Juicy Fruit and Companions: A Scent Catalogue
- jaymemarsh
- May 28, 2018
- 2 min read
There's a desk in the kitchen that's built into the wall. The shelves above the built-in are punctuated with school photos of kids in chokers, all toothless smiles. A crystal figurine with no sentimental value remains unmoved as years pass. The shelves do not discriminate; a holiday cookbook holds post alongside a box of tissues and a log cabin of popsicle sticks. The prize treasure, though, lies on the desk below.
An indiscernible sack of soft brown patchwork leather slumps over, exhausted, camouflaged, smack dab in the center of the surface.
Tiny hands of the chokered and the toothless reach inside for any number of reasons. A stick of Juicy Fruit, the flavor potent just long enough to render its impending blandness minutes later acceptable. Big Red for the bravest of them. A stack of quarters for the ice cream truck down the road; pebbles and hot pavement as self-flagellation, the cool release of lake water on dirty feet. Crumpled up tissues, used and not.
The bag never changes,
unending, slumping over and again. Tired and beloved.
Hands reach inside, searching for packs of cigarettes, cutting them up and flushing them away.
The bag still never changes, will never be empty. Unending, slumping over and again. Tired and beloved.
IN A DEPARTMENT STORE SOMEWHERE, A ROUGE-CHEEKED SALESPERSON OFFERS SPRITZES OF AN AUSTERE BOTTLE'S CONTENTS. THE WOMAN KNOWS THE NOTES, AND RECITES THEM CONVINCINGLY: "RICH, WEATHERED LEATHER, COPPER AND METAL, BABY OIL, JUICY FRUIT CHEWING GUM, TOBACCO, HYACINTH, AND COFFEE." THE WOMAN CANNOT PICTURE THE DESK, THOUGH, THE TIRED AND BELOVED. SLUMPING, UNENDING. SHE EXPLAINS THE SCENT WILL LINGER LONG AFTER THE INITIAL APPLICATION, CREEPING INTO THE FIBERS OF A JACKET OR THE WOOD GRAIN OF A TABLE. I REMEMBER THE DESK, AND STOP FOR A SAMPLE EVERY TIME.
What did Grandpa's office smell like? The inside of the convertible? Is it the smell of lilacs in spring or mums in the fall that remind you of Grandma? I'm building a scent catalogue, send your smells to shitthatsnice@gmail.com or submit them via the website.
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