Tim Frank has published a number of stories with us and each and every one of them requires the reader to consider questions that the works create but do not answer.
This story, The Last Cigarette is a perfect example of addiction and social attitudes. Smoking is the Devil, even though I would like anyone to point out someone who drove the wrong way up a freeway exit and killed a family due to cigarettes. And what about doobie? Ultra popular in both poetry and prose, but I doubt that the smoke is special health smoke.
I’ve been smoking for over a half century and when it is clear that it will kill me I will not complain. Consequence for action is the soul of life, and death. I associate some of the finest moments in my life with smoking and I will never give any of those back. In this piece Tim shows our strange needs with subtlety; not necessarily addiction but in our requirement for Devils and others to blame our own faults on (sometimes that appears to be the only reason why we have parents, in art anyway).
It is always a pleasure to introduce work by Tim Frank and we invite him to add his thoughts about this story.
Comments on the Last Cigarette:
I was inspired by my realisation that I had to stop smoking, because the smoker’s cough and fear of death caused by the dreaded cigarette warnings finally got to me. But the ending, with the main character’s mother being a smoker and creating a cycle of addiction from childhood is completely fictional. I wanted to create a world where addiction is inescapable and deeply personal. The main character didn’t really stand a chance because of society and family ties, showing just how difficult the situation can be.
literally stories 
Tim,
There are plenty of excuses to smoke. My father smoked a cigarette once a year, on New Years. He didn’t know how hold it, didn’t inhale, and looked ridiculous. My mother smoked 2 packs a day. That was enough for me to never smoke.
I heard that if a smoker becomes blind, they stop. There is more than nicotine involved in all of this. Addictions control so much of our lives. Even the one’s we aren’t aware of. Nice job! — Gerry
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Tim,
It was great to see this once again. I laughed when I looked back at my initial comments. Those cigarettes that I mentioned at a tenner are now fifteen quid!!!
All the very best my fine friend.
Hugh
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Tim
Yes smoking has bagged its unfair share. But sometimes I must wonder how many deaths it has prevented (in conversations I’ve been a party to, it has saved a life or three). Excellent story and a fine follow up remark.
Leila
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad for the rerun as I missed this the first time. I like how the warning label images punch-uate the narrative. The foetus inhaling smoke and hooked from birth is chilling and, sadly, gives the MC one more excuse. Very good.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I was a late-comer to LS, so I really appreciate these re-runs showing how much good stuff I’ve missed. This one particularly appealed to me as an ex-smoker who tried and failed several times before I finally stopped. I well remember the wretchedness, and if I see someone ‘rolling his own’ (my then preference) I still feel a jealous pang. Great writing.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Couldn’t be a timelier piece as I cough up the gunk. An entire life can be summed as a journey from one cigarette to the another – & that’s one dismal odyssey. This story, however, anything but dismal. In a word: brilliant.
Geraint
LikeLike