She finally made up her mind to put one in her living room.
Diffusers seemed to be the latest way to delicately scent your room. So many of the ladies from the women’s social club had bought them, and they’d all raved about how effective they were. Eventually, she went online looking at the vast selection. They weren’t too expensive and cheap to run. The one that caught her eye was not particularly attractive, but reading the description won her over. Apparently, this model came with a fragrant mood-inducing oil that was based on an entirely unique formula. It said it had the magical property to calm and soothe, and transport the purchaser into another place, and to allow an awakening of one’s most evocative senses.
The afternoon it arrived she definitely felt a thrill. She opened the packaging and sat carefully reading through the instructions with the idea that after tea she would get it going before settling down to watch the television. That’s how it happened, that’s when, after only a minute or two of watching a gentle stream of mist rise vertically from the top of the diffuser, it appeared. Smudge appeared. He was curled up at the end of the settee, just the way he always did, all those years ago. Of course, she knew he wasn’t real, but that didn’t matter. The discovery that there was no substance to it, no real physical presence, it was only an image that she could pass her hand through, no, it didn’t matter at all.
That first night, she didn’t put the television on at all. After the first excitement, after wiping away the tears, she sat with him beside her in a state of perfect contentment. She sat listening to him purring softly; watching the steady rise and fall of his breathing, the occasional twitching of his whiskers, and of course, despite him being a grey cat, that wonderful smudge of white on his forehead.
As the week’s passed, her evenings were spent in this blissful state. It became something of a special ritual that she looked forward to each day. She had decided that none of these unusual features would be shared with her friends. It would be their secret; just him and her.
Then came the recall… all those who had purchased the product were asked to return it and receive a full refund. The reasons for this were not made clear, just a vague warning that unwelcomed psychological side effects had be reported and that this constituted a possible risk to the purchaser’s health and wellbeing.
Of course, it goes without saying, Smudge wasn’t going anywhere!