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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

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

“Parts of life” by RABI CHATTERJEE

Submitted to Contest #61

Here it is, Siddharth forwards the letter to his boss. Boss skims the letter and says, Okay, no problem. Take care of your mother until she gets well. We pray for her health. Thank you so much, sir, Siddharth concluded with a smile. He is very happy inside because after 2 years of working in a different state, finally, he is going to meet with his family again. Though this meeting is not for pleasure, his mother is ill and has recently got admitted to the hospital. He tried to change his office but they don’t have any branch where the...

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“Professor Quartz” by Pablo Mascaraque Glenn

Submitted to Contest #61

The inside of the car was nice and toasty after having had the heating on during the fifteen minute drive to the train station. It had been harder than he expected to find a parking space in the usually empty parking lot of the station, but Tom had finally found a spot and was now mentally preparing himself for the upcoming shock of the crisp Autumn air waiting for him outside. As expected, a rush of cold air surrounded him as he climbed out of the car, and a wave of goosebumps began to wash over his whole body. He shivered, but as he did hi...

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“Fro Yo at Death Dow” by Claire Komoroski

Submitted to Contest #61

"Miss..." The new worker paused trying to figure out how to say Danny's last name. "Gator....Hunt....were?" "Gatourhuntswere." She corrected the teen. "Gay.... Tour... hunthswere." He tried again and handed Danny her blueberry pomegranate frozen yogurt. She took the frozen yogurt from him, and got a small whiff of the treat, which sent her flying into the past. "Fro Yo at death dow!" Twenty employees sang together while they tried to clean up the mess the last group party made. Danny was only here right now because she promised her father ...

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“It'll be okay” by Clary Fray

Submitted to Contest #61

It was an hour after midnight. It had only been three hours since she had lost her best friend. But it felt like eternity, it felt as though the world had decided to take a pause, making sure she'd feel every ounce of pain, and making sure she'd remember it for a very long time. Life is beautiful but sometimes unforgiving. Beautiful. "The lungs are beautiful and she did great" Then... "S-She had a stroke. I'm so sorry..." Unforgiving. It was one word to describe CF. It was unforgiving and it can take away a lot from someone. ...

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“A Smelly Memory” by Asta .

Submitted to Contest #61

To the outside world, he is a stone-cold man, and smiling is a foreign concept. Wrinkles ravage the land between his brows despite being only 26. During the day, he works to make money. During the night, he sleeps only so he can make more money the following morning. Life is static except for his ever-growing bank account. Ever since the beginning of his occupation, his vacation days have remained untouched. He shows up to work every day, not even stopping for his birthday. Co-workers, after inviting him to a couple parties in vain, have lon...

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“Clean Chemical Fruity” by Tim Combes

Submitted to Contest #61

The smell of her hair, that clean chemical fruity smell like dried laundry, dryer sheets, bad for the environment, the way she would use dryer sheets but wouldn’t eat red meat, "it takes two and a half pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef," but she would still drink two percent milk if the store was out of oat milk or if she didn’t feel like going to the grocery store, corner deli, bodega, the way the men behind the counter would ogle her, the way I didn’t worry about it because she was mine, mine, mine, mine“Mind if I sit here?” Cal...

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“The Car” by Larry Kerr

Submitted to Contest #61

The Car He watched from a safe distance as she hefted the sledgehammer, arced it over her head and swung it. The sun glinted off the metal head of the new sledge as it reached the top of the swing and he shaded his eyes. She swung from her heels and the hammer whistled through the air before crashing down onto to the hood of the car. Bam! The blow was impressive and the impact lifted her off her feet. Had it been a movie the director would have shot it from different angles and repeated it over and over so its effects were fully felt. S...

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“The Ones That Got Away” by Sarah Ford

Submitted to Contest #61

Crunch, crunch, crunch. My feet and the blanket of fall leaves meet on the winding trail to make my favorite seasonal music. We keep rhythm with the brisk air breeze and bowing of autumnal branches. There’s laughter from a group two booths to my right and I eavesdrop on a middle-aged man with a thick voice attempting to negotiate a deal with an annoyed artisan.  “The prices are set, I don’t negotiate at these markets, sir,” the woman explains with a heavy note of exasperation in her voice.  I take a few steps to the side of the...

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“One for the road” by Rome Giuliano

Submitted to Contest #61

I was back in my home town for Christmas, it had been a few years since I was home and even longer the time before that. After all of the hugs and kisses and the catching up, my brother and I decide to go down to the bar we used to frequent, walking in gave me such a sense of nostalgia. I hadn't been in here in years yet the place looked the same. We both walked up to the bar, had a seat, and ordered our drinks. I order a Genesse Beer for old time sake and because I felt that ordering my normal drink would make me look pretentious. When the ...

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“About ramen and a bitter-sweet dessert” by L Hinz

Submitted to Contest #61

It’s hot. The fresh noodles and their spicy flavour are filling my mouth. A thin film of sweat covers my forehead. With closed eyes I carefully chew and swallow. A familiar warmth instantly spreads through my throat and stomach. I smile and open my eyes.‘So, Ela, what do you think?’I look down at the steaming bowl of ramen. After a few seconds I lift myhead. Merely 5 inches separates Luigi’s face from mine. He has bent over thecounter. His former white apron is sprinkled with dark stains after a long dayof cooking and serving bowls. The heat...

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“A Dead Man's Smile” by Timothy Goss

Submitted to Contest #61

(Trigger warning: graphic character death) It had been an average day with the usual phatic expressions and meaningless content. My pounding head required air and space to release the monotony, so I decided to walk home, my mind full of things worth forgetting.     I turned down Marut Road, it was quieter and there was a good view of the Northern Downs. At this time of year the heather and gorse is thick like broccoli and covers the magnificent hillside with wild flowers. I like flowers, I like to see them in profusion in...

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“Blue Walls” by Kait Lemi

Submitted to Contest #61

`When I wake up, I feel myself gasping for air. My head is pounding. I’m pretty sure that you could hear my rapid heart rate on the other side of the world. But when I turn my head, he’s still sound asleep. Watching him sleep, my breathing slowly returns back to normal. I run my fingers through his thick brown hair. I move my hand from his hair to his cheek, admiring him with every touch. He sleepily pulls my body against his and engulfs me in his arms. My face is pressed against his warm, bare chest and I can feel his strong arms wrapped ...

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“Mara's Garden of False Delights” by Reed Foxwell

Submitted to Contest #61

When he finally came to, the hazy morning light was illuminating the room in a soft, warm glow.  Though he was awake, he let his eyes take the time they needed to open, seeing nothing but a blur of lights and colours until they slowly eased into shapes and figures — the white, classically-styled frame of the windows, the delicate floral patterns on the wall. He drew in a deep, long breath of the light, flower-tinted smell in the air and let it all out as a gentle sigh. It felt like his first breath of life in ages.  Only then d...

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“A Sweet Remembrance” by Beth Edgar

Submitted to Contest #61

I hurriedly walked towards the front door. I had to work late and Wednesdays are my Nana nights.  Nana is my grandmother.  She is completely blind and stubbornly independent.  She lives alone in the house that she and my grandfather purchased back in the fifties.  I check on her daily, but Wednesdays and Sundays are the times I have set aside to actually visit her. As I reach to knock on the door, my arm becomes entangled in my purse and the bag of groceries I brought for Nana and all of it cras...

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“The Scent” by Jessica Bailey

Submitted to Contest #61

There it was. The scent I would never in my lifetime forget. It was perfect, and it made my mouth water. Though it was all around me, I couldn’t pinpoint where exactly it was coming from. But it didn’t matter either way. All that mattered was the memory filling my mind of how wonderful that aroma would always be.  I glanced down at the steaming cup of hot chocolate in my hands, loving the warmth emanating from it. The smell was delectable, but that wasn’t what I had sniffed originally. No, it was something else; something my mother used...

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