Mollie's Literature Blog

First you need to get your contact lenses. Buy them in bulk, get the prescription from your eye doctor. You have a choice between dailies, monthlies, and a bunch of others but I’d get the dailies if I were you. At the end of the day it’s much quicker to throw out your lenses than to have to clean and preserve them.

At the start of the day get out two contact lenses from the box after you’ve brushed your teeth. Peel the covers off of the lens containers – don’t throw these out ‘cause they have the contact solution in them and you might need it later. Then wash your hands so you don’t get dirt in your eye that you might never get out. Pick up one of the contacts so that it’s on your index finger and shake it gently over the sink to get rid of excess solution. It should be shaped like a bowl. If it’s not shaped like a bowl and it’s this strange thing with a rim on the edges then you’ve got it the wrong way so inside-out it.

Hold it up to your eye. Now here’s the part where you touch your eye. This is important. If you haven’t practiced touching your eye this will feel scary as hell but don’t panic. If you panic you’ll only make things harder. Slowly bring your finger to your eye and touch the center of your eye. Pull your finger away. If the contact has stuck to your eye then you’re halfway there. If it’s still on your finger then put it back in the container, let it soak for a second, pick it up, shake it off, and try again.

Once it’s successfully stuck to your eye look all the way up and all the way down. This will make the lens drift to the right place. You’ll know it’s drifted to the right place when you can see way better out of one eye than the other. Blink a few times to settle it. Now your contact should be successfully in your eye. If it didn’t work or it fell out then put it back in the container and do it all again.

Repeat with the other lens. Once they are both successfully in, look around to make sure you can see clearly. If you can, good job. If you can’t, try again. If you feel pain in either of your eyes then try moving the contact around a little bit, up or down but not too far, with your index finger. If that still doesn’t help and you’re still feeling that pain that can sometimes burn inside of you and make you think you’re going blind, take it out and get a fresh one. You don’t want to be in pain all day long.

If it’s time to go to school but you still haven’t successfully gotten your contacts in don’t feel bad, it happens to everyone. Settle for glasses even if they are what you’ve been trying to get away from. Sure, you’ll look like a dork and everyone will ask you why you still have to wear glasses when lately you’ve been so excited about burning them and instead wearing lenses that make you look nicer and less of a dork. But at least you’ll be able to see.

When I wade into the ocean the water is only up to my ankles. It explores my feet and tickles my toes. I take another step forward. Up to my knees. I’m shivering now. Another step, then another. Up to my waist. There’s no one else here except me; unless you count seagulls as people – I mentally shush their ecstatic cries. Now I’m cold and there are things moving beneath the water so I reach for my paint-splattered towel but it’s not there. Now the water is pulling me forward, farther and deeper until only my shoulders are above the water – when I fight it it only pulls me harder so I take a deep breath and slowly step back. Another step back. Now the sun warms me and the waves settle. When I’m ready I step forward again, but when the gulls are loud and the water’s cold I step back. Step forward, step back, a perpetual dance on the seashore.