For a different variety of fruit and vegetables John took Skylar to an Asian market. The space was larger, louder, and the smells were stronger. Skylar was just as curious, just as excited to explore and quickly started dragging John everywhere. While Skylar wasn’t going to bring processed foods, they loved seeing the new varieties sitting on the shelves. It wasn't long before John regretted bringing Skylar here.
"Can we get…?" Squid. Octopus. Snapper. And, just as bad as the fish, the fruit, durian.
"No." John kept saying, pushing his hands deep in his pockets.
"Why?" Skylar held up the fruit, studying the spiky yellowish rind. They put their nose right up to it, taking a great big sniff. His toes curled in his shoes at the sight, especially at the smile growing on Skylar’s face.
"At this point," John glanced around, but no one was close enough to hear. "It will spoil before you go home." John hunched his shoulders, and scrunched his nose. Even standing about a foot away from the bin of fruit, the pungent, sweaty, dirty smell assaulted him.
“Well,” Skylar took a step towards John and he leaned back. “We can eat it before it spoils. And if it is as good as it smells, then maybe we’ll grab some right before I leave.”
“No.” John turned his head away.
“Why?”
“Because that thing,” he gestured towards the durian without looking, “isn’t coming to my house.”
“That’s not a reason.” Skylar walked back in John’s line of sight, cradling the fruit in their arms. “Give me a reason.” They thrust the durian towards him. He pulled up the collar of his shirt, but the faint smell of lavender laundry detergent wasn’t strong enough to obscure the durian’s stench.
“Because that thing stinks.” He muttered. “Bringing it home will make my car, and my house reek too.”
“Reek and stink are usually bad.” Skylar tilted their head and ran their hands along the spines. “But this smells good.”
“To you.” John coughed. “And others. But to me, and plenty of others, it just has this powerful stench, and the taste to match.”
“Oh. Guess I’ll put this back.” Skylar’s voice took a tonal shift and John was just reminded of Emily.
“If you really want to know if it tastes as good as it smells to you,” he pointed to the shelves they had already run through, “I’m pretty sure there is some durian flavored candy. The smell won’t linger with that.”
“Thanks John!”
Purchase made John was driving the both of them to his home.
“Do you think it smells sweet to me, because it smells sweet to Emily?” Skylar held the small paper bag with three of the candies inside. John had asked Skylar not to eat them in the car.
“Like with the potpourri allergy?” John shrugged as he finally pulled into his driveway. “Maybe.”
“Guess I’ll have to ask her.” Skylar bounced out of the van.
Word count: 494
