Smoking was a common habit. Many times a day, we see people of all ages and shapes. The most surprising fact is that smoking as a practice is the most common among teenagers. And this is the story of one of them: a seventeen-year-old named Ethan Foster.
Ethan was introduced to this habit by his friends. During those times, his willpower and motivation to succeed in something in life were down to the ground. Once he smoked his first cigarette almost two years ago, his entire lifestyle went downhill. His single mother worked hard to raise him. And this was a habit he would rather take to his grave.
In order not to get caught by his school or anyone he knew, Ethan smoked in an area just a mile away from his institution. One, two or ten- he didnt care about the number. As long as it provided him the relief he needed, he didnt need anything else. As he started to light it up and exhale the smoke, a young girl on her way home started coughing loudly and intentionally.
‘What do they know about life?’ he brushed her away.
It was almost nine o’clock as he glanced at his watch. His mother must be home by now. But she knew that he had the habit of roaming with friends, or at least that was what he wanted her to believe. The ground was empty, and the only light source was the streetlight. Trees surrounded him, and he looked at the sky, inhaling some more of the cigarette. As he looked down, he noticed a shape near one of the trees.
When he peered closer, he noticed that it was a man, possibly in his fifties. He looked old and bulky in sight, and watched him with a stern gaze. Ethan ignored him and continued smoking when another shape appeared from the dark. This time, it was of a girl. No. It was of a woman who had her hair in a ponytail and was staring at him, too. And then, a third person stepped out from behind the tree. Shockingly, it was a young boy. He glared at him with utter hatred.
“The hell do you want?” Ethan shouted. “Don’t you guys respect privacy?”
The old man smiled and then began laughing. “People like us don’t care about others’ privacy, lad.”
Something sparked his anger, and he stumbled forward to aim a punch at the man. When his fist was almost about to make contact with the man’s cheek, Ethan collapsed backwards with tremendous force. As if a storm had hit him, it engulfed him too. He was lying on the ground. The surroundings were pitch black.
“You can’t harm us,” the woman said, keeping her arms by her side. “Because we are already dead,”
Ethan blinked a couple of times before he looked at the three figures before him with more care. Ghosts. Was he dead too? Or did he lose his mind?
“Don’t think too much about it,” the young boy waved a hand. “Just think of this…as a premonition.”
Ethan sat up this time, still wondering about all of this. But soon, he found his voice. “What premonition?”
“To stop wasting your life, of course,” the lady scoffed. “Like I did.”
“And me,” the old man sighed.
“Wasting my life?”
All three ghosts stared at him blankly before pointing at the distance in unison. Ethan followed their gazes to the burning cigarette he had dropped earlier. The soft smoke whirled in the air while he watched it. He couldn’t believe that even ghosts were bothering him about such things. What a nuisance.
“Just leave me alone-”
“I smoked for thirty years of my life,” the ghost of the old man walked closer. “I liked the feeling, too. It helped me escape this world. It made me fit in with my friends. But looking back, it cost me…everything.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “What did it cost you?”
The old man looked at him. “My wife.”
Ethan’s gaze, filled with scepticism, dropped. “What?”
“She always complained about it, but I brushed her off. Didn’t think it would be much of a bother until she died because of me. Because her health was harmed because of all that smoke.”
The young woman stepped forward, watching Ethan calmly. “I did it too. My friends insisted it was too much, and I just thought that once would be enough. But once wasn’t enough. And by the time I could stop, I was…dead. How funny it is, isn’t it? It was fun while I did it. But if I never touched that first cigarette, I would’ve been a successful entrepreneur.”
Ethan’s breath stilled, and he looked at the last boy. No, he seemed…too young for all this. Too innocent. “What about you?”
“Well…” he shrugged. “My father liked to smoke. Usually, he liked to be in a separate room. But somehow, I breathed too much of all that and ended up in the hospital. My father and mother never stopped fighting even after I was…gone. She still visits me every day, and it just…is too sad to see her like that.”
A stern realisation crept upon Ethan. For the first time, he actually realised how much his habits not only affected him but also the ones around him. Every cigarette was actually costing a moment of his lifespan. After staring at the three of them, his eyes diverted to the burning cigarette again.
“Poison…”
“Selfishness.”
“Your relief should not come at the cost of harming others.”
All these words echoed in his head until he couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed his head and screamed. When he opened his eyes, he was alone again. He took a moment to gather his strength and scrambled to his house. When he barged in, he saw his mother on the couch, checking her phone. She jumped and looked up at him.
“You scared me, dear,” she smiled and kept her phone aside. “Your classes over? What do you want for dinner?”
She stopped talking when Ethan rushed up to hug her. For a while, she heard her son cry while all her attempts to console him failed. Only after crying his heart out did he finally mutter. “I am sorry, Mom…I am sorry.”
“What happened?” she asked him again.
“I…I smoke.”
This made his mother eerily quiet. She stared at him as if she’d seen a ghost. “What?…”
“It’s been two years. But I…I don’t want to anymore. I’m scared. I want to try to quit.”
His mother gave him one more stare before bursting into tears. It was Ethan’s time to be confused this time. He made awkward attempts to console her and only after ten minutes did she manage to calm down. And then, she smacked his shoulder.
“Are you insane, Ethan!? How dare you hide this from me?”
“I’m sorry,” Ethan said, looking away in guilt.
“You remind me so much of your father,” his mother revealed tearfully. “It’s my fault for not telling you about your father.”
Ethan watched her in confusion. “What about him?…”
“He…suffered from a lung ailment, but he never stopped smoking.”
This made Ethan collapse on the ground. He never knew of the ironic twists of life. But now that he has experienced it, he doesn’t want to fall into the same trap again. From that day on, Ethan refused to touch another cigarette. For the sake of his new resolve, he cut ties with his friends who still encouraged him to indulge in bad habits. But Ethan, remembering the ghosts, his mother, and his father, realised that he had to do better. Even if those nights of painful torment that his nerves inflicted on him, luring him to buy a pack of cigarettes, he never gave in. He did all he could to get his health on track.
And finally, after a year of staying away from it and the help of his mother, Ethan was finally free. He was free.
And suddenly, the world did not seem so bad with stress. Though acadmic life and daily struggles took a toll on him, he never strayed from his good habits again.
Because he knew the price of it.
