Just A Boy Growing Up In Colby Springs

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Most boys growing up in Colby Springs are assured of four things: a loving Ma and Pa, plenty of brothers and sisters to share chores and hard farm work, plenty of Ma's good home cooking and for us older boys in particular, lots of cuts of Pa's leather strap or Hickory switch on the bare when you're found wanting.

I was from Colby Springs all right, an only child and used to the first, third and fourth assurances until my Pa died a tragic death of pneumonia one winter in the middle of my fifteenth year leaving me alone with my Ma. When Pa died, I found out that there were really five things in Colby Springs to depend on; the fifth being help from generous friends and neighbors when there is trouble or crisis.

The fact was, I missed my Pa and sorely so after he passed, no surprise there, right? He loved me and I loved him both with no strings attached. But I was also what Pa called "a might factious" kind of boy, much like he was growing up. My mind and my eyes could wander some from the task at hand a bit more than most boys and my Pa had to periodically remind me of my responsibilities especially during my early teen years and even up to the winter of his death.

Pa's reminders were what any boy living in Colby Springs could expect, good hard bare bottom spankings before my thirteenth year and brisk leather strappings or Hickory oilings since. Like any prideful Colby boy, I took my spankings and lickings manfully, minding my manners as I lay my bare high up over my Pa's knee or bent over an old saw horse or railing for lickings.

The pain would be fierce and tears would fall from off my face, but a "you done good boy!" from Pa along with a pat on my back afterwards would make it all worth the effort and life would go on until the next time. Funny, I never seemed to much mind that there would always be a next time, much less assuming that my Pa would always be there to attend to the seat of my britches no matter how old I got.

That was the rub now, wasn't it? I grew up watching other Colby Springs boys much older than me, boys of eighteen or even nineteen years still working side by side with their Pa's, humbly baring their backsides for whippings hardly less frequent than when they were younger. I admired them boys and wanted to be like them being so obedient to their Pa's and not fussing for a second when it came time to shuck down their overalls and take a good hard licking.

You see, I hear tell that in some places and families in the world, when your Pa dies and you're the only male remaining in the family, you're supposed to become the "man of the house" and all, just grow up all of a sudden-like and take over like nothing happened. Maybe that was so in Colby Springs, maybe not. Now, if somebody like my Ma had told me that's what I had to do after Pa passed, maybe I would do it, but I had no worries there. Ma would never expect such a thing of me and thank God for that, but also thank God for Caleb Rose and his family.

Carl and Abigail Rose's farm was right next to ours and there had not been one single month or year of my recollection that the Roses did not stream over and help us Carters farm our land and vice versa. We Carters and Roses were in fact closer than our own kin combined and that was the other thing. Ma and Pa had no other kin, male anyways, to help, and especially so after Pa passed.

I loved Carl and Abigail nearly as much as my own folks; but Caleb, their oldest, was special to me from the get go. For reasons that would be very clear from our teen years and up together, Caleb and I bonded like blood brothers at a very young age and that despite Caleb was a full four years older than me and had two younger sisters in between him and Carl junior who was two years younger than me.

Many a time it was that when Carl and Caleb would come over and help Pa and me doing farm work, Caleb and I would manage to get into some mischief or other together. Naturally we would get caught most times and then take turns widely grinning at the sight of the other one getting his bare bottom criss-crossed in red switch or strap welts or in my case back then, Pa's hard calloused hand spanking my upturned bare bottom cheeks over his knee.

Colby Spring boys are proudly competitive and that no matter whether for work or play activity. Who could shoot out bulls-eyes with their rifle the best, run the fastest or catch the biggest lake bass. Who could haul the most hay from field to loft in a couple hours time or re-build their side of a neighbor's damaged barn the soonest. Everything was a contest between us boys at all ages.

Early on between Caleb and I and before I was old enough for strap and switch, it was who could take the hardest whipping or spanking with more "manful" pride and dignity. I could remember many such times like when Caleb was _ fifteen and I was eleven and about halfway through a hot work day together, Caleb suggested we should stop working and rest a bit:_ ~!I looked up to Caleb even then and automatically agreed with him and so we sat down shoulder to shoulder at the base of a certain tree, but then inadvertently both nodded off to sleep! Oh boy, you did not take a nap during the day when you were supposed to be working and not catch hell and we did.

Carl Rose took his son to task first, making him cut a nice switch from the very tree that we had sat under. Then, after Caleb shucked off all of his clothes, Carl cleverly angled over his son's slender body in the crook of his strong arm and lifting Caleb up to barely just his tip-toes, took that switch and whipped on Caleb's creamy white bottom cheeks like my Ma whips up a batch of heavy cream for a delicious dessert, fast and furious-like.

The way his Pa was going at him, it seemed a sure bet to me that Caleb would kick his feet, wave his arms around and at least complain for it to stop or surely bawl long and loud like a baby for the awful pain of it, but he did none of that! Flies could have flown in and out of my gawking mouth as I watched my older best buddy keep his legs ram-rod straight to the ground, feet together (toes pointed), palms flat to the dirt in front and his eyes looking straight ahead at me!

Oh yes, there were tears pouring down from Caleb's eyes and his face looked oh so sorry and contrite and but he manfully looked at me eye to eye without shame and even answered his Pa's question at one point,

It was pure Caleb and if I had idolized Caleb a bit before this revelation, then I was surely in awe of him after. Carl nodded approvingly,

I watched Caleb push his hips up which got is feet clear of the ground and spread his thighs some. Carl took that switch to Caleb's tender sit spot and thighs some with really painful extra cuts. Only then did I feel really awful for Caleb as his face started to crumble into some humiliating sobs, but thankfully the extra cuts were not a lot.

I was humbled nearly to tears that day by Caleb's example and though I was only eleven, I swore to make it up some with my own resolve. I quickly shucked off all my clothes and practically flew my naked bottom over my Pa's knee after he set his foot up on an old tree stump.

I put my legs straight out in back, pointed my toes, set my palms flat on the dirt in front of me just as Caleb kneeled right in front of me and looked at me eye to eye while still wiping away tears from his own. Pa raised his big strong calloused palm and wasted no time to light up my rump with hard and fast stinging spanks.

I had no choice but to try and emulate Caleb in some way and though the temptation to clench or press my tortured tender cheeks into Pa's knee was powerful strong, instead, I arched my back and pushed my hips way up, putting my naked bottom up higher as if begging for my spanking.

I got my reward for it too, a look of appreciation with a solemn nod of approval from Caleb. Pa stopped after a while,

"You are old enough Joel Matthew Carter to not just go along with everything Caleb Rose says, you understand my meaning boy?"

Caleb gave me just a slight knowing smile as if to say, "Your Pa is right!" and I answered Pa quickly without thinking about it,

Even Caleb's more experienced eyes flew open wider and Pa did not argue with me. That paddle-hand of his blistered my already sore cheeks and added even more fire to my sit spot and thighs, just like that switch gave Caleb extra.

Without any doubt, I know that our whippings together tightly bonded us two boys from an early age, but you could safely say that about many pairs of Colby Springs boys, shared punishments being more a rule than an exception at times. What likely was not so common was a bonding of another kind, the kind you just can't explain, it just happens:

Caleb was seventeen at the time and I had just turned thirteen and would no longer get spankings over Pa's knee. I would be earning belt strappings and Hickory switchings just like Caleb. We were together and working on broken fencing over at Mr. Rose's place at the time.

It was hot and there was a cold running creek near-by and true to form and despite me knowing better, I went along with Caleb's idea to go take a dip in the creek to cool off. It would be quick and we'd be back to our chores without our Pa's noticing.

Well, it may have worked out just fine but on that day my eyes chose to see my naked friend as if for the very first time. Caleb had got a good switching from his Pa just under a week before and there were still faint marks on his otherwise white naked bottom cheeks. Without even realizing that it could happen in front of him, my penis erected high and strong right there as I stood naked with him in the cold creek-bed water.

I was not naïve about masturbation even then. I had been beating off after my spankings for over year before, just not telling anyone about it, not even Caleb and that despite me seeing his cock get awful hard just after shared punishments together and wondering if he spanked his monkey after a good whipping.

I blushed like the devil and wanted to run, but caught sight of Caleb's erection just then and he grinned,

"Bet you beat off after a good spanking before, hey Joel?"

Caleb didn't seem upset, so why should I? I cautiously nodded and caught myself staring not only at his faded switch marks, but at his erection as well.

"It's OK Joel, I'm just like you, I get all hot and bothered a lot lately. Come on, let's do it together!"

"Now? here?" I said a little alarmed having never dared to do such a thing naked in the wide outdoors by myself, much less with another boy.

Caleb said nothing and just started in on himself and that started my hand to start handling my erection. Before you know it, we were both spraying the water with large volumes of boy juices each, me grinning ear to ear and feeling like I'd just discovered a million dollars under a rock!

Things got forgotten just then, like work and that we were already treading on thin ice, time wise. Caleb splashed me with cooling water and me back and we chased each other up and down the creek edge rough housing and even wrestling about some. Not that we hadn't done that before, but not naked and not with hard boy meats needing even more relief afterwards.

Let's just say, Caleb and I lost track of time in discovering mutual interests and by the time we got our clothes back on and ran like fury back to our work, there were our Pa's standing with folded arms and very unhappy expressions.

"Looks like you're gonna feel a good Hickory oilin' for the first time Joel," my Pa dryly said to me.

"You too as usual Caleb, so after you boys finish up this work, you will take Joel with you and teach him how to make a proper switch back at the house, we'll be waiting."

After our Pa's left I looked at Caleb not knowing just how to feel. He just grinned at me,

"Time to grow up Joel Matthew!"

Grow up indeed. Later after work, Caleb took me to the same tree that he always used to cut switches and taught me how. Our Pa's ambled along shortly after and I got my very first Hickory oiling with my very own switch, a set of hot red stripes that seemed like they would never stop hurting.

Caleb had got his licks first and then after I got mine I went pacing around in a circle, my face drawn up in grimace-wrinkles and rubbing on my pained backside. Caleb started to laugh and pointed at me,

"Them looks better on you than on me!"

It dawned on me right then that having survived the ordeal, I felt even closer to Caleb than ever before. Later, we masturbated together and when I got to bed that night by myself, I went at it twice more, visions of both us boys getting our hot painful switching stripes together stuck in my brain.

Funerals are awful things without you knowing who it is that passed. But when you do know and especially when it's your own Pa, well let's just say I was truly lost and felt alone and abandoned, so much more because my Ma was lost in her own grief and could barely talk herself.

I kept it together a long time that day what with hundreds of folks from Colby Springs coming by and paying their respects including every boy and girl that knew me and my family. It wasn't until they all left that I wandered out to the back of our yard and just stood there, numb.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked around and up. Caleb was a bit taller than me and he just softly said,

I started to tremble, turned and he hugged me close to him and I cut loose with ten times the tears that I could only wish to God I was shedding because my own Pa was whipping the bejezus out of my tail if it would only bring him back to me.

Caleb just held me close and let me empty myself and said not a word. That night, he stayed with me in my bedroom so I wouldn't be alone and could manage some sleep.

Time seemingly passes very fast at certain points of your life. Running a farm is hard enough with your Pa, but without him becomes a tiresome task of major proportions. Enter our friends and neighbors and of course, the Roses and particularly Caleb.

For awhile there it was purely nose to the grindstone, no fooling about and no fun either. I almost felt that my fifteen years had aged to twenty overnight and I had beat the odds and become "the man of the house," until one day I just kind of realized that that was the last thing I wanted.

Caleb and his Pa were over working together on our spread with something really heavy and I was off doing my own thing working or supposedly so. The truth was, I was off lolly-gagging and wasting time and though I knew I was doing wrong by it and by my Pa's memory, I didn't care. I felt angry and if I was supposed to be "man of the house" then I could do what I wanted, when I wanted.

Caleb and Carl found me of course and right away, I could tell I was in big trouble. I was much less worried about what Carl thought than Caleb by a long shot. He had gone out of his way to take me under his wing as a big brother would after Pa died and my attitude that day certainly was not worthy of such attention.

"This ain't right Joel Matthew, " Caleb said with a stern look on his face that surprised even his own Pa.

I tried to ignore Caleb and looked at Carl. Carl had never touched me, not for anything but had gained permission to punish me from my Ma if I needed it. Carl looked at me, then at Caleb and then at me again,

"Seems to me Joel Carter, that Caleb should take you in hand and set this thing right, that is if he's feeling up to it!"

"But Pa, you're in charge. I ain't never put a real whipping on any boy much less Joel!"

"I'd do it, but I don't feel I have earned the right, not really. It's you that's been caring for him, well since years ago. You've become like kin to Joel son, older kin, the kind that he respects. Ain't that right Joel?"

Carl's quiet wisdom bored itself deeply inside of my mind and heart like it was finally melting a frozen-up part of me that I thought could never be warm again. I nodded and looked at Caleb,

"Your Pa is right. I done wrong today like a boy. I ain't ready to be no man yet and I still need a hard whipping to remind me of my responsibilities. Please Caleb, would you give me my punishment?" and right away, I felt this huge burden lift up off my young shoulders.

"OK then, but if I do this Joel Matthew, it's gonna hurt like the dickens, a good hard whipping over my knee!"

I don't know, maybe I had fantasized about this moment more than I was willing to ever admit even to myself. I nodded,

Carl tried to look real casual about the whole thing, but later we figured out that he was probably just trying to grow his oldest son up some so that he would be ready for his own sons into his future. Anyway, Carl just walked away with a smug smile on his face and went back to work while I walked with Caleb around the corner of our small equipment building so that we would be alone.

I don't know about him, but my chest was pounding away and for the first time in weeks, I was getting a hard-on even. This was much less of a surprise than the new circumstance that was provoking it. Yes, Caleb and I had smacked at each other's behinds just for play or to joke around, sometimes on the bare too, but nothing remotely like this.

There was a pile of mostly broken up old furniture at the side of the rusted shed including a sturdy chair that I recognized. It was one that Pa used to sit on and whittle wood away with an old Bowie knife just for idle time. Ma had put it back there probably just to keep some sad memories away. I was still sad about Pa, but liked that the chair was still there.

"OK, what's it to be Joel Matthew, a good Hickory switching or a good hard strapping?"

"Pa ain't never gave me a choice Caleb, so why are you?" I asked, my eyes riveted on his bulging trouser front.

"You never mind that down there, you're in no better shape!" he replied trying like hell to hide a big old grin.

"Face it Caleb Rose, you've always wanted to give me a real whipping and get off on it just as much as I've always wanted you too!"

He straightened up and started to pull out his big thick leather belt from the loops in his jeans,

"Just because I'm about to lose control over myself that I don't make you go cut a switch Joel Matthew, otherwise I would give you the switching of your life. As it is, I'm gonna strap you good and hard over my knee. But next time, it's gonna be the switch!"

Talk about trying to impress another boy, I shucked off my jeans and shorts lickety-split and Caleb barely had time to get his knee up on Pa's old chair before I flew over it, jack-knifed and ready to go. Caleb Rose is a mighty strong older boy and went at me just like his Pa would have on him or my Pa would have on me, strong, hard and fast.

No matter. Though the pain built up fast and my tears started to fall like rain, I proudly kept my peace and finally even raised up my throbbing fanny as if begging for it like I used to do to copy Caleb. Caleb paused,

"I was just copying you Caleb. I always wanted to be just like you. I guess now that you're gonna take over for Pa, you may as well get used to giving me extra licks, the kind we both used to hate, but did anyway."

"Oh, you'll get extra from me all right, just remember I ain't close to being done going over my Pa's knee!"

I smiled to myself, Caleb made it sound like things were just normal and fine in my life again.

Caleb's belt did give me extra down on my sit spot and thighs and hurt like hell, but it finally did get over. I jumped up and even amused Caleb some by hopping around and rubbing on my throbbing bottom,

"I feel sorry for any son of yours already!" I grinned and wiped a few remaining tears from my face.

Caleb then motioned his head to follow him to in back of the shed and I did. I smiled as he shucked down his trousers and shorts and pulled out his hard cock. It took my cock about two seconds to get fully hard and join my best friend.

We stood there side by side, me rubbing on my freshly sore rump with one hand, my other stroking away on my hardness, Caleb doing the same for himself.

"You tanned my hide as good as Pa used to Caleb. I figure it's because we're like blood kin," I smiled up at Caleb, catching nice glimpses of his own efforts with himself, then closed my eyes for my big finish.

"I figure it was just meant to be, you and me like kin, so just get used to it Joel Matthew," I heard Caleb's reply.

I was right in the middle of starting to squirt my stuff and didn't say anything more to Caleb. But in my mind, I knew I was not finished growing up or screwing up. Pa was gone, but now I had Caleb to answer to. I could still be just a boy growing up in Colby Springs.