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Chainsmoke: The Best Friend
By Dan Malik “She’ll be here any minute...,” says Carl Ferguson to himself, as he sits alone on the back  porch of his house. Holding his arms close to his chest, Carl struggles to stay warm in thefreezing cold of this late, winter afternoon. The snow is falling to the ground in massivevolumes, prompting most people to stay inside until conditions clear up. Looking from left toright and back again, Carl anxiously awaits a sign that his friend is approaching. She promisedshe’d be here soon. Staring out at the empty road ahead of him, Carl shivers with the currents of wind, as seconds tick by as passing hours. While still no trace of his friend is found, the youngman is left to his thoughts, the memories of how this all started....Carl Ferguson was born in Michigan City twenty-five years ago, a bit on the slow side.Though he was in no way retarded, he has been mistakenly called so his entire life by those whoexaggerate his slow nature. And while that nature brought him much ridicule over the years, italso made it very difficult for Carl to ever make any real friendships with those he came incontact with. Most of the time, the very people Carl tried to befriend simply made fun of him,whether behind his back or directly to his face. For this reason, Carl grew up spending manyhours in front of the television, as well as playing with his sister, who shared the same problemsas her older brother. These days, Carl still lives with his parents and sister, though he does enjoysome moments of independence. Working as a bagger for a local grocery store, Carl gets to meetmany new people whom he looks on not just as co-workers, but as friends who work together.Several of those he has met at his place of employment have actually become friends of hisoutside of the workplace. Several times a week, Carl and his friends will meet up to play pool,watch some TV, and go out to eat at their favorite restaurant. Carl is a big fan of wrestling, and
 
nothing can convince him that what he sees his favorite wrestlers do on TV is anything but real.But out of all of Carl’s hobbies, the one he enjoys most is talking to girls. Whether they areemployees or customers, Carl talks to them all while he is at work, hoping that one day, the rightgirl will come along and make him the luckiest guy in the world. And while ninety-percent of thegirls Carl talks to get annoyed and tell him to go away, Carl never gives up hope. He simplysmiles and decides to try again another day.Lately, things have been different for Carl. A young, blonde cashier at work, Angela, has become a major part of Carl’s life since the two have been hanging out almost every night.Recently, Angela came out of an almost two-year relationship with an older man who never treated her right. Being overweight and lacking confidence in herself, Angela had stayed with her  boyfriend for way too long, feeling it was the best she would ever do. Carl has always likedAngela, and now, with her boyfriend out of the way, Angela has been paying more attention thanever to Carl. After all these years, Carl finally has a girl showing interest in him, and needless tosay, he is more excited than if he had the chance to meet a famous wrestler. Life is much better for Carl now, as he finds himself hanging out with Angela quite often, along with another girlfrom work, Nikki, who is an overweight cashier with long, reddish-brown hair. Carl is attractedto both girls, and while Nikki has been known to fool around with many different guys, Carl isnever lucky enough to get so much as a kiss. The girls constantly tease Carl, even going as far asto remove some of their clothes while in his presence. Then, as Carl thinks he is about toexperience something special and new, he is quickly slapped by the girls if he happens to touchthem or say the wrong thing. Sometimes, Carl doesn’t like the way his new friends treat him, butit’s all just playful kidding around, right? Isn’t that what friends are supposed to do?
 
One late evening, atop a liquor store on Franklin Street, a grim figure looks down at the people coming and going below. His name is Chainsmoke, and he hates this place andeverything it stands for. The contents sold beneath him promise so much to those desperate for agood time. And yet, despite the periods of euphoria that can be attained by alcohol, it is merely poison being sold daily to consumers who don’t care enough about themselves to treat their  bodies better. What an interesting world we live in, where a person will willingly walk into astore and pay their hard earned cash for something that poisons their own self. The disregard.The conformity. The greed behind it. Chainsmoke hates it all. And yet, wrapped in the darknessof his long, tattered cape, Chainsmoke can only stare in disappointment through the eyes of hissoulless mask, as he watches the consumers below. There are many evils in Michigan City. Someof those, Chainsmoke simply cannot defeat, and it is a fact he must accept.A random, black car soon pulls into a parking space in the liquor store parking lot. Ayoung woman steps out of the driver’s side, while a young man gets out from the backseat. Thetwo begin walking towards the liquor store, while Chainsmoke notices a third person in the car.Taking his binoculars from his belt, Chainsmoke steadies them on the passenger side of the car,finding a girl inside that looks to be under the age of twenty-one. That would explain why shedidn’t go into the store. After a couple of minutes, the young man and woman make their way back to the car, the woman carrying a long and narrow paper bag in her hand. Once in the car,the bag is quickly opened, and the girl in the passenger seat grabs hold of the bottle. She eagerlyremoves the cap and takes the first swig of the seductive drink. The girl passes the bottle to her friend in the driver seat, who samples the drink as well. The young woman places the bottle between her legs and reaches to turn the key in the ignition, when suddenly, the passenger side
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