Once Upon a Time

Don't the best stories open with that line?

If nothing else, it's a perfect writer's block-unblocker.

This is my story, or part of it, anyway.

Once upon a time, there was a woman in her late youth who had begun to look at the life she'd built, and wondered, "is this all there is?"

She had followed the rules. Gone to college, met her husband in college, started her career, and worked very hard to move up the corporate ladder.

About 10 years into the marriage, she and her husband had a baby, and that distracted her for a while. Taking care of something that needs 24/7 attention will do that to you. She put her career on hold, was diagnosed with postpartum depression, recovered. Went back to work, put the baby into day care.

And things were okay, for a while.

But then baby grew to toddler and then to kindergartener and then suddenly he was 10 and didn't need so much attention any more.

Around that time, something began to change. The woman became convinced that her husband was having an affair. He was going places and was vague about the location. There was something going on.

And then, her husband explained. He'd discovered the world of kink and bdsm. He was not sure how his wife would react, so he kept it quiet as long as he could. Until it was time to open the door to her, and see if she would step through with him.

He gave her a website, called Fetlife. His screen name was Moonracer. The woman logged in and began to explore and then grew curious about this strange place.

She was repelled at first, but fascinated. And began to feel something in her soul. It was scary. She had been such a good girl all her life. She had followed the rules. These people didn't follow the rules. Anything was possible.

And over time, the woman began to see the world that she had built around her - that she had boxed herself in so tight, her life had become boring and stagnant.

Closer and closer she approached. Came up with her first screen name, Jane1766. It was just temporary of course. And she began to make friends. And the online friends became friends in person, when she started going to munches.

At her first play party, she watched, fascinated, and wondered if she could ever do that. What would those spanks and hard punches feel like, the scrape of a knife, the drip of hot wax?

Finally, she had crept so close to the edge, she had to make a decision. Run? Or enter?

She opened the door, and stepped through, and so Wicked Jade was born.