Whenever I open my apartment door, I am assaulted with a smell that gives me a quick dry heave. It’s gotten so bad that I have to clutch my mask over my face to ward it off, but some days it’s so strong that it seeps through the mask directly into my nostrils.
All the neighbors are talking about it.
“Do you smell that? What is it?”
Going to the mailbox is no longer a joyous experience. Everyone covers their face with their mask, holds their breath, and hurries to the mailbox, grabs their mail, and runs out before they’re gasping for breath, drowning in a heavy cloud of stench.
What’s the cause of such a disgusting smell?
It’s my neighbor who lives just off the lobby. His apartment’s stench is a combination of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and filth, and he looks just like his stench. (What a visual, huh?)
He has recently begun leaving his door open while he doodles on his computer in front of the blaring TV in his dark stuffed cave-like apartment.
I’ve lit lots of incense – nag champa - to drown out the stench, but it’s a short-lived cure to a much larger problem. His smell seems to be getting worse... like it’s alive... and it keeps mutating... and each mutation is more menacing.
Rotten eggs smell better.
The building manager acknowledges the odor and claims she’s talked to him about it, then says there’s nothing more she can do about it. She feigns concern for everyone’s nasal happiness, but no one believes her. She practices avoidance in hopes it goes away.
How does he not smell his own stench?
Does he only have four senses instead of five?
Or does he have no sense at all?
I’m thinking no sense at all...
I’m stuck with a smelly neighbor.
Comments