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It was a dreary Monday in the city of Poppyton, and Catnap was buying some candles from a local self care shop(Like Bath and Body works and/or Lush).
He’d recently read about aromatherapy from a book Bubba had leant him, due to him having a bit of trouble sleeping lately. Bubba recommended it as a good way to get some sleep and relaxation through scent.
Catnap, who knew all about scent, thought it was an excellent idea, and decided to try it out.
So now he was sniffing scented candles, and seeing which ones made him feel the most relaxed.
The jasmine and peppermint scented candles smelled really nice. Jasmine made him feel inspired, and Peppermint made him feel energized.
Both very good, but not what he was looking for.
The rest weren’t very good. The lemongrass one made him feel awake and focused, the rose one made him feel a bit uncomfortable, and the citrus one wasn’t very fitting at all, he thought it should be apple pie scented.
And the ylang-ylang one almost made him throw up.
So far, his candle-hunt wasn’t doing very well.
But then, he spotted one that said, “Vanilla”.
Catnap blushes a bit. He didn’t know why… but vanilla was his favorite scent.
He picks up the candle and opens it, giving it a test sniff.
His eyes widened, and he felt immensely relaxed.
It was like he was falling slowly through a sea of melted ice cream, and it made him feel warm and cozy.
‘Oh yeah…’ he said with a smile. ‘This is the one.’
After buying a few vanilla scented candles and taking them home, he lit them all and set them up all around his room, then got in bed, letting the beautiful, cozy scent of pure vanilla sweep him off his feet into a wonderful sea of relaxation.
(Disclaimer: This is a fictional story, Do NOT fall asleep with lit candles.)
On Tuesday, after Catnap woke up, he felt completely refreshed.
“Wow…” He says with a smile. “Aromatherapy really works.”
He made a mental note to thank Bubba for the advice later.
Later that day, he went back to the self-care shop to try and find something else that’s vanilla scented.
As he was browsing around, he spotted a bottle of vanilla-scented lotion specifically designed for animal fur.
He gives a small smile, picking it up.
‘Usually lotion makes my fur sticky and clumpy… but maybe this one will be better.’
He thinks, going to pay for it.
When he gets home, he lies on his bed, and tries rubbing some of the fur lotion on his arms and chest.
To his surprise, it didn’t feel sticky, cold, or wet, but rather smooth, warm, and moisturizing.
And of course the scent was like heaven to him.
The sweet, comforting scent of vanilla fills him up with happiness and relaxation as he rubs more lotion on his face and tail, making him smell like vanilla as well…
And the vanilla scent combined with his natural lavender scent…
It made him feel complete.
On Wednesday, he went back to the self-care shop again, wanting even more of the scent of paradise.
This time, he looked in the shower and bath section.
Normally he didn’t like baths, cause he didn’t like to get wet(Because it took forever to dry off and it was cold and uncomfy), but he figured, maybe his comfort scent would help him open up to them a little more.
A bottle of vanilla scented bubble bath caught his eye, making him smile, so of course he bought it.
When he got home, he turned on his bathtub and waited for it to fill before pouring a good amount of the bubble bath under the running water, creating hundreds of thousands of vanilla scented bubbles.
The whole room smelled like a vanilla dream.
Catnap takes a deep breath to savor the scent before slowly getting into the bath.
As the warm water enveloped his skin and fur, the same sweet scent filled his nostrils, happily lifting his spirits out of his mind and into a sweet vanilla sky, falling asleep to the land of vanilla dreams.
(Another Disclaimer: Do NOT fall asleep in the bath.)
On Thursday, he wanted to try something a bit different.
Instead of putting the vanilla scent directly on his fur, he wanted to try just having the scent around him, to be enveloped without having to put anything on himself.
When he looks around the shop this time, he’s drawn to the room spray, or air spray.
‘Perfect’. He thinks with a smile, picking it up.
‘Like candles, but less dangerous, cause they aren’t a fire hazard.’ he says, getting a couple bottles of scent spray and paying for them.
Later, he stands in the middle of his living room, spraying the scent in a big circle around him as he twirled like a ballerina, dancing like he would in the moonlight.
He loved letting the ethereal smell of vanilla surround him, taking him away to his dreamworld again as he transcended into the realm of nothing but happiness and comfort.
And again, it helped him sleep a lot better that night.
Finally on Friday, he went to the store again and spotted something that made him curious.
Vanilla incense.
He’d heard about incense before, but never tried it. But, he wanted to try something new each day, so he bought a little lotus-shaped incense holder and a packet of vanilla-scented incense sticks and took them home.
He put one in the holder, lit it up, and blew it out, letting the orange smoke of the incense cover the room and scent everything with that familiar, comforting, sweet scent.
Funny, the scent of Vanilla was his favorite scent, the one that most filled him with comfort, relaxation and happiness… but he could never put his finger on why.
Oh well, he supposed it didn’t matter if it worked.
That night, he had probably the best sleep of his life, but decided not to get any more vanilla scented products, cause he figured he already had enough to last him a bit.
After a week of vanilla scented things, Catnap thanked Bubba for the book and scent recommendation, saying it was helping him sleep better, and Bubba was glad he was able to help.
Dogday, who was there looking for a book about space, was curious and asked them what aromatherapy was, and they explained, saying he might like to try it too.
And so on Saturday, he goes to the same store Catnap recommended, and decides to get a lavender scented candle.