Scent Gateway

This is my entry to the #microfiction contest hosted by @jayna found HERE

Total of 230 words (of a possible 250). The writing prompt for this week: Cologne.

“The sense of smell is the one most closely tied to memory. A specific scent can drag you back to a moment in your past; even your childhood. Even though you wouldn’t have the experiences or the vocabulary to explain the event logically, you can still almost relive it perfectly just from the touchstone stimulus of a specific scent.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Cried Sebastian, trembling at the pistol pointed steadily at his face.

“Because when I was raped twenty years ago. I could never identify my attacker. I couldn’t see his face, couldn’t remember his height, build, age. All I could remember was the cologne he was wearing. Your cologne.”

“You’re insane, lady. I’m only nineteen years old.”

“When I smelled your cologne, I immediately recognized your eyes, your jawline… scent… is the doorway to memory.”

A small explosion in the confined dorm room. Sebastian crumpled to the floor but she could not stop shooting. She was unsure of how long she stood there with the empty pistol; smiling vacantly. There was yelling and harried footfalls.
The door crashed open and a large, middle-aged man stumbled through. His hair was gray at the temples. He had the same jawline as her rapist. His eyes were also the same as they switched from horrified realization to narrowed hatred. He wore the same cologne.

“Oh my,” she muttered.