Nicotine

by Robert Gryfft


"You're serious?" his jaw nearly scraped the floor.

I lit my third cigarette and tried again, unsuccessfully, to still the giddiness effervescing within.

"Shut your mouth, you'll catch flies." Trembling, I shook out the match and sucked gloriously on my carcinogenic treat.

I leaned over, exhaled smoke, and disengaged the safeties.

Then, suddenly, everything changed.