She pulls the dress from the hamper before dumping the other clothes in the washer. A dress like that will never come clean. It’s not the grass stains or the mud on the back. She folds it, dirty side out, and buries it deep in a drawer. A battlefield can’t be washed; can’t be cleaned.

Ramona Ostrowski is a senior at Boston University, studying English and Theatre. She is a contributing writer for HerCampus.com/BU.