WHY I DON’T SMOKE

It was one of those good evenings back in the 90’s. The sight of the setting sun was such a beauty to watch. My friend Bosco and I thought trying something new that evening would be great. Of all the new things we thought about doing, smoking topped the list. So with no money whatsoever, we set off to find cigarettes. Well, we didn’t get any so we improvised and decided to settle for a very cheap option, pawpaw leaves.

Image from bubblews.com

Bosco carried the matchbox and I had the pieces of paper. We crashed dried pawpaw leaves, placed them on two small pieces of paper, rolled them up and then lit our “cigarettes”. Holding my “cigarette” like I owned the village, one puff was enough to send me cursing the hour I ever thought about smoking. My lungs felt like exploding, my brain froze for a moment, my heart didn’t know whether to beat fast or slow and my eyes turned red and released tears like never before. I don’t remember how long it took me to recover but one thing for sure is, I have never wanted to smoke again.