Once upon a time, there was a person called Ismoka. This person decided that he wanted to make a lot of money. He was full of business plans. But none of his products satisfied the customer enough to satisfy Ismoka's lofty ambitions. Each product he tried to sell was a failure. He became bitter and twisted. He hated the world for disliking his various businesses. And so he planned and plotted against the entire human nation. It was all in secret of course. He had an assistant, a smart, power hungry young student. This young student discovered an ingredient that, when added to a product, would make it addictive.  Slowly, the evil old man and his young helper formulated their plan. When writing up their wishes, the old man said:
" I am going to manufacture a product that will destroy the human race. It will kill people, in various different ways, slowly and painfully. It will make people smell. It will cause social problems, and fights. Even though it will be really small, it will cost lots of money."
The young assistant was confused at this. She wanted to kill people too, but she didn't understand how, when people knew these effects they would still choose  to buy their product, even with  her miracle additive.
" Who will you sell it to," she asked." Who is that dumb?"
The old man grinned.
" Everyone." He said. " You just watch and see."
So they finalised their "perfect killer" product and began the marketing. The product's sales sky-rocketed.  Ismoka and his assistant had all they ever wanted. Wealth, influence, and a few thousand dead people on their conscience. And gradually, it all increased. More people were dying from its hazardous effects and more ambitious business entrepeneurs were buying the right to market it. And more and more money was being spent on it. Eventually, the evil old man died of lung cancer. Finally the world was rid of his terrible influence. Although his legacy was left behind to continue killing people in future generations. And now you might be wondering what the product was. It was named after Ismoka Cigarette. And still to this day many people are addicted to this harmful drug called cigarettes.
Mr Cigarette-The mass murderer
This story, written in 2001, won the Weka Literary-English Junior Prose award and was published in the Weka magazine. The year before that, another of my short stories, Echoes of Angels won the same award.
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