Dawn - A Short Story

"You're an idiot."

"Shut up."

"She's right. You're an idiot."

"Shut up!"

"Don't take your anger out on us. We're trying to help you."

"Yes. We're your friends. Don't we always look out for you?"

"True. Where would you be without us?"

"Go away! You're just trying to upset me, and I was in a good mood today."

"When are you ever in a good mood?"

"I've been in a good mood since I moved here. It's nice here."

"Keep telling yourself that. If you were so fucking happy, you wouldn't need us."

"Language!"

"I'm sorry. But it's the truth."

"I am happy! And I don't need you here! You're just always tagging along and annoying me."

"Not true, Dawn. You know you need us. Remember the last time you told us to go away? You ended up in a drunk tank with a broken nose. Which still looks horrid, by the way."

"Indeed."

"That was ONE time! And it wasn't because you weren't there. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I know it wasn't my fault. It was just one of those things. An accident."

"An accident, yes. But that girl was in intensive care for two weeks. And she'll never see right out of that eye."

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

"We'll shut up when you pull yourself together. But until then, we stay."

"She's right. We can't leave you to your own devices. You show poor judgment."

"I concur."

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have been drinking if I hadn't been trying to get away from you two. All that relentless nagging. All that talking, talking, talking. I don't want to talk. I want to stay here and be happy."

"Dawn, dear, there were things that needed to be discussed. You can't just ignore us."

"I didn't want to talk about it then, and I don't want to talk about it now!"

"That may be true. But you know he needed to go."

"Yes. You handled that situation very poorly. You just ran away and we had to step in because you're weak and stupid."

"I'm not! I just didn't want to be there anymore. He was scary. I was afraid. Everything hurt."

"But you just let him go, Dawn. And, we felt that it was in your best interest to handle the situation properly."

"I handled it just fine. It was over fast. He didn't hurt me anymore once I stopped struggling."

"If you say so. But, because you refused to handle it, we stepped in and handled it for you."

"I don't want to talk about that! You didn't have to do anything. No one had to help me. I just want to forget. This place makes me forget. All you do is remind me and make me feel bad."

"If we hadn't helped you, he would have just walked away. We couldn't allow that, Dawn."

"He got what he deserved. Becoming a shameful drunk was just unnecessary. And frankly, quite embarrassing."

"Yes, it reflected on all of us poorly."

"I don't care. And I haven't had a drink in weeks. I'm feeling much better."

"Hmmm...keep telling yourself that, dear."

"Oh shit. Here comes the reality police. We'll see you later, Dawn. We'll be waiting."

"Dawn? Honey? Are you alright? It's time for your meds sweetie."

"Yes, please. I'm not feeling well."

"Here...take these. Have some water. Lift your tongue sweetheart. Very good. You'll be feeling better in no time. Why don't you go into the activity room and finish working on your project? We'll be serving dinner soon.It's meatloaf night. You like meatloaf."

"Yes. Thank you."

DYI Reusable Menstrual Cloths: A Way to Sustainability and Environmental Protection, or Just Gross?

Because I occasionally think about going off grid someday, I am always researching different ways to have the modern things I need, but in a way that's environmentally conscientious.

I have gone through the composting toilet phase, the family cloth phase, the tiny house phase (which by the way now cost more than 40k!) as well as anything and everything else that YouTube has a dirty hippie video on.

So, last week was DIY menstrual cloths.                                          

So the first thing I noticed is that stores like Whole Foods were selling "Mama Cloths" for up to about $15 a piece which is pretty ridiculous. Then I saw people showing how you can make your own, but that still required a sewing machine and an awkward trip to Michaels.

These women were making their cloths out of pretty patterns that have rainbows and Disney characters on them (I also saw people who crocheted homemade tampons but I didn't even have the mental capacity to figure out how that works but to each their own) but I felt that any color other than black was just going to gross me out.

As far as I can tell from some of the homemade videos I saw was that you can pretty much just buy any old material and make them out of that and hand sew them. So, I went to the local dollar store and started researching supplies. After trying on several washcloths in Dollar General, I settled on black microfiber.

I bought so many microfiber towels and washcloths that I started to think I could have just shoved a ShamWow in my vagina and called it good...but I digress.

I got to work folding, cutting and sewing my dish towel rags, and after about 47 hours, I had made three.

Because Aunt Flo has a sense of humor, she decided to delay herself until I finished those three and then paid me a visit just to laugh at my stupidity. Also, because I had nowhere to be, I decided to try them out.

The verdict: Not too bad. First of all, they are HUGE. They look like grown up sized Lego blocks, and I'm pretty sure that if I sped up the process, I could build my own house with them.

Secondly, they are really comfortable. It's like a pillow for your vagina. No bunching or discomfort and I just threw them into the wash after a cold rinse cycle. They dried well and retained their shape.

So, what are my final thoughts on this sustainable grossness?

Cost-effective? Yes.

Easy to make? If you're not me - Yes.

Comfortable? - Yes.

Do I care about the environment? Yes.

Am I going to use these things on a regular basis? Hell no.

And now, here's a clip on the subject of feminine hygiene from the Dave Chapelle Show.

Edit: Over a year and a half later and they are still in good shape and going strong. Also, I use them far more frequently than I originally thought I would because vagina pillow.