LightNews LightNews
sarahly91.bsky.social
@sarahly91.bsky.social
6 followers 69 following 0 posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted
douglasjern.bsky.social
New place, new life. What could possibly go wrong?
(Spoiler: Everything. Everything can go wrong.)
And then there were the smells. For Mako, who until now had lived among groups of no more than fifty people and the occasional ox and pig, the air of Oda was the olfactory equivalent of an earthquake. The smell of fish and seaweed from the market stalls blended with a sharp sting of incense; rich, peppery fumes wafting from an open window where a man wearing an apron was stirring a large pot of soup; a faint sweetness from a fruit vendor’s table; and underneath it all, the sour tang of thousands of sweaty people crammed into a small space on a sweltering day. Mako staggered and lost her footing in the almost tangible atmosphere of scents. She fell to her knees and took deep breaths through her mouth, fighting back her rising gorge. While the first impression of the town of Oda overwhelmed Mako, it invigorated her mother. From the moment she set foot in the town proper, an excited, bubbling demeanor came over her. She patted Mako, who had conquered her nausea, on the shoulder and said: “This is it, Mako. This is where we start our new life.”
February 18, 2026 at 11:33 PM