Cigarette Characterization

Clark Ashton Smith

Ignited in the rich and multi-hued Antarean dusk, the tip of the space pilot's cigarette began to glow and foulder like the small scarlet eye of some cavern-dwelling chimera;-and an opal-grey vapor fumed in gyrant spirals, like incense from an altar of pagany, across the high auroral flames that soared from the setting of the giant sun.


The editors of Fantasy Magazine asked the most prominent writers of the time (1934) to describe a freshly lighted cigarette in such a manner so that readers would suspect who the writer was.

Printed from: eldritchdark.com/writings/nonfiction/39
Printed on: March 29, 2024