I haven’t done #1lineWed in over a month…maybe even two. If I take the time to play, I get caught up in all the lines people post and I forget to, you know, write! 😆 Today’s theme is SENSES and I came across these two snippets, both dealing with Caleb’s sense of smell. Even in human form, my favorite werewolf (as opposed to the wolf shifters in Moonstruck), has a good nose. In the first bit, Caleb has just arrived in New Mexico to meet with a…rural pack leader. He’s staying at the TeePee Motor Court in Buhmfuch, New Mexico and is met by the Alpha’s…emissary, Buddy Johnson.
Buddy climbed into the passenger seat and Caleb was glad this was a rental instead of his car. The dude smelled ripe—not in the way that an apple or orange smelled ripe, full and sweet with a hint of musk. No, Buddy smelled ripe like week-old garbage does—or a pro wrestler who forgot his antiperspirant. Caleb hated those little cardboard evergreen trees people hung from the rearview mirrors to cover up the odors of a host of sins from cigarettes and weed to BO but he was going to have to buy one somewhere once Buddy got out of the vehicle. Despite the dust, Caleb rolled his window down and leaned toward the dribble of fresh air that wandered in.
And, later, Caleb is out in the desert when he comes across something that distrubs him.
That other scent was illusive–like a magical spell, but…not. Spells had their own aromatic signature. Plus, there was the cloying stench of magical death clinging to both bodies that overlaid everything else. That burnt-fur acrid scent of ozone, the rotten eggs of sulphur, and if you’d ever gotten a whiff of a copperhead snake’s nest, you would recognize the spoiled cucumber smell that underlies it all. Magic carried its own odor, one a discerning nose recognized immediately. Just like a wine connoisseur could tell you about the bouquet and vintage of a good bottle of wine, a magick with a good nose could tell you the same about a spell.
Layering in all the senses is something writers should do without thinking. But…yeah. I usually have to go back and add stuff in, unless I’m dealing with wolves because…well…WOLVES! LOLOL Anyone have snippets or lines to share today? Oh, and Happy Hump Day!
Silver James 
Smell is a sense that I never fail to think about. I have hyperosmia. Not a bad case but… yeah, I can totally empathize with Caleb in that first scene. 😛
Awesome words today, Silver!
Here are a few from Bloodflow, which I just sent off to AWE (Awesome Wonderful Editor):
With a handkerchief covering her nose and mouth, she stepped into the cavernous metal building. So help me god, if this is a dog or a deer, I’m going to find whoever called me and shoot him in the kneecaps. The smell of her own detergent did little to cover the growing scent as she ventured further into the building. She barely made it deep enough inside to see the shadowy outline of a man.
As the caller had said, the warehouse housed a dead guy. The body lay face down in the middle of what used to be a shipping area. When she got close enough, she could see the gaping hole in the back of his head. A wide circle of dark, brownish-red blossomed from where his nose should’ve been pressed against the concrete. She didn’t need to roll him over to know she wouldn’t be making a visual identification of this victim. No one would.