The Scent Keeper

by Erica Bauermeister

it felt like to lose a parent, the way it became a hole you fell into and never came out of.

them. Maybe that’s how it always is, I thought—we all just go along, catching

glimpses of one another, thinking we know everything.

Ever since we were both young children, I thought, our parents had taught us—whether intentionally or not—to observe the world around us, down to the minutest detail. We had learned, knowing with the instinct of children that it meant our survival.

one of the most fascinating things about perfumes is how they change with each person’s skin chemistry.