The Bathroom

100-word flash fiction

Nobody liked the bathrooms at Cold House City Pool.

Three cinder-block walls with no door. Just two urinals, a toilet, and a sink. Never cleaned, always foul.

But one August afternoon, a fragrance drifted from inside. Fruity and warm. Green as a spring breeze. So tantalizing that swimmers stopped to breathe it in.

Luther took one sniff and backed away.

“Tain’t right.”

Then little Kevin Dunbar ran inside.

“Gotta pee!”

A minute passed. Then five.

When Luther went in after him, the bathroom was empty. Just two urinals, a toilet, and a sink.

Kevin was gone.

So was the smell.