CHARACTERS
Sue: 10-year-old girl
Mom: Sue’s mother, 28 years old
SETTING
In the bathroom. Typical teen bathroom, more tomboy aesthetic, lime green bathroom set, with smart aleck bathroom signs hanging on the wall.
(Sue screams loudly from inside the restroom. Mom runs down the hall from the kitchen towards the restroom.)
SUE
Ahhhhhh! EEEWWW Gross!!! OUCH!!! MOM!
MOM
(Quickly opens the bathroom door and enters.)
What is it, Sue? What happened, is everything okay?
SUE
Oh my God, I am dying. Look!
MOM
(Laughs lightly.)
You are not dying, Sue. You just started your period.
(SUE shifts, looks confused and holds up a pad.)
SUE
My what? I’ve seen you put these on your underwear before but I didn’t know it would rip my insides out!
MOM
Sue, you put the pad on upside down no wonder it hurt. Let me show you how to use these.
(MOM helps SUE put a pad on correctly, then walks to the edge of bathtub and takes a seat, pats the area next to her and directs SUE to take a seat.)
Sue, come here and sit with me, let’s talk.
SUE
I’m bleeding to death and you want to talk?
MOM
Sue, your period is a way that your body shows you that it is prepared to make a baby when the time is right.
SUE
Are you nuts! I am not having a baby ever. Yuck!
MOM
Just hear me out. I am not saying you are going to have a baby now or anytime soon. Your body has a uterus, and that uterus forms a lining for your egg and someone’s sperm to meet and make a baby. If a baby isn’t made the lining is not needed so the lining sheds in the form of blood, and that is your period.
SUE
First, I am bleeding to death, and now I’m a chicken?
MOM
A chicken what are you talking about?
SUE
You said I have eggs.
MOM
Not those kinds of eggs. Girls have ovaries that contain hundreds of thousands of tiny, round-like things called eggs.
SUE
Well, if I’m not a chicken and I am not dying why am I still bleeding?
MOM
Sue, a period happens every month and it can last from 2-8 days.
SUE
(Eyes dart wide open and she stands up fast.)
Oh My Gosh! Are you crazy? I don’t want to bleed from my cooter for eight days.
MOM
This is a normal thing for young girls your age. You have a period until you get menopause one day. You will have a period for the next 40 years.
SUE
(Pretend faints and drops to the ground dramatically.)
Oh, I can’t go on. I quit life.
MOM
How about I let you skip school, and we can go get some ice cream?
SUE
(Head darts up as she smiles at her mom.)
Really? Yes, that would be great.
MOM
Good, because I have so much more to tell you about.
SUE
More?
(MOM places her arm around SUE’s shoulder as they walk out of the restroom together.)
MOM
Oh yeah. We get to talk about cramps and so much more.
SUE
(Rolls her eyes and makes a face of disgust.)
Periods are so yuck!
END