The Smell of Coffee: A Novella

If you've ever gone to a Christmas performance of The Nutcracker, you might remember the Nutcracker-some poor bloke wearing a giant papier-mâché head nearly the size of his body. Well, this year, that poor bloke was me: Ben Riolo, a twenty-one-year old performing arts student. This is the story of how I ended up playing way too many parts in the bloody Nutcracker in an attempt to-you guessed it-impress a girl. Curious yet? Pull up a chair. Let me tell you the story of why Christmas will always remind me of fake snow, painted facades, and the smell of coffee.