Despite all of the festive holiday décor in the store, and the cheerful Christmas music playing in the background, Harriet Oleson wasn’t feeling very merry.  In fact, she felt like a Scrooge, and she longed to turn the Open sign on the door to Closed, and go upstairs and fill the bathtub with hot water and lots of bubbles.  She would also light scented candles to soothe her frayed nerves.  A glass of wine would help, too, she decided, daydreaming until an elderly woman cleared her throat pointedly to let Harry know she was ready to check out.  Harry gave her a smile and made pleasant chatter while she quickly totaled the items and then carefully wrapped each one with paper to keep them safe in the shopping bag.  Most of the items in the part of the store that was busiest right now were fragile.  “Thank you, ma’am,” she said after collecting the money for the sale and giving back the required change.

“Is your name really ‘Oleson’?” the woman finally asked, a smile hovering on her lips.

Harry forced herself to be pleasant while wondering yet again why her father-in-law thought that naming the store ‘Oelson’s Mercantile’ would be a good idea. 

“I don’t suppose your first name is Harriet?” the woman teased, her blue eyes twinkling at the joke she thought she was the first to tell.  “Aren’t the proprietors’ names on the sign outside just a joke for effect since this is a specialty store?” she wanted to know.

“Actually, my name is really Harriet and my husband’s parents named him Nels…  They loved Little House, and the fact that the Mercantile owner had the name of Oleson.”  She waited for the inevitable giggles and wasn’t disappointed.  Most people found it amusing, just before they told her what a pain in the butt the original Harriet Oleson was.

“Of course, dear, you are nothing like that woman.  You are a most pleasant young lady,” the elderly woman told her.

Harry smiled once again and was relieved when the chatty woman left the store.  Harry was tired and grumpy and she wished it was time to close.  While the store was empty of customers she was so tempted to simply close early, but remembered the last time she made the mistake of doing that.  Nels happened to come back sooner than expected from his business trip and he was very displeased.  Her bottom actually tingled at the memory of how he expressed his displeasure with her, and she decided she could remain open another twenty minutes.  Of course, no customers came in… until right at the last minute, and then the couple took the time to browse in spite of the fact that Harry turned the sign and dimmed the lights a bit.  They seemed to be in no hurry to leave and she was getting more and more irritated.  The Holiday hours were already long enough without people coming in at the last minute and keeping her open past closing!  “Do you see anything you’d like…?  I’m getting ready to close now, and if you aren’t done looking perhaps you could return in the morning when we reopen…?”  She asked pleasantly enough but the woman was highly insulted and informed her that she would never be buying anything from her store.  Harry didn’t really give a damn; she just wanted her to leave.  The woman was still grumbling and berating Harry as she shut the door behind them. 

Harry busied herself counting out the drawer and jumped in surprise when she heard Nels’ key in the door.  He let himself inside and quickly relocked the door before coming over to say hello and give her a quick peck on the cheek.  “What just happened in here, Harry?”

“Nothing at all.  It’s been a bit slow the last hour to tell the truth.”

“I just saw a couple down the street and they were complaining to anyone who would listen that they were tossed out of here by a crabby woman.”  Nels looked at her in disbelief.  “What happened, Harriet, and do not fib to me or you will be in even more trouble.”

“Nothing happened, Nels!” she insisted.  “They came in at two minutes before closing and browsed for half an hour.  I asked if I could ring them up because I was closing, and the woman was irate.  They were simply lookers, Nels, and I am exhausted from all the extra hours.  I should have closed early when I had the chance.”

“No, what you should have done, young lady, was behave courteously.  You do not run off lookers because they might one day be customers.  I can assure you that she will never set foot in here again, and she will tell anyone who will listen that you were rude to her.  That is harmful to our business.”

“You aren’t the one who has been standing here for the last fourteen hours, Nels Oleson.  I am tired and I am going upstairs and soak in the tub.”

“You are going to stop right there, Mrs. Oleson, and bring me a ruler to use on your backside.”
She’d heard that tone of voice before and it did not bode well for her.  Harry knew she needed to talk quickly before Nels could carry out his threat.  “Nels, I promise you I was not rude to that couple.  I asked them to come back in the morning if they weren’t done looking.  I was patient with them, and if they were buying things, I never would have encouraged them to leave.  I’m sorry she was upset, but I didn’t do anything to warrant her reaction.”

“Bring me the ruler, Harry, and no more stalling.  This spanking is going to last long enough as it is.”

“Nels, I am too darn tired for a spanking.  I need to soak in the tub and go to bed.  It will be time to reopen before I blink.  Please don’t be mean.”

“I am going to start adding minutes to your spanking,” he threatened.

“Noooo!” she wailed.  “Why is it always my fault?  I didn’t do anything!  I was polite and pleasant, and I even smiled.  I wasn’t rude!”

“That is two minutes extra.”

Harry turned on her heel and went to the storage room to fetch the ‘ruler’, which was actually a yard stick; a very thin, whippy one.  It was very painful when Nels used it for correction, and she was positive that was why he chose it when he punished her for matters related to the store.  She returned to where he was waiting and handed him the ruler.  “You are making a mistake, honey.  I promise you that I wasn’t rude.”

“You should never ask a customer to leave like that, Harry, and you know it.  Now either take off those skirts or push them up and out of the way.”

The period dress that all of the store owners wore created a charm in the small town, but there were times it was a darn nuisance… like now.  Harry didn’t want to undress downstairs in the store, but if she had to hold the skirts out of the way they would get all wrinkled and she was planning to wear them again before having them cleaned.  “Can’t we go upstairs, Nels?  I don’t want to risk getting dirt on my skirts.”

“You made your mistake down here and you will be spanked down here.  No more arguing, Harriet.  Up with your skirts and then bend over this stool.  You are trying my patience.”

Harry gave him one last pleading look, which Nels ignored… as usual.  When he set his mind to spanking her, nothing at all would change it.  She pulled up the skirts and bunched them in front, then bent over the sturdy stool.  She hoped that Nels would simply give her a little reminder.  She could hand a few spanks with the ruler before running upstairs and taking the bath she’d longed for all afternoon.

“Perhaps this spanking will make waiting for a customer to leave a bit more desirable than finding yourself in this position.  I’m going to keep spanking you for all the minutes that you made them feel unwelcome.  And then you will get the two extra minutes of spanking you earned for arguing and stalling.”

“What?” Harry whispered in disbelief.  “You can’t be serious, Nels?  That is way too long…”  The first spank landed on her bottom cheeks and she gasped in pain.  The ruler was so flexible and thin that it really stung.

“Like I said, this spanking will make the time the customers were in the store seem short.”  He continued spanking his wife’s pretty bottom, making sure to evenly space the spanks over her cheeks, sit spots, and upper thighs.  She would not want to sit down tomorrow, which was a good thing because he had a bunch of new merchandise which needed to be marked and put on display.  The holidays were a busy time for them since tourists loved shopping in the quaint little village.  They could find items here that the big stores in the city did not sell.

“Please, Nels, stop!  I’m sorry, and I won’t rush anyone again.  I promise!”

“Already?  We aren’t even to ten minutes yet,” he commented, making no move to stop.

“I can’t take this any longer!  My skin is on fire already!” she said, then burst into tears.  “Please stop, honey.  I’m truly sorry.”

“You’ll be a lot sorrier in twenty more minutes,” he said, showing no sympathy at all.

Harry was truly miserable.  She wanted to reach back and protect her vulnerable bottom, but she did that one time and luckily for her that Nels was using his hand.  If he’d had a paddle, she might have ended up with a fractured finger.  Reaching back was punishable, but it required all her willpower not to do so.  “Nels, please!  I truly can’t stand this!”

“Half done,” he told her.

“Noooooo!  Please…. No more!”  Nels didn’t stop and the ruler was relentless as it continued to leave stinging spanks all over her bottom.  Harry was afraid her skin was going to blister.  She had the fair skin of a redhead, and spankings always left her skin a deep, dark shade of red.  This one was going to make her black and blue!  “Please stop, Nels.  I’ve learned my lesson.  I will be more patient with customers.”  She truly meant the promise… if only he would stop!  He didn’t.  The spanking went on and on despite her pleading and promises. 

Nels gave her one more crack, harder than the previous ones and said, “Time.  Now do you think you can give customers a few minutes of your time, wife?”

“Yes, Nels.  I will,” Harry agreed, thankful it was all over.  She tried to rise, only to have Nel’s put his hand on her back.

“Stay put.  You earned two minutes extra, remember?”

“I’m sorry, honey!  Please… no more spanking!  I hurt so much now I can’t stand it.”

“You know that when I give you extras, you always get them, right?”

“I just can’t, Nels!  Please!  I will die!” she dramatically declared.

“You won’t die, Harry.  You won’t sit tomorrow, but you won’t die.”

Harry heard him unbuckle his belt and slide it through the loops of his pants.  She started sobbing.  She knew that he always gave extras with his belt, but on top of the spanking she’d just endured it would be nothing but torture.  Without warning the belt cracked on her sit spots and she screamed in pain.  Once more, and then again.

“I am going to have mercy on you, Harriet.  Your butt is so red I honestly don’t think your skin can take anymore tonight.  Go upstairs and get straight to bed.  I’ll come and tuck you in as soon as I unload the van.”

“I want to take a bath!” she pleaded.

“Do you want the rest of your extras?” he asked, frowning at her.

“No… but it’s all I thought about all evening.  I need…”

“You need to obey me while you still can, little girl.  If I have to spank you again, you won’t find it as pleasant as what you just had.”

“It wasn’t pleasant at all!” she declared.

“That is my point, Harry.  Now go on.”
Harry knew it was time to simply shut up.  She made her way upstairs and then turned on the light as she let herself into the apartment.  She had to admit it was a very nice apartment, and she doubted that anyone could find fault with it.  The kitchen was a professional chef’s kitchen, complete with everything she could possibly need or want to cook fabulous meals.  The trouble was that she never had time to cook.  The living room was very nicely decorated, and comfy, too.  But, Harriet’s favorite room of all was their bedroom.

Tonight, however, she was miserable and she could take no joy in anything, not even the new headboard she’d made for their bed, or the tall wardrobe she’d refinished.  In spite of the age of the building, they had an en suite bathroom.  The claw foot tub was large, and she looked at it longingly as she brushed her teeth.  She had looked forward to a nice long soak along with a glass of wine all day, and now that was not to be, not unless she wanted Nels to come upstairs and catch her disobeying him, which she did not want one little bit.  She relieved her bladder, crying even more as her poor butt made contact with the cold seat.  Harry hung up her period dress, and threw her undergarments into the wash.  She chose a soft cotton dorm shirt to sleep in.

Once she was in bed, she turned off the lamp beside her bed, and simply cried into her pillow.  Why was Nels so inflexible?  Why did he refuse to listen to her side of things and believe her?  She truly didn’t feel she did anything so wrong.  She’d been on her feet for thirteen hours or longer, and she was not rude to those customers, in spite of what they said.  Nels was in the wrong this time, but how did she prove that to him?  Harry fell asleep rather quickly, in spite of her flaming backside.

When Nels came into their bedroom a few moments later to check on her, he was surprised to find her sound asleep already.  The poor thing had worked the long hours all by herself, and the sales were brisk.  She’d been busy.  He looked down at her and felt awful that he’d had to give her such a sound spanking.  In a small town this size each storeowner owed a responsibility to all the others.  They depended on repeat customers, and word of mouth advertising.  One disgruntled customer could do a lot of harm to all of them.  He thought he’d made that clear to Harry when they were first married and she came to work in the store his parents opened years ago.  Now that it was their store, it was even more important that Harry treat each person as if they truly mattered.

Sighing, he got undressed, and was soon lying in bed beside his wife.  He’d meant to offer comfort, but she fell asleep before he could remind her of his love, and that left him feeling like some sort of monster.  He heard her cry out in her sleep and his guilt grew when she continued to do so all through the night.  Once, when he tried to pull her into his arms, she scooted away from him, and it brought tears to his dark eyes.  She’d never pushed him away like that before, and it hurt more than he imagined it could.  Nels waited until it was close to time for them to get up and he went into the kitchen and put on coffee and made breakfast for them. 
Harry woke to the smell of coffee and the aroma of cinnamon rolls baking.  She was surprised, to say the least.  Nels never cooked, not if he could avoid doing so.  He firmly believed that he did not belong in a kitchen, unless it was to eat.  The fact that he was fixing breakfast for them was a shock.  She got up and padded into the bathroom.  It hurt so much to sit on the toilet seat that Harry knew she would be making as few trips as possible to the bathroom all day.  Once her teeth were brushed, she grabbed her soft, fluffy pink bathrobe and put it on to ward off the early morning chill in the apartment.

“Good morning,” Nels said with a smile.  “I was just coming to wake you.  The cinnamon rolls are hot from the oven.”

“I smelled them,” Harry replied, wondering what prompted him to get up earlier than normal and fix breakfast.

Nels waited until she reached him, and then he put his arm around her and drew her close, kissing her gently.  “Good morning, love.”

“Good morning,” Harriet said with a smile.  “You’re in a good mood this morning.”

“I’m trying to find out how big of a hole I dug myself into last night,” he admitted.  “You cried in your sleep… a lot.  When I tried to hold you, you pushed me away and scooted to the edge of your side of the bed.  I feel terrible, Harry.  Was I so harsh with you that I harmed you?” he asked, needing an honest answer.

“I didn’t deserve a spanking, Nels.  I was not rude to that couple,” she insisted, and then asked, “Why do you always assume I am the one lying to you?  Why did you take a stranger’s word over mine?”  The hurt was reflected in her green eyes.

“I never looked at it that way, honey.  I just heard what they said to another couple, and I was shocked.  Word of mouth is so important, and I saw our store having to close because no one wanted to come in and shop.”  He looked at her and said, “I’m sorry, Harry.  I am truly sorry and I ask your forgiveness.”