Strip

Eyes like a wild animal, like a dog, saliva almost visible at the corners of his old mouth and sweaty, sticky, wrinkled hands. He fills an emptiness.

Wide, eager pupils dilate, mouth ajar, perspiration streaming down the sides of his young face. He fulfils a curiosity.

A judgmental stare from a girl with a flat chest and a boyfriend who brought her here; for fun. Her eyes scrutinize every inch of the body before her. She feeds her insecurity.

Oily limbs, silicone breasts and 3 hours a day spent in an air conditioned health centre. She peeks through the red velvet curtain and her stomach slowly begins to untie itself.

She will walk out and bare herself to a room full of strangers and feel something like terror and relief, something like sex and dirt.

And she’ll see herself in the audience.

Stripped.