Whippett
02-27-2008, 10:42 AM
Well folks - my first story of any sort in more years than I care to remeber - and my first written BDSM story ever (I like telling stories to my girls - but have never written them down) - this was my first assignment at level one - hope you enjoy it:
On with the show :D
__________________________________________________ _________
Finishing School
A siren on the street far below cut through the lull in the conversation.
"Bugger it! Now what!" thought Harald, walking to the window, peering down to the street far below as a squad car pulled up in front of the building. He shrugged, turned back to his six guests. Though they were seated at ease around the room, they still eyeing each other distrustfully. He shook himself mentally, this weekend was not going according to Hoyle. He was not in the least amused.
Harald sat and rang the little silver bell as the security buzzer from the lobby sounded. He rang the bell. A naked young woman entered the room, and fell into a deep curtsy in answer to his summons. Harald gestured for her to answer the buzzer. She rose with grace. The men watched her lithe, leggy form with open lust as she left the room.
"Time to separate the sheep from the goats," he thought, hoping the sound of his private elevator meant what he thought it did. He chuckled mentally and thought of the shearing that was to come. He eyeed the six in speculation.
"Well, gentlemen, shall we get down to business?" he said. "As you are aware, I have stringent methods to determine your fitness for what you seek."
His guests shuffled in their chairs in expectation, eyes riveted to Harald's tight smile, then turned to face the library door as a shriek and crash sounded from the entry foyer. Some of the men leaped to their feet in consternation, but Harald's growled "Sit" settled them again, though several of the men looked decidedly uneasy. The library door crashed open, startling the men again. Four burly police officers crashed into the room, guns drawn, pushing the naked girl before them. Harald flicked his fingers in dismissal, and with another curtsy, the pretty girl eased past the cops, pausing briefly to allow the Sergeant leading the small squad to slide his hand over her pussy.
"At last," Harald thought, "Palin and his men are here. Late, and not running the scene I ordered. He and I will discuss that, later." he mused, "There's also his familiarity with my staff. Hmmm, but this has promise."
He stood as 'Sergeant' Palin barked a terse "On your feet, turds, this is a raid."
Palin gestured in Harald's direction, addressing one of his men. "Take that one outside. He's the ringleader, we'll deal with him separately." Harald was amused to see the man Palin had detailed to him wore a patch declaring he was called "LaRue". With his back to his guests, Harald allowed himself a small smile as he read the name-tags of the other men, "Signal" and "Striker". "Trust Palin to drop subtle hints," he thought with a touch of mental laughter, "names related to whips. I wonder if any of the sheep have wit enough to puzzle at the 'coincidence' of names."
As he closed the library door, shutting off sight of the men still in the room, LaRue's touch became more deferential. Harald and La Rue turned aside from the elevator, opening a concealed door. They entered a room full of audio-visual monitoring equipment. LaRue strode to the credenza at the back of the room, and poured a cup of coffee as Harald settled into the swivel chair before the banked equipment. He placed the cup beside Harald's hand and stepped back.
When the door had closed on Harald and LaRue, Palin strode to the seated men.
"I told you turds to assume the position." he barked again to the six men riveted to their chairs in shock.
Palin turned to the nearest man, seized a handful of shirt front and threw him to the floor. The man's head hit the parquet with a dull thud. Two of the seated men stood with measured dignity, hands behind their heads. The remaining men had thrown themselves to the floor, cringing in shock beside the man already lying there. "Hmm," thought Palin, eying the two standing men, a haughty, white-haired man and one who looked like a young mirror image "Father and son? Looks like." The two standing men eyed Palin coolly in return. Palin gestured to the men cringing on the floor.
"Cuff 'em, Signal" he growled.
Signal stepped forward with a smirk, pulling black cable ties from the pocket of his kevlar jacket, and bent over the prone men. One by one he pulled their arms roughly behind their backs. He slipped a looped cable tie over each pair of wrists, drawing it tight with a grunt. Meanwhile, Striker moved to the two standing men, positioned their hands behind their backs, and cuffed them with cable ties as well. Signal stood, glanced in Palin's direction, and kicked the last man in line in the ribs.
"What now Sarge?" Signal asked.
"Separate them." Palin said coldly.
Striker grasped the elbows of the standing men and pushed them in the direction of the door into the foyer as Signal and Palin yanked the remaining men to their feet by the collars of their expensive suit jackets. Palin gave each man a shove in the direction of a plain door opposite the foyer entrance, smirking as they staggered. Signal opened the door, ushering the men roughly into a service corridor. The men were hustled down it to a dingy utility room at the end. He ordered them to sit, legs outstretched and quickly cuffed each man's left ankle to his neighbour's right.
"Just so you don't get any ideas, shit-holes." he said softly, spitting between the legs of the man on the left.
The man looked at the sputum on the floor, almost at his crotch, with disgust and a little fear. He jerked in response as Palin stepped into the doorway, and barked at terse "Watch these shits," to his remaining man, then closed the door behind him.
In the AV monitoring room, Harald leaned back in his chair and picked up his cup to sip his coffee as he turned to LaRue.
"You were late." Harald said, flatly.
He turned to adjust the volume on the utility room pickup.
"Who'd have thought those four would be sheep" Signal mused, focusing his attention on the video pickup.
Harald looked at him "And that, dear boy, is why you are a goon and not a Dom." A touch of scorn mingled with pride in his tone.
LaRue smiled, "Am I a good goon?"
"One of the best, according to Palin." Harald replied.
He focused his attention back to the sights and sounds coming from the utility room. Harald turned up the volume again, checking the recording status on his monitoring equipment. "Trump is such a pussy." LaRue observed quietly, going silent immediately when he saw the flash of irritation Harald directed at him. Harald grimaced as "The Donald's" voice whined out of the speakers.
"...know who I am?" the querilous tone sputtered, "I'll have your jobs for this, the Chief is a personal friend of mine."
Two of the others joined "The Donald" in complaining, offering Signal increasingly large amounts of money to cut them loose and let them go. The fourth man, still a little sunned from being thrown to the floor, shook his head and sidled away from his neighbour until brought up short by his tethered ankle. He caught Signal's eye, noted his name tag
"Cut me loose, Signal" he said calmly, "I do not wish to be associated with these cattle."
Harald leaned forward in his chair, keying Signal's command frequency.
"Do it,." he said.
Signal cocked his head in recognition of the order and cut the ankle tie connecting the man to the other three.
"Drag him to the Green Room." Harald ordered.
Signal grasped the man's lapels and hauled him to his feet. Signal nodded slightly in acknowledgement of the order and frog-marched the man from the utility room. He paused in the door way to turn and address the three remaining men.
"I'll be back" he barked with a smirk, as he closed he door.
The Donald's voice rose in volume and shrillness "Hey, what about me, cut me loose!" he shouted. Only silence answered as the men called out in growing frustration and fear.
Signal led his prisoner into a small, green room. "Sit" he snarled. The man looked at him with detachment and settled coolly onto the hard wooden chair - the only furniture in the room. Harald settled back into his chair, took another sip of his coffee, then turned to LaRue.
"Watch and learn, goon." Harald said.
He turned to check the recordings of the interrogations Palin was now conducting in turn with the three men who had retained a cool front through the abuse. From time to time he nodded at the answers the men gave, jotting cryptic notes to himself on a legal pad with three columns, headed "Ford", "Houson" and "Frankelli". As the morning wore on, Harald let his attention wander to the three men in the utility room. Their voices were coarsened now from their futile shouting for attention. He tore off his first list, put it to one side and started another. Three more columns, headed "The Donald", "Hillaryman" and "Stupid". More cryptic notes filled those columns. Satisfied at last, Harald keyed Palin's command frequency.
"Take the three interogees back to the library, " Harald ordered.
He pushed back his chair, stood and stretched to relieve the morning's the tension from his back. He watched as Palin led each of the three men, separately, into the library, before turning to the door of the monitor room. LaRue jumped to open the door for him and Harald stepped into the foyer. Gently he placed his hand on the naked blond girl kneeling to the right of the doorway.
"Sweets," he said fondly, "fetch Carmen and the Allisons.".
The girl smiled up at him, eyes shining,
"At once, Sir" she replied, jumping to her feet.
She bounding up the stairs, her light chains twinkling against her pale skin.
Harald watched her go, admiring her lithe form and energy, then turned to the elegant brunette kneeling on the other side of the doorway, reaching down to grasp the chain at her collar, tugging upwards slightly. She rose gracefully to her feet, Harald leaned forward to kiss her lightly on the lips, patting her gently on her pubic mound.
"Fetch coffee for four to the library, dear one." he said softly.
"At once, Master" she replied, turning slightly so Harald could stroke her clitoris lightly for a moment before patting her bottom in dismissal.
Elegant in her ballet boots, she minced across the foyer, turning down the corridor leading to the kitchen. With a gesture to LaRue to precede him, Harald turned to the library doors, LaRue opened them deferentially, and Harald strode into the room, seating himself in his chair, facing the three cuffed men standing waiting for him.
Harald made a gesture to Palin, and Palin cut the cuffs binding the three men. Palin stepped back in front of the three men, bowed slightly, and deferentialy gestured to the chairs.
"Please be seated gentlemen" Paline said cordially, then moved to stand behind Harald's chair.
Harald smiled at the three seated men, all rubbing their wrists as circulation returned.
"I warned you my selection criteria were stringent and unforgiving" Harald said quietly into the silence.
He paused as the brunette entered the room. At his gesture she served the three men first, offering coffee and sweet pastries to each in turn, before kneeling before Harald and lifting the tray to him.
"Some interview" the younger Ford snorted, a hint of anger in his voice. A gesture from white-haired Frankelli silenced him, as the foyer door opened, and the pretty blonde led three magnificent and naked women into the room on leashes. She led them to Harald, knelt and offered the leashes to him as the collared and leashed girls knelt and pressed their foreheads on the floor. Harald stood, opened the small library case beside his chair, drawing out three glittering steel collars. He handed the collars to the blonde, who sidled behind him on her knees as he stepped towards the three leashed girls.
"Girls," Harald said softly to the three leashed lovlies, "You've been with me for six months now, and learned the art of true service better than you ever imagined."
Harald pause, smiled fondly at the girls, patting the red-head softly on her cheek. "It's time to move on now, dear ones, and take your place as slave to a master I judge suitable for you. You have five year contracts. I expect you to serve with pride and dignity, upholding the reputation of my school. I know you'll all make me proud. At the end of your contracts, you'll return here, either for release or for further service, as I think best."
Harald stepped back a moment, and looked at each of the girls in turn.
"Carmen," he said, tugging gently at red-head's long hair. She bowed, and Harald unlocked the collar around her neck, letting it drop to the floor before her. "Your Master is Houson. He's a harsh man, but his desire to inflict pain is no greater than your desire for it."
He took a steel collar from the blond and handed it to Carmen. Carmen rose and let her eyes follow the direction of Harald's gesture. She turned to face Houson, the collar held in both hands.
Harald turned to the next girl, a striking, high breasted blond.
"Pretty Allison, " he said, as she bent to let him unlock her collar. It dropped to the floor by her knees. "Training you was a delight. Your master, Ford, is young and randy, you'll match his appetite. He'll teach you sexual gymnastics that finally curl your hair,." he added with a chuckle.
Harald took a second steel collar from the blond and handed it to her." Allison rose and smiled at the youngest of the three, licking her lips as she did. She held the collar in both hands, and stepped beside Carmen.
"And last, you I will miss most of all, dearest Allison, for you are truly the one who has taken to slavery whole-heartedly." Harald said, as he bent to kiss her upturned lips before unlocking her collar, catching it as it began to fall.
"Serve Frankelli well, sweet slave. He will take you deeper into submission than you have ever dreamed. And when your contract ends, hurry home, and enter my service permanently." Harak=ld said, real fondness entering his tone for the first time.
He took the last steel collar from the blonde and handed it to Allison. She rose, her eyes following the direction of Harald's gesture, then stepped to Carmen's left.
Harald stepped back, gave the collar he was holding to the waiting blond, who placed it in the cabinet, before gathering up the two remaining collars and leaving the room. Harald rolled his shoulders once.
"Greet your Masters, girls." he said softly.
The three girls stepped forward gracefully, hips swaying slightly, each to her indicated owner, knelt and lifted the glittering steel to the man before her.
"Many want to buy my girls, but few deserve them." Harald said softly. "You have the strength of spirit and detachment my girls deserve. Use them well, they are jewels of great price." As each man bent to attach the steel to his designated girl, Harald walked forward, squeezed each girl lightly on the shoulder, bent and whispered to each in turn "Serve well and with pride, and come home again when you are released."
He stood back, watching fondly as each girl followed her new Master from the room. "Now," he thought quietly, "to deal with those miserable failures."
On with the show :D
__________________________________________________ _________
Finishing School
A siren on the street far below cut through the lull in the conversation.
"Bugger it! Now what!" thought Harald, walking to the window, peering down to the street far below as a squad car pulled up in front of the building. He shrugged, turned back to his six guests. Though they were seated at ease around the room, they still eyeing each other distrustfully. He shook himself mentally, this weekend was not going according to Hoyle. He was not in the least amused.
Harald sat and rang the little silver bell as the security buzzer from the lobby sounded. He rang the bell. A naked young woman entered the room, and fell into a deep curtsy in answer to his summons. Harald gestured for her to answer the buzzer. She rose with grace. The men watched her lithe, leggy form with open lust as she left the room.
"Time to separate the sheep from the goats," he thought, hoping the sound of his private elevator meant what he thought it did. He chuckled mentally and thought of the shearing that was to come. He eyeed the six in speculation.
"Well, gentlemen, shall we get down to business?" he said. "As you are aware, I have stringent methods to determine your fitness for what you seek."
His guests shuffled in their chairs in expectation, eyes riveted to Harald's tight smile, then turned to face the library door as a shriek and crash sounded from the entry foyer. Some of the men leaped to their feet in consternation, but Harald's growled "Sit" settled them again, though several of the men looked decidedly uneasy. The library door crashed open, startling the men again. Four burly police officers crashed into the room, guns drawn, pushing the naked girl before them. Harald flicked his fingers in dismissal, and with another curtsy, the pretty girl eased past the cops, pausing briefly to allow the Sergeant leading the small squad to slide his hand over her pussy.
"At last," Harald thought, "Palin and his men are here. Late, and not running the scene I ordered. He and I will discuss that, later." he mused, "There's also his familiarity with my staff. Hmmm, but this has promise."
He stood as 'Sergeant' Palin barked a terse "On your feet, turds, this is a raid."
Palin gestured in Harald's direction, addressing one of his men. "Take that one outside. He's the ringleader, we'll deal with him separately." Harald was amused to see the man Palin had detailed to him wore a patch declaring he was called "LaRue". With his back to his guests, Harald allowed himself a small smile as he read the name-tags of the other men, "Signal" and "Striker". "Trust Palin to drop subtle hints," he thought with a touch of mental laughter, "names related to whips. I wonder if any of the sheep have wit enough to puzzle at the 'coincidence' of names."
As he closed the library door, shutting off sight of the men still in the room, LaRue's touch became more deferential. Harald and La Rue turned aside from the elevator, opening a concealed door. They entered a room full of audio-visual monitoring equipment. LaRue strode to the credenza at the back of the room, and poured a cup of coffee as Harald settled into the swivel chair before the banked equipment. He placed the cup beside Harald's hand and stepped back.
When the door had closed on Harald and LaRue, Palin strode to the seated men.
"I told you turds to assume the position." he barked again to the six men riveted to their chairs in shock.
Palin turned to the nearest man, seized a handful of shirt front and threw him to the floor. The man's head hit the parquet with a dull thud. Two of the seated men stood with measured dignity, hands behind their heads. The remaining men had thrown themselves to the floor, cringing in shock beside the man already lying there. "Hmm," thought Palin, eying the two standing men, a haughty, white-haired man and one who looked like a young mirror image "Father and son? Looks like." The two standing men eyed Palin coolly in return. Palin gestured to the men cringing on the floor.
"Cuff 'em, Signal" he growled.
Signal stepped forward with a smirk, pulling black cable ties from the pocket of his kevlar jacket, and bent over the prone men. One by one he pulled their arms roughly behind their backs. He slipped a looped cable tie over each pair of wrists, drawing it tight with a grunt. Meanwhile, Striker moved to the two standing men, positioned their hands behind their backs, and cuffed them with cable ties as well. Signal stood, glanced in Palin's direction, and kicked the last man in line in the ribs.
"What now Sarge?" Signal asked.
"Separate them." Palin said coldly.
Striker grasped the elbows of the standing men and pushed them in the direction of the door into the foyer as Signal and Palin yanked the remaining men to their feet by the collars of their expensive suit jackets. Palin gave each man a shove in the direction of a plain door opposite the foyer entrance, smirking as they staggered. Signal opened the door, ushering the men roughly into a service corridor. The men were hustled down it to a dingy utility room at the end. He ordered them to sit, legs outstretched and quickly cuffed each man's left ankle to his neighbour's right.
"Just so you don't get any ideas, shit-holes." he said softly, spitting between the legs of the man on the left.
The man looked at the sputum on the floor, almost at his crotch, with disgust and a little fear. He jerked in response as Palin stepped into the doorway, and barked at terse "Watch these shits," to his remaining man, then closed the door behind him.
In the AV monitoring room, Harald leaned back in his chair and picked up his cup to sip his coffee as he turned to LaRue.
"You were late." Harald said, flatly.
He turned to adjust the volume on the utility room pickup.
"Who'd have thought those four would be sheep" Signal mused, focusing his attention on the video pickup.
Harald looked at him "And that, dear boy, is why you are a goon and not a Dom." A touch of scorn mingled with pride in his tone.
LaRue smiled, "Am I a good goon?"
"One of the best, according to Palin." Harald replied.
He focused his attention back to the sights and sounds coming from the utility room. Harald turned up the volume again, checking the recording status on his monitoring equipment. "Trump is such a pussy." LaRue observed quietly, going silent immediately when he saw the flash of irritation Harald directed at him. Harald grimaced as "The Donald's" voice whined out of the speakers.
"...know who I am?" the querilous tone sputtered, "I'll have your jobs for this, the Chief is a personal friend of mine."
Two of the others joined "The Donald" in complaining, offering Signal increasingly large amounts of money to cut them loose and let them go. The fourth man, still a little sunned from being thrown to the floor, shook his head and sidled away from his neighbour until brought up short by his tethered ankle. He caught Signal's eye, noted his name tag
"Cut me loose, Signal" he said calmly, "I do not wish to be associated with these cattle."
Harald leaned forward in his chair, keying Signal's command frequency.
"Do it,." he said.
Signal cocked his head in recognition of the order and cut the ankle tie connecting the man to the other three.
"Drag him to the Green Room." Harald ordered.
Signal grasped the man's lapels and hauled him to his feet. Signal nodded slightly in acknowledgement of the order and frog-marched the man from the utility room. He paused in the door way to turn and address the three remaining men.
"I'll be back" he barked with a smirk, as he closed he door.
The Donald's voice rose in volume and shrillness "Hey, what about me, cut me loose!" he shouted. Only silence answered as the men called out in growing frustration and fear.
Signal led his prisoner into a small, green room. "Sit" he snarled. The man looked at him with detachment and settled coolly onto the hard wooden chair - the only furniture in the room. Harald settled back into his chair, took another sip of his coffee, then turned to LaRue.
"Watch and learn, goon." Harald said.
He turned to check the recordings of the interrogations Palin was now conducting in turn with the three men who had retained a cool front through the abuse. From time to time he nodded at the answers the men gave, jotting cryptic notes to himself on a legal pad with three columns, headed "Ford", "Houson" and "Frankelli". As the morning wore on, Harald let his attention wander to the three men in the utility room. Their voices were coarsened now from their futile shouting for attention. He tore off his first list, put it to one side and started another. Three more columns, headed "The Donald", "Hillaryman" and "Stupid". More cryptic notes filled those columns. Satisfied at last, Harald keyed Palin's command frequency.
"Take the three interogees back to the library, " Harald ordered.
He pushed back his chair, stood and stretched to relieve the morning's the tension from his back. He watched as Palin led each of the three men, separately, into the library, before turning to the door of the monitor room. LaRue jumped to open the door for him and Harald stepped into the foyer. Gently he placed his hand on the naked blond girl kneeling to the right of the doorway.
"Sweets," he said fondly, "fetch Carmen and the Allisons.".
The girl smiled up at him, eyes shining,
"At once, Sir" she replied, jumping to her feet.
She bounding up the stairs, her light chains twinkling against her pale skin.
Harald watched her go, admiring her lithe form and energy, then turned to the elegant brunette kneeling on the other side of the doorway, reaching down to grasp the chain at her collar, tugging upwards slightly. She rose gracefully to her feet, Harald leaned forward to kiss her lightly on the lips, patting her gently on her pubic mound.
"Fetch coffee for four to the library, dear one." he said softly.
"At once, Master" she replied, turning slightly so Harald could stroke her clitoris lightly for a moment before patting her bottom in dismissal.
Elegant in her ballet boots, she minced across the foyer, turning down the corridor leading to the kitchen. With a gesture to LaRue to precede him, Harald turned to the library doors, LaRue opened them deferentially, and Harald strode into the room, seating himself in his chair, facing the three cuffed men standing waiting for him.
Harald made a gesture to Palin, and Palin cut the cuffs binding the three men. Palin stepped back in front of the three men, bowed slightly, and deferentialy gestured to the chairs.
"Please be seated gentlemen" Paline said cordially, then moved to stand behind Harald's chair.
Harald smiled at the three seated men, all rubbing their wrists as circulation returned.
"I warned you my selection criteria were stringent and unforgiving" Harald said quietly into the silence.
He paused as the brunette entered the room. At his gesture she served the three men first, offering coffee and sweet pastries to each in turn, before kneeling before Harald and lifting the tray to him.
"Some interview" the younger Ford snorted, a hint of anger in his voice. A gesture from white-haired Frankelli silenced him, as the foyer door opened, and the pretty blonde led three magnificent and naked women into the room on leashes. She led them to Harald, knelt and offered the leashes to him as the collared and leashed girls knelt and pressed their foreheads on the floor. Harald stood, opened the small library case beside his chair, drawing out three glittering steel collars. He handed the collars to the blonde, who sidled behind him on her knees as he stepped towards the three leashed girls.
"Girls," Harald said softly to the three leashed lovlies, "You've been with me for six months now, and learned the art of true service better than you ever imagined."
Harald pause, smiled fondly at the girls, patting the red-head softly on her cheek. "It's time to move on now, dear ones, and take your place as slave to a master I judge suitable for you. You have five year contracts. I expect you to serve with pride and dignity, upholding the reputation of my school. I know you'll all make me proud. At the end of your contracts, you'll return here, either for release or for further service, as I think best."
Harald stepped back a moment, and looked at each of the girls in turn.
"Carmen," he said, tugging gently at red-head's long hair. She bowed, and Harald unlocked the collar around her neck, letting it drop to the floor before her. "Your Master is Houson. He's a harsh man, but his desire to inflict pain is no greater than your desire for it."
He took a steel collar from the blond and handed it to Carmen. Carmen rose and let her eyes follow the direction of Harald's gesture. She turned to face Houson, the collar held in both hands.
Harald turned to the next girl, a striking, high breasted blond.
"Pretty Allison, " he said, as she bent to let him unlock her collar. It dropped to the floor by her knees. "Training you was a delight. Your master, Ford, is young and randy, you'll match his appetite. He'll teach you sexual gymnastics that finally curl your hair,." he added with a chuckle.
Harald took a second steel collar from the blond and handed it to her." Allison rose and smiled at the youngest of the three, licking her lips as she did. She held the collar in both hands, and stepped beside Carmen.
"And last, you I will miss most of all, dearest Allison, for you are truly the one who has taken to slavery whole-heartedly." Harald said, as he bent to kiss her upturned lips before unlocking her collar, catching it as it began to fall.
"Serve Frankelli well, sweet slave. He will take you deeper into submission than you have ever dreamed. And when your contract ends, hurry home, and enter my service permanently." Harak=ld said, real fondness entering his tone for the first time.
He took the last steel collar from the blonde and handed it to Allison. She rose, her eyes following the direction of Harald's gesture, then stepped to Carmen's left.
Harald stepped back, gave the collar he was holding to the waiting blond, who placed it in the cabinet, before gathering up the two remaining collars and leaving the room. Harald rolled his shoulders once.
"Greet your Masters, girls." he said softly.
The three girls stepped forward gracefully, hips swaying slightly, each to her indicated owner, knelt and lifted the glittering steel to the man before her.
"Many want to buy my girls, but few deserve them." Harald said softly. "You have the strength of spirit and detachment my girls deserve. Use them well, they are jewels of great price." As each man bent to attach the steel to his designated girl, Harald walked forward, squeezed each girl lightly on the shoulder, bent and whispered to each in turn "Serve well and with pride, and come home again when you are released."
He stood back, watching fondly as each girl followed her new Master from the room. "Now," he thought quietly, "to deal with those miserable failures."