Back and Forth, Part 10

This fictional account contains adult language and graphic sexual themes and
descriptions.  If such language, themes and descriptions offend you, please do
not read further.  The persons and events described in this work are purely
fictional.  Any similarity to actual persons or events is strictly
coincidental.  Copyright 2002 by SSTORYMAN.  All rights reserved.  Permission
is hereby granted to reproduce this story in any form and for any purpose as
long as this notice is reproduced and no financial remuneration is received,
directly or indirectly, by the person reproducing or using it.

BACK AND FORTH
by SSTORYMAN

10.	Ready to Go Home?

   Bob and Allyson got home at six, the usual time.  No one was there.  Bob
checked the machine for messages.  Nothing.  He frowned at his daughter.
"Where's your mom?" he asked.  "If Vicki's tied up late at work she lets
one of us know so we can order pizza."

   Allyson put her clarinet case in the corner.  As she often did she rode
home with her dad after marching band practice.  She shrugged her shoulders
at him and sat at the kitchen table.  "I don't know," she carelessly
admitted.  She reached in her coat pocket and got out a pack of Benson &
Hedges 100s.  She took one out.  "Maybe we should just order pizza
ourselves."

   Bob smiled at his fourteen year old lighting up.  "Allyson, honey, I
don't want to upset you by saying this.  But I'm so happy that you finally
decided to start smoking!"

   The blond teenager smiled as she released a luxuriant exhale.  "Thanks,
Dad.  But why would that upset me?"

   "I dunno.  I guess because of what Kylee said.  You know?  That thing
about kids wanting to rebel against their parents?  I just want you to know
that even though smoking isn't exactly rebellious anymore I sure hope
you'll stick with it."

   Allyson laughed.  "Oh, don't worry, Dad.  I fully intend to stick with
it," she giggled before raising the long cigarette to her mouth again.  She
dragged on it hard.  "I think I can already feel myself craving a cigarette
between classes at school," she declared before tipping her head and
exhaling.  "Hey, don't you want to join me, to have one with me?"

   "Yeah, I would.  In fact I'd love to, honey."  Bob smiled and
graciously accepted a 100 millimeter cigarette from his daughter.  "You
know, till your mom began smoking I never understood just how elegant a woman
looks when she smokes."  He fired up his B&H.  "I love seeing your mom
smoke," he added before hitting on his cigarette in earnest.  "You and your
sister are beginning to show off the same elegant style in your own smoking
mannerisms."

   Allyson giggled and walked to the phone.  She dialed the pizza delivery.
"Thanks, Dad.  Really, you're right.  A lit cigarette not only tastes good.
It's a great prop!"  She ordered a large deep dish pizza while periodically
puffing away happily on her B&H.

   As soon as she hung up they heard the garage door open.  "It's your
mother," Bob nodded.  Sure enough, seconds later Vicki blustered into the
room.

   "Oh my God," she gasped.  "Sorry I'm so late.  Where's Kylee?"

   "We were about to ask you the same thing," Bob said.

   "I left her a message at school that I'd be home between six and six
thirty.  I told her to order pizza."  She looked around.  "Damn!  Where
_is_ she?"

   "I just called in an order," Allyson interrupted.  "Don't worry, Mom.
It'll be here by six thirty."

   Vicki looked at her baby, her little fourteen year old daughter.  God,
Allyson was smoking a cigarette and she did it like it was the most natural
thing in the world.  But of course in this world it was.  It was completely
natural.  Even so it was hard to get used to.  She hung up her jacket and
walked back into the kitchen.

   "So where were you so late, Vicki?"

   She froze.  She put her hand to her face fearing she still looked flushed
after her long lovemaking session with Alexis Bennett.  "Uh, I had to get
together with Dr. Bennett," she said a little too casually.  "You remember
her?  She's the head of the County Health Department."

   "Of course," Bob laughed.  "The lesbian?"

   "Dad," Allyson objected.  "You say it like there's something wrong
with it!"

   "No, it's fine, honey," he regrouped.  "It's just that Alexis has
always been sort of a rebel."  He drew on his cigarette.  "For example, did
you know that even though she was a doctor Alexis used to smoke back before
the days of the Sheridan inoculation and treated tobacco?"

   "Really?"  Vicki was amazed.  "How did you find that out?"

   "A good friend of Alexis' is on the school board," he went on.  "Last
week her friend told me that Alexis was a closet smoker for years.  I guess
only her closest friends, like her lesbian buddies, ever knew."  He hit on
his B&H.  "So what did you and Alexis do this afternoon?"

   "Nothing," Vicki nervously shot back.  "I mean, uh, we had to talk
about the Health Department's role in continuing Sheridan treatment
inoculations," she fibbed.  "You know, for immigrants and people like that
who never got theirs in the first wave."

   Bob nodded.  "Honey, why don't you sit down and join us?"  Vicki
hesitated.  "I mean, my God, honey, you've been in the house for almost two
minutes and you still haven't lit up a cigarette."  He frowned.  "Are you
sure you're feeling okay?"

   She laughed and plopped into a chair.  Everyone here expected her to smoke
all the time.  But perhaps she really didn't mind meeting those
expectations.  No, she really didn't.  "Bob, I'm fine," she confirmed.
"Just fine, really."  She reached in her purse and got out a pack of
Marlboro Menthol 100s.  "Yeah, I'd love another cigarette," she added with
a casual giggle.

   "Menthol?"  Bob frowned.  "Did you change brands?"

   Vicki fired up her cigarette.  "Yeah, Bob, I meant to talk to you about
it.  I decided I want to switch back to menthols."  She released a small
cloud of smoke from the corner of her mouth before beginning her patented
double-pump.  "As your dad knows quite well, Allyson, in the old days I
always smoked menthols.  That was before smoking was good for you.  Gina let
me have one of hers today.  It tasted really, really good to me.  So I
decided it was time to return to my first love."  She opened her mouth and
pushed an endless exhale toward her husband.

   "But Vicki, we talked about this months ago.  We agreed it'd be easier
if we both smoked the same brand.  That way we're less likely to run out of
cigarettes."

   Allyson interrupted.  "Dad, don't sweat it.  Since Kylee and I smoke now
I don't think it's very likely we'll _ever_ run out.  But if you do just
take a pack of ours."  She smiled sweetly at them both.  "Mom's the only
one risking running out because she'll be the only one in the house smoking
menthols."  The fourteen year old eagerly hit on her cigarette.  "I'm sure
not switching!"

   "Okay, Vicki, if you're sure," Bob mumbled.

   She hit on her Marlboro Menthol 100.  She realized she just committed this
world's Vicki to do something she knew nothing about.  Three hours from now
she'd be back in her own world and her twin would return to this one.  She
made a mental note to tell the other Vicki.  She could `change her mind'
and keep smoking Benson & Hedges 100s if she wanted.  But it was one more
thing her counterpart should know about when she returned home.  That, she
mused, and her new, much closer `friendship' with Alexis Bennett.

   So this world's Alexis was a closet smoker for years?  She wondered if
that meant the Alexis in her world was also a closet smoker?  Probably.  She
giggled to herself.  She'd already decided to seek out her Alexis when she
went back.  And if her Alexis was secretly smoking they'd have something
else in common, something in addition to their budding affair.  Of course the
Alexis in her world knew nothing about their affair.  But very soon her
Alexis would, and she'd love it even more if they were both secretly
smoking.

   Vicki had already resigned herself to the inevitable.  She wouldn't be
able to quit when she returned home.  She'd crossed the great divide.
Smoking again felt fuckin' incredible!  She didn't know just how she'd
negotiate it back in her universe but she'd figure out a way.  She had no
choice.  She was a smoker again!

   Kylee got home at six thirty.  She arrived simultaneously with the pizza
guy.  The four Bergens had pizza together and chatted about nothing in
particular.  No one asked where she and Josh went or what they did.  The
teenager was thankful for that.  After finishing the pizza every member of
the Bergen household lit up.

   Kylee felt sad.  She wanted to return home but she'd miss this smoking
camaraderie.  She wondered how her mom felt about it.  She certainly seemed
to be entering in enthusiastically; almost _too_ enthusiastically.  Kylee
resolved to take her mom aside and ask her about it.

   It was a few minutes before eight when Kylee and Vicki conferred in her
bedroom.

   "Kylee, today I've been thinking a lot about our return.  I know we need
to go back.  But there are a few things I think we should take back with us
to our world."

   "Like what, Mom?"

   "Like this," Vicki proudly answered.  She had a plastic bag hidden in
the closet.

   Kylee looked inside.  She gasped.  "Oh my God, Mom!  You've got two
cartons of Marlboro Menthol 100s in here, two cartons of Benson & Hedges
100s, and what's this?  My God, it's a carton of Saratoga Menthol 120s."
She looked up and smiled.  The light went on.  "Damn!  It looks like you
decided you don't want to quit smoking when you go back.  Is that right?"

   Vicki put a cigarette in her mouth and nodded.  She lit up and
double-pumped.  It'd become second nature the last 24 hours.  "Honey, you
were right.  God, you were _so_ right!  Already today I've smoked over a
pack.  Everyone expected me to but that wasn't the only reason I did.  I did
it because I love it.  There's no turning back for me now.  And I realize
there's probably no turning back for you, either.  So that's why I bought a
couple cartons of Benson & Hedges.  These are for you, Kylee."

   The teenager wrapped her arms around her mother's neck.  "Oh my God,
Mom.  Thanks so much.  This is such good news.  You are the best!"

   "No, I'm just a realist," the older woman smiled.  "If I can't quit
then how can I expect you to?  And frankly, dear, now we both have the
Sheridan treatment.  So there's very little reason that we should quit."
She hit on her cigarette.  "Things are gonna be different when we get home,
Kylee.  Very different!"

   "Hey Mom, can I try one of your menthols?"

   "Sure honey, be my guest."  She handed her daughter the pack of Marlboro
Menthol 100s.  "But don't get too used to `em.  I expect you to smoke
these Benson & Hedges!"

   Kylee laughed.  "Don't worry, Mom.  I've smoked non-menthols for
months.  I won't switch.  I just thought it'd be interesting to try."  She
lit up.  "Mm, these are kinda minty."  She pulled some smoke into her
lungs.  "I see why you like these," she admitted.  "Not bad for a change
of pace."

   "I think they're not bad for a regular diet," Vicki corrected her.
"But that's not all that's in the bag.  Take another look."

   Kylee examined the contents further.  "Oh my God, Mom!  You printed off
of the internet literally dozens of pages of technical information about the
Sheridan inoculation and about treated tobacco."  She paused.  "Does this
mean -?"

   Vicki smiled.  "When Dr. Bennett gave me my shot she had this pamphlet.
It came in the package.  It's full of technical data about the Sheridan
treatment.  That's when I realized we can take that information back with
us."  She laughed.  "Honey, your dad was a science teacher before he became
a principal.  So maybe in our world it'll be known as the Bergen treatment
instead of the Sheridan treatment."  She laughed as she hit on her
cigarette.  "I also got information about the research chemists at the
tobacco company who developed the formula for treated tobacco.  I intend to
contact them once we get home.  My goal is within a couple years to have
things totally shaped up in our world.  Everyone back home will be smoking
just like they do here."

   "Mom, you're so smart," the teenager giggled.  "God, I never thought
of this.  It makes perfect sense.  Why shouldn't we bring back all these
improvements from this world into ours?"

   "We can and we will, honey," Vicki confirmed.  She looked at her watch.
"It's only an hour till nine.  Is there anything you want to do before we
go back?"

   "Maybe I'll call Josh," she admitted.  "I'll miss him.  It's the one
thing that's here that we can't replicate in our universe.  Mrs. Allen is
already dead in our world."

   "Then why don't you call him now?" Vicki suggested.  "But don't look
so sad.  If our counterparts are willing we can still switch places every
once in awhile.  We can still go back and forth.  You can come back and see
Josh from time to time."  She let out a naughty little laugh.  "I'd like
to return to visit your father in this world occasionally myself."

   "Mom!  You don't mean -?"

   "Of course, honey.  Back home your dad is cold as ice.  But in this world
Bob is a real tiger in bed.  He wants sex all the time.  I rather enjoyed
myself last night."  She drew on her cigarette.  "It was especially nice
smoking in bed while we did it," she giggled wickedly.

   Mom and I aren't so different, Kylee mused.  "Yeah, maybe we can visit
here from time to time," she agreed.  "I'd like coming back and forth.
But tonight we should go back.  I think it's where we belong."  She gave
her mother one last hug.  "Thanks for agreeing to let me smoke when we go
back, Mom.  It's really nice of you."

   "Think nothing of it, dear.  This world has made us both smokers.  If
everything works, soon that won't be strange any longer in our universe!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Like she said she would Karyn dropped by at eight thirty.  Kylee explained
to Vicki that she promised Karyn could talk to her about the parallel
universes.  Once Vicki realized she had nothing to fear from being honest
with Karyn, she and her daughter's friend sequestered themselves in Bob and
Vicki's bedroom for a brief chat.

   A few minutes before nine Kylee interrupted.  "Mom, it's time," she
said sadly.  "The other Kylee and Vicki will be waiting for us.  We have to
go."

   The air in the bedroom was heavy with ambient smoke.  Both Vicki and Karyn
were smoking while they talked.  Vicki nodded sorrowfully.  "God, I'll sure
miss smoking all the time," she sighed wistfully.  "Damn, the last 24 hours
have been just wonderful!"  Her carton of Saratoga Menthol 120s was open.
She was smoking one of the super long cigarettes.  She took two quick and
hard consecutive drags and sighed again.  "God, Karyn, you guys in this
universe don't know how great you have it!"

   "I'm just beginning to find that out," Karyn grinned.  She hit on hers.
"This is already my tenth cigarette today.  How many have you had?" she
asked innocently.

   Vicki rolled her eyes.  "God, I don't even know for sure.  I think it's
something like my thirtieth cigarette today," she sadly admitted.  She
sneaked a last hit on her Saratoga 120 before halfheartedly crushing it in an
ashtray.  "I even tried not to smoke much all morning.  You know, if I
stayed here I bet I'd hit two packs a day every day, no problem."  She let
out a pitiful smile.  "God, wouldn't that be great?"

   "Chill, Mom."  She had to smile.  Kylee felt good hearing her mom talk
that way.  "Eventually you'll adjust.  All of us smokers do.  I mean, I've
been sneaking cigarettes for months.  You can, too.  You can even start
joining Allyson and me for our little walks in the park after dinner each
night," she added with an evil laugh.

   "But your father," Vicki muttered helplessly.  "Your dad will go
ballistic when he finds out I smoke again.  God, it's awful hard to hide it
when you sleep in the same bed with a non-smoker.  Fuck," she grumbled.
"Excuse my language, girls.  It just pisses me off.  All day I was looking
forward to going back.  But now, God, I'm not so sure."

   Kylee felt her heart strangely warmed by those words.  "It doesn't
matter, Mom.  But after all you had a pretty successful 24 hours.  You got
laid last night.  Then you got cured of cancer this afternoon.  I'd say you
did okay today.  And in the process you rediscovered an old friend."  She
laughed.  "Or should I say old friends, the ones that come 20 to a pack?"

   "How about one last cigarette?"

   Kylee shrugged.  "Fine.  You can smoke while I go into the bathroom and
find the door into the invisible hiding place."  She looked at her watch.
"It's nine right now.  We gotta go."

   Kylee gave Karyn a hug.  "Behave yourself, Karyn," she said warmly.
"Keep smoking."

   "Don't worry, Kylee.  I will.  I guess I'll go downstairs and see what
Allyson's doing.  I want to be here when your twins return."

   Kylee and Vicki went to her bedroom.  Vicki had her shopping bag
containing the printouts and the multiple cartons of cigarettes.  Kylee
closed and locked the bedroom door.  "Mom, wait here while I'm in the
bathroom.  Just like last night.  After a few minutes you follow me.  Do you
remember how to find the step?"

   "I remember," Vicki snapped.  She hit on her cigarette.  "Just go.
I'll practice my speech to your father while I wait.  You know?  The one
where I tell him I'm smoking again!"

   Kylee nodded and retreated into her bathroom.  She closed the door.  She
felt her mother's sadness.  But at the same time she was eager to see her
twin again and hear all about how things went in their universe back home.
Did the other Vicki smoke?  Had she been able to hide her smoking?  Or was
her dad already furious with her?  And was her counterpart turning into a
smoker herself?  She had so many questions!

   She felt along the wall for the invisible ledge.  The last few times it'd
been moving around on her.  Recently it'd been harder and harder to locate.
After feeling the air for several seconds she finally located it.
"Gotcha," she laughed triumphantly as she felt the ledge.  God, it was
almost flush against the bathroom wall now.  "If it keeps moving like this
we may not be able to go back next time," she told herself.  She tried
putting her foot on it so she could lift herself inside.

   The invisible ledge was too close to the bathroom wall.  There simply
wasn't enough room on the narrow ledge that protruded into the room to let
her get a foothold.  "Damn," she muttered.  She tried again and again.  No
success!

   "Fuck," she shouted.  "God, I don't fuckin' believe it!"

   Vicki came in looking alarmed.  "What's wrong, dear?"

   "It's the stupid ledge, Mom.  It's here but it's too close to the
wall.  I can't get a foothold."  She reached out.  The portal had
disappeared completely.

   For a moment Kylee panicked.  Then she remembered.  The ledge always
disappeared whenever two people were in her bathroom.  It did that the first
time she tried to show her sister weeks earlier.  "I don't know what's
wrong, Mom," she groaned.  "I can't get in."

   "Let me try," Vicki said.  "You go back into your bedroom and let me
try.  Maybe it'll work if I go first."

   Kylee left the bathroom and closed the door.  With a cigarette hanging
from her mouth Vicki felt around to find the invisible protrusion.  "Here
you are," she finally exclaimed.  But Kylee was right.  It was indeed much
closer to the wall than it had been the previous night.  In the same way
Kylee did she tried to lift her foot onto it so she could step inside the
invisible portal.  "Damn.  It's not working."  She repeatedly attempted to
get a foothold.  No luck.

   "Kylee, honey, I can't get in either," she called out.  The bathroom
door opened and her daughter returned. "What in the hell are we going to
do?"

   "The last few times it's been moving around.  Maybe tomorrow it'll have
moved again and we'll be able to get in.  I don't know what else to do,"
she shrugged.  "God, this is terrible."

   Vicki double-pumped her cigarette.  While she did her facial expression
changed.  "Do you know what, honey?  I'm not so sure.  Maybe it's not so
bad," she grinned slyly after sucking the smoke deep into her lungs.  "I
mean, it's not bad for us.  The person it's really shitty for is my poor
twin, the other Vicki."  She began to exhale, but instead of letting it out
she immediately pulled the smoke back down inside her chest.  "It's really
terrible for that poor girl.  After all, the other Vicki's a hopeless
nicotine addict.  She's stuck in a world where she can't smoke.  In that
universe her husband also isn't interested in having smoky sex every
night."  She let a wicked laugh.  "God, Kylee, the exact same thing's true
for your twin.  If that other Kylee is learning to enjoy cigarettes she's
now stranded in a world where she has to fight for chances to indulge her
growing addiction."  She delicately tapped her cigarette's lengthening ash
in the ashtray on the vanity.  "I'd say there's no problem for us.  In
fact, it's great for us!"

   "But Mom!  Don't you miss Allyson and Dad and all your friends?"

   "Honey, don't be an ass!  They're all here in this world.  Every single
one of them.  I can't very well miss them if they're here, too."  She
laughed.  "But in this universe there're all better; because in this one
every single one of them is an addicted smoker.  Just like we are!"  She
laughed again and dragged on her cigarette.  "Honey, you look stressed.  Why
don't you light up a cigarette?  I think it'll make you feel much better!"

   "God, I can't believe my mother is encouraging me to smoke," Kylee
muttered.  But she knew Vicki was right.  She needed one at that moment!  She
reached for her cigarettes.  "Shit, I can't believe you don't want to go
back."

   "Now look, Kylee.  I love to smoke and I love getting lots of sex.  I can
have both here and have them in spades.  Yeah, my poor twin just rolled
snake-eyes at the craps table.  Too bad for her.  But I can't do anything
about it so, pardon my language, fuck her!  I mean it.  Fuck both of them.  I
plan to stay here in this world and enjoy myself awhile.  I don't fuckin'
care!"

   From her purse Vicki got out another cigarette.  She promptly lit it up
off the butt of her nearly spent Saratoga.  "I'm going downstairs to see
Bob," she sniggered. "I'll suggest to him that we head off to bed early."
Her eyes sparkled as she crushed out her spent cigarette.  "In the meantime
I suggest you get used to smoking and having a permanent boyfriend.  You're
so much better off in this world, honey.  Admit it!  You really are."

   Kylee had to smile.  "Mom, you're full of surprises.  You're an
unabashed, self-interested opportunist.  I can't believe you actually said
`fuck them.'  You never used to talk like that!"

   "Correction, honey," her mom giggled.  "In the other world I didn't.
At least never around you.  But that was probably mostly because I was
deprived of nicotine.  I was deprived for too damn long and became a
straightlaced prude.  But not here," she added with a satisfied sigh.  "Not
anymore.  No, here in this world I've finally been set free.  I can smoke
again without guilt and I fuckin' love it!  I've left behind nicotine
deprivation.  It was a shitty straightjacket.  It made me too uptight.  But
no longer.  No way.  Now I plan to enjoy myself again."  She drew long and
hard on her cigarette.  "It's too fuckin' bad for that other Vicki and
Kylee.  They're stranded back in our world.  But I can't do anything about
it and so I won't worry about it.  I can only assume that providence
intended for you and me to live out the rest of our lives as hopeless
nicotine addicts!"

   Kylee drew on her cigarette.  "Well, regardless of whether it's a good
thing, you and I obviously can't go back to our universe tonight.  I'll
keep checking, though.  Maybe the invisible hiding place will come back
eventually.  If and when it does I assume you agree we should go back home?
We can fix that other world, Mom.  We've got all the information we need
about treated tobacco and the stuff about the Sheridan treatment, too."

   "Yeah, I suppose," Vicki sighed reluctantly.  "But if we stay here I
won't lose any sleep.  This is a great place.  Thanks for bringing me along,
honey.  Really.  Thanks a bunch!"

   Kylee sighed.  "You're welcome, Mom.  You're the one person I missed
most when I came over here.  I liked the other Vicki.  But after all you're
the one who's my real mother."

   "Yeah, I sure am," she nodded.  "I'm your real mother all right; and
your mother just became a smoker all over again.  And starting immediately I
plan to act just like this world's Vicki.  I plan to smoke as much as I feel
like."  She glanced at her watch.  "You know, if I work at it a little I
think I can reach two packs today.  If not tonight then tomorrow for sure!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   For two weeks Kylee dutifully checked her bathroom every night for the
invisible ledge.  It continued to recede and after a couple days she
couldn't feel it at all.  She kept checking for it anyway.  But it never
returned.

   Kylee did indeed coach her mom on how to market smoking in their new
world.  She shared with her the same thoughts she shared with the other Vicki
before the moms switched worlds.  Soon the redirected Governor's Commission
on Smoking and Health changed its entire marketing approach.  It began to
sell smoking to teens as something rebellious and edgy, instead of an
establishment and mainstream lifestyle.  The results were impressive.  Within
a few months the number of teenage smokers in their state skyrocketed.
National pro-smoking organizations noticed and soon followed suit.  The
statistics of teenage smokers continued to rise, though the increase was
partly helped by the federal government's decision to finally remove all age
restrictions that limited the purchase of tobacco products.

   But the sight of the two identical Tori Amos tee shirts in her closet
continually haunted Kylee.  In bed late at night she often thought about her
twin and the other Vicki in the alternate universe.  How did they feel when
they discovered they couldn't return home?  She wondered if the other Kylee
ever became a real smoker under the persistent influence of Allyson and
Karyn.  How did her dad react when his supposed wife, the other Vicki,
brashly reverted to smoking cigarettes?  She also worried how that affected
Vicki's political career in a non-smoking world.  Finally, she thought about
her real little sister, poor Allyson, struggling along as a smoker in a world
where smoking was detested.

   But whenever those haunting thoughts assailed her late at night Kylee knew
what to do.  She reached out in the darkness and grabbed a pack of Benson &
Hedges off her nightstand.  She lit up another cigarette and luxuriated in
the inescapable satisfaction and contentment which was always delivered by
another dependable nicotine infusion.  And she also distracted herself by
dreaming about fucking Josh.  It was, after all, the perfect relationship.
His parents didn't mind if they fucked since of course she was the one who
did them a favor and turned Josh into a real smoker.  And ultimately Josh did
indeed become just as desperately nicotine addicted as Kylee.  Both of them
eventually settled into a regular two pack a day routine.

   Vicki, on the other hand, rarely thought about her former life.  She was
far too content consistently fucking Bob, her adorable smoking husband, and
developing an illicit `friendship' with the lovely Alexis Bennett.  No
longer was she sex starved; nor was she nicotine starved.  No, Vicki was
satisfyingly satiated.  She habitually exceeded two packs of Saratoga Menthol
120s a day.  She didn't know why the gods selected her to change universes
and she didn't fuckin' care, either.  Unlike Kylee she had no actual
interest in going back and forth.  No, she liked being right where she was,
in a universe where smoking was applauded and esteemed.  On those rare
occasions when she even remembered having lived another life in another
world, Vicki simply lit up another cigarette and soaked her lungs all over
again.  Like her daughter, she finally had everything she wanted!


THE END

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