To the 20+ people in my class last Saturday, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to endure the smell of a rotting, foul smelling tampon that I forgot was inside my body. I think I jammed it up there on Wednesday or Thursday; I can't remember. When I was sitting at a table talking with my classroom partner, I smelled a really unusual smell, kind of like sweat. At first, I thought it was him, and I started judging him. I was confused, because he looked so clean cut, but he had a strange odor. When I moved away from him and kept smelling it, I thought it might be coming from the gear I wore biking to class. We moved classrooms, and I took all my gear out of my bike bag and aired it out on the window sill, hoping that would help. It didn't. When our all-day workshop ended early, I went to the girls' bathroom. This might have been my first down moment in days. I had about twenty minutes until my husband and son were going to pick me up. In the bathroom stall, I dropped my pants and noticed a string in my butt. I thought my period was long over. What was this? I pulled on the string and perhaps experienced a micro version of Toxic Shock Syndrome. The smell was horrific. I felt my blood pressure drop for a second, like I could pass out. But I didn't. I just stunk up the room, all day long. I'll try to pay more attention to what's in my vagina next cycle.