it was 11:15 in the evening, 45 minutes till midnight, binky mcsmithers leaned against his car looking at the stars. He pulled a pall mall from the pack and lit up.

as he inhaled the first draught of smoke, the tip of his cigarette CRACKLING with it's "birth", binky thought about his childhood, how he liked to imagine great adventures, and was told by those around him to "grow up" and how he was wrong in how he was thinking. Binky didn't argue. he didn't like to argue. he realized the ones who speak the loudest and the fastest were the ones who won the arguement, regardless of who was correct.

halfway into the cigarette's "life", which is also halfway to it's "death", binky blew smoke rings, and as the undulating rings of smoke floated
up
up
up
toward the stars and heaven, disipating as they rose skyward, binky thought of his life as an adult. He would share his ideas and dreams, fantastic and unrealistic as they might be, with his wife, who would point out the flaws in his plans and tell him how wrong he was, tell him how wrong his thoughts and feelings were. His daughter would tell him how wrong he was, speak to him with no respect at all. At work, he was told how wrong he was, and even though he managed to obtain a reletively high position at his office, his co-workers, bosses, underlings, all treated him with little to no respect. he was the butt of thier jokes, a mere amusement, never to be taken seriously.

Binky realized, in the gameshow of life, he was the all time worst contestant in history. any time he rang in with an answer, he heard the dissonant BZZZZZZZ of the wrong answer buzzer, and the flashing red X would flash onscreen to show those who may be hearing impared that Binky was wrong.

Binky realized his words were just ammunition he provided others to shoot him down with, cut him down and put him in his place. if you were having a bad day, you could always step on binky to elevate yourself. that was his job in life.

As the cigarette burned to the end, reaching the small printed words "pall mall" right against the filter, binky decided he would no longer play the game. He would no longer offer others the chance to show him how his thougths and feelings were wrong and not worthy of respect. Binky dropped the cigarette and as he ground it out with the tip of his shoe, binky decided he would live the rest of his life and never

ever.

ever.

talk.

again.