Aromatic

Tala parked her car, smiling at the new-car smells of leather and plastic. She really had something to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. She picked up the plastic container of durian, her contribution to the upcoming feast, and breathed in the fresh damp air as she got out. Even from the yard, Tala could smell the turkey.

Tantalizing whiffs interlaced with the lingering damp smell of rain and wet dog. The dog in question looked up and thumped his tail against the ground. As she got closer to the house, the turkey drowned everything else out. The side door was open, which explained the overwhelming aroma. She went in there, entering directly into the kitchen. Inside other scents finally had the opportunity to fight with the turkey. The spice laden aroma of the pumpkin pie, the faint caramely roasted butternut squash, the buttery mashed potatoes. A feast for the nose!

But there was something else under all the Thanksgiving fragrance. Something not quite right. Tala sniffed. Something faint and almost metallic. She stepped through the hallway and entered the living room. There was blood soaked into the carpet, and a man in dark clothing. Beyond him, her friend on the ground. For a moment they both froze; as Tala’s brain processed the blood, her friend’s body, and the fact that she was facing a murderer. Then she did the only thing she could think of. She ripped off the lid of the durian container and threw it into the man’s face. Tala didn’t mind the smell; but she almost felt a stab of sympathy as she fled. Being assaulted by the pungent, oniony-old-gym-sock-sewer odor full in the face would be nauseating.

She ran to the neighbors and banged on the door, and practically fell in once they answered. Smelly and sweaty she gasped out her story and it wasn’t long before police sirens blared through the neighborhood. Tala answered questions in a daze. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take the police long to find the killer. Covered in the distinct reek of durian there wasn’t anywhere he could hide.



This story came from a prompt to write a scene using one of the five senses. I decided that using smell was challenging and then realized that Thanksgiving had a boat load of smells to write about. But I had to do something to make it interesting, so I needed a problem. At first it was just going to be a robber, but I didn't think a simple robbery would produce enough blood to actually smell it. And then since I was thinking of smelly things, I realized that durian had to get in here. Durian has a very distinct, strong odor that can be smelled from great distances. It's often banned in public places. Here's the Wikipedia entry: Durian. Durian grows in Southeast Asia, including in the Philippines, where I encountered it. Tala is the name of a Filipino goddess.

And that's how I wrote a Thanksgiving story that would probably have been better for Halloween.