Scent Notes: Juicy pineapple covered in salted caramel with pops of sparkling lemon verbena.

“We have to hurry up! It’s almost dinner time, and she’ll ground me if I’m late again!” Tommy was frantically running across the lawn to his neighbor Johnny’s house. Johnny, Tommy, Ben, and Jake were all neighborhood friends. It was a late summer evening, the sun just on the edge of setting. The laughter of adults having afternoon gatherings that spilled late into the night could be heard, along with the sounds of grills firing up for dinner. 

They knew they didn’t have much time, but they had work to do. Ben was the notetaker of the group, while Johnny, Tommy, and Jake gathered the supplies. Tommy had had to sneak back into his house for the pineapple. It was supposed to be dessert tonight, but…. He was sure he could talk himself out of trouble. He always did. They put the pineapple in the curve at the end of the cul-de-sac in front of Johnny’s house. “Ben, be ready to take extensive notes,” Jake said as he put the sparklers in, gingerly, and Johnny lit them up. They all ran back to the yard. 

Moments later, the pineapple began to pop apart with the sparks, which led to a group cheer. Ben was writing down the results in their joint composition notebook, where they wrote down the results of all their experiments. While the pineapple had exploded apart a tiny bit, it was underwhelming, so after it had finished, Johnny ran into the road, picked it up, and threw it with all his might onto the pavement. It burst apart mightily. “For science!” Johnny yelled. “For science!” they yelled back gleefully. Ben looked up from the notebook. “I say next time we try a watermelon, and we add in more intense firecrackers. I know where my older brother gets them from; he might be able to help us, too.” The boys all agreed and started to chime in with their own suggestions, when a voice silenced them all. 

“Thomas Burnham, you get back in this house this instant! Did you blow up that pineapple I was saving for dessert?” That voice was quickly followed up with another, similar one, coming from Johnny’s front door. “Jonathan! What have I told you about throwing fruit in the street?” “We gotta go, too,” Ben and Jake said in unison, running up the street to their respective houses before the voices came for them. Tommy and Johnny did their secret handshake and headed back to their houses. Tommy sheepishly walked into his house to explain himself. “I’m sorry, I just needed it for our science experiment, I’ll go get another one.” She shook her head and laughed. “Tom, you’re nearly 40 years old. Are you ever going to grow up?” He grinned at his wife. “Honey, you know it’s all science if you write down what happened!” 

Scent Notes: Juicy pineapple covered in salted caramel with pops of sparkling lemon verbena.