The Girl No One Could See
My daughter, Elise Dolton, got sick, so I rushed over to take care of her.
The moment I stepped inside, a rotten stench hit me right in the face, so I offered to help clean the place up.
Her roommates' faces dropped right away.
"What smell, Mrs. Dolton? The place is fine."
"If you think it's such a dump, then have Elise move out. Don't come in here acting like you're better than all of us. We're not putting up with that!"
Even Elise shoved me impatiently. "If you’re here to visit, then just act like it. Stop making a scene and embarrassing me, okay?”
They were all college roommates, splitting rent on a run-down unit in an old complex. When I went in, I noticed them gathered around a pot of spicy stew.
The room was thick with steam and smoke, but it still couldn't cover that awful stench.
Strangely, none of them seemed to notice it. Had something gone wrong with my sense of smell?
That night, the smell was so overwhelming that I couldn't fall asleep.
In the end, I realized the odor was coming from Elise herself.
I hurried her into the bathroom and scrubbed her down over and over, but the smell didn't fade at all. It stayed just as strong.
With no other option, I called a cleaner, planning to disinfect the entire place inside and out.
But Elise's roommates felt offended and started arguing with me.
In the chaos, someone shoved me. My temple slammed into the sharp corner of the coffee table, and I died on the spot.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment I first walked through the door. The stench rushed at me all over again...