Sunday, 20 April 2025

Choice Tales from the Vale – (586) Home for the Holidays

 

The Pepperstock Hills National Park stretches from the bare, and often barren crags of Oxley Ridge in the North to the dense wooded southern slopes on the fringe of the Finchbottom Vale and from Quarry Hill, and the Pits in the West to Pepperstock Bay in the East.

It is an area of stark contrasts and attracts a variety of visitors who, thanks to its closeness to the Finchbottom Expressway and the deepwater seaport of Pipershaven, have easy access to the park.

Amidst the magnificent mixed forestry to the south and east of the Pepperstock Hills National Park sits the beautiful village of Pepperstock Green.

Throughout Downshire and the Finchbottom Vale there is an abundance of quaint and picturesque villages and hamlets, but Pepperstock Green is particularly picturesque, with evidence of the thousand years since it was first settled.

Notably its 12th century Church, two Tudor Inn’s, a Victorian Schoolhouse and Cottages representing ever era, spread almost haphazardly around the green that gives the village its name, amidst the craggy woodland.

 

At the center of the large rambling village, both geographically and spiritually, is St Agatha’s Church where teenagers Tara Moss and Holly Barnes were choristers, and it was at Choir practice where they first met even though they were both pupils at Barnabus Boarding School, and they lived in the same street, because there was two years between them.

Holly was only 15 when she first saw Tara and she was instantly smitten, and she was pretty sure Tara felt the same but although she was 17 and doing her A levels, she was much less confident than Holly who was bursting with confidence, compared to the older girl’s acute shyness.

It was during rehearsals for the Christmas Concert, and had it been left to Tara they would never have got together, as it was, nothing happened until Easter when they kissed in the vestry after the Easter Service.

After that they were inseparable until September when Tara left for university when they had to settle for Facetime and sexting. 

So, they really looked forward to the holidays, and Tara came home whenever she could, and it was always special, but it was the Easter Holiday that turned out to be extra special.

 

Holly Barnes’ diminutive figure walked around the corner, wearing her Barnabus Boarding School uniform when Tara spotted her.

She was standing on her doorstep, and she thought Holly looked really hot in the Burgundy blazer with green piping, white blouse, burgundy tie, plaid skirt, and green knee socks.

Holly didn’t look up as she walked past the house because she wasn’t expecting to see Tara until the next day, so she walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

Holly turned around abruptly and was about to swear when she realized who it was and threw herself in her arms.

After a long languorous kiss Tara said

“Let’s take it inside, we’ve got 2 hours before mum gets home”

“I’d love to, but I need to shower and change first”

“I’ll take it as it comes” Tara said

“But I’m not, fresh” she whispered

“I want you now, and I want you how you are” Tara said and as she was normally so timid Holly was really turned on.

 

Half an hour later they were on Tara’s bed with Holly, naked below the waste, blazer and blouse unbuttoned, her bra hanging loose above her breasts, and her white knuckled hands gripping the headboard while she sat on Tara’s face as she noshed on her lover’s gamey young minge.

Choice Tales from the Vale – (585) The Long Hot Summer (Part Two)

Norman Simpson was a middle-aged curmudgeonly writer who was renting a farm cottage for the summer, as he had a deadline fast approaching and the distractions of the city were affecting his focus.

His home was in Abbottsford where he had lived alone for 5 years following his divorce.

The cottage was located on Spurgin’s farm between Pepperstock Green and Quarry Hill and was booked by his editor via a local estate agent.

Clifford Conway was his real name, his pseudonym Norman Simpson, was the name of an obscure character in one of his early books, which he used when booking hotels and restaurants. 

The Cottage was about half a mile from the farmhouse and other buildings so it should have suited him perfectly.

However, that didn’t take into account 20-year-old Victoria Spurgin’s presence.

One unbearably hot day in July he had spent some time before lunch entertaining the naïve twenty-year-old cleaner.

 

It was long after lunch when the raven-haired Victoria bound back through the door of the cottage.

“Sorry, there was a lot of washing up to do and they took an age to go back up the hill” she said excitedly

“You’re too late” he said as he sat on the sofa with his laptop open “I’ve started work again and I can’t stop when I’m in the groove” 

“But you said I could have more of the same when I came back” she said

“You were late” he stated

“But I said sorry, and I was very excited because you made me cum a lot” she said quietly

“You’ve cum before though” he said

“Yes, but I never cum like that when I…” she began

“When you finger yourself” he said

“Yes” she replied and blushed

“I’d like to see that, why don’t you show me” he suggested “That would make me close my laptop”

“No, no, don’t make me do that” she pleaded “anything but that”

“Ok, I do want to see that, but I’ll wait until you’re ready to show me” Norman said “Undress for me instead”

“What?” she gasped

“Undress for me” he repeated

“Do you mean everything?” she asked sheepishly

“Everything” he replied as he tucked his laptop down the side of the sofa

“And then you’ll do stuff?” she asked

“I promise you will not be disappointed”  

Victoria kicked off her trainers and slowly removed her ankle socks and threw them on top of her shoes.

She looked at him and blushed as she pulled down the zip on the back of her dress.

Victoria turned her back on him as she let the dress fall to the floor and she stood before him in her pants and bra.

He smiled when he noticed they were not the same knickers he yanked off her earlier, they were now pale blue.

Then as she reached her hands behind her back to unhook her bra, he saw dark tufts of hair under her arms, he had never come across hairy armpits before and he found it strangely alluring.

He also noticed as she unhooked her bra that it did not match either the knickers she was wearing or the ones that he cast on to the floor before lunch, that he didn’t find alluring, he liked lingerie to match, if not a set than at least the same hue, but as far as Victoria’s seduction was concerned it was not a deal breaker. 

As her bra landed on the carpet, he watched with great anticipation as she pushed her panties off the white globes of her arse and down her muscular thighs to her knees where gravity took them to her ankles from where they were kicked away.

Once she was naked, she took a deep breath and turned around and he got his first look at her full rounded breasts and his first full view of the hairiest pussy he had seen.

She stood motionless and proud as he appraised her but then she lost her nerve under his lustful gaze, and she leapt towards him and crawled on top of him and straddled him and immediately wrapped her muscular arms around his neck so he couldn’t see her nakedness anymore.

She relaxed her grip after a minute or two and looked pitifully at him until he pressed his mouth on hers and they explored each other’s mouths with their tongues while Norman’s hands groped her ample buttocks.

His hand soon found its way to her hair pussy before he reacquainted himself with her tender juicy loins and while he fingered her tight young pussy with two fingers of his right hand, he wet the forefinger of his other hand in her juice and screwed it in her anus which took her by surprise

“Oh my God” she exclaimed and winced, but she offered no protest, so he fingered both holes until she screamed and collapsed limply in his arms panting hard. 

After ten minutes her breathing had shallowed, and she was able to speak and sighed

“That was so dirty”

 

After another 5 minutes Norman slapped her crisply on her buttock and said,

“Come on, its time”

“Just five more minutes and then I’ll go home” she pleaded

“I don’t want you to go home” he said

“What then?” she asked

“I want you upstairs so I can split your whiskers” Norman replied

“What does that mean?”

“Don’t you know what comes next after all the fun?”

He asked and she shook her head

“Do you want to find out?”

“Will it make me cum again?” Victoria asked

“Definitely” he assured her, and she jumped up and ran upstairs shouting over her shoulder.

“Come on then”

 

The heat of the day had raised passions that led from some casual fingering to him splitting her whiskers for the first of many times during the summer.

As their sex fueled relationship flourished, her juices and his writing flowed like fine wine and he finished the book well inside the deadline and when he left the farm in September, he took Victoria with him so he could continue banging her back in the city.

Choice Tales from the Vale – (584) The Long Hot Summer (Part One)

 

Norman Simpson was a middle-aged curmudgeonly writer who was renting a farm cottage for the summer, as he had a deadline fast approaching and the distractions of the city were affecting his focus.

His home was in Abbottsford where he had lived alone for 5 years following his divorce.

The cottage was located on Spurgin’s farm between Pepperstock Green and Quarry Hill and was booked by his editor via a local estate agent.

Clifford Conway was his real name, his pseudonym Norman Simpson, was the name of an obscure character in one of his early books, which he used when booking hotels and restaurants. 

The Cottage was about half a mile from the farmhouse and other buildings so it should have suited him perfectly.

However, that didn’t take into account 20-year-old Victoria Spurgin’s presence.

She was the granddaughter of the matriarch of the family Alberta and the niece of her Maiden Aunts, Iris and Daisy.

It was a remote sheep farm high up on the edge of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the three older women did all the shepherding leaving Victoria to do all the domestic chores, which included cleaning once a week at the cottage. 

Which he found very distracting, because it was a hot summer, and she wore summer dresses that showed every curve and her underwear.

She also possessed a naivety of how affecting her figure was and how attractive she was.       

But whether by accident or design she was always bending over immodestly, showing him a view of her panties, up her skirt or dress.

 

One unbearably hot day in July he watched as Victoria took the vacuum cleaner lead in her hand and climbed onto the sofa and leant over the arm to reach the socket, and with one foot on the floor and one leg on the sofa he was afforded a great view up her dress of her pink knicker, and her contents, the same as she did every week, only this week he took it as an invitation.

As she located the plug in the socket, he had a notion to plug her socket, so he knelt on the floor between her legs and put his hand on her hip and pinned her down 

“You’ve been flashing your knickers at me all summer, so I assumed you wanted me to have a closer look” he said and lifted the bottom of her dress to fully expose her pink clad buttocks

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to” she said

“No need to apologize!” he assured her as he squeezed her buttock “Very nice”

“I really didn’t mean to” she pleaded

“Maybe it’s something in your knicker you wanted me to see then” he said and hooked his thumb up her knicker leg “Oh yes, there it is” he added, released the pressure on her hip and slipped his finger between her lips and her protestation ceased.

 

After making her cum she immediately adjusted her position, so she was kneeling on the sofa with her buttocks in the air

“So, you want some more?” he asked

“Yes please” she replied in a muffled voice, so he pulled her knickers off her buttocks and slipped two fingers into her tight pussy and soon located her G-spot, and she soon went rigid as he made her cum hard, and then she collapsed limply onto the sofa. 

 

He sat and watched her while her body relaxed and her breathing shallowed, and he listened to her contented sighs and numerous fanny farts.

As she was sufficiently recovered, he got up and slapped her cheek which made a delicious sound.

“Time to get on you back” he announced, and she rolled over and he unceremoniously yanked her knickers off.

“Is there more?” she asked holding the front of dress firmly over her pussy

“Do you want there to be more?” he asked

“God yes” she exclaimed which made him laugh

“Sit up and spread your legs wide then” he said, and she complied, but she was still holding the front of the dress firmly over her pussy.

He put a hand behind each knee and pulled sharply so his target was where he wanted it, and she yelped.

Then he began kissing down the inside of her sweaty thigh and she tensed in anticipation and by the time he reached it she had exposed her minge and buried his face in her juicy cunny and feasted on the mix of cum, sweat and womanhood and she moaned loudly as his mouth and tongue worked at her juicy flesh and took her onward to another orgasm.

 

She was moaning and sighing on the sofa when she suddenly leapt up in a panic.

“I have to go” she announced “I have to finish the lunch”

“Ok” he said as he watched her pull her pink knickers back up

“Sorry” she panted “And thank you for the… phwoar”

“You’re welcome” he said, and she rushed out the door only to reappear again a moment later

“Can I come back after lunch?”

“Only if you want more of the same” he replied

“See you later then” she said excitedly

Wednesday, 16 April 2025

Choice Tales from the Vale – (583) The Composer’s Muse

 

The Pepperstock Hills National Park stretches from the bare, and often barren crags of Oxley Ridge in the North to the dense wooded southern slopes on the fringe of the Finchbottom Vale and from Quarry Hill, and the Pits in the West to Pepperstock Bay in the East.

It is an area of stark contrasts and attracts a variety of visitors who, thanks to its closeness to the Finchbottom Expressway and the deepwater seaport of Pipershaven, have easy access to the park.

Amidst the magnificent mixed forestry to the south and east of the Pepperstock Hills National Park sits the beautiful village of Pepperstock Green.

Throughout Downshire and the Finchbottom Vale there is an abundance of quaint and picturesque villages and hamlets, but Pepperstock Green is particularly picturesque, with evidence of the thousand years since it was first settled.

Notably its 12th century Church, two Tudor Inn’s, a Victorian Schoolhouse and Cottages representing ever era, spread almost haphazardly around the green that gives the village its name, amidst the craggy woodland.

 

At the center of the large rambling village, both geographically and spiritually, is St Agatha’s Church where Reverend Samuel Virtue has been Vicar for 20 years, in which he administered to the spiritual needs of village and its environs.

Fifty-year-old Samuel lives in the vicarage behind the church with his wife Chloe and 18-year-old daughter Verity who was destined to be significant in the life of Stephen Farnsworth in his sixth year in the village.

 

He was only 20 when he inherited The Starlings, a cottage on the west side of the village, from his maiden great aunt Edith.

He was halfway through his second year at university when she died so for the first two years, he was only a part time resident while he divided his time between his studies and modernizing the décor of the cottage.

 

Being an only child of wealthy parents, from Tipton, in the North of the county, who travelled a lot and were seldom at the family home.

Having inherited a nice country cottage, which suited him very well, he found himself in the enviable position of being financially independent after securing his degree in order to attain a master’s degree in addition.

 

There was an old ramshackle garage at the end of the garden which had not been used as such since God was a boy as far as he could see, in fact he was a little bemused as to why it was there because there was another garage adjacent to the cottage, however its lack of usefulness as a garage presented him with the perfect place for a studio.  

 

He had no family ties except for his globetrotting parents and no binding romantic attachments at the time, so in his fourth year in Pepperstock Green, with two degrees under his belt and the studio fully functional he decided it was time for him to fully engage in village life.

His first steps into rural society where the most logical ones for him, because he was a committed Christian, and so they took him to St Agatha's Church, because of his faith and his passion. 

It might be a good time to mention what that passion was, namely music, and the purpose of the studio in his garden was to facilitate his work as a composer of amongst other things, Choral Music, which meshed perfectly with St Agatha's because they had one of the best Choirs in Downshire.

He had slipped quietly into the back of the church many times since he first moved in but always slipped out again before the service ended as he wasn’t ready to meet people at that time  

But this time he stayed till the end and met some of the congregation, some of whom he recognized from around the village, and over the week he became known to more and more of them, but it wasn’t until November when he joined the choir.

And for two years that was his life, Church, Choir, Studio and the occasional trip to Abbottsford or to the family home in Tipton if his parents were back in the country.  

 

It was during practice for the first Sunday of Advent when he first became aware of Verity Virtue when she appeared at choir practice one evening to play the organ when she was 16, in the absence of Adele King who had been taken ill earlier in the week.

Although she was clearly uncomfortable performing with an audience, she was a natural performer.

She was not entirely unknown to him, he’d seen the skinny little redhead at church and she would occasionally fill in if they were short of choristers and he remembered her as a skinny unremarkable looking schoolgirl always seemingly in a hurry to get to wherever her destination was, dressed in her Barnabus Boarding School uniform, Burgundy blazer with green piping, white blouse, burgundy tie, plaid skirt, and green socks or tights depending on the time of year.

But he’d never spoken to her or even made eye contact with her as she always had her head down.

But when he realized she was actually talented musically she became more interesting to him.

 

Over the following year or so he saw more of her as Adele King’s illness turned out to be more long term than was first expected and she came out of herself and grew in confidence, she even helped him in the studio from time to time.

He was a composer, and he drew on his idol who was John Barry, and as he was working on a TV series and because, apart from keyboards she also played Clarinet, Oboe and Guitar she was very useful to him.  

Consequently, they grew closer over their shared interests.

But it didn’t manifest into a relationship, not because she wasn’t attractive, but because she was only 17 and he was 8 years older and on top of that she was the vicar’s daughter.

On top of which he was no monk and had occasional visitors to the cottage for amorous assignations, mainly renewing coupling with former university lovers, so he kept his relationship with Verity firmly in the friend and collaborator zone.

Then on New Years Eve 2024 they kissed albeit on the spur of the moment initially, but it lingered, considerably so, and it affected them both, in particularly him.

She slept that night very soundly and dreamed about that kiss over and over again.

On the contrary he did not sleep well at all, his head was full of contradictions and confusions, and he kept repeating her name, Verity Virtue, and the meanings.

Verity, an enduring or necessary ethical or religious or aesthetic truth

And Virtue, the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong, a particular moral excellence, morality with respect to sexual relations and any admirable quality or attribute

But he couldn’t get the latter out of his head, any admirable quality or attribute.

In the cold light of the New Year’s Day, he decided to put some distance between them for a couple of weeks and to a sojourn to Tipton so her infatuation would cool.

As it happened, for various reasons he was gone for six weeks, and it seemed to have the desired effect.

   

However, his plan unraveled on a chilly Morning at the end of February when Verity knocked on the front door of Starlings cottage and in spite of himself, he was not displeased to see her.

“Hello” he said cheerfully, but she was obviously not happy to be there.

“Mum asked me to drop this music off so you can catch up with the Easter program now you’re back from chasing posh girls in Tipton” she said curtly which he sidestepped

“How come you’re wearing school uniform? I thought you were at college” he asked, and she thawed out a little

“I am, but at Barnabus’ we have to wear this abomination for the Friday assembly every week regardless of what year you are in” she replied

“It’s very fetching” he said and smiled

“Of course, you would find it attractive” she retorted but she smiled as well “Perverts do, anyway I have to go now”

“If you like you could pop round later and help me, get up to speed” he suggested as he held up the music sheets

“No thanks I wouldn’t want to cramp your style” she said coldly and left.

Over the coming weeks Verity slowly thawed and by the end of May their relationship had returned to their pre, New Years Eve kiss level.

So, he was pleased to be back at the uncomplicate by sexual attraction stage while still being able to enjoy the company of an attractive, funny and his musical equal, and it would probably have continued like that had it not been for the Vicars wife, Verity’s mother.

   

It happened at the end of June on the night of the Barnabus Boarding School Centenary Ball.

Stephen had just returned to the house from his studio and was sat on his sofa and was just contemplating what takeaway to order when she stepped through the French door wearing a distinctive white party dress.

“Don’t you dare laugh” she barked

“I wasn’t going to laugh” he lied “You look lovely”

“I look like bloody Tinkerbelle” she retorted and kicked off her shoes

“You won’t look out of place at the party” he assured her

“I’m not going, especially looking like this” she replied and started pacing up and down

“I didn’t want to go in the first place, I’ve only got two good friends at School and they’re not going, Gina has appendicitis, and Kayleigh is on Holiday, but my mum insisted and put me in an Uber”

“So how did you get here?” he asked

“I told him to drop me off before we got there” she replied “Then I needed somewhere to hide so I came here, sorry”

“Theres nothing to be sorry for” he said “And I’m happy for you to hide out here”

“Thank you” she said as her pacing continued at a pace

“Why don’t you sit down” he said “Before you wear out my carpet”

She tutted loudly then sat down heavily on his knee and huffed, that wasn’t quite what he had in mind, but at least she’d stopped pacing.

“I’m so cross with myself,” she said and started tapping her foot agitatedly

“Just calm down” he said and put his hands on her narrow hips and pulled her back towards him, so her head was on his shoulder, and he was looking down on her.

“Just relax” he said, and she seemed to calm down, but the opposite was true for him.

Verity’s usual shock of red hair was tied up exposing the white flesh of her neck and shoulders, of which there was a lot due to the cut of the dress and the creamy whiteness of her skin looked delicious.

As he stared at the flesh, he was beginning to get aroused and his breath deepened and his breath on her skin was affecting her breathing in turn and then he began to kiss her gently on the neck and she gasped.

Stephen’s soft kisses travelled slowly from the nape of Verity’s neck along her collar bone to her shoulder and her breathing became more erratic and adjusted her position on his lap as her hands gripped the leather upholstery and he began to unzip the back of her dress.

Having met no resistance, he began pushing the straps of her dress off her shoulders and without speaking she accommodated him by slipping her skinny arms out one at a time while holding the bodice close to her breasts.

The moment both arms were free Stephens hands made immediate ingress inside her dress and cupped one breast and teased the stiffened nipple on the other, the first caused her to murmur and the second made her wince.

While he caressed her delicious pert young breasts she moaned quietly and released the bodice and regained her grip on the sofa.

When his right hand moved slowly across her soft belly, she held her breath and when his fingers reached the waist band of her panties he asked

“Am I the first?”

“Yes” she responded as she exhaled, and his fingers progressed into her knickers and brushed through the abundance of coarse hair until he emersed his forefinger in the warm velvet between her labia.

 

When he’d made her cum, she leapt up, wriggled out of her panties, and scrambled on top of him to straddle his lap and immediately wrapped her skinny arms around his neck and pressed her mouth on his, energetically exploring his mouth with her tongue.

Stephens hands settled on her plump little buttocks until he reacquainted himself with her unsullied pussy. 

This time he probed at her tender loin in search of her G-spot, the erogenous area of her vagina, that with his expert stimulation would blow her mind, and when he found it she went rigid as he evoked strong sexual arousal and brought her to a powerful orgasm, and then she collapsed limply in his arms panting like a racehorse at the end of the race. 

 

After ten minutes her breathing had shallowed, and her body had relaxed, and the room was silent apart from contented sighs and the occasional whispering farts from her tight little fanny.

At that point Stephen decided she was sufficiently recovered for part three, so he rolled her sideways off him, depositing her on her back on the seat beside them which took her by surprise and made her scream.

By the time Verity, and the interesting parts of her, had finished bouncing, he was kneeling on the floor in front of her.

“Are you going to Make Love to me now?” she asked

“No, not yet, there's something else I need to do first” he replied

Her legs had been left spread wide after the impact, so he put a hand on each knee to make sure they remained like that and then he began kissing down the inside of her virgin white thigh and Verity tensed in anticipation of what was coming and when his lips met hers and he tasted her Tang she moaned loudly.

She began to writhe uncontrollably as his mouth and tongue worked at her juicy flesh.

 

After taking her to orgasm with his tongue he left her moaning and sighing on the sofa and got up to go and get ready, returning about 5 minutes later wearing his dressing gown and stood looking down at the dishevelled orgasm wracked frame seductively draped on the sofa and said

“Now it's time”

She opened her eyes and looked at him and he added

“Do you want it here or do you want me to take you to bed?”

“Take me here” she begged “Take my virginity on the sofa wearing this hideous dress”

“OK” he agreed and undid the belt on his dressing gown, exposing his erection and her eyes focused right on it and she adjusted her position on the cushions.

He let the dressing gown fall to the floor and Verity’s   right hand started rubbing her clit and when he pulled his foreskin back to reveal his helmet her eyes widened and the rubbing intensified, so he knelt down before her pulled her buttocks to the edge of the sofa and penetrated her tight little hole and he instantly felt the intense warmth you get from a hymen breaking.

As he made love to her and the rhythm grew in intensity, she was very vociferous and was not the quiet self-conscious teenager she had been before he seduced her, and she was relishing every moment right up to the moment her back arched in the crescendo of a toe-curling orgasm.

After withdrawing from her he looked down at the sweating and panting figure who lay exhausted before him, so he covered her with his dressing gown and went to get dressed.

 

He left her sleeping on the sofa while he redressed and ordered his takeaway but when he returned to the lounge, he found she had redressed herself, except for her knickers which she held in her hand.

“So you’ve had your way with me, and now you’re ordering yourself pizza, I’m obviously just a one-night stand”

She said crossly

“I suppose you just want me to bugger off home, so you get back to one of your Posh Tipton girls”

“Firstly, I’ve ordered pizza for both of us” he said and snatched the knickers from her hand

“And you won’t be needing these for a while, because once you’ve got your strength back, I’m taking you to bed”

“But…” she began

“And this is not a one-night stand for me, this is the first of many” he said

“Really?” she asked red faced

“Really” he replied and kissed her

“Sorry” she said, and he kissed her again

 

As they ate their pizza she quietly asked

“Not that I’m complaining, but are we just fuck buddies?”

“Well I see us as friends and lovers who are looking forward to divesting you of various outfits and ravishing you on a regular basis” he said

“As your boyfriend”

“Really?” she said and grinned then ate her last slice of pizza

“What kind of outfits?” she asked

“Well obviously your Barnabus School Uniform, your Hockey Kit, Brownie’s Uniform, Surplice and even your Tinkerbelle dress again” he said “That will be enough to be getting on with I think”

“I’m not sure about Tinkerbelle, and I don’t see what’s sexy about a surplice”

“Well it depends on what you’re wearing underneath it” he said

“You’ve really thought about this” she said “You’re a bit of a perve”

“Are you complaining?”

“Not a bit” she said “As long as you’re my perve”

“Good answer” Stephen said “Now put your pizza down and get your sexy arse upstairs”