The temptations

I wanted a drink. I wanted a smoke. She had told me taking that path would lead to another drink, and I didn't want to go there, so I didn't even consider it for another minute. I took the easy slope, ignoring the direct path. Both were covered in sizable stones blocking parts of the path, both littered with roots rising from the dusty earth. Each path had its hazards, but one led straight to a drink, whereas the other would give me the time I needed to shore myself against that seemingly inevitable.

One foot in front of the other, I started to scope out this new way; to see what might lie in front of me; but the overhanging limbs blocked any clear line of view to what the future might bring. Pressing one light branch back, I made my way forward, walking past the bar and into the theatre, ordering a diet Coke. Inside, I sat and watched the man leave for a cigarette, putting one to his lips before he left his row. Only for an instant did I think to ask him for one, and the instant came only after he had gone - too late to act.

She ordered a bottle of wine. "Will this trigger you, my unhappy baby?" "I already want one," I mumbled back. "I won't judge," she whispered. Always the devil on my shoulder, I laughed inside. She had just given me a gift. Now, I knew I didn't want that at all. Just imagining the taste of cheap wine in a dirty theatre made me want to wretch. If I'm going down, I'm going down in flames with the most expensive bottle of wine on the list, and it had better be an expensive list.

I came back out into the night free of booze and cigarettes. "Why am I the only one in the family who embraces their alcoholism anymore?" she asked me, half jokingly. I just smiled, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and headed back home.