Naked in Times Square.

tw: assault

5th Street, New York 1:00am.

It had been an uneventful day, woke up, got dressed and left for work. Got screamed at by my boss at work, got catcalled on the street, had my normal crummy lunch on my usual bench outside the building because I told myself that I needed fresh air, well as fresh as air could be in New York with 20 million other people breathing the same air as me. I had finished the exact same day that I had everyday. It was like groundhog day and I was living in an endless loop and I hated it. Was it the city? It couldn't be, it was the city that never sleeps, the city that was always so full of life and adventure. I saw so many people every day living their best lives and I was stuck in this boring monotony. Maybe it was me? It had to be. Maybe it was the job? I was so deep in thought about my boring and sad life that I didn't realise I was almost home. I had walked so far without even realising it. When I got to the door there was a card stuck to it, it was matte black and about the size of my hand and it wasn't normally there. Something about the card sent chills down my spine and made me tingle all over like it was bringing every nerve alive, almost like I had been asleep and now I was suddenly awake. I reached out and grabbed the card and my fingers locked on it and I could let it go. I looked down and read the card, it had perfect golden block letters that read:

"Amelia, I am you and you are me! I am a dare card, put me down and I become deadly. You must accept my dare or surely despair as you die alone"

My stomach dropped, I wanted it to be a joke but deep down I knew it wasn't. It was something that I could feel in every part of me. It was something not to be messed with and my survival instinct was slammed into overdrive. I couldn't put this card down.

I turned the card over to read the dare...

"Make your way to Times Square and completely strip off all your clothes, even your footwear. Stand there and let the people see until a police man named Jacob arrests thee"

My stomach had now fallen beyond my feet and all the way into hell. I was in hell, or this was a terrible nightmare that I was going to wake up from any second. Maybe that was why it felt like I was living the same day over and over again? I was frozen feeling so sick that I could throw up. I couldn't put the card down, I knew that, I could feel it but I also couldn't go to Times square at 1:30am and strip down completely. There were strange men and families and tourists and I hadn't been nude in front of another person since the assault. I never even got fully naked with the people I had sex with. Surely being naked in front of thousands would be an easy choice compared to DYING.

I could decide when I got there. I could think more about it on the way.

What was this card? was it magic? what was the point? was I the only person in the world to have ever received one? My mind was filled with 100 questions about how, what, when, where and why I had picked the card up, why it had chosen me and with each step I got closer and closer to saying yes, to accepting the dare. I had too. I didn't want to die, even after living the same day over and over again for months I wanted that more than never taking a breath again, to never cry again, to never experience heart break or love again. So with all my heart and soul I said Yes

As soon as I said yes and accepted the dare my fingers let go of the vice grip they had on the card and instead of falling to the ground it was picked up by the wind and vanished into thin air but I knew just because the card was gone I still had to go through with this. I had said yes and if I didn't follow through I would die. I kept on walking and each step taken was one less to go which made me more and more scared.

I realised as I was walking past a bodega selling cheap flowers that I should call my mom and say goodbye, just in case. I dialled her number only to realise it was 1:30 in the morning and she would be fast asleep. Her phone rang out and I heard the familiar sound of her voice mail

"Hi you've reached Jill Andrews, please leave a message at the beep"

I hadn't thought about what I was going to say to her, did I explain? or did I just tell her that I loved her? Once I heard the beep I didn't have time to think so I just spoke

"Hi mom, Its your favourite child" That was our favourite joke, as I was her only child. "I know it is late but I just walked past a bodega selling those cheap flowers you love and it made me think of you and I just needed to call you and tell you that I love you and that you're my favourite parent" another joke because she was my only parent. I hung up and put the phone back into my pocket. I was almost there. It was like I was moving so fast and the people all around me were moving in slow motion and suddenly I could see all the bright lights from all the signs and I knew I was almost there.

I walked to the father Duffy statue and something told me this was the right spot. It was so busy, so much foot traffic and more tourists than I had thought there would be and not a single police officer in sight, which was odd for Times Square and that meant I was to be naked for longer, until a specific police officer came to get me.

I took a deep breath, I could do this. It was just a naked body and half the population had the same body parts. What was it to be naked for how ever long compared to dying? I tried to tell myself it wasn't the same as that night, it wasn't the same as when I was attacked but it was. It felt exactly the same. There didn't feel like much of a difference between stripping in front of thousands and being forced to strip in that frat house but unlike the night after the attack I wanted to live. I let out the long breath I had been holding and I started with my coat, then my shirt, then my singlet and when I got to my shoes and then pants that's when people started to notice. I could see their mouths moving but my heart was pounding so loudly that I could hear it in my ears and it was drowning out what they were saying. I was down to my bra and panties and I had pretty much bought all of time square to a halt. I reached around behind my back to undo my bra and I saw a man approaching me with his coat and something inside me made me scream "NO PLEASE DON'T I HAVE TO DO THIS!" and he backed away like I was a wild animal. Everyone was watching, some were filming as I took my bra off and I wanted to be sick all over again. Why had I picked that stupid card up? I hooked my fingers into the sides of my underwear and pulled them down and some men cheered, mothers averted their children's eyes, some people gasped and I just stood there, completely naked just waiting for an officer named Jacob to come and save me.