlie and Lisa went downstairs. "Well, I didn't think
I'd be doing that until I got a confession out of them."

"I don't understand, hon. Those two never seem to
learn," Lisa said, shaking her head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a week of being grounded, Robin couldn't stand it
anymore. She hated not being able to watch t.v. or talk to her
friends on the phone. But worst of all, she couldn't stand
being stuck up in her room, stuck with Jennifer, who was just as
miserable as she was. The two of them hadn't spoken since their
daddy had spanked them for fighting.

One night, after dinner, Robin went downstairs to where
her parents were sitting in the living room.

"Mommy? Daddy?" she asked.

Charlie and Lisa looked up from what they were doing.
"Yes, sweetie, what is it?" Lisa asked.

"Um, I need to tell you something," Robin responded.

"Go on," Charlie encouraged.

"It was me. I copied from Jenn," she said.

You could have knocked Charlie over with a feather, he
was so surprised. "What did you just say, honey?" he asked.

"I said, it was me. I copied from Jennifer. But Daddy,
it wasn't the whole paper. I only looked at a little bit of it.
Honest!" Robin uttered.

"Honest? You're being honest, now?" Lisa asked,
laughing.

"Sit down, honey," Charlie said, indicating the couch
opposite their chairs. "Please explain."

"Well," Robin began, "it went like this. I was all done
with my paper. And I was really proud of it. I even bragged to
Jenn how great my paper was. But she didn't care. She said
hers was really good, too. That made me jealous. So when she
was at her friend's house, I took a peek at it. I just wanted
to see if it was as good as mine."

"And it was-really good. Jenn had some parts in hers
that I hadn't put in mine. I thought, Wow, this is great! I
should have this in mine. So I copied it. Just a little bit of
it. I didn't think I was doing such a bad thing. I mean, I
know it's wrong to copy, but, I don't know, I just couldn't help
it.

"I'm sorry, Mommy, Daddy. I really am. I know I should
have told you sooner. But I was afraid," Robin concluded.

Charlie frowned. He knew he should be glad that he
finally knew the truth, but he wasn't. He was miserable. He
guessed he couldn't believe that his angel, Robin, would do
something like this.

"Mommy and I need to talk. Go back to your room. We'll
call you later when we've discussed this issue," Charlie said.

Robin stood up. She started to walk out of the room.

"Robin!" her dad called. She turned around. "I'm very
disappointed in you, young lady."

"I know, Daddy, and I'm sorry," she said quietly, before
turning to go for real.

Later that day, Jenn watched as Robin lay sleeping in her
bed. She was angry at herself for still being grounded. Her
best friend was having a party that night, and she wasn't
allowed to go. She stared at her sister. If it wasn't for her,
they wouldn't be in this mess.

After all, if she didn't have a twin sister who was doing
a report on the same person as she, she never would have had the
impulse to look at her paper. It wasn't her fault that Robin's
was so much better than hers. And she couldn't help it, she had
only copied a little bit of it.

"I guess I should tell Mommy and Daddy," Jenn thought.

Reluctantly, Jenn climbed down the flight of stairs. She
found her parents in the kitchen making dinner.

"Mommy, Daddy, I have something to tell you," Jenn began.

Twenty minutes later, Jenn was sent up to her room.
Charlie looked at Lisa, "What do you make of this, Lisa?"

"I don't know, hon. Both of them? They both confessed
to copying each other. It seems unbelievable!" Lisa shrieked.

"Well, I don't know if I buy it, now. They both seemed
to be telling the truth, but. Hmmm, what if this is just a ploy
to get out of being grounded?" Charlie asked.

"Uh, hon, I think you're stretching here, don't you?"
Lisa declared.

"Yeah, maybe you're right!" Charlie exclaimed. "Well, I
guess they both have to be punished, then."

Upstairs, Jenn leaned over Robin and whispered, "Robin?
You up?"

Robin opened her eyes. "Oh, you're talking to me now,
huh?"

"Yeah, listen Robin. I think we'll both be off the hook
soon, with this grounding thing. I went down and I confessed to
Mommy and Daddy. I told them I was the one who copied from
you," Jenn explained.

Robin's eyes got wide. "You did?"

"Yeah, I figured one week was bad enough. I couldn't go
another three weeks being grounded. The spanking won't last
very long," Jenn remarked.

"But Jenn," Robin began.

"What?" Jennifer asked. "It was easy. And they believed
me. So, don't worry!"

"You don't understand, Jenn. I confessed, too," Robin
admitted.

"What do you mean, you confessed!?" Jenn asked.

Robin was shaking her head violently. "Yeah, I did. I
went downstairs earlier and told Mommy and Daddy that I was the
one who copied from you. Daddy even said he was disappointed in
me."

"Oh, my god! Robin, why didn't you tell me? This is
just great! Now they're gonna think we both lied to get out of
being grounded. Hey, wait a minute. Hey, this isn't so bad,"
Jenn thought aloud.

"What? I don't like this, Jenn. Every time your wheels
spin, we both get into trouble. Tell me!" Robin pleaded.

"Yep," Jenn laughed, "this is just perfect." ~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, after Charlie and Lisa left, Robin and
Jennifer lay crying on their beds. Both of them had very sore
bottoms. But it was worth it. They were still going to be
grounded for the next few weeks, but at least their parents
didn't know the truth.

"Do you think cousin Maggie has a paper on Harriet
Tubman? Black history month is coming up next month!" Jennifer
announced.

"Jennifer, don't even think about it," Robin responded.

The end!