smells like home

by Trina Marie G. Basco

The stench appeared one night. It was close to midnight and my sister and I were laying on the same bed. There was scant light coming through the window from the neighbor’s house. They were staying up late again. They usually did. We’ve lived in this subdivision almost all our lives but we’ve never met these people.

“Do you smell that?” My younger sister’s voice cut through the dimness.

“Yeah.” I was facing the wall so I turned around. She was a big lump of blanket beside me.  “I think a rat died.”

“Shit, where could it be?”

“Under the cabinet or the bed, probably.”

“What do you think killed it?”

I thought about it. “I dunno.”

“It reeks so bad.” She sighed and tossed on the bed.

“Must be a big one.”

“Eeww.”

“Go to sleep.”

We had classes the next day. We were both two jeepney rides away from our respective schools. She was in high school and I was in university. We had to wake up early because traffic would be unforgiving. 6:30…6:45 at the latest.

Our mom was having her conjugal visits with dad for today. She’ll go straight to her workplace tomorrow. I contemplated tomorrow’s breakfast. Sunny-side up eggs, most likely. They’re easy to make.

Whatever cretin died will stay in the darkness for now. There were no lights to find it anyway as electricity lines were cut months ago. We slept through the rancid odor.

A week later on a weekend, I was reading my college handouts in the living room. The noontime sun was sweltering and my notes became a makeshift fan.

“Manang! Come look!” My sister called out to me from the bedroom.

“What?” I called back, fanning my face.

“Just come! Quick!”

I shook my head and put the papers down. When I opened the door, my sister was standing beside the bed.

“It wasn’t a rat. It was a toad.” She said.

I walked over and saw it. A huge toad lying on its back on the floor— dull green, bloated, limbs stretched outwardly. It looked almost comical.

“I can’t believe it was just here.” I chuckled.

“We forgot all about it too.”

I blinked. By then, we were used to the smell.

Photo of Trina Marie G. Basco

BIO: Trina Marie G. Basco is a Filipino preschool teacher currently living in Canada. She writes poems and stories to cope with the state of the world when putting LOTR on loop isn't able to help with that. Her works are published in Ink Nest Poetry and Nat1 Publishing's Gaslamp Pulp.