But I am playing catch-up. These are last week's: Crystallize, morbid, fragrance, cling, instant, blueprint.Oh, what fun I had . . .
I sniffed. “I smell it
again!” I said.
Norma looked up from her
newspaper and frowned, confused. “What?”
“That fragrance!
That weird fragrance!”
She pursed her lips and
sniffed, audibly. “I don’t smell anything.”
“Come over here. It seems
to . . . cling to this exact spot!” I stepped to one side and indicated
with both hands. “Right here!”
Sighing, Norma set down
her paper and heaved her bulky self to her feet. “Fine,” she said. “But I’m
only doing this because you’re my sister.”
“You’re a true friend,” I
cooed, giving her just a bit more space.
Obligingly, she manoeuvred herself into the designated spot. “Okay. Here I am.”
“Now sniff!”
She closed her eyes and
drew in a deep breath. Then frowned and did it again. “Huh,” she said.
“Right?” I watched her.
She stepped to one side
and sniffed once more. Then stepped back and repeated the procedure. “Huh,” she
said again. She looked around, then slowly dropped to her knees. “I only do
this because I love you,” she said, glancing up at me.
“And I love you,” I said.
“So what’s making that smell?”
She bent down and sniffed
the carpet. “Huh. Nothing.” She sat back on her heels and stared thoughtfully
upwards. Her eyes brightened. “Maybe it’s the spirit of some former resident,” she said.
I gave her my best ‘tell-me-another’
look. “Right. A former resident who haunts only this spot?”
“Well, maybe she died
right here.”
“Don’t be morbid,”
I said, moving a step away.
“No! I can see it! Her
body laying here, crystallizing slowly.”
"Ugh!" I said. Then grinned and picked it
up. “Her spirit hanging around till her mortal remains are discovered, then deciding in that instant
that it must always stay . . .”
“Exactly!”
“Pfff! What will you
think of next?!”
Norma made a couple of
shuffling movements, then sighed and held up her hands. “Could you?” she asked.
I shook my head and reached
out to help her to her feet.
Both of us sniffed the
air again.
Suddenly, a whisper of
sound. A . . . hissing. It burst inside my head. “Blueprint!” it said.
I spun around, then
looked at my sister. “Did you . . .?” I said no more. The look on her face told
me everything.
