The Scent
The scent of Invisible Monster is essentially the scent of a rare Chinese orchid that has a brisk
lemony perfume balanced against a green jungle riverbank.
Contains To Yo Ran Orchid, Sumac, Galbanum, Vetivert, Oakmoss, Cedarwood and specially designed accords
that capture the smell of the islands in the Susquehanna River.
The Story
Inspired by my favorite
episode of Jonny Quest / The Invisible Monster.
I remember the boat
slipping slowly down the channel between the islands. I was perhaps eight. My cousins and I peered
over the side deep into the forest covering the banks on either side. The feathery fronds of the sumac trees and
the wild vines overhanging the water made it easy to imagine we were deep in
the jungle and we prepared ourselves at every moment for attacks by dinosaurs,
wild animals or hostile natives. Villains wielding machine guns and lasers
might spring from the underbrush on high-tech hovercraft only to be repelled by
our own incredible technology. I was
Jonny Quest and we were on an Adventure.
Everything was possible.
Naturally the grownups piloting the boat and discussing their own
inexplicable world were perfectly oblivious to this constant danger in which my
cousins and I perpetually lived.
I thought often of Jonny
when I was a child. I longed to share his adventures through exotic lands and always
in my mind, I did. By living always in a
fabulous imaginary world, I became a rather distant child. In the real one, I took to wearing black
turtlenecks on every possible occasion and I yearned for my Hadji. I was certain I would be a famous scientist
like his father when I was grown. I
would develop the most astonishing technology in my own fabulously equipped lab
on my own remote tropical island. I
would jet around the globe constantly exploring. Life would be always exciting and I would
always have my very closest friends to share it with.
Of course my life has
turned out very differently from how I imagined it would be at that young
age. I am not a world famous scientist
and applied physics is a closed book to me.
I do not jet off to far-flung countries at the drop of a hat and I am
almost never held hostage in Mayan temples.
But I am surrounded by friends I can always count on, who support me no
matter what and who love me for who I am.
And I have, at long last, found my Hadji. Even now, I often think of Jonny Quest and my
imaginary adventures on the river by my home.
And I still wear black turtlenecks.
