This story pushed some serious buttons for me, Nel just a wild child teen looking for adventure and fun, and maybe a bit of escape too, (kind of reminds me of somebody I know rather well). I wish I could do everything she has/had, but the hanging spread eagle thing I've actually done was challenging enough, let alone adding real mechanical ankle tension to the experience. We didn't have suspension cuffs back in the day though, and this may be a big difference. It's a picture in my mind though, I can almost see Nel strung up there in the desert, baking in the hot sun, just waiting for the first strike of the whip, something that really rocks my world, and I'm straight up envious. To paint such a picture with words alone is quite the feat, especially in this visual age, and as an author I'm again envious...
The whip is something that I wish I had the courage for (and willing soul) to give it a whirl for me, a ping pong paddle and leather belt swung rather lightly about as far as I've personally gotten. We have a wood fraternity pledge-type paddle, but exclusively for my SO and not myself.
Spread eagled in the back of a full sized pickup truck with a cap, with that you're really getting there, and to be delivered like that, like an object, simply WOW!
It was a wild adventure, thanks for sharing, Jackie.