‘Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once.’ Use the senses to transport a character back to the past.

Posted in Character on Sep 29, 2023

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✍️ 50 stories

“Time in a Bottle” by Anne Shillingsburg

Submitted to Contest #218

For Gemini the idea of motherhood, maybe womanhood itself, lives in one memory: hovering around her mother’s legs, crossed at the ankles, while she sat at her vanity table in her dressing gown. The bottles and tubes--5 creams for after bath, a different one for feet, legs, hands, face, and eyes--each had its smell: thick and oily in the pot, the light, close smell of safety and acceptance on the skin, for, just occasionally, while staring adoringly up at the process of transforming steaming, damp, prettiness into elegant perfection, Gemin...

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“The Gingerbread Man” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #218

“I don’t want to go there…” I whispered to nobody in the soft dim light of the Café, closing my eyes tight as if that could stop the memories from taking me back. I stopped, not five paces from the entrance, and knew I had to turn around and leave. I just wanted to run in for a coffee and danish on my way to work. The morning walk through the city was brisk and chilly, typical late November, yet steady streams ...

20 comments 20

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“English Leather” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #218

He always wore English Leather. Sundays would come around and he’d tap lightly on the front door. His car would be idling outside, but before I’d hear the engine or see his blonde curls dangling above his Cheshire smile, I’d smell the English Leather. Like all good fragrances, it strikes you differently depending on which scent resonates in your memory. For some reason, I took the lemon first. It reminded me of a glass ...

16 comments 16

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“Sonset” by Joshua Adams

Submitted to Contest #218

Clink! Glass bottles toasted in the cardboard box as I set it on my cluttered coffee table. The motherload. I knew it… Thanks Dad. That was the last of father’s things. My dark apartment still needed lamps, but it was lighter than my mood. I felt like life had shortchanged me and I couldn’t afford happiness—only cheap alcohol and maybe rent for the next few months. This delicate and familiar sound was profound to me. I felt a rush of relief realizing Dad was a hypocrite. Now, I could be disa...

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“Going Up” by Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #218

(TW .. this story contains references to verbal and emotional abuse.)Wearing her bathing suit and coverup she went into the elevator and hit the round button for her floor. Seeing her reflection in the mirrored walls she smiled. Finally, the long awaited girls’ trip to Cancun was here; five full days of laughter and conversation over food and drinks on the beach. Leaving her friends on their lounge chairs, she ran back up to her room for the forgotten sunscreen.Ding.The ...

12 comments 12

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“Love in Lavender” by Julianna Nauman

Submitted to Contest #218

Lavender. It fills the air around me on the busy New York City street outside my office. Its scent floods my nose and seizes my lungs. My feet stop. My mind stops. Then, memories charge in. "Caleb, breakfast is ready!" My mom's gentle yet firm voice calls up the stairs. I stumble out of my room with my baby blanket wrapped around my shoulders. She can nev...

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“Running” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #218

I can smell the salt of the sweat on my brow and neck, with hints of bug spray–the bouquet of harsh metal, lime, and kerosene. The hot concrete burns through the soles of my shoes. The residue of the chocolate gel I took fifteen minutes ago still covers my gums and coats my throat, which catches wafts of pollen and car exhaust, temporarily choking me as I gasp for air. The rush of cooling wind on my face and bare chest, the dopplerring woosh of cars passing, the caw of a raven, or the screech of a hawk. The scooting shuffle of startled d...

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“Preserved” by Rachelle Lemay

Submitted to Contest #218

*Sensitive content - This story contains a scene dealing with the death of a family member Preserved Jimmy was 12 the first time he smelled formaldehyde. He was at a sleepover at his neighbour Zach’s house. They were playing Dare, Dare, Double Dare when he challenged Zach to show him something he had never shown anyone before. Zach bounced off the bed, gr...

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“(Almost) Sweet Memories.” by Roxanne J. Black

Submitted to Contest #218

The kitchen was barely lit. The sun started peaking over the trees in my backyard and the first brave rays of sun broke through the curtains, bathing the furniture in warm gold. My eyes were fixed on the numbers slowly descending on the display of my phone, glowing in thin, red numbers: 10 minutes and 22 seconds. The scent of the sweet, fruity aroma floated gently in the air, turning the unforgiving bite of Decem...

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“The Weight of it All” by Miley Ashborne

Submitted to Contest #218

Ella Wallace shuffled down the hall after her mother's German Shepherd, Cooper, a yawn erupting sluggishly from her. The once clear plastic cone around the dog's neck continually snagged and then grazed along the walls, breaking up the serenity of early morning with short, choppy bursts of unpleasant scraping. The sky outside, Ella saw as she opened the back door for the dog to go out, was light though the sun had not y...

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“Hymn for the Fallen ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #218

Rusty Sherman was having one of his episodes. Something always triggered these episodes whether it would be a certain heavy aroma or some object that would catch the corner of his eye or even a melody that once played from his sandblasted radio sitting on a table next to his rack in the barracks in Kandahar. Whatever it was, the episode that followed was best described as unpredictable. Living in a s...

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“Favorite Baby Girl” by Ty Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #218

After the traditional Thanksgiving dinner has been presented and vanquished, Harland Covington retires to the family room to watch some football while everyone else cleans up. He sits in his old faded brown recliner, the one that hugs every contour of his seventy-seven-year-old frame. It’s the same chair that has been the subject of many arguments with his wife, usually with Harland exclaiming, “When something hugs you just right, you don’t throw it out, you hug it back!” The chair is positioned by the fireplace so that the warm dry heat ...

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“SMOKING THE BACON” by Andrew Hixson

Submitted to Contest #218

SMOKING THE BACON The tantalising aroma of bacon sizzling in the frying pan fills the air, beckoning me to indulge in its irresistible savouriness. It’s like a time machine for my senses, transporting me back to a simpler era, free from the hustle and bustle of modern technology and distractions. I nostalgically reminisce about my school summer holidays when I worked at my father’s bacon w...

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“The Smell of Rotten Eggs” by Jfs Sevin

Submitted to Contest #218

I stood in our new duplex with the smell of rotten eggs flowing from the water faucet. Why does this smell continue to haunt me? I recalled when I was a twenty=nine-year-old chef and happily married with two children, until the smell of rotten eggs ruined my life The smell of rotten eggs brings me back to the time that everything in my life changed. This smell, however, was not rotten eggs at all. It was a smell that was identical to rotten eggs, but you probably have never heard of it. After I tell you my story you migh...

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“The Falling Leaf” by Darby Tanner

Submitted to Contest #218

The smell hits me first. Yesterday morning mirrors today's in nearly every way, except today is the first day of fall, and the atmosphere in Witch’s Brew tangibly reflects the shift. Where lavender and fresh lemonade defined the summer, I now catch whiffs of pumpkin and apple cider. Wafting cinnamon gives the shop an autumnal edge (Autumnal in the corporate sense. It’s still 85 degrees in Arkansas). <...

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‘Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once.’ Use the senses to transport a character back to the past.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 50 stories

“Time in a Bottle” by Anne Shillingsburg

“The Gingerbread Man” by Nina H

“English Leather” by Story Time

“Sonset” by Joshua Adams

“Going Up” by Hannah Lynn

“Love in Lavender” by Julianna Nauman

“Running” by Jonathan Page

“Preserved” by Rachelle Lemay

“(Almost) Sweet Memories.” by Roxanne J. Black

“The Weight of it All” by Miley Ashborne

“Hymn for the Fallen ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

“Favorite Baby Girl” by Ty Warmbrodt

“SMOKING THE BACON” by Andrew Hixson

“The Smell of Rotten Eggs” by Jfs Sevin

“The Falling Leaf” by Darby Tanner

🌟 Similar prompts

Begin a scene with a non-visual sense. Describe a specific sound, smell, taste, etc to capture your setting, then expand the story out from there.

Start the story with the absence of a sensory detail (eg. silence when there should be noise).

Write a story that begins, ends, or changes with a song played by a busker.

‘The worst meal I’ve ever tasted.’ Imagine a zero-star TripAdvisor restaurant review: capture the customer’s evening out that compelled them to complain.

Contest #218

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

340

Contest entries

98

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: