Honeysuckle

Do you ever get the whiff of a certain scent
and it immediately takes you back
to another place,
another time?

Every morning as we walk to school
I don't just catch a whiff.
My olfactory sense is assaulted by this...

An arbour heavily covered in honeysuckle.
It's overpowering, and every day I'm taken right back to Year 6....

I'm about 11 years old and waiting on the verandah of an old Queenslander in Boonah.
The trellis aound the verandah is totally covered in honeysuckle.
I'm sitting with other children around my age and their parents or teachers.
We are waiting to sit our AMEB piano exam.
I'm a very nervous child, I feel sick in my stomach, every muscle in my body is tense (which makes it difficult for my fingers to play freely on the piano).
My knees are literally knocking.
My very talented piano teacher sits beside me.
She is very calming.
She tells me I can do it.
She tells me I've done all the practice I need.
She tells me I know all the theory.
And then my name is called.
My legs can barely walk for trembling.
But I sit at the beautiful piano.
My fingers move, and only slip up on a couple of notes.
I remember all of the theory questions.
I am finished.
I did it!

And I did alright, too.
I got an A!

But I still get butterflies everytime I smell honeysuckle.