Five Stories in One- the five senses- Smell

Five Stories in One

The five senses

Smell
June 04, 2007
5:48 PM

fiction
edward w pritchard

Attorney Kate Johnson was not asleep. She was aware of the drone from the cable TV and could feel her daughter's presence in the room.

But she was dreaming, but it was exactly as it had really happened long ago. She was a little girl going to dinner in East Liverpool, Ohio with her Grandpa Clarke. It was the last run for the street car up to the top of Gentler's Hill. Her Grandpa took pictures of old street cars through out Southern Ohio, and down into West Virginia and Kentucky as a hobby. He wanted to get a picture of car 42 on its last run. He had brought his Grand daughter Kate along to take her to dinner this Friday night at Pheasant's the best restaurant in town.

They had four conductors on that last run and all had on their best uniforms and each uniform was neatly pressed. One of the young conductors was stunningly handsome and Kate had trouble not staring at him as they rode the incline toward the restaurant.

Grandpa Clarke had a surprise for his five year old grand daughter. Rather than go into the the restaurant to eat, the employees of the Pheasant had cooked the conductors their favorite meal, chili and cornbread. They carried the food out on silver trays to street car 42 and put a piece of wood across a couple of the seats and covered it with several coats of crisp linen table cloths. The waiters served their six guests, the four conductors, Grandpa Clarke the amateur photographer, and his five year old companion off linen covered four arms with pomp and circumstance.

Kate's waiter had cut the hot cornbread for her and covered it with butter and maple syrup and the smell filled the street car.

The smell of cornbread filled the large house and as Kate Johnson awoke her daughter was standing over her holding a plate of cornbread and a small pot of tea. While Kate slept she sensed her daughter cooking in the kitchen and her minds eye saw the messy counter with one of those blue boxes of instant cornbread mix on it.