Peter, his childhood friend

Eric stood frozen on sidewalk. In front of him stood Peter, his childhood friend, staring back at him in shock and disbelief. The two of them had been next door neighbors and nearly inseparable while growing up. Playing together each day, having sleepovers each week, and often tagging along on the others family holidays. In high school they had slowly started to drift apart, though, getting new friends on their own and developing different interest and priorities in life. During college they had half-heartedly tried to stay in touch, with a few visits to each other, but after graduation they had only seen each other the few occasions when they both was back home at the same time. The last time they spoke was over a beer a couple of years back. Eric had had been on the peak of his career. The money, mostly stolen money, was pouring in and he had developed a real taste for luxury clothing and accessories. Peter, on the other hand, was living hand to mouth as freelance investigating journalist, dreaming about the big scoop, and working to uncover injustice and taking down big corporations. Exactly like the type where Eric was working. Even if nothing were said directly Eric could feel Peters resentment, and when they parted with the normal “this-was-fun-we-must-do-it-again-soon” that night they both knew it was a lie. They had not spoken since, and at the time Eric had been glad to close one of the final chapters of his old life.

But now, that chapter had suddenly reopened, with Peter standing in front of him and staring at his stark naked and very much publicly exposed old friend. Eric had had other friends since Peter, but for the last years they had all, and not to say all the girls he had been dating, only been there because of his money and his prestige in the company, and no one, friends or girlfriends, had ever been so close to him as Peter had been. So, when the first person from Erics old life, and the only person in the world that knew secrets about him that no one else knew, was witnessing his naked public embarrassment in real life, it did something to Eric. Even if he had been living in constant public humiliation for months, this situation was different. He felt he was starting to blush, and it took him all his willpower not to break his strict no-covering-up rule.

It was Peter who finally broke the tense silence. “I can’t believe this is true, Eric,” he began. “I read something months back about some sort of absolute fundamentalistic environmentalist that had given up clothing and was walking around stark naked in public, but I never took seriously. I just assumed it to be fake news, or at least only an exhibitionist trying to draw attention to himself.”

“It was only when I ran into your parents a couple of weeks back, that I learned the real truth,” Peter continued. “When I asked about you, your father got really mad. He just blurted out something about you going crazy and should be locked up in the nuthouse, and that none in the family would have anything to do with you. Then he stormed off, dragging your mother with him.”

“But the next morning your mother came over to see me, saying that I ought to know the truth. And she told mee the whole story about how you went from a successful corporate professional to become an absolute nudist over night and without any warning whatsoever. She even showed me the messages and pictures of yourself that you had sent them. I had to delete all my social media after all the heat I got for an article I wrote some time back, you know, so I hadn’t seen any of the strange post you had made. Even with all the bad things I have seen in my work, this was one the most shocking thing I have experienced ever.”

“But you should know that your mother is really concerned about you. Your father and brother have both given you up and are so embarrassed about your embarrassing behavior that they don’t even want to talk about you. But your mother is convinced that something is wrong, and she desperately begged me to help her find some answers and to help you out of whatever this is. And I agree with her that something doesn’t add up. It is one thing to get an awakening and change the way you live, but no one goes from being as proud of all the money they are making as you were to give up everything they own, even their clothes. At least not without having a mental breakdown. It just doesn’t make sense. Besides, you were always so shy when we grew up. If were skinny dipping in my parent’s pool, you were back in your swim trunks in a flash at the slightest sound, terrified of anyone seeing you naked. And now you are supposed to walk around naked in a public street on your own free will. That doesn’t make sense. Are you sure you are Ok, Eric? Do you need help? You can talk to me you know.” Peter concluded.

Eric had a hard time keeping a straight face as he listened to Peter talk. His stomach wrenched when he heard how his father, who had been so proud of him, and his kid young brother, who had always looked up to him, had just rejected his existence. The toughest, though, was to hear how his mother worried about him. It all just made him want to scream out load and fall to his knees begging Peter to help him out this living nightmare and take him back to his family. But all the way while Peter was talking, the gorilla that was on guard duty, kept a slight touch on Erics naked butt as to remind him that he was ready to grip his balls if he tried to pull any stunts. So, as always when asked about his eccentric lifestyle, he put on a broad smile, straightened himself up, and started on his well-rehearsed speech about how his life had felt empty when his whole existence was about making money and buying expensive stuff, how he had need some big life altering change, how he felt much better about himself now as he didn’t have to worry about material goods, and how grateful he was for Mr. Andersson to help him out on this journey. While he spoke, Eric could see that Peter was far from convinced about the story he was telling. Of course, the big thug standing close to Eric the whole time didn’t help his credibility, and when Eric finished speaking, Peter just stood in silence with his gaze drilled into him. Eric quickly used the silence to break out this awkward situation, jumped past Peter, told him it had been nice seeing him again and that he should tell his family to stop worrying about him and try to accept his new life. Then he literally ran down the street with gorilla guard chasing after and feeling Peters gaze burning in his naked nek.

That night Eric cried himself to sleep for the first time in months. The encounter with Peter and what he had told about his family had made it so more real how thoroughly fucked his life had become. And he wasn’t longer sure if he ever could patch thing up again, even if Mr. Andersson should let him loose. But even if he felt bad, or worse than he always did, for a few days, the endless loop of exact equal days numbed him up again and he was soon back to stoically keeping his eye on an unknown day where he would be free from his endless humiliation.

A few more weeks of this endless and steady going loop of days passed, when Eric one day was sent down to the archives to help out. This was actually a pleasant change, since it normally meant that he would be working by himself and out sight from other people. So, if not wearing clothes, at least he would have some sort of cover for an extra few hours that day. As he walked into the archive Eric expected to be met by one of the stern-looking old ladies that was working there, giving him a condescending look as always. But it was not an old lady that was sitting behind the front desk.