“There is an ethereal synergy between the sadist and the masochist. When Lucky beat me, it was if she was kneading me, my fleshly dough softening beneath her hands to transform and rise. When I was a little girl, my favorite favorite fairy tale was “Cap-o’-Rushes” in which the prodigal daughter returns to show her father that her love was powerful, as strong as meat needs salt. Lucky’s gift of giving pain, and my gift of receiving pain produced a similar alchemy; she was the salt to my meat, and I the meat to her salt. When we fucked, when Lucky beat me, we spun a century’s old fairy tale, a fable that was infinitely larger than a motel room on Geary Street.” – Lucky, from Doily Is My Safeword