Last Cigarette

“We were liberators, they said. The Dutch gave us flowers and chocolate, but before that, there were fields of mud and fear…”

In the dying days of World War II, Canadian troops march through the sodden fields of the Netherlands, battling not just the last remnants of Nazi resistance, but the fatigue and sorrow that come with too much loss. Private Jack Mercer and his best friend Pierre share a smoke and a few jokes before one final mission into a ruined farmhouse.

What happens next becomes a memory that Jack carries for years—a single cigarette, unlit and tucked away, holding the weight of friendship, fate, and the price of survival.

Last Cigarette is a powerful, compact tale that captures the human side of war. In just a few pages, it explores the bond between soldiers, the cruelty of timing, and the strange, smoky mix of grief and gratitude that lingers long after the guns fall silent.