Something Smelt Sweet

As you can see from my stories and my comments my grandmother really meant a lot for me. Even though she has passed away for more than 10 years now, I still share my daily problems and thoughts with her in my prayers.

I remember that when I was still a small child, Avó (that's grandmother in Portuguese and I used to call her that) used to buy a big aroma candle and told me and my little baby sister short stories of whom I believe were great shamans from her tribes. Most were funny (the way she told those stories were very entertaining), a few were fearful (dead men, murdering, etc) but all of them teaches us a lesson. Avó used to blow of the candle every time she finishes a story; she told us that it is a tradition of Japanese called "hyaku monogatari", the hundred stories. That tradition is usually held in summer inside temples, adults will gather and tell each other ghost stories, they will light 100 candles and when one finishes a story, they will blow off a candle until the 100th candle is off.

Well, Avó re-arranged that and turn the tradition into away to put us (me and my sister) to sleep. We usually only listen since we do not know any stories unless we had made up one and fooled about it, but usually that makes us "hyperactive" lol. My sister does not remember my grandmother much since she was only 5 when she passed away, but she remembers that we used to listen to her stories in dark with candles lit.

My sister got promoted and we gathered some friends of her and mine to have a small party dinner. After the dinner some of our friends stayed over to chitter-chat some more. During a conversation my sister talked about the "hyaku monogatari" tradition. Some of my friends (Asian or Asian background friends, maybe it is popular there?) knew about it and insisted to start. We did not have 100 candles unfortunately (fortunately?), but we turn off the lights and lighted our 5 "flake flaming candles" (Oh yes, we bought those in a furniture shop where they sold many "unusual stuff").

My friends each had their turn each time they finished they will blow on one of our "candles" the LED will flicker but it will not turn off (I know there are "LED candles" around where you can "blow it off" like a real candle, but ours are not those). It was my sister's turn and she was telling us one of the scary stories that Avó used to tell us, it was about a dead man being invaded by an evil spirit, a great shaman will try to fight it off but the family of the dead man was not satisfied since they thought he have "killed" him. I would not write it down since it may be just a "legend" or a fictional story. When my sister finished, she blew the candle too the light flickered, but all the sudden all 5 lights dimmed.

We all became silent, but some of us broke off laughter and we all started to laugh. But during that I smelt something sweet and very calm; it kind of reminded me the aroma of lavender flowers. The moment I smell the sweet smell Avó's face was in my mind, I asked my sister if she had smelt the same smell as well, she nodded and smiled. I was not sure which aroma Avó used to use but it kind of reminded me of her. I shook it off and continued since I am confident that we are OK even if it is some kind of spirits around.

We did not count how many stories we had finished, but each of us sure had shared many scary experiences and stories, well me as usual told some of the stories I had written on this site and some stories that I remember told by Avó; no worries we did not post anything on the internet, you do not have to search it lol.

I know that in this situation it could be explained easily like the electric current weakened and other very logical reason. I had commented and asked about spirits bringing odors, I know that it could be something else since not a lot "linked" to Avó (it was not even any of her anniversaries). My sister told me later on that the moment the "candles" dimmed, she felt something warm around her shoulders; she thought it was just friends around her, but she said that the feeling lasted only a few seconds.

Well, I did not share this story just to prove that we encountered "something", it is about my sister. Well, I had wrote a few "not too scary stories", with my sister in the story most of the time. Yes, what I want to say here is that I noticed that she is starting to experience things. Maybe I am a little superstitious; I have heard that when a person starts to experience "things", it is usually a "turning point" of that person. Maybe it is a new start of something and just when I am writing this, she was promoted! Is it a coincidence or what?

I don't know how you guys will think about the situation but as a brother and I recently too was experiencing strange events with her, I do not know how else to explain the situation. Maybe you guys as readers can give me some idea?

Thanks for reading!

Love from São Paulo

E.Lynx