suction (what if addiction was a person, not a condition?)

suction

by Stephen Beam

Warning! Just like on a pack of cigarettes I must give you fair warning about this novella. It is bizarre; there is a lot of smoking taking place in the story; it may prove unpalatable to some people with strong convictions about religion, smoking, beauty, farting, or whatever. Be forewarned. This bizarro novella is for unique, discerning tastes.

 Winery Bay is a quiet, seaside town, until the morning that Dr. Cole receives a strange patient into his small, private office.  His medical assistant, after taking the patient's pulse, experiences a sharp drop in body temperature and leaves for home, along with all the other employees, inexplicably disturbed by this new mystery patient.

Before long, the town's whole population starts behaving weirdly. For some reason, everyone becomes addicted to smoking. The weirdness builds to a fiery, bloody climax as the realization dawns that this odd patient is not even a human being. This is an alien visitation unlike any imagined before.