Scent Notes: Sweet, crisp apples with ginger and lemongrass on a bed of freshly fallen autumn leaves.

Amanda heaved a gigantic sigh. She’d just made it home after a long day at work to discover that her house was an absolute wreck, once again. She walked over the detritus of torn pillows, shredded toilet paper, and who knew what else. The bag of groceries was set on top of the refrigerator temporarily, where the gremlin couldn’t reach it. “Show yourself, you monster!” she yelled. Nothing happened. Amanda set to work cleaning up the mess. Just as she finished, she heard a mighty crash from the kitchen. She darted in to find the bag knocked cleanly from the top of the fridge. No sign of the gremlin except for the chaos he’d left behind. Thankfully, nothing was damaged, as she’d learned a long time ago not to buy anything in glass containers at the store, because it would wind up shattered on the floor moments after she got home. 

Putting away the groceries, she muttered to herself. “Why do I put up with this? A gremlin lives here. He’s been here nearly the whole time I’ve been here, yet I just let myself live like this. Why?” She made a simple dinner and sat on the couch to eat and binge watch a new TV show she was obsessed with. Halfway through the first episode, she set the plate on her coffee table and used the bathroom. She came back to a completely cleaned plate, which also happened to be on the ground. This time, she saw the gremlin darting back into the bathroom. “Fine, you win,” she announced, putting the plate into the sink and grabbing a bag of chips. “I’m done, I give up, the place is yours!” She walked into her bedroom, shut the door, and restarted the show while snuggling the bag of chips. That’s how she fell asleep a few hours later.

Like clockwork, at 3AM, the low howl started outside her door, followed by the sounds of the gremlin running berserk. It was a typical occurrence, one that she usually slept through with ease. But tonight, it was loud enough to be heard over the sound of her box fan, which she’d originally purchased to drown out the incessant nighttime noise. And then the door scratching started. She sighed and woke up a little more. She turned off the TV, put the chips on her nightstand, and opened the door. The gremlin flew in and straight onto the bed, where it began to purr and make little biscuits with the blanket. She closed the door and got back into bed, snuggling the gremlin close and enjoying his warm fur and sweet biscuit-making. “What a little cheeky, butthead gremlin you are,” she said, as the little baby just purred and snuggled in. This was the reason she put up with his antics. This was the reason she’d always have a little gremlin in her life. And they both drifted off into sweet, contented sleep.

Scent Notes: Sweet, crisp apples with ginger and lemongrass on a bed of freshly fallen autumn leaves.