Fifth Grader Heaven

Fifth Grader Heaven
 
Tiredly she tottered downstairs with her small hand clenching her lighter.
Her hair slightly ruffled from her night long slumber.  Shuffling sleepily
into the living room she impassively extracted a cigarette from an open
packet on the arm of the settee. Absently her soft lips caressed the tan
coloured filter then firming into a welcoming clasp engendered from its
satisfying familiarity. The long cigarette protruded corruptly from her small
face as she fumbled with the lighter picked up on her journey from her
bedroom. Drowsy yet anticipatory eyes guided the yellow lighter flame towards
the fresh unused end of her long cigarette.
 
Dipping  her head ever so slightly she submerged the tip into the small pool
of fire. Her lips tightened as she drew deeply on her morning cigarette and
the faint sound of crackling tobacco assuaged her ears. Her face began losing
its sleep induced torpor as welcome nicotine saturated smoke poured into her
lungs. Four seconds she held the warm smoke inside her. Then with an
involuntary sigh of needs fulfilled, she parted her lips to allow the pent up
contents in her lungs to burst by, forming a long stream of cascading smoke
into the still air of her father's living room.  
 
The first hit over and feeling a little more alive and less lethargic she
took another pull on her cigarette. As she inhaled this second
lung-saturating drag she mentally checked her list of today's requirements.
Walking over to her bag holding her elbow into her side and her cigarette at
shoulder height like the seasoned smoker she was, she examined its contents.
A smile teased her full soft lips. She had remembered to put her school
planner in after all. Relieved, she released another funnel of smoke into the
air. She watched the cascading misty smoke join and intermingle with her
previous discharge.
 
She pulls on her cigarette as she walks over to the big mirror hanging over
the mantelpiece. She retrieves her burning cigarette with her left hand so
she may pick up her hair brush that she always keeps there. Brushing out the
sleep induced tangles in her shiny blonde hair she smiles at herself through
her discharging smoke. Several times she takes lengthily pulls and watches
her reflection smoking in the mirror  . Holding her cigarette near her cheek
she lifts her head, turning it one way and the other examining her now shiny
hair and a smile of vanity appears on her lips.
 
Placing her cigarette between her lips and dangling it there so she can pull
her school coat on. Now the small girl is dragging hands free as she lifted
her bag onto her shoulder. Taking the cigarette away from her mouth she snap
inhaled and walked towards the door.
 
Her small hand graced with cigarette held the door open as she called out
with smoke tripping out of her mouth."See you tonight daddy!" 
 
Turning and walking down the drive towards her school bus blue smoke vented
from her ten-year-old lips and was swept away by the light morning breeze