A Packet of Cigarettes.
The packet of filter cigarettes lay openly on the table. The bar was quite full. Men were drinking at the bar counter, and others were playing pool on the pool-tables. There were a few women in the bar as well, and they drunk and flirted with the men, or else were just involved in idle conversation.
The was a lot of noise, and the sound of glasses been filled and drunk out of. A haze of smoke drifted through the place. A swirl and a waft of smoke travelled down the aisle. The packet of cigarettes was still on the table when its owner returned from the toilets. He was a man of thirty, tall and rugged. His hair was closely cropped in a military style haircut.
He coughed and put down his glass of beer on the table, which he carried with him wherever he wondered in the bar in search of conversation or drink. He then took up the packet of cigarettes lying on the table, and took out a draw. He put it to his lips, and lit it with a cheap, plastic disposable lighter. Then he started to puff contentedly on his cigarette while he drunk his beer.
He looked about him at the people in the bar. He knew most of them. All old regular customers. He then picked up his belongings off the table, which consisted of his lighter, packet of cigarettes, and glass of beer. Then he wondered down the length of the bar counter, and went and sat at a quite corner at the end of the bar.
He seated himself on a tall bar chair, and made himself comfortable. He finished his smoke and glass of beer at the same time, and waited for the barman to come his way. When the bartender was in his vicinity he shouted; “Hey barkeep; how’s another beer here, please…” He was duely served another drink, which he paid for from his old, worn-out wallet.
This stuff is getting damned expensive, he thought to himself as he poured the bottle of beer into his glass. Oh well, at least it was money well spent, he thought and smiled to himself. Then he lit another cigarette from his packet, and started to sip slowly on his next beer, as he surveyed the bar once more…
