A woman sits
down on the bench near me and I start to twitch, because I faultless guess the
name of the scent, Miss Dior. I hate it sincerely, with all my soul. Relatives have
presented it to my mother when the word "France" was pronounced in
the USSR only in the context of perfume.
– It’s
France! - proudly said my Aunt and poked me a small grey box with a bow. I took the gift to the drawing room, where family
united around the laid table. On my way I opened the small box, and with a
gesture of a skilled magician snatched the stopper of the bottle and pulled it
out. The stopper remained in my hands, and the small bottle fell down and broke
into pieces. The house was filled with the concentrated smell of "Miss
Dior". My nose was pinched either with a fragrant of the liquid or with
tears. I was not much of a wizard but a horrible spoiler. The family as if by
an order heaved up eyebrows and stared at chips on the floor. Dishes on the
table were cooling down in total silence, and my grandfather’s hand with the little
glass of vodka stopped in the midway.
- Will someone
bring a broom? - grandfather asked, and everyone began to fuss and everything that
remained from "France" and luxury, was wiped off to scoop and thrown away. Certainly,
nobody ever though to spank me, as nobody punishes children that way. But they
would better take a broom to someone's back side or shout. In sorrow I went to
my room and fell asleep, covered with a plaid and squeezing the stopper in my hands
for some reason. The smell of “Miss Dior” sneaked even in my dreams, completing
a list of all my childhood sins. And since then I have had a habit to sleep when
troubles, that cannot be solved, come.
The next
day nobody remembered my guilt. And it was impossible to pass the drawing room –
the carpet became permeated with the smell of exotic essences, and till the next
autumn almost material spirit of that unlucky perfume soared the room. Years
passed and the smell was blown away until finally disappeared, reminding about
itself for a moment at Kyiv’s park.
