Written for OLWG# 365
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Alden Ramos slumped deeper in the chair. He lifted the collar of the Pea Coat he wore and stuck his hands into the pockets. He felt the packet of Old Gold Filters that he had forgotten, years ago. Pulling it out, he tore open the top and found a single, bent and yellowed, cigarette. Alden hadn’t smoked in almost twenty years; he rightly concluded that it had been at least that long since he had worn the Pea Coat. He decided that he wanted to smoke that cigarette and patted the other pockets of the heavy dark coat, looking for matches.
It was only one
Babe Ruth had smoked Old Golds
If he smoked it outside – Ada need never know
Ada had gone to her meeting, and wouldn’t be back for at least an hour and a half
He had one of those little bottles of Jack that he’d kept hidden in his underwear drawer for almost as long as the cigarette had been in his coat pocket
Whisky and a cigarette sounded like just what he needed
He was already ready for this, and there was no way that Ada could find out
He couldn’t find any matches so he lit the cigarette with the burner on the stove and ran out the back door holding the smoke deep in his lungs. He coughed just a little bit as he ran through the kitchen, back to the porch. Once back on the porch he screwed the top off the tiny bottle of Jack Daniels, the cigarette resting loosely between his lips.
He snagged the butt between his thumb and index finger and sniffed the open bottle, it smelled good. He took a sip and grimaced. He didn’t remember whiskey tasting that bad.
He took a long drag on the cigarette and inhaled deeply. Yeah, he thought, that was good. Another tip of the bottle and even the whisky tasted good.
He sat back down at the table and took another puff of the cigarette and another taste of the whisky. His eyes closed and he passed.
Ada found out, but Alden died happy.
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This week’s prompts were:
- last bent butt from a packet of Old Golds
- already ready
- Old age slumps deeper in the chair