It was a difficult task to adapt to life living in Freeland. Like those dictatorships which call themselves the "People's Democratic Republic" or suchlike, the name was a little on the inaccurate side. Freeland was technically a democracy, though it's politics were dominated by two political parties which Leah had never really managed to distinguish between.
It wasn't that they were bad people: they just thought they knew what was best for everyone. They liked to tell everyone how to live their lives, believing that the government knew best about everything. Leah had always thought all governments were like that, but upon moving to Freeland she had found out what it was really like when there was a law about everything. Absolutely everything.
You even needed a licence to have sex. An actual licence. You had to fill in a form and attend a course on safe sex. You would then be issued with a "sexual intercourse licence". It was illegal to have sex without a valid licence, and before you slept with someone you were supposed to ask to see their licence. If you had sex with someone who wasn't licensed that was a criminal offence too.
Leah's licence entitled her to "full penetrative sex with a licensed unmarried male". Adultery was seen as a very serious offence in Freeland. Of course, if Leah got married, that meant she would need a new licence to have sex with her husband. And if she suddenly decided she would like to try a same sex relationship, well, that was another licence again. Perhaps it was a different training course.
Leah had applied for the licence when she first moved to Freeland. She had read about the requirement on an online forum for people moving to the country, and had been warned that they could take up to a month to come through after you applied. Whilst Leah was single when she moved to Freeland, she was hoping to meet a guy, and, although she wasn't the kind of girl who jumped into bed with a guy after a first date, she didn't want to find herself in a situation where she'd met a guy, wanted to sleep with him, and had to wait for her licence to come through.
Leah found it amazing to think that anyone actually followed these laws. She couldn't imagine any of the guys she knew asking to see a girl's "sex licence" before they got into bed with her, let alone turning down sex if she couldn't produce one. But apparently Freeland citizens were a compliant bunch, and there were numerous examples on the forum of people who had moved to the country and reached the bedroom only for things to end awkwardly when they revealed they had not completed the form.
There was even a rather detailed list on the Freeland government website setting out what people could and couldn't do without a licence. Kissing was fine apparently, and she was perfectly entitled to reveal her breasts to a willing member of the opposite sex. She could even drop her knickers (as long as she kept her legs together, it seemed), but if she "revealed her genitals" then she would be carted off by the police. Any sexual touching, let alone kissing of private parts or penetration, was strictly only for those bearing licences.
The licence fee was based on the amount of sexual activity that an individual engaged in. The licence was renewable annually, at which point the holder had to select a fee category based on the amount of action they had seen over the previous year. There were four categories - the lowest, "none", was understandably the cheapest. There was then "infrequent" - up to 20 sexual activities per year, "moderate" - up to 100 sexual activities per year, and "frequent" - over 100 sexual activities per year.
The guidance accompanying the application had helpfully explained that a "sexual activity" was anything for which a licence was required, and that "where multiple sexual activities are carried out in one session, this will only count as one sexual activity for the purposes of the licence fee".
It hadn't been a difficult question for Leah to answer: she'd dated a guy earlier in the year for a bit, but they couldn't have slept together more than half a dozen times. Leah wondered whether people with a more active sex life than her who lived in Freeland had to keep a tally of every time they'd had sex so they could pick the right option when renewal time came around.
It seemed odd having to admit her lack of bedroom action to officials, even if it was only via an online form, and choosing a "full penetration" licence (as opposed to a "restricted activity" licence that only allowed sexual touching) made Leah blush, even though she was alone. Still, the questions fortunately did not get any more personal than that.
Leah had always been quite reserved, and found the safe sex course she was obliged to attend very embarrassing. People had to attend a course prior to getting their first licence, and every three years after that to be allowed to continue renewing their licences, and there was a real mix of people there of all ages and both genders. When the instructor reminded them of the need to carefully check their partner's licence before having sex, Leah and the one other foreigner there burst out laughing, so seriously did the instructor take it, but none of the other students seemed to see the funny side at all, and all looked at Leah and the other girl as if they were mad.
Another obligation Leah found out about on the course was the requirement to always use a condom when having sex. Sex between unmarried couples without a condom being used was strictly forbidden, both to stop the transmission of infections and to stop conception (only married couples were allowed to start families). Sex without a condom was, as most things seemed to be in Freeland, illegal.
Leah was shocked to learn that it was a legal requirement for all those in possession of sex licences, whether male or female, to carry a condom at all times. It didn't matter whether you were in a relationship or single, going out on the pull or just popping out to the shops, if stopped by the police you must be able to produce an unused condom. Otherwise, you were breaking the law.
The theory was that you could unexpectedly meet someone, get caught up in the moment, and end up in bed with them. It seemed ridiculous to Leah. She wasn't the type of girl who jumped in bed with a guy she hardly knew. But apparently it had happened once - a girl had got chatting to a guy on the train home from work, he'd invited her home, one thing had led to another, they'd ended up in the bedroom (presumably shown each other their sex licences) and had sex. Neither of them had had any protection, and she'd got pregnant. Hence the law.
Worried about getting in trouble with the police, Leah had bought a packet of condoms before she flew to Freeland, keeping them in her bag so that even if she was stopped on her way from the airport to the house she was renting, she could show she was complying.
However, she never had been stopped, and when she bought a new bag, she hadn't transferred the condoms across. It was her small act of rebellion. She left them in her old bag, wondering if she'd ever actually have any use to them.
When Leah had finally received her sex licence, she'd been amused (and slightly horrified) to find that both "infrequent" and "full penetrative sex" were actually printed on the licence. Fortunately showing the licence to a guy you were about to sleep with was the only time you ever had to produce the licence, so nobody else had seen it yet. Leah hated the fact that she was carrying round a piece of plastic that openly disclosed that she hardly ever got laid.
***
Leah was on her way to the beach one day when she was stopped by the police.
"Excuse me madam," asked one of them, a pretty hunky guy about her age.
"Yes officer," Leah said, surprised. She'd never actually spoken to a police officer before. She could do a lot worse than this one she supposed. He was hot.
"May we see your licences, please?" the other asked, politely but with authority in his voice.
He was older, not nearly as well built as his colleague, but pretty attractive nonetheless. Leah relaxed. They were both smiling, both seemed like nice guys. Just doing their job.
"Yes, of course," she smiled back. She pulled out her purse and started to pull out the various plastic cards she had obtained, permitting her to do everything from driving to drinking alcohol (not at the same time, obviously).
As she took the cards out, she noticed her sex licence amongst them. Embarrassed about it, and sure the police wouldn't need to see that, she slipped it back into her purse, handing over the others. The second officer had noticed it though
"And the pink one, please," he said, still smiling, but his voice a little cooler.
Leah could feel herself blushing. They were about to find out that this was a girl who'd had a cock in her less than 20 times over the previous year. She handed it over.
The guys peered carefully at each licence. The first guy spent a little longer on her sex licence.
