Story: Maddie Made Maid. Chapter 6.

by Noëlle Lague

(Freely based on "Maid in China" by Barefoot Servant)

VI - The bullying goes on 

Maddie spent her last day before vacation at the Unit. A dreadful day, full of cleaning exercises, but also a day of counting, supervised by Sandra. Both subjects proved to be monotonous and exhausting.  

All the calculation examples seemed familiar to her, but Sandra´s presence for some reason made it difficult to concentrate and Maddie ended up unable to give correct answers to any of them. Sandra kept going backwards in difficulty as Maddie gradually failed to solve the problems. Shortly before recess, a blushing Maddie was made to read aloud; `Mrs. King donated 7 teddy bears to the nursery school. Now the nursery school has a total of 31 teddy bears. How many teddy bears did the nursery school have before the donation?` 

Staring at her squirming pupil, unable to sort out the teddy bear mystery, Sandra finally sent Maddie out for recess, in her rainwear although the sun was shining and no other student at the Unit had to put it on. She was given a plastic bucket and a spade and sent out to discover a surprising novelty for recess activities at the Unit. At Heather´s initiative a sandbox had been installed, right in front of the schoolyard, facing the main building and it was going to be inaugurated by Maddie.  Aurelia directed her, she was to build a sand castle, a task that turned out to be difficult although not impossible; the sandbox had been filled with quite a lot of water, transforming it into a mud puddle. 

As Maddie obediently struggled to dig in the sand, she noticed a group of students in the schoolyard, not too far from her. She couldn´t see who it was until a couple of them slowly made their way toward the Unit. A shiver ran down her spine as she identified them, it was Skye and Graham. Aurelia was standing close to the sandbox as Maddie´s object of love and his new girlfriend approached it.

Story: Maddie Made Maid. Chapter 5.

by Noëlle Lague

(Freely based on "Maid in China" by Barefoot Servant)

V - Suffering at school

The school year continued as usual for Jenny while Maddie experienced a perpetual hell at the Unit. Friday was always a relief for Maddie, she would finally be able to take off her hideous clothes and get some peace. But this Friday brought outstandingly painful humiliations for poor Maddie before she could find any relief. Sarah had prepared Catherine for the moment when Maddie, in front of her classmates, was to confess her guilt about hiding a sleazy porn magazine in her desk, fully clothed in her recess attire.

Mrs. Lockwood had made Maddie repeat exactly what to say. At the end of the afternoon Maddie waddled over the schoolyard with Heather, who had gotten permission by Catherine to take care of Maddie. The prospect of having to confess something she wasn´t guilty of, was excruciating for Maddie. Heather on the contrary, knowing about Skye´s cruel setup, was delighted.

In her pink bib pants and mitts, blue raincoat, rain boots and sou´wester, Maddie entered an expectantly quiet classroom, greeted by a smiling Sarah.

Maddie glanced at Graham. It was awful, he looked disgusted. Maddie then, fuming with restrained anger, and before presenting her homework, spotted Skye who destroyed her with a triumphant smile.

Story: Maddie Made Maid. Chapter 4.

by Noëlle Lague

(Freely based on "Maid in China" by Barefoot Servant)

IV - End of Protection

Maddie was, long before she was placed at the Special Unit, having a hard time with her self-confidence, her appearance and attitude certainly giving her no help. She had always been ashamed of her physical characteristics; generous but perky breasts, large hips and protruding lips were all things she hated. She was, despite her young age, verging on what you'd call "full-figured." Maddie had what it usually takes to become a perfect bully victim, but she somehow managed to avoid it, partially with the help of a couple of close friends who protected her. Jenny had been one of them.

However, Maddie couldn´t escape completely, she was occasionally being tackled in the hallways and called names. The worst she thought, was to be called Pudgy. She was happy that Jenny wanted to stay friends with her, especially after having been put into the Special Unit, retaking a year. Her loss of status among her classmates was otherwise clearly sensible. The fact that Maddie was going to change class, her classmates not going to be her classmates next year, was awful enough. But coming to know that she was going to be put in Heather´s class, made her shiver. Heather, Jenny´s younger sister, had always been picking on Maddie when she was at the Kim´s house. The prospect of becoming her classmate was excruciating, she could be so mean. What Maddie didn´t know was that Jenny actually had shared more than one good laugh with Skye and some other classmates when they found out about her placement in the SU.

Story: Shoma and Joba

This little gem was inspired by my post on South Asian ladies and maids. It is not often that full stories appear in the comments section and I am more than happy to share it with you.

by Addison Hughes

The sound of loud banging at the door of Shoma Chowdhry’s affluent Upper East Side apartment prompted her to chastise her home servant for the last time.

“Joba, they are coming for you now. I told you that this is what would happen,” she said, speaking to her in their native tongue.

There was a slight hint of disappointment in her voice as a replacement would not immediately be forthcoming, but what choice did she have? Joba had not only asked to be paid a fair wage, she requested back pay as well. The impudent brat did not know her place, Shoma reckoned. Transporting the indigent girl with her to New York City should have been payment enough. Her new accommodations were better than anything she deserved back home and yet, the live-in maid demanded more.

Joba narrowed her eyes defiantly and spoke in English, “This is the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Story: Maddie Made Maid. Chapter 3.

by Noëlle Lague

(Freely based on "Maid in China" by Barefoot Servant)

III - Welcome to the Unit

Outside the Unit Sarah told Maddie and Melanie to wait while she would get hold of a staff member. They were to stand along the wall, facing the sun. It was boiling hot. Sarah met the headmistress in her office, Mrs. Catherine Lockwood, a staggering beauty around 30, with all her upper-class manners intact. Her weakness for designer clothing was well known, even the more casual apparel she used working at the Unit, beamed class. Strictness and accuracy, decisive properties in her function, characterized her leadership at the Unit. She exercised her profession with an ease that made her entourage envious and, infant, among the teachers only Sarah could compete with her in verbal brilliance. 

After an utterly painful quarter of an hour, Sarah came back.

”Get up here, chop-chop.”

Melanie and Maddie promptly waddled up the few steps to the main entrance and followed Sarah into the building. They were directed into the headmistress office, a large room in the middle of the building. The headmistress was sitting behind her desk.

Story: Maddie Made Maid. Chapter 2.

by Noëlle Lague

(Freely based on "Maid in China" by Barefoot Servant)

II - Dressing Down

At five to eight o´clock the next morning Melanie and Maddie arrived at Mrs. Bronstein´s office. Entering the waiting room Melanie noticed that he chairs she remembered from the day before now curiously were gone. As they stopped standing in the middle of the room, both quiet, the clock passed eight, approaching five past. A sudden buzz broke the silence and a green light flashed near the handle of the door. With another clicking sound the door automatically opened.

”Come here,” Sarah called out in a shrill voice.

Maddie followed behind Melanie who, with small steps, entered the office. Here too, the small chair from yesterday was now gone, replaced by nothing.

”Come, stand in front of my desk, girls.”

The intimidation made Melanie blush immediately.

”Good morning, Mrs. Bronstein,” Maddie heard her mother say with a weak voice, noticing Melanie´s discrete curtsy.

Maddie imitated her mother with a stupefied expression. 

”Has your mother told you what is going to happen today Maddie?” 

”Er…I…… yes… mum said I will go with you to the Special Unit I think,” Maddie answered. 

”You will be introduced to the staff and the students at the Special Unit, that´s what´s going to happen Maddie, isn´t it?” 

Story: Maddie Made Maid. Chapter 1.

by Noëlle Lague

(Freely based on "Maid in China" by Barefoot Servant)

I - The drop

“Hey, do you want to go to China with me this summer?”

The question caught Maddie Akers completely off-guard. It really probably shouldn’t have. Her friend Jenny Kim’s parents were from China after all, and Maddie knew they visited every summer. The girls were classmates, Jenny being the queen of their class, along with another girl, Skyler Branham. Both paraded with the best scores on tests, challenging each other in sports. When Skye, as she was called, got the gold medal, you could be sure to see Jenny take possession of the silver, and vice versa. In addition to their intellectual and athletic success they proved to be notorious heartbreakers, and in terms of overall popularity none of them ever lost an occasion to place themselves at the head of the pack.

Maddie was maybe not their absolute opposite in every respect, but still, she was a rather insignificant girl at school, the girls in her class thought she was buttoned up, if, at all, they noticed her. She did excel though, in some sense, those who ever had any contact with Maddie quickly noted her characteristics; docile, servile and helplessly gullible. Maddie´s grades were in the best case moderate, though in most subjects below average, and yet in some moving toward the intolerable, not the least in the eyes of her parents. Maddie´s mother Melanie was a snob, she had insisted on putting Maddie in a private school were most kids came from wealthy families. The Kim family was no exception, Jenny´s father was a successful businessman. The Akers, in glaring contrast, were constrained to spend a huge part of their modest salaries to be able to pay what it cost.

Story: The Dropout

A new story from Mana Ray. Please follow her Patreon page if you like her stuff.

The Dropout

by Mana Ray

(Foot fetish, demotion fetish, F+/f, servitude)

Why did her mom always drop her off right in front of the salon?

"Thank you for the ride, mother," Leah said in an icy tone, still mad about the fact that the woman had grounded her for 'talking back.' 

Leah immediately regretted her choice of words – she knew exactly how much she sounded like a bratty teenager right now. If she could have afforded a rideshare, she would have taken it instead. Or better yet, she could have driven herself if she hadn't gotten that illegal U-turn ticket that resulted in her parents dropping her from their insurance. 

"You're welcome, dear. Try to smile at work today, okay? Don't look like such a sourpuss!" Leah's mother said as the girl shut the car door. 

As Leah approached Mrs. Kim's nail salon, she could only sigh. How could her mom expect her to smile when she was about to spend the entire day massaging woman's' feet and polishing their toes? And to earn barely any money, while wearing a degrading outfit all the while? 

Ladies and Maids in South Asia

As part of my neverending quest for ladies-and-maids material, I've come across a collection of pictures that, I am sure, fans of Maid in China in particular will find very interesting. It's called "Close Distance" and features joint photos of mistresses from Dhaka, Bangladesh together with their maids. The photographer commented on his work in an interesting interview.  I found these words particularly relevant for this blog:

Housemaids don’t cross class boundaries because house owners won’t welcome it if they do, and this behavior is part of the system of inequalities. Naturally, when I asked them to sit side by side, it was awkward, to say the least. In most cases, the house owner had to ask her domestic maid to sit beside her. The household helps were reserved. Many of them sat only after they had been repeatedly told to do so.

Indeed, you can almost feel this awkwardnes in most of the pictures!

Story: Russian Art

Dear all, I am sorry for the long absense, I'll try to make it up to you in coming weeks and months with new content. Please also remember that I am really dependant on you for ideas and suggestions so if you've come across interesting stories or links, please do not hesitate to drop me a line or comment here. 

Today I wanted to share with you a short story that, to some degree, influenced my interest in lady-to-maid and downgrade fiction. Apologies to early readers of my newsletter as I’ve already shared it with them, but I think it’s worth posting it to the blog as well. It’s a bit different and some of you might say “huh?” after you read it, but, I think you will notice some themes there that I’ve used in Her Most Remarkable Performance. The story is by Arkady Averchenko, a Russian turn-of-the-century playwright and satirist, whose skyrocketing career was cut short by the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, which forced him to flee the country. I don’t believe his work has ever been translated into English (at least not this story) so the translation of this short piece from 1922 is by yours truly. Huge thanks go to Robyn Hoode, who did an excellent job editing.

Russian Art takes place in Constantinople, which in the early 1920s was a major destination for Russian refugees (Averchenko himself being one of them) following the final defeat of the Whites in late 1920. The city was overrun with former aristocrats, military officers, government officials, politicians, journalists, and other unlucky souls that bet on the wrong horse during the Civil War. Needless to say, the vast majority of these people were struggling financially and often had to do the jobs that were well beneath them - as doormen, cleaners, shop attendants, guards, maids, cabmen etc. Some of you might be familiar with Anatole Litvak’s famous 1937 comedy Tovarich about two Russian aristocrats working as a maid and a butler under false identities in France (see photo). So, at least some Edwardian beauties had to go through a scary real-life lady-to-maid scenario.

Russian Art

"Is it really, you?" 

"It really is" 

“I can hardly believe my own eyes.” 

“It would be a crime not to believe eyes as beautiful as yours.” 

One has to be a man of highest society and utmost elegance to pay compliments like this during an afternoon in Pera, as hundreds of people are rushing past, constantly bumping into your sides and back. ... and this is what I am indeed. 

The owner of the beautiful eyes, a renowned dramatic actress from Saint Petersburg, was standing before me, her lively, sly, expressive face changing constantly from surprise to pleasure to delight to confusion and back again as I watched. 

“Listen, The Simple-Minded. I really would like to see you. You are like my good old and dear Saint Petersburg come back to me. Come for a cup of tea.”