11.20.25: The Childhood Smell

Everyone has that one smell that launches them back to childhood. For me, it’s fresh-cut grass mixed with gasoline from a lawnmower. Instantly, I’m eight years old, running barefoot, convinced summer would never end. It’s strange how memory hides in scent. A song can remind you, but a smell can transport you. Scientists say it’s because the brain links scent and emotion tightly. I say it’s because childhood is fragile, and smells are the cracks where it leaks through. You never know when it will hit you, but when it does, it’s like opening a time machine.