101 Words

101 Word Short Stories

Olfaction

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Olfaction

By Sudha Balagopal

Mother compliments the bridge of my aquiline nose. Yet, she’s disbelieving when I tell her that upstairs, baby’s diaper is fetid,
soggy. Inside my twelve-year-old nostrils, tiny, sensitive antennae wave and stretch—absorbing signals. They quiver from the chemicals in Mother’s hair color.

A sharp knock on the door. Mother drops a plate; pizza slices scatter and strew.

“Don’t open,” I say, inhaling the odor of alcohol, another woman’s scent, and the simmer of anger from outside the door.

“It’s Father, I must,” Mother says.

“Don’t!”

Father’s knuckles rap, urgent.

I cannot convince her; when I lost one sense, another sharpened.

Writing the Five Senses with Jo Gatford
October 10 & 11

If you can describe a room in detail and the reader still isn’t standing in it, this workshop is for you. Detail only helps when it’s doing a job, and most of us were taught to add sensory detail without being shown what to make it do.

Join award-winning author Jo Gatford for a full day on smell, taste, and touch, learning to anchor them to memory, routine, place, and character.

In just two days, you’ll write a taste that has no name, use a smell to carry information you never have to explain, and build character through touch.

Learn More and Enroll

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