Pollen In The Wind

[Chronosynclastic]

This is a rather experimental short story; I've never written anything quite like it before. Please let me know what you think.

Title: Pollen In The Wind

Author: Chronosynclastic

Fandom: Original Characters

Summary: Pollen allergy, F

A certain city park was renowned for its large and beautiful flower beds. One of the plants produced a remarkable flower. It was not extraordinary in its appearance, but in what it would bring about. For on the end of one of the stamen of that flower was a particular grain of pollen. This is story of that grain.

One sunny day, a gentle breeze blew through the park. It ruffled the flower's leaves and shook its petals, dislodging the grain of pollen. The pollen drifted lazily through the air, held aloft by the meandering air currents. As it turned out, its random and wandering path caused it to pass under the nose of a young woman, who chose that moment to inhale.

The woman was in her twenties, with mocha skin and long black hair. It was the weekend, so she didn't need to go to work, and had decided to take advantage of the good weather by spending the day outside. She was quite enjoying her relaxing trip to the park, and had just taken a deep breath to savor the crisp, clean air. It was unfortunate for her, however, that she had chosen exactly this moment to breathe in; for it happened that the woman was incredibly allergic to pollen.

The woman's intake of breath caused the grain of pollen to be drawn into her nose. It passed through her slightly-flared nostril and was pulled down the dark, damp tube into her sinuses. There, it became entangled with one of her nose hairs, and came to rest against what turned out to be a particularly sensitive area. Each time the woman inhaled, the hair would waver and the grain would rub irritatingly against the inside of her nose. It was only a short time before her nose, so delicate and easily disturbed by the slightest trace of pollen, began to react.

It started as a faint itch that couldn't be scratched. The woman massaged her nose, rubbing the sides and tip, trying to find the source of her nagging irritation. However, the pollen was much too deep in her nose to be reached, and far too entangled to be dislodged. All the woman did by rubbing her nose was cause the grain and pollen to shift back and forth, grinding it against her sensitive nasal tissue more and more and eliciting a stronger reaction from her nose. It began to produce mucous.

The more the woman rubbed her nose, the more the itch grew, until it had become an unbearable tickling sensation. Realizing that her approach wasn't working, the woman tried inhaling deeply through her mouth and then blowing the air out of her nose. That might have worked if she'd tried it earlier; but by now, it was too late. Overcome with irritation by the persistent touch of the pollen, her nose had turned mucous production into overdrive. As a result, her nostrils had become completely clogged with snot.

When she tried blowing air out through her nose, with the intention of dislodging and exhaling the pollen that was so badly irritating her, she instead ended up blowing out a large quantity of the mucous that had begun filling her nasal cavities. The powerful burst of air generated by her forceful exhalation pushed the snot that had accumulated in her sinuses downwards and outwards. Tsunamis of snot rushed down the length of her nose and burst from her nostrils like twin waterfalls of mucous. And back in the depths of her nose, the grain of pollen remained in place, causing greater itch and irritation with each passing moment, until, finally, the tickle in the woman's nose passed the point of no return. There could now be only one possible outcome.

The woman's chest heaved as she sucked in a bountiful quantity of air. There was the briefest moment's pause as she teetered on the brink of the explosion — her lungs stretched to their maximum capacity, her nostrils widely flared, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, her head tilted backwards. Then came the inevitable sneeze, a violent eruption of such force that it shook every cell of her body. A spasm wracking her body, her chest compressing and her head snapping forwards. A tremendous gust of wind, rushing down her nostrils like the blast of a cannon. A volcanic spray of snot, blasted in all directions from her convulsing nostrils.

And finally, a sigh of relief, as the furious itching which had so vexed her nose finally abated. That enormous explosion had at last expelled the irritant which was the cause of her problems. So tiny in size, yet so potent in effect; that one particular grain of pollen, which had made the journey from the blossom of a flower to the depths of the woman's nose on that one fine sunny day.

[Hissybella]

Oh my god. That was a wonderful work of art! Awesome!

[NoV]

Like it a lot! Kind of like a case study of a sneeze, and filled with some great description - love the way you decribe the building sneeze

[blum]

thanks for sharing