Week 5 (08.04.06) (UDC 1) (Neesta... and Elsie)

21. smell

It had been a quiet day for a day off, until Neesta popped in unexpectedly with a question: "What's it like to smell things?"

Elsie blinked and turned from the bowl she was mixing ingredients in to look at the translucent little girl. "Why do you ask?"

Neesta shrugged. "Ailee mentioned missing the smell of caf, and Momma said that the roses Daddy gave her smelled nice, and you smelling what you cooked… So what is smelling like?"

Elsie sighed. Of all the questions she could have asked, Neesta had picked probably the hardest one… How best to answer it?

22. sound

"Well… it's kind of like hearing sound, Neesta. Only with your nose."

Neesta looked at her with an odd expression. "Does smell have a echo?"

Elsie chuckled. "I guess it can, a little…"

Neesta nodded, then looked at her inquisitively. "Can a smell be loud?"

Elsie thought about that one, then nodded her assent. "Yes. Very loud. So loud sometimes that it's hard to 'hear' anything else behind it… with your nose, though, if that makes sense."

"And it can be really faint so you don't know it's there?"

"That, too…" Elsie was beginning to wonder where this was going.

23. touch

"Is it like touching?" Neesta asked as she came to stand next to Elsie and tried to look into the bowl that she was mixing things in. "I understand touching a little."

Elsie turned away from the bowl again and saw that the little girl was standing on her tiptoes, trying to get a better look. She obliged her and tipped it so Neesta could see. "Yes, it's a little like touching… only with your nose and not your hands. A smell can grab you, just like a hand can."

Neesta concentrated and smiled when her hand didn't go through the bowl.

24. taste

Neesta let go of the bowl when Elsie gave her a stern look. "And what's it like to taste?"

"Asking all the hard questions today, aren't you?" This just got more interesting all the while, didn't it?

"Yes… What's it like?"

"A lot like sound, really."

"A taste can be loud and echo, too?"

Elsie nodded, suddenly glad that this hadn't been the first question. Thank the Universe for small favors. "Yes, it really can do that. Spicy things are really loud, and other things echo later, and some tastes are so faint that you don't quite know they're there."

25. sight

"Is it like seeing?"

Elsie nodded. "Yes. With your mouth. The taste buds see, just like your eyes do, but in a different way."

Neesta was silent for several long minutes as she watched Elsie coax the mixture into something edible. Then she sat down on the floor and pouted. "I want to smell something."

Elsie glanced down at her and sighed. "I know, kiddo."

"It's not fair, Elsie."

Elsie sat down and really looked at the translucent little girl. There was so much she wanted to say, but the expression in Neesta's eyes made her stop. "You're right. It's not."