Desta was a strong woman, even if she was just a teenage girl, she already considered herself a woman. She was beautiful, quick, intelligent; she wanted? She got it. Nobody could compare to her, at least in her own opinion. When she spoke, everyone listened. That’s why when she complained about the smell in the class, everybody ran to open the windows. And when she complained again, everyone started to clean up. Yet the smell didn’t disappear. So they started to clean out the entire school: the bathrooms, the gym, the canteen.

The smell stayed. Desta was angry, the smell was disgusting— something between putrid and degraded. No matter how much she fanned herself to get rid of it, the smell was permanent and it was getting on her nerves.

When she got home, and she discovered that the smell was there too, she went rabid. She scolded to the maid and yelled at her for being a completely useless idiot. Desta made her clean everything again and then jumped into the shower, hoping to get rid of the smell. Nothing worked. The most expensive shampoos, the most extravagant oils; all her efforts were futile against the smell. She went to bed not enjoying the smell of clean sheets but awful rotten meat.

Things didn’t change the next day or the day after that. Anywhere she went, she smelled vomit and wasted food. Like if she was bathed in a trash container. It was driving her mad; she couldn’t taste the food, she couldn’t smell herself, she couldn’t sleep. All that was left was the ugly smell. Desta was no longer the confident person she used to be. This constant assault to her senses was drying her out. She needed an extreme solution.

One evening when she was alone in the house, Desta drove to a junkyard. She dug up until she found what she was looking for; the origin of the smell. A stupid old fart who refused to buy her a new expensive purse. Why was she dating him then? So she took his money and dumped him; literally. With a few stabs in his back as a parting gift from her.

She bathed the corpse with bleach, melting the meat that wasn’t already. When she was satisfied, Desta buried the body again. Taking a big breath of relief, the smell was gone. She cleaned up quickly and went back home in the best mood she has been in for days.

The next morning was a blessing. Desta smelled her breakfast, her clean skin, her hair, her new purse, her colognes… everything. It was so delicious, so delicate, so perfect. For a few moments she truly believed it was over.

It wasn’t. The smell returned stronger than ever, making her throw up several times. She was mad beyond words, completely sick. Her first thought was to cut off her nose, but she was too beautiful for that. Then she decided to completely destroy the body with acid. She knew there was some in the science classroom for school projects. Without second thoughts she drove there; grabbed the liquid and drove back to the junkyard. She didn’t care if anybody could see her, she was so sick she could scream. And she did.

Once the corpse was in sight she threw the acid; yet she did it so carelessly that most ended on her, causing several burns. Her howls of pain alerted some pedestrians who called the police.

When the police car got there, Desta was shaking. More concerned about the abominable scent she was smelling, rather than her physical integrity. Or the police founding the body and calling for reinforcements.

The trial went on while she was in the ICU as she was declared insane and sent to a psychiatric hospital. She couldn’t care less, nothing made sense anymore. There was only the dreadful smell. The smell of her sin, completely consuming her until the end of times.