The Tragedy of Lord George Penhaligon's 2016

The Brandy
Done. Willy Tonka sank into his fluffy armchair. It was just before Christmas. That’s why he was out shopping, and he had acquired a bag full of festive treats and culinary delights. Among them was his beloved brandy. The wine distillate smells mild and nutty, slightly sweet and appropriately woody. Very rich and smooth due to the long aging process in old oak barrels.
Willy Tonka was a quirky and eccentric aristocrat. He had short, curly hair, a pair of nickel glasses perched on his nose, and more wrinkles on his face than a shriveled apple. His noble heritage had granted him a stately estate, as well as a lot of money and wealth. At the same time, however, it also brought him much loneliness and social isolation. Because he was such a peculiar character, no one really wanted to have much to do with him.
He poured himself another brandy into the nosing glass, enjoyed the distillate to the fullest, and repeated the whole process a few more times. Although the alcohol was already going to his head, he prudently filled up the flask in his pocket! "You never know," he thought to himself, and sank deep into his armchair...

The Soap
Some time later, he remembered the cigar he had brought back from his shopping trip. His shopping bag was right next to his armchair, so he only had to stretch out his arm and rummage for the cigar. Unfortunately, his seven senses were so clouded by the brandy at that moment that he didn’t even notice he was rummaging for his shaving soap instead of the cigar...
It was a luxurious soap. It smelled soft and mild, and had an incredibly creamy aroma. One could almost sense the subtly elegant lavender note that the soap's foam exuded. Fresh and spicy at the same time...just right for an aristocrat!
So he stuck the wrong cigar between his lips. He chewed on the end piece with pleasure, as if he wanted to make it easier to grip, before the alkaline soapy taste shot into his brain.
"Yuck!"...he spat the soap out into the air with great force. He wiped his mouth and face frantically and jumped up in shock from his chair! Unfortunately, this proved to be his downfall. For, as fate would have it, he landed right on the soap, which had just hit the floor a fraction of a second before he...
It knocked his feet out from under him, his legs flew through the air, and he crashed mercilessly and relentlessly onto his old and fragile back! Ouch!
The impact was so severe that the deer head antlers above his armchair came loose from their mounting. They fell onto the Christmas tree below, bringing it down. The tree fell on Willy Tonka, and the antlers pinned the fir tree onto Willy. The tips of the ten-pointed antlers dug deep into the wooden floor. Thus, Willy was nailed to the parquet along with the tree. There was no escape...

The Tonka Bean
Full of despair, Willy tried to free himself. He tugged and pulled, yanked and pressed against the tree like a madman. But no chance. The deer head was stuck deep in the ground!
After countless attempts to free himself, an idea struck him. A large part of his tree was decorated with tonka beans. He loved tonka - not least because of its name. They smell highly aromatic and sweet, elegant and lightly reminiscent of vanilla and fine woodruff. He picked many of the fragrant beans from the tree and packed them all with the remaining pieces of soap into a burlap sack. Thus, he had a perfect projectile. Bold as he was, he wanted to trigger the fire alarm with it. If the alarm went off, help would surely come quickly. But how to trigger a fire alarm without fire? Aside from the fact that this was a pretty harebrained idea.
Exactly - his flask. He fumbled the little bottle out of his pocket and carefully poured the high-proof brandy over the burlap sack.
How it smelled now! A beautiful creamy mélange. Slightly woody-bitter, fresh spice, sweetly underlined with that elegant lavender woodruff note. Wonderful!
He ignited the scent bomb with his Zippo and hurled the fireball at the fire alarm. Of course, he missed the intended alarm and hit another living "target"! His poor cat Lucky was sitting bored on the windowsill when the fragrant inferno hit him with full force...
"Miiiiiaaauuuuu," escaped from the horrified cat, who immediately jumped off the sill in a high arc with singed fur. Completely disturbed and unable to control his jump, the cat landed in the open aquarium. Water splashed out in all directions, the cat thrashed in the tank, the fish darted around, and chaos was perfect.
Suddenly, there was another mighty bang! Sparks flew, devices hissed, and in an instant, it became dark throughout the house...very dark!
The water from the aquarium unfortunately caused a massive short circuit at a power strip. Almost all of Willy Tonka's living room's electrical devices were connected to that strip!
Willy, still pinned under the tree, turned his head to the side. Worn out, completely exhausted, resigned, and devastated, he looked down through a window into the village. He saw how the lights went out there too, caused by his colossal short circuit.
Everything was now dark!
Soon after, the long-awaited help finally arrived in the form of the fire department. Hallelujah...what a Christmas celebration!!

This story and fragrance description is a collaborative project between my children and me! Thank you for the active suggestions...

I wish all readers a reflective 4th Advent and a Merry Christmas 2020!
In this very turbulent year, Parfumo, and the wonderful people I have met here, have been a true enrichment and oasis of relaxation for me. Thank you for that, and we look forward to the future with hope...