Sharing A Cigar

Frank couldn’t really remember the last time he had been able to enjoy a cigar in peace. His dear old wife Belinda had banned them after he’d had a health scare shortly after his sixtieth birthday and had cut them out to the best of his ability to try and appease her. Even after she had passed away he rarely picked up a cigar, feeling the guilt and shame rush through him whenever the temptation to smoke arose. In a fashion he had missed it rather terribly and as he allowed the vapors to drift out from between his lips he felt more content than he had in a very long time. 

Without Belinda by his side Frank had grown rather miserable and lonely. He had lost contact with his son shortly after his wife’s passing and his granddaughter visited infrequently, a couple times a year and sometimes even brought her new husband along. Justin was a pleasant man - strappingly handsome with a muscular body to boot - but by far Frank’s favourite quality about the man was how eager he was to listen. Justin had a soft spot for history and loved hearing Frank talk about growing up in the fifties and sixties, asking questions at appropriate times to flesh out the scene even more. Somewhat surprisingly, it was by seeing the young man’s sheer lust for life that Frank realized how wretched he felt. Nothing in life made him so happy anymore and he couldn’t even smoke a damn cigar without feeling guilty!

One night during Justin and Nell’s stay, the two men decided to share a few beers while Nell retired to bed early on. Being five months pregnant had her feeling tired a lot of the time and having supported Belinda through her pregnancy, Frank could understand the stresses that both individuals felt as the start of their journey into parenthood loomed closer and closer. Unsurprisingly Justin had managed to neck down a couple more beers than Frank could manage and there was a slight slur to his words as he confessed both how nervous and excited he was to be a father. “I don’t want to stop with one though,” he confessed as part of a long drunken ramble, “I want three or four! Hell, one day I wanna be a grandpa!”

Justin’s eyes caught Frank’s at that moment and the two men were suddenly linked by some external force that saw fit to give them both a little piece of happiness. In an instant their consciousnesses switched bodies, with Justin getting his wish of being a grandfather while Frank was able to access all of life’s enjoyment factors again as a younger man. Even as the world continued to turn around them, the two men remained frozen as they contemplated the unexpected twist of events. Finally Frank broke the silence with a sharp intake of breath and then muttered, “I need a damn cigar.”

The two sat side-by-side in uncomfortable silence for several minutes longer, passing a cigar between them, until Justin elected to retire. “The beer’s making my brain all funny,” he croaked, choosing to believe that alcohol was the cause of the night’s strange events, “I gotta sleep it off.” Frank was quick to agree, if only to get some time by himself. His heart was racing as he considered what would happen if he was to keep Justin’s body for himself. Could he even keep it and would he even to? Hell, was he even ready for the modern world that had changed so much without him?

Taking a long drag from the cigar before dropping it down into the ashtray, Frank elected to think it over in the morning. Returning to the guest bedroom that Justin had been sharing with Nell, he climbed under the sheets and let himself fall into a deep slumber. By the time the sun rose the next morning, the two men were acutely aware of their exchange but found themselves unable to vocalize anything about it, nor deviate from the body’s learned behaviours. The only marked difference between the two was Justin’s sudden love of cigars, something his wife Nell didn’t approve of, and Frank’s need to dote over his granddaughter and soon to be born great-grandchild. 

While the former Justin certainly felt some regrets at the loss of his youth, he made it his mission to enjoy the family he now had by reconnecting with Frank’s son and Nell’s father and making sure he could be a man who always supported his family no matter what. The new Justin made much of the same promise too, dedicating himself to once again being a loving father and feeling determined to do a much better job as a father this time around too. Years later, when all was said and done, both men ended up happy with the decision to share that cigar on that fateful night.