Inktober 2026 - 8 - Stinky

“Oh. My. God. This is never going to come out, is it?”

The male voice had come from behind the bathroom door. Sitting on the bed, right outside, she rolled her eyes.

“Yes, it is. It’s biodegradable,” she assured him calmly.

“Ha! Nice try! I’m already having a hard time believing this actually came from an animal and not some sort of nuclear plant. Seriously, why is it so sticky? Is the smell not enough of a deterrent!?”

She pinched her lips to refrain from laughing. Evidently, their hike had not gone as planned. She knew he wasn’t very outdoorsy; he had never made a secret of it. But he had also never seemed to mind the fact that she could be from time to time, so when the opportunity for an easy stroll in the woods had come up, she had thought it would be fun. Unfortunately, a skunk had had other ideas…

“It’s fine, babe, I swear,” she said, still attempting to soothe him.

“We’re out of shampoo,” he announced, a mix of disappointment and embarrassment in his voice.

She snorted at how ridiculous he was being. He wasn’t even that much of a city boy. She had never seen him care about getting dirty or even be squeamish in general. He was not afraid of blood or spiders or anything like that. He baked, gardened, and could fix a bike or a car in a pinch. Him being this affected by a little spray was genuinely surprising.

“It’s all right. You’ve been in there long enough anyway, I think you’re clean now. You can come out.”

She heard him get to the door, but he did not open it yet.

“I don’t think it would be fair of me to impose this stench on you. I’m just going to move to Nepal or something,” he lamented, still overly dramatic.

“Your nose is just saturated, I promise you it’s not that bad on my end.”

The door came ajar, but she still couldn’t see him yet.

“Did you burn my clothes like I asked you to?” he inquired.

“No, I did not. I have left them to soak. They’ll be good as new after a good wash, just like you.”

“It’s not use…”

Sighing amusedly, she got up from the bed and pushed the door. He yelped and hurriedly walked back:

“Don’t come any closer! It might even be contagious!”

He had put fresh clothes on, but his hair was still soaking wet and dripping on his T-shirt. He looked positively mortified by his situation, and had his palms up in front of him, as if warding off evil. She simply stared him down, arms crossed, for a little while until he let his guard down, and then lowered his head as well, abashed. Smiling, she finally took the few steps that separated them, and reached for his chin to get him to look at her.

“Babe. At the risk of sounding cheesy, the only thing that is stinky right now, is how cute you look.”