Chapter 1 – From Talk to Trials

"Mum! Dad!" Melody burst into her house, excitedly waving a gaily coloured flyer. Her parents, Gina and Arthur, looked up, startled, wondering what all the fuss was about.

Melody, just fifteen, was a flame haired girl with pretty, tomboyish, looks and a body blossoming into womanhood. Just now her face was as scarlet as her hair, and she was panting heavily, whatever was on the flyer had evidently made her run home as fast as she could.

"Darling, what is it?" asked Arthur, he hadn't seen his daughter so excited since her fourth birthday party.

"You've got to see!" panted Melody, "They're holding it here again, and we've got to enter!"

Melody slammed the flyer on the table in front of her bemused parents, giving them their first chance to see what all the fuss was about.

Both Gina and Arthur smiled when they saw what had got their daughter so worked up. Emblazoned in bright orange across it were the words 'The Contest Is Coming To Bearton – Open To All Ages – Register Now.', below that, in only slightly smaller letters, were the words 'New Category Added'.

"And look what they've got this year." said Melody, anxiously turning the flyer over, "Look, there, look what the new category is, Mother & Daughter Teams. Mum, we've got to enter. Penny's going to ask her mother as well, if you say yes it'll be brilliant!"

Gina looked over at her husband. She’d never thought of entering before, but she knew Melody had always avidly watched it, practically since she could talk. Now she looked over at Arthur, trying to gauge his reaction to their daughter's appeal.

Arthur looked from Gina to Melody, a little smile on his face. He knew Melody wanted to compete, and had always wondered if he could persuade his wife to. Now he might be able see them perform together, a thought that he had to admit sounded fun. Gina, he suspected, would actually like to enter, but he knew she might want a little persuading. A moments thought and an idea occurred to him.

"You said Penny was going to see if her mother would enter with her? Gina, why don't you phone Suzy and see if she's agreed? After all she is your best friend, and with Penny being best friends with Melody as well, you could all enter together. I think you’d have a great time."

Arthur's words got Gina thinking, surprising even herself with how appealing the idea was. After only a moment, she reached a decision. "I'll give Suzy a call now. If she and Penny are in, then yes, we'll enter as well."

Arthur looked with pride at his wife. Her hair may have faded from the fiery ginger that her daughter still sported, and her body might be not quite so trim, with quite such flawless skin, but she was still utterly desirable. He hoped their entry would be successful, and that he got the chance to see his girls together on the contest stage.

When Gina came back from the phone she was looking cheerful, if a little nervous, "Suzy and Penny are in. They're going to the studios today to register, and I said we’d join them."

Melody positively skipped to her mother, and gave her a big hug. "Mum, that's brilliant! With all four of us taking part, this is going to be the best contest ever!"

****

"Melody! Gina! Over here, we've saved a place for you."

There was, already, quite a queue forming outside the studios. Several hundred women of all ages, many there with their daughters. Melody hoped most were registering their daughters for the fancy-dress category, otherwise the competition for mother and daughter teams was going to be intense. She was relieved that Penny and her mother had saved them a place quite near the front. In barely half an hour they were through the doors and next in line to register.

"And your daughter will be competing in the fancy dress section?" asked the smartly dressed, middle-aged woman behind the desk, reaching out to pick up a camera.

"Yes. She's been on at me ever since her cousin was a pirate in last year's contest. I've already been pestered into starting her fairy costume and she hasn’t even been selected yet."

Melody was eavesdropping on the conversation the young mother just ahead was having, standing next to the petite blonde daughter she was registering for the fancy dress section. While Melody had been a little envious, when younger, of the pretty costumes the girls got to wear, she'd never seriously considered entering the fancy dress contest even then, the performances were always so short. She watched as the daughter stripped off and stood against a blue screen, while the woman photographed her from several angles.

As soon as the mother and daughter had finished giving their details they were pointed to one of the doors behind the desks, and the woman looked up with a short, but not unpleasant, "Next please."

Melody and Gina nervously approached the desk. The woman behind it, anxious to keep things moving, started speaking before they sat down.

"Name, age, and the section you're looking to compete in."

A little flustered, they sat down, and Gina started answering, "Gina and Melody Williams, I'm 38 and Melody is 15. We’re hoping to enter the mother-daughter competition."

Even as she was entering their data, the woman continued talking, "That's great, we're getting a lot of interest in the new mother-daughter category. If you could both just strip off now, I can get some preliminary shots before we get some test footage of you in action."

Melody looked at her mother with interest as they disrobed, she hadn't seen her naked for a few years now. She was surprised how good her mother still looked, her ginger bush may have faded a little, like her hair, but her skin was still pale and smooth. Her breasts were large and sagged a little, but her buttocks were remarkably pert.

Gina, too, was looking with interest as her daughter revealed her body. Melody had become more private since becoming a teenager, and Gina was surprised by how developed she was. Her breasts had blossomed to a perky 'C', and a fiery dusting of pubes now covered her crotch.

Mother and daughter grinned as they caught each other's eye and realised they were both checking out the other’s body. Relaxed by this shared moment, they giggled as they posed for the first test shots. Gina even playfully slapped Melody's snug little bottom as she posed behind her.

"That's great ladies, thank you." the woman registering them said. "Just grab your clothes and go through door seven. They'll shoot some test footage and that will it for today."

Room seven turned out to be a plain, windowless box with pale blue walls. On one side of the room was a simple, but sturdy, wooden chair, on the other was a camera on a tripod and a man standing next to it.

"Welcome, you must be Melody and Gina." the production assistant said, examining the screen of the PDA he was holding. "Just pop your clothes by the door and come and stand behind the chair."

As soon as they were in position, he pushed a button on the camera and addressed them again, "This will be pretty quick. Just do as I direct, and we'll have you out of here in a couple of minutes."

"Gina, if you can sit in the chair facing the camera. Melody, I want you to stand behind your mother and slap her face. Do it nice and hard, but don't go breaking her jaw." he smiled to set them at their ease.

Gina sat on the chair. Melody stood, one pace behind her, and swung her hand round in an arc, her open palm crashing into her mother's cheek. Gina winced as her head was knocked sideways, but quickly composed herself and smiled, once more, into the camera. Melody stood, panting a little, a mite shocked, but very excited. The blow made her realise how close she was getting to fulfilling her longest-held ambition.

"That was great ladies." the assistant said encouragingly. "Now Melody, just reach round and pinch your mother's nipples. I would say don't be nervous, really scrunch them, but after that slap I'm not sure I need to."

The assistant appeared satisfied with Gina's gasping reaction to the assault on her tits. He asked Gina to get up off the chair and directed Melody to take place.

"You okay dear?" Gina asked, as she knelt, as directed, before her daughter.

"I'm doing great mum." she replied. "I just hope we make this good enough to be chosen."

"Right Gina. I want you to slap Melody's face, and then immediately reach down to pinch her nipples. Make sure you keep your head low, so the camera can capture all the action."

Melody's gasping and wincing appeared to satisfy the assistant. After a quick check of the playback, he informed them they could get dressed and leave.

"Is that it?" asked Melody, a slightly disappointed note in her voice.

"Oh yes." the assistant replied. "We've quite enough to go on. And we don't want to risk damaging you before the contest. If the producers like what they see, they'll be in contact by the end of the week."

Out on the street, slightly dazed by the speed, mother and daughter looked at each other.

"That was so quick." Melody complained, sounding slightly worried.

"Don't worry darling." her mother reassured her, rubbing her reddened cheek. "Look how many people they had to see. If they needed more than a couple of minutes they’d never get through everybody. Anyway, even that assistant said you really were very good."

Melody felt a little reassured by her mother’s words. Anyway, a couple of minutes later, Penny and Suzy joined them, sporting bright red patches on their cheeks as well. She didn’t have time to think in the flood of conversation.

"That was so quick." said Penny, echoing her friend. "I thought we'd at least have to use needles or a whip or something."

"I know." agreed Melody, "I thought it was only just starting, and it was all over."

"Listen, girls." suggested Suzy, who had been in a low-voiced conversation with Gina,
"We'll all know by Friday whether we're in or not. Why don't I book a table at DeSade's? Then we can either celebrate or commiserate."

"Oh wow!" Penny looked more shocked than if her face had been slapped again, "That'd be fab! I've always wanted to go there."

"I know baby." her mother smiled at her. "Well, this is a special occasion. We’ll either need some serious cheering up, or we'll have been chosen and we might as well spend the money."

This story is a fantasy, set in another place, with only the slightest passing nod to our reality as it’s glimpsed on a distant horizon. If this isn’t immediately apparent to you, I strongly suggest you seek urgent psychiatric care.