Monday, September 25, 2017

Faded Plaid Flannel (#FlashFiction #chemistry #olfactory)

Flannel image

By Lisabet Sarai

He’d left it behind when he moved out. Guess the old bathrobe became too ratty even for his casual tastes. She can’t look at it without seeing his wiry frame wrapped in the faded plaid flannel, crouched over his poetry at the kitchen table. Vodka on one side, smoldering cigarette on the other, close enough to touch, a million miles away.

She holds it to her face, breathing him in, sweat and tobacco, and underneath, that elusive musk that first hooked her. Addictive, intoxicating—in an instant she’s drunk with the astounding lust that first drew them together. Eyes closed, she relives their ecstatic frenzy, the clarity of pure connection. In bed they were one body, obscene and holy. She never cared what they did; every carnal act felt like a sacrament. The loss of him, of that glory, is a vast, black, aching wound in her chest.

He’d felt it, too. Inhaling her female perfume, he lost himself, drowned in her lushness. Scary. One reason— along with his wanderlust—that he’s gone.

Chemistry’s not the same as compatibility.

She stuffs the rag between her thighs. Eventually the flannel will smell only of her.

10 comments:

  1. Well done, Lisabet! I love it when erotica writers expertly evoke the olfactory.

    Do you know this story by K. D. Grace?

    http://eroticaforall.co.uk/free-erotic-reads/free-read-pheromones-by-k-d-grace/

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    1. Hi, Jeremy! Thanks for your compliment. Haven't read KD's story but will check it out when I get back from my current trip.

      This flasher is based on real life experiences. It's so aggravating when your biology tells you that you've found your soulmate, but the conscious mind doesn't agree.

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  2. Sultry and sensual, Lisabet. You should post this on ERWA some flasher Sunday.

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  3. Beautifully written! (I thought of saying masterfully, but then I wondered whether I should say mistressfully, which spellcheck doesn't recognize, and then I just shrugged.)

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    1. Thanks, Sacchi!

      I used to have terrible trouble writing flashers. For some reason it has become much easier, maybe because I think of them more as poetry than prose.

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  4. I admire people who can do flash fiction well. I've tried it but I'm not as good at it.

    That is something I've always found wonderful about women, how they can be attracted to the smell of their man. That's so primal.

    Garce

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    1. Aren't you attracted to the smell of a woman?

      Anyway, I think this is almost unconscious, especially at first.

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  5. This is really beautiful, Lisabet, and resonates for me (that idea of how strong smell can be, and how it may not match the actual experience of being with a person...)

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