Understand Me

Smoke Break

Mabel stepped out of the Mystery Shack with little noise. A board creaked and she flinched. She would rather not wake up the whole house at this time of night.

Two stray cigarettes and a black lighter sat in her back pocket. Her phone fit snugly in the front pocket of her shorts. She now wished she hadn't put on shorts of all things to go outside in.

Such a bad idea this all was.

Mabel headed towards the forest. In a small clearing she could see a single log laying on the ground. She made her way over to it and sat down. The cigarettes were pulled from her back pocket and held in her hand. Mabel stared at them in disdain. She really didn't even know why she was doing this.

Well, she did know why, but didn't want to think about the reason.

One of the two cigarettes was placed beside her while the other one was held between her nimble fingers. Her hand shook and she shivered. It didn't help that she was both cold and extremely nervous. The lighter was pulled from her pocket and lit. Mabel stared at the flame.

She held it under the cigarette, lighting it. Pungent smoke bellowed from it. She quickly held it away from her. Her face scrunched up in disgust.

It's too late now...

Go for it.

Mabel took a slow but long drag from the cigarette. Her eyes immediately watered. She coughed roughly, smoke coming from her mouth. She felt like crying. And that was one thing she didn't need to do any more of tonight.

Loud coughs continuously came from her. A tear rolled down her red cheek. She wiped it away and looked up at the starry night. Smoke was visible in the atmosphere above. She took a deep breathe and looked back down at the cigarette that sat between her fingers. She hesitantly put it in her mouth and took another drag. The same reaction from the first time followed suit.

Tears, coughing, and regret.

Mabel pulled her phone from her pocket with mild effort. She went to her contacts and hovered her finger over Pacifica's number. She bit her lip and sucked in a breathe. She pressed it and typed a quick 'Come to the shack.' and then pushed Send. Mabel let out the breathe she had forgot she was holding. She shuffled her feet around then remembered the cigarette she was holding. She took a drag, with the following reaction not being as bad as the other two times. The air around her felt slightly stuffy and incredibly cold. Mabel tried to zip up her jacket more but it was at it's end.

A buzz was felt on Mabel's lap. She hurriedly grabbed her phone and unlocked it, almost dropping the cigarette in her opposite hand. The message read, 'On my way.' Mabel wanted to cry and scream with joy all at the same time.

If you had looked her in the eyes, you would have seen how red and puffy they were. Evidence of how much she had cried earlier.

A sign of how much she had cried over and over, not only tonight but on previous nights as well.

Mabel's mind buzzed with thoughts. The idea to smoke had come to her when she saw Ford doing it. He looked so relaxed, so carefree; like all his problems had just flown away as soon as he lit that little bud. Mabel now realized that that carefreeness was only achieved through an unknowing addiction.

She didn't want to do this every time she felt bad, but it wasn't untrue that doing this made her forget some of the worries and frustrations that swirled round and round in her head. Mere minutes passed as she remembered she had sent the text. Her feet shuffled uncomfortably as she took another drag of the cigarette. She coughed lightly, now getting accustomed to the feeling of smoke filling her lungs.