Michelle breathed in the fresh air. It was a beautiful day, with no clouds to be seen in the sky. She had tied her hair back into a ponytail and put on her best workout gear - a pink tank top, Capris leggings, and her newest pair of runners. The park was only a five minute walk from her house, and she had been there multiple times before. Her shoes thumped against the concrete of the pavement as she maintained her steady pace. Over the zebra crossing she went, before she arrived at the park, the rubber of her shoes’ soles crunching against the gravel.

Michelle was feeling a rush of endorphins and stopped to take a drink of water. But little did Michelle know that this visit to the park would change her life forever.

After she drank down the entire contents of her water bottle, she went over to the nearest drinking fountain. She was refreshed, but she wasn’t willing to take a chance on going without water for the rest of her walk. That, however, would be the least of her problems.

Michelle felt a strange sensation on her hand. Carefully standing still looking down, she saw a bee crawling on the back of her hand. Naturally, this was not the first time she had encountered bees in the park, so she knew what to do. Although she wasn’t allergic to bee stings, she didn’t want to risk anything.

Carefully, Michelle blew a gentle breeze, hoping it would coax the bee to go away. But the bee had other ideas. Suddenly, Michelle felt a sharp pain on the back of her hand as the bee flew away. The stinger was embedded in her hand. Michelle pulled it out, leaving a throbbing wound on the back of her hand. Definitely treating it with an ice pack when I get home, she thought. But little did Michelle know that this would be the least of the effects of the bee’s sting.

Unbeknownst to Michelle, the bee was a vector, having collected pollen and nectar from a rare flower that had started growing in the park in small, isolated numbers. As such, any bee who had come into contact with the flower became more aggressive, and more prone to sting its victims. What’s more, the bees’ altered venom, once injected into a human, would have bizarre effects, as Michelle was about to find out.

Michelle sighed. She started to walk down the path. But strangely, the pain in her hand began to subside faster than usual. She looked at her hand. The affected area didn’t look so swollen. She disregarded it, unaware of the venom working its way into her body.

Suddenly, Michelle stopped in her tracks. She sniffed. There was a pleasant smell in the air that she couldn’t describe. It was as if she could smell a very delicious fruit salad.

Michelle ignored the scent, knowing that it would just be a distraction. But oh, what an aromatic distraction. Michelle took another deep breath, her nostrils starting to flare. And if Michelle had seen herself in the mirror, she’d have probably been disturbed by the diameter her nostrils would flare to, since they’d have been big enough to house a marble with no ill effects.

The scent preyed on her mind as she made her way through the park. She passed another jogger, and once again, paused in her tracks. The jogger was a woman, about the same age as her. But even as the jogger was getting away, Michelle could still smell the jogger. There was the primary fragrance of freshly-applied deodorant, not to mention residual scents of toothpaste and perfume. For some reason, Michelle could tell a lot about this stranger just by what she could smell, and her sense of smell was off the charts. From her scent alone, Michelle innately knew that this woman had been on a date, and was self conscious about her hygiene.

Michelle paused. If I can smell that, I dread to think what else I’d have to smell in my daily life, she thought. She had no pets or children, but she wasn’t against the idea - she just wasn’t prepared to do any of the dirty work now that her sense of smell was more acute than any dog she’d like to have.

Michelle resumed her walk, but the nice fruity scent caught her nose once more. Michelle was frustrated. She was curious about the smell, and was compelled to approach it, but she didn't want to be distracted from her walk. There was just something…attractive about the fruity smell, like Michelle was compelled to investigate it. It was as if there was some strange pheromone beckoning her towards the source.

Seeing a hot dog cart, Michelle quickly went up to it, wanting any sort of distraction. After paying for a foot-long with mustard and ketchup, Michelle quickly took a bite out of it to take her mind off of the fruity scent that was preying on her mind. But something was wrong.

The hot dog tasted odd to her. It wasn’t that it tasted completely different than what it should have. It wasn’t too spicy, or too sweet. In fact, it wasn’t “too” anything. It was as if the dog tasted like nothing at all! The bun was blander than white bread in a blizzard. The sausage tasted like it was made up of the world’s most boring livestock. The condiments may as well not have been there at all.

Michelle was confused. She could still smell the delicious hot dog. Weren’t the senses of taste and smell supposed to be a package deal? She held the dog up to her nose. She gave a few sniffs. It smelt delicious, especially to her super sense of smell. Why couldn’t she taste it too? Michelle took a deep breath, when something unexpected happened.



THONK!!



Michelle felt something fly into her left nostril, blocking the airway. She opened her eyes and looked down at her hands. To her surprise, the hotdog was gone, and only her napkin remained. At the same time, Michelle felt a strange sensation, like she was not only smelling the hot dog, but tasting it too, even if there was nothing in her mouth to taste. She was confused, until put her hand up to her nose.

Halfway up her left nostril was the rest of the hot dog. And she was tasting all the rich flavours of bread, meat and condiments, albeit with her nose instead of her tongue. Michelle tried to pull it out, but for some reason, it wouldn’t budge an inch.

Well, Michelle thought, if I can’t blow it out, I guess I’ll have to suck it up.

And with that, Michelle took another deep breath. She felt something this time.



SCHLORRRP!!



And accompanying that disgusting sound was the sensation of the hot dog going further up her nose until it was mush at the back of her throat. Michelle was confused. Was this the trade-off for having a strong sense of smell? She could still eat with her mouth, but it tasted like styrofoam, and she wasn’t sure if she’d be willing to use her nose to eat in public.

Michelle threw her head back and took another deep breath. The fruity scent was back. Was the reason for the bizarre turn of events linked to the source of the smell? Michelle decided then and there that she’d seek out the fruity smell for herself.

As Michelle progressed further on the path, the fragrant fruity scent became more and more vivid. As she sniffed, her nostrils flared out to the size of dinner plates. It was there that she came across a lone flower, embedded in the grass. Michelle took a deep breath, taking in the scent of it. It was as if she could psychosomatically taste a delicious fruit salad made from the freshest and best ingredients.

She couldn’t bear it any longer. She bent down to sniff the flower and took a huge breath. And that was all it took for her nose to uproot the flower and suck it into her nostril like a vacuum. This time, however, it didn’t get lodged in her nostril, it got completely sucked up.

Michelle stood up, a little embarrassed. Between her sense of smell and her ability to inhale with the power of a vacuum cleaner, she had no idea what was going on. Suddenly, she felt a familiar sensation at the back of her nose, her nostrils flaring larger and larger.



“Ah…ah…ah…”

Michelle covered her nose and closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.



“AH-CHOO!!”

Everything went black. Michelle tried to open her eyes, but couldn’t. Nor could she feel her mouth. It was as if her whole face had gone numb. That was one heck of a sneeze, Michelle thought.

Michelle heard footsteps behind her. There was the familiar smell of the fellow jogger she had encountered.

“Excuse me, miss? Are you alright?”

Michelle turned around. She couldn’t see anything, but her senses of smell and hearing made up for that. Michelle tried to speak, but all that she could manage was a nasal-sounding “Hmmm?”



And then, Michelle heard a loud screaming. Michelle was concerned. What scared the fellow jogger?



“My god, what’s wrong with your face?!?” said the jogger. Michelle felt up her face, and was shocked.

In place of her face was a big giant nose. She could feel the nostrils and bridge. Michelle’s sense of smell was now practically all that she had, having no eyes or mouth. Her ears were still present, and her hearing was fine, but Michelle was now as blind as a bat and unable to speak coherently.

“Okay, don’t panic” Michelle heard the jogger say. “If you can direct me to your home, maybe I can help you”



Michelle stood there, her huge nostrils continuing to flare with each sniff. Michelle sniffed around. She could sense her own scent from miles away, like a dog recognising its own territory.

Quickly, Michelle started to make her way home, leaving the jogger bewildered. Surprisingly, she didn’t have trouble finding her way back - she recognised her own scent, and could sense traffic and pedestrians. But she could also smell the fear and concern in other people. When she arrived at the door to her house, Michelle unlocked the door, and shut it, knowing that her life had permanently changed.