Write about a character who smells something familiar and is instantly taken back to the first moment they smelled it.

Posted in Short Story on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 219 stories

“Olive Bread” by Phoebe Barr

🏆 Winner of Contest #61

I caught a late flight from the west coast to the funeral. Landed in Pittsburgh at four in the morning, not early enough to check into my hotel and get any sleep, not late enough to have gotten any real rest on the plane. My eyes felt heavy and itchy as I went through the motions of picking up my bags, catching a cab to the dingy hotel I’d selected for affordability, dropping off my bags, and picking up a greasy Dunkin’ Donuts breakfast sandwich just as the sun was rising. It was mid-May, but it was cold in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania di...

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“An Isolated Incident” by BeInspiredAbstracts/Etsy SarahGreenwood

Submitted to Contest #61

Abby usually did the laundry, but on the rare occasion that John did, the smell of the detergent took him back. Back to a time they had both erased from their memory. A time they promised to never speak of again. But the detergent had been only the beginning. They had been so excited, after a year of trying it finally happened, they couldn’t believe their eyes. But there it was, two pink lines staring back at them. John grabbed Abby in an embrace, both crying. Their labra...

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“The Almost Breakup, Reese's Pieces, and a Baseball Cap (Part 2)” by ♡ ℂ𝕣𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕝 ♡

Submitted to Contest #61

Author’s Note: All of the sections inside of the italicized parts are the memories. This is a flashback from one of their dates! Hope you enjoy it!I sniff the candy Henry presented me with. I gasp and I am suddenly brought back to a memory I vaguely remember - the first time Henry brought me this chocolate. I was sixteen at the time, and I thought that our sixth date was going to be awesome. I was deeply disappointed. We were at a theater, and we had purchased tickets to a romantic comedy titled, "That's My Wife!" We entered the theater...

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“Witness Testimonies” by Meggy House

Submitted to Contest #61

Where there’s a will, there’s a bunch of jealous relatives all vying for said will. Opal had read that in a History textbook when she was 12. Or maybe it was a parody textbook, considering how the whole book just made fun of the Medieval Kings of England. Either way, it was right! Here Opal sat, in court—if it could even be called that, considering that there was no formal process or organization at all—with every other adult "witness" from the Norwalk Street block, all recoun...

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“Biking with Maridel” by 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚝 ~

Submitted to Contest #61

Hi, my name is Maridel, but my friends call me Mary. Not Ma-ry, but Mah-ry. I was biking with my dad and brother in the middle of Nowhere. Nowhere is the town I live in, but it looks pretty close to the middle of nowhere. Nowhere and nowhere are very different places. So we were biking in the middle of Nowhere, when I smelled something. It smelled like hot fudge, Neapolitan ice cream, whipped cream, and caramelized cherries combined into one food. Dessert Taco, I thought. I totally forgot that I was biking when I was whisked back into a very...

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“Ginger Snap” by Rambling Beth

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #61

It’s time to visit my father again.I hate going there, hate visiting him when he’s no longer the man who raised me. The care home is only a fifteen-minute drive, but I avoid that route even when I need to go shopping. My mother phones me twice a day, always to check on how my father is, but never to check on me. I understand why. It’s hard for her, difficult to accept that her husband can’t remember the woman he married.I pull up into the car park, turn off the engine, and stare at the wheel for a good five minutes. The care home workers are...

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“Deep Waters” by Lina Oz

Submitted to Contest #61

The ocean.It is not an aroma one expects upon crossing the threshold into a coffee shop.The salt and the sea.The fragrance stops me dead in my tracks. For a brief moment, I see the setting around me––the colorful rugs, the scattered tables, the counter, behind which stands a barista chatting with the customer in front of me. At the corner of my eye I see a candle burning near the window, the words "Ocean Breeze" on the label. I see dark, deep blue wax, with a gentle flame upon the wick.Then, the scene fades. Everything blurs.Until all I can ...

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“Counting Stars” by 𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙠𝙞 ☾

Submitted to Contest #61

The sky is beautiful today evening. When the last sun rays of the day kiss the heathland, when the oranges and purples melt into grey under the moonlight. They move slowly, lolloping in their ungainly way, modifying as they go. They go so slow yet so fast. I can’t even get started on how short the beauty of the sunset lasts. Sometimes I watch them for a while, but today I have to go to the forest so that my dad could teach me rabbit hunting. I know, I live in a city and yet do this. Why? I guess it’s because we used to live in the countrysid...

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“Rice To See You Again” by Rayhan Hidayat

Submitted to Contest #61

You know that smell. Home after half a decade spent on the other side of the world, and you still know that smell.It makes a beeline for you from across the street, shoving aside the exhaust fumes of a thousand motorbikes and the stench of sewage baking under the sun. It scurries up your nostrils and thrashes about in your brain, evicting every coherent thought for the only one that matters. You sit back for the showreel playing in your skull:It starts with oil from the previous batch; the health-conscious would stoop so low as to use terms ...

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“The girl at Boy's ” by Vanessa Marczan

Submitted to Contest #61

My wife takes a big, deep breath and smiles. 'Can you smell that?'We are sitting on little plastic chairs at a little plastic table in an open-air hawker centre, a great al fresco food court, at Gurney Drive in Penang, Malaysia. The sun has set. The hawkers are setting up, unfolding the limbs of their metal carts. The sound of music and chatter in a smattering of languages, laughter mixed with knives chopping, water pouring, plastic plates being stacked. The preparation of every kind of food you could ever desire, Chinese, Malay, Indian...

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“russian sage” by Masha Kurbatova

Submitted to Contest #61

I hate Russian sage. Such an ugly little plant, faded purple, as if you’d taken something decent and put it through the wash too many times. I hate that planted so much of it around the house without asking me. The smell gives me a headache. The smell reminds me of the summer my mother was in love with Lenny. I told you about Lenny, I know I did, and I told you about the sage too, the beaming bushes around the hotel’s perimeter, crowding the lamb’s ear, the black-eyed susans, the knee-high grasses. I’d sit on the curb and pluck leaves and cr...

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“Dying Perfume” by Skyler Woods

Submitted to Contest #61

Sleep paralysis is a devastating condition. I was 7 when I first had sleep paralysis. My mother tucked me in that night. I could remember the citrus fragrance of her perfume. Her scent would always comfort me. After she tucked me in, I quickly drifted off to sleep. The night seemed quiet, but the peaceful atmosphere in my bedroom didn't last. I woke up around midnight. A smothering sweat drenched my little body. I couldn’t move my arms and legs. I could only move my eyes and my lips. It took my eyes some time to adjust to the thick dark...

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“" Some things are best kept a secret"” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #61

“Some things are best kept a secret” By: Haripriya I recollect the time I had to go on a nature walk. At first, I didn’t really like the idea of it. Nature to me one year ago meant bug bites, weird smells, dirt, mud, and danger lurking in every corner. Well... now I am a completely different person. I love nature! I love going outside to feel the cool breeze and sunshine on my face. Sit and lay on the soft, yet bumpy grass. My favorite part of the nature walk was going ...

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“Blast from the Past” by Vicky S

Submitted to Contest #61

A strong breeze blew over the castle walls, ruffling Lizzie’s hair. Despite the sun shining, she tucked her arms under her threadbare cloak and wrapped it more tightly around herself. It wouldn’t do to catch a cold. Not yet anyway. Closing her eyes, she could almost imagine that she was back home. Safe and cozy in front of the log fire, her father laughing from his seat at the head of the table as the ladies danced, her brother trying desperately to keep his eyes open as the men bowed low to him and her sister….. Well, her sister had never b...

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“All it took was a crumpled piece of paper” by Echo Sundar

Submitted to Contest #61

I was laying in bed, covered only by a light sheet. I was staring up at the ceiling as I listened to the sounds of a Saturday morning in mid July. A warm breeze brought childrens’ joyous laughter through my open window. The thump, thump, of jogger’s feet pounding on the sidewalk as they sped past our house was acting like it was just the backdrop on their morning run. I suppose it was because they didn't know how many things happened in each and every house. All the stories and tears shed because it wasn't their job to know. They...

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Ended on 23:59 - Oct 02, 2020 EST

Won by Phoebe Barr 🏆

Title: Olive Bread

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Write about a character who smells something familiar and is instantly taken back to the first moment they smelled it.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 219 stories

“Olive Bread” by Phoebe Barr

“An Isolated Incident” by BeInspiredAbstracts/Etsy SarahGreenwood

“The Almost Breakup, Reese's Pieces, and a Baseball Cap (Part 2)” by ♡ ℂ𝕣𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕝 ♡

“Witness Testimonies” by Meggy House

“Biking with Maridel” by 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚝 ~

“Ginger Snap” by Rambling Beth

“Deep Waters” by Lina Oz

“Counting Stars” by 𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙠𝙞 ☾

“Rice To See You Again” by Rayhan Hidayat

“The girl at Boy's ” by Vanessa Marczan

“russian sage” by Masha Kurbatova

“Dying Perfume” by Skyler Woods

“" Some things are best kept a secret"” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

“Blast from the Past” by Vicky S

“All it took was a crumpled piece of paper” by Echo Sundar

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character passing down their favorite childhood toy to a new generation.

Write about a character who goes to — or purposefully avoids — their high school reunion.

Write about a character discovering something new about their past that changes how they remember an important moment.

Write about a character who’s obsessed with an era they never lived through.

Contest #61

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

719

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: