Trash-Scented Candles

By: Rowan S.

Alexia was the definition of an overachiever. If she was asked to wipe down the counter, she would clean the entire kitchen and, if she had time, mop the floor as well. If there was a schoolwide costume week, she would make her entire costume from scratch exactly the way she wanted it. If she was tired after a long day, that was still no excuse for her to not complete her full bedtime routine (which included tidying her room, completing any undone homework assignments, and doing at least ten minutes of meditation).

So at the beginning of the week, when her school announced that they would be holding a craft fair and eighty percent of profits would be donated to the local pet shelter, of course she went with the hardest option. 

“You want to sell scented candles?” her mom asked dubiously. 

“I already found a good recipe and all of the ingredients online; all I need is permission,” she answered. 

Her mom was a little worried that Alexia would end up scrapping the whole idea and they would be stuck with a bunch of candle wax and essential oils, but she also knew that her daughter didn’t back down from a challenge. Plus, they were allowed to keep twenty percent of the money made from sales, which would probably cover part of the cost of the materials. 

“Ok, just let me help you melt the wax,” she conceded. 

All of the ingredients arrived on Friday, and that evening Alexia, with a little bit of help from her mom, carefully walked through the recipe. They were on track to have three batches of candles by the craft fair on Monday, and Alexia looked forward to seeing how they would turn out the next day. 

However, when she went to check them after a day of running around outside, she made a startling discovery. They had turned a weird sickly green color, and were quite possibly the worst thing she had ever smelled. 

When she tried burning one, the stench brought her mom, her dad, and her little brother Ben all downstairs to complain and beg her to blow out the candle.

 It took a full hour to get the stink out of the house through open windows, fans, and other scented candles. 

She figured that the rose essential oil was the culprit, and made another batch with lavender essential oil instead. 

But the next day, the same thing had happened. The weird thing was, when she forced herself to sniff the wretched candles up close, she could smell lavender under the weird stink. Even weirder, upon extensive research, she found that it was next to impossible for a candle to rot, especially a brand new one. 

Alexia’s mind was spinning. How had they turned green and gained their evil stench? Had bugs gotten into it? Or had leaving them out overnight caused the candles to defy the laws of science and ferment? What if…a monster had done something to them? No, she told herself nervously but firmly, there’s a more logical explanation for this. I just have to find it. 

Before she went to bed, Alexia made one last batch of candles, but this time she tucked herself away in a nook over the fridge to wait and see what was ruining her candles. 

She was quite positive that there must be someone or something behind this, and she intended to find out who or what it was.  

After an hour, she had just started to doze off when she heard the soft sound of the kitchen doorknob turning. 

Alexia froze, heart pounding. Maybe it was a monster! 

Soft footsteps made their way around the refrigerator, and a short, shadowy figure in a dark overcoat held something that looked like a pipette above the candles. It quickly dripped a few drops of a dark green liquid into three candles, but before it got to the fourth, Alexia yelled, “Freeze!”

 The figure screamed and jumped about a foot in the air, and in doing so its hood fell. 

Alexia felt shock ripple through her. She had to admit, she definitely hadn’t expected this. 

“Ben? You were poisoning my candles?” she asked disbelievingly. 

“Alexia? What are you doing here so late?” her little brother asked, obviously still a little scared. 

“Checking to see who was tainting my candles! You’ve wasted a tremendous amount of beeswax, essential oils, and wicks. Plus time! There’s no way I can make more before the craft fair tomorrow!”  Alexia was freaking out. It had been years since she had been in a situation like this, and it was one of her greatest fears. 

“What craft fair?” Ben asked, dread clear in his voice.

 “The one that’s raising money for the local animal shelter!” Alexia growled. 

Ben deflated. “Oh. I’m sorry, I thought these were just for us. I was trying to get you back for gluing my shoes to the ceiling last week,” he said guiltily. 

Alexia was silent for a moment. Then she smiled wryly. “I had it coming. That was a good prank. But do you have any ideas about what craft I can make a lot of before school tomorrow?” 

Ben thought for a long time. Then he brightened. 

“I would buy a trash-scented candle. What if you sell these?” he pointed to her three trays of ruined candles. 

Alexia thought this through. It wasn’t a bad idea, plus it was pretty much all she had time for. 

The next day she went into the craft fair all but admitting defeat. She was expecting to sell one candle to someone who pitied the fact that she had terrible sales. 

But right from the start of the fair, Ben was right. The Trash-Scented Candles were a huge hit, and she completely sold out of them within an hour, raising almost two hundred dollars for the pet shelter and more than enough to cover the cost of all of the materials she used. 

Ben was so excited to not have ruined her sale, and Alexia was happy that she had made so much money for the pet shelter. The entire thing was a miracle.