We bring the girls to a storage room near the stage about an hour before they go out for display. That’s about three hours before the first one hangs.

    There's usually four. There's a wooden bench and we suggest they sit – later they'll be standing for hours. There’s a bucket for a latrine.

    Sydney, our auctioneer, likes to make her big entrance about 30 minutes before they go on stage. She comes in and speaks with big authority for such a slight girl, "Okay girls – on your feet! Line up here – facing me!" They're usually surprised and do it quick.

    The girls get to look her over. Sydney is young – younger than many of those being sold. They look longingly at her well-cut dress, designer shoes, gold jewelry and tasteful makeup.

    Sydney knows the clothes, shoes, and all the rest makes all the girls feel self-conscious about being naked and handcuffed. They get no makeup and no jewelry. Some of the girls tug at their cuffs in frustration.

    She has her ways to build rapport. She follows the same basic script at every auction. She always does terrific. I’ll be disappointed if she decides not to do this role in the future.

    She looks them all over and says, "Wow – what gorgeous girls! Wow – each one is so pretty! Wow it's amazing – I can't believe we have such a beautiful group!"

    She goes on this way for awhile. The girls can't help but smile.

    She says playfully, "I need a moment to check you all out."

    She goes to each girl and gives her some quick compliment. She usually puts her hand on the shoulder of each one and brushes her neck or cheek quickly, or she’ll let her hand make a quick light brush across the bare belly or bare breasts of each girl. They’re mostly so nervous, scared and excited that even a light, quick touch gets a good reaction.

    She has them turn around to make sure each one has her wrists fastened tightly behind her back. (They always do, but she likes to check anyway.)

    "Good, good, good!" she says cheerfully as she makes sure each girl has her arms tightly cuffed behind her back.

    She has them all turn back to her, and she’ll crouch down in front of each girl to make sure she’s totally bare. To each she says "Looking fantastic!" or "Looking amazing!" with so much sweetness and enthusiasm she usually gets a smile. (Not always – not every young woman likes the inspection or the comments. Most find it fun. Or maybe they just laugh from being nervous.)

    Next she'll step back to speak to them all.

    "Just look at yourself. And look at the other girls here with you. Have you ever seen such a magnificent group of young women – incredibly brave, adventurous and beautiful? You're all exceptional. You should all feel great. I admire you all. Many people think about doing what you’re doing – it's a casual fantasy for many women. I think about it myself and I might decide soon. But other women aren’t standing here now, about to be sold. Today is your big, special day. You're here because you have courage and a huge sense of adventure. That makes you wonderful and amazing – all of you.”

    She says, "It looks like we'll have a big audience. They're looking forward to a terrific auction. It’s a big special occasion – lots of the women are really dressed up and looking great. But you all will be the center of attention. Your beauty will cause quite a stir. We'll sell each one of you for a good amount. You can think about that and get a big smile. It'll be a fun!"

    Sydney goes on to say "Now you don't want to be 'Matilda.' That's our slang term the girl in the batch who sells for the lowest amount. We point out Matilda to the audience. You don’t want that. And there’s a punishment for Matilda – she has to wear an old leather hood over her head for the rest of the event. It stays on even for the hanging and even after that. Can you imagine? That’s not fun. The outside is dirty, scuffed and ugly. You don’t want to be seen that way and remembered that way. And the inside is worse. It’s been worn by dozens of girls, many who’ve been crying from the shame of the low bids and fear from having their vision cut off. The inside has dried tears and dried snot, not to mention dried sweat and drool. And it’s tougher to breathe in there. Wearing that is not a good way to spend your last hour or so on earth. You don’t want that.”

    All the girls nod.

    “You all have someone getting the funds when you’re sold – parents, husband, charity or whoever. Make them proud. You don’t want to go through this whole difficult process only to end up with the lowest bids.”

    They nod.

    "If you want to avoid that, the solution is simple. Don’t be the girl who sells for the lowest amount! Do a fantastic job on stage. Work really hard to get great bids. Not every girl can be the one who gets the highest price of the day. Don’t feel bad if you don't. But I’m sure you all want to sell for above average. We've got a highly competitive group – just look at each other. You're all gorgeous and you’ll all try extremely hard every minute you’re on stage until the bidding is done. If you want to earn above-average bids it'll require an enormous effort to out-compete the others who are making an enormous effort to out-compete you. It’s a good, tough challenge – you should all strive to be near the top."

    She says "I've been doing this awhile. Trust me. Gather 'round a little closer. I’ll tell you how to do well. "

    She has their rapt attention and they move in a little closer.

    "Mostly," she says, "you want goodwill from the bidders. Whether it’s a man or woman they pay more for a girl they like. It's that simple. So make a good impression – from the first moment on. It's hard work and you’ll do great if you focus."

    "The most important thing is to stay in the 'auction pose' we taught you. That means legs apart the right amount. Don't be the girl who spreads her legs too far on stage. That's vulgar. It looks like you're trying way too hard and it turns people off. And don't be the girl who's all timid and scared and dainty, too shy to spread her legs far enough on the stage. Do it right! Smile, show the folks how gorgeous you are, and enjoy the good feelings.”

    “For your upper body your wrists go up in the small of you back. Keep your chin up. Keep your eyes up – you should look out over the top of the crowd. They're here to see you – you're not here to see them. Don’t slip up. And then most important, keep your elbows and shoulders back. That shows your chest area in a beautiful way.”

    “When a young woman holds the pose right it’s fantastic – the crowd will love and adore you. And don’t get complacent or lazy -– you need to keep making improvements throughout the process. It should look even better at the end than at the beginning. The girl who works hardest and has the best pose can expect great bids. The girl who slips up or gets lax will get the lowest bids – so don't be that girl."

    The girls all nod.

    "If you feel really nervous or upset, or feel like you might cry, that happens sometimes," she says. "You're going through a lot. Obviously you’re going to have huge good and bad feelings. So first, work on improving your posture and making it fantastic. That'll give your body and mind a great challenge to focus on, and it'll take your mind off of other things. Keep your outward composure no matter what you feel inside. Girls know how to do that when they need to. And keep breathing deep. That brings oxygen into your bloodstream – it'll help you feel better. Plus all the movement of your chest and boobs looks terrific – the crowd loves that and you can smile knowing you’re making a great impression. Every time you inhale it’s a chance to show your beauty and build a little goodwill."

    "Okay, let me talk about what I'm going to do," she says. "I need you to work with me. I need you to stay still except when I tell you to move. I'll have you face left and right and to the rear, and we'll pause each time, so everyone can see how fucking gorgeous you are!"

    The unexpected f-bomb always gets some chuckles and smiles.

    "Oh and I might touch you briefly. My fingertips might wander for a second. The crowd loves that – especially the men in the audience, and lots of women too."

    "Plus that's fun for me," she adds with a little shrug and a sly smile.

    Back to a serious tone she says, "When I tell you to move do it fast and crisp, keeping your eyes up. That’s when buyers want to see quick, lively girls."

    "I'll make sure they have lots of time to admire you from every angle – do not worry!" she says. "I get a small commission on the sale of each one of you. That's fun money for me. I spend it on lingerie. And I LOVE to buy lingerie. When you sell for a good price I get more to spend. So I'll give you all my effort to help you all get the best price. But you've got to make the main effort."

    "Okay, there's no talking once you leave this room,” she says. “That's a tough rule and you have to get used to it fast. When I’m done talking here you’ll have a few minutes to yourselves before you go on stage. Say what you have to say before you leave this room. Speak now and get it off your chest!”

    She goes on to say, "Bob here has a cattle prod and the shocks hurt like CRAZY. I've seen him use it. The poor girl was screaming. If he has to use it on you he'll be aiming for your most sensitive areas and you won't get just one or two shocks. Think about how vulnerable you are right now. Think about that before you think about speaking. Do you understand?”

    They nod.

    "Plus those shocks can leave big ugly purple bruises. Buyers don't want that. You don't want to mess up your gorgeous looks. So think about how that will look before you open your mouth to say anything."

    It's torture for young women not to talk in a stressful situation. But the threat of big ugly bruises is a huge worry – that’s a bigger worry than threat of pain.

    "Also," she says, "when you go out there Bill will put your noose on. You won't need it until later but we like to get it on you early. When you take up your position go ahead and raise your chin a little extra to show him you're ready. That's nice for him and it looks nice for the crowd – it's a way to build some goodwill with the audience right away. When he's done you can give him a nice warm smile that says 'thanks.' Then get in your auction pose."

    "Okay," she says, "wrapping things up, I've given you a lot of information. You're all really smart girls – I can see that. Remember what I said. You'll do amazing. I know you probably have a lots of good and bad feelings. It's a bittersweet time. Being naked feels good and bad, especially in front of a crowd. Try to enjoy it as much as you can. Having your hands and arms locked behind your back probably feels good and bad. Some women hate the feelings of having their hands cuffed behind their back. Some women love those feelings especially when they're in the right mood for it. Those handcuffs aren't coming off so try to smile and enjoy the feelings as much as you can. You should feel good about looking so gorgeous and bringing such beauty to the crowd here. You should smile about being so brave, and volunteering for a very hard challenge that most people only imagine. It's hard to hold the proper pose for a long time but you'll do it anyway, making a fantastic effort every minute and the crowd will love it – feel good about that. If you want to feel happy there are lots of good reasons to be happy. This auction is the last event in your life. Make it good. Work hard, be competitive, take pride, and enjoy yourself."

    She says, “I’ll let you know when the auction starts. It’ll be about an hour after you get on stage. By then you’ll be really uncomfortable holding your pose so long. You’ll be dying to move around and look around. Sorry! That’s when you need to focus the most and do it much better. That’s when the actual bidding is going on. It goes 30 minutes and builds right up until the last minute and the last few seconds. People will be bidding on all of you at the same time. It’s like eBay! It’s all silent – done with an app. That’s when you need to look your very best.

    “I’ll tell you when the bidding is finished. After that you can’t talk, but you can relax and shake a leg and look around at the crowd. That’ll be a huge relief – that’s something to look forward to. The hanging will start after all the buyers make the full payments for the bodies of each of you and set up their pickup plans. That paperwork takes about 30-90 minutes. We’ll make a few announcements at that time. We’ll announce Matilda and the crowd can see her get the hood. We’ll announce the girl with the highest bids and we have a small prize for her. But otherwise you can just relax and wait. I recommend you mostly keep the auction pose or a similar pose because it looks so good. But as long as you’re silent you have more freedom to do what you want. If you’re sad or scared keep breathing deep. I recommend you don’t let yourself cry, because if you get tears and a runny nose no one will help you clean up your face. It’s better if you can smile and focus on good feelings. That’s up to you.”

    “When all the buyer arrangements are set, we’ll start the hangings. You all get lifted in bidding order. If you want to savor some extra minutes of life and watch others go first, that’s one more reason to work hard and get high bids! There’s about 15-20 minutes between each one, so when the girl ahead of you in order goes up in the air you’ll know that’s about how long until it’s your turn to get acquainted with the noose. You don’t have to watch the others if you think it would be upsetting. But on the other hand many say it’s a strange, macabre and horribly beautiful sight in its own way. If you’ve never seen someone hang today is your chance – you might want to watch closely. And try not to feel too sad – each girl is a volunteer and has her reasons. If I do it it’ll be my decision, and I hope the people who watch me won’t feel too sad when it’s my turn.”

    “Oh and one more thing,” she says. “There’ll be a small group of people in the audience today who will be watching each of you with great intensity. We'll have a few young women here who are scheduled for auction over the next 4 - 12 months. I think we’ll have one or two. It's always fun to meet those girls – they’re usually really scared to see the process, especially the first time, but totally fascinated, bubbly and excited too. It’s cute. They’ll be watching you all extremely close. Give them a great show, every minute. If you’re doing fantastic and trying hard to focus on happy feelings then you’ll help them feel happy, and they’ll have lots of fun looking forward to being auctioned on their big day.”

    "If you're curious," she concludes, "I'll be with you all to the end. As long as I work in this business I don't want to sugar-coat what we do here. So I always stay and make myself pay attention when each girl gets lifted up. When I'm thinking back on this event later I want to have memories of each of you, and other girls too, all the way to the end. Everyone hangs at least an hour. Then we have a nurse here to check for breathing or a heartbeat – that's required by law. I’ll head home after that’s all done. I like to be alone, have some tea, and write in my journal. My therapist says that’s a good way to deal with my feelings."

    "Well,” she says in a chipper way, “I'm going to step out for a bit. I want to make sure the stage lights are all on and I'll say a few words to the crowd to get them revved up – I'll tell them they're in for a special treat today with so many amazing girls for sale. I'll be back here in 15-20 minutes. That’s valuable time for all of you – use the minutes well. Talk among yourselves. You can encourage each other to compete as hard as you can. When I get back here we’ll start moving you out to the stage. I know you’re nervous – you should feel nervous and excited in a good way! Keep a smile to help each other feel happy. Keep breathing deep. If you want to give each other a big, wet fun kiss for good cheer and good luck that’s okay. Going on stage when that’s fresh on your mind and fresh on your lips may help you smile and enjoy yourself. The crowd will like that. You’ll do great."

(last edited on Sept 30, 2017)