(A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 5: The Place To Be is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)
Morning Has Broken
The sun broke in splintered array through the wooded background of the still lake that stretched out before him. This was the stuff, the place that Elston longed to be were it not for the overwhelming
responsibilities that demanded his time. A little better planning and this could’ve been his life.
Instead his days were filled with the whirring of machinery: laithes and mills, saws and drills. Coolant soaked boots traipsing through curly metal shavings. Ductile iron buried so deep into his palm prints, staining him like he was born with it.
“I’ll be damned,” Elston said “if I’m going to miss a single opportunity to sit right here and do exactly this and I don’t care what your sister thinks about it!” There was no one within but he was going to have the argument anyway even if Anna was still lingering in the bed. “That’s why I bought it and I’m tired of all of you telling me what I’m going to do with it!”
Elston took a slow sip of decaf from a ceramic mug advertising a local bail bondsman as he crossed his legs onto the wicker stool at his feet. He plucked a joint from the red and black Raw tray at his elbow as he evenly ripped off the twirly paper tip and stuck it between his lips.
“Ah,” he sighed in anticipation as he drew the shiny chrome Zippo from his pocket, hovering at the tip of the joint and flicked the file wheel to no avail. Flick, flick, flick…He slammed the lid of the lighter shut.
“Anna,” he yelled back through the open door behind him, “will you bring me that bottle of lighter fluid?”
Contingencies
Elston had plenty of problems in his life. Real problems that required great attention and drained energy but this wasn’t one of them. This was just a minor nuisance like loading the dishwasher,
mopping the floor or doing your laundry. It drove many smokers crazy that their Zippo ran out of fluid so quickly and often but Elston saw it for what it was, the cost of using a lighter responsibly.
Oh, not that any person using a plastic disposable butane lighter had ill intentions but that choice was certainly worse for the environment than refilling a metal lighter. The production process of a plastic lighter was one concern but so was the disposable nature of these cheap products.
In Elston’s mind, the plastic lighter wasn’t so much the root of the problem as an outward sign of a disposable philosophy of life that he didn’t care for. You are what you eat, we become what we think and disposable lighters are used by those with no creativity, just a garbage mindset. A broken Zippo can definitely be repaired where a malfunctioning Bic ends up in the trash.
“Here you go, it feels a little light,” Anna said as she shook the black can with white and red lettering and set it on the table to Elston’s left. “Are you going to light that thing or what? I hope there’s enough fuel there.”
“Oh, there’s plenty of fuel, all it takes is a couple good squirts,” Elston said, “Besides, I have a whole case of the stuff in there in the closet.”
Preparation Is Key
Elston flicked open the lid of his Vintage Look Zippo producing the iconic and familiar “click” as the cam spring performed its work by design. Holding the case of the lighter firmly in his right hand, he
used his left to grasp the windscreen of the removable mechanism insert and pulled it up and out of the case.
He then turned the insert upside down and used a small orange handled pick to manipulate the felt pad base of the insert up at an angle, exposing the rayon and terminal end of the wick below, the hidden workings of the fuel tank. Elston deftly pried the plastic nozzle of the bottle open with one hand as he tipped the can over and a stream of liquid fuel flowed straight down into the wadding material.
This was a chore almost as familiar as brushing his own teeth and yet precision somehow escaped him. He had a terrible habit of over-filling his lighters which caused a whole set of other problems like chemical burns to the skin and the introduction of vapor lock to the scene.
“Imagine that!” Elston exclaimed as fuel began to drip down off the wick and into the palm of his hand. The fuel pooled momentarily before trickling through his fingers down onto the surface of the table below. “You would think I would’ve learned by now!”
He shook out the excess fuel from the insert with a forceful downward motion. Once, twice, three times and then replaced the inner mechanism into the case of the Zippo and closed it.
Lift-Off!
“Do you want me to grab the vape pen?” Anna was getting impatient.
“No, no, no, no, we’re ready to go!” There was excitement in
Elston’s voice as he placed the joint in Anna’s lips this time and flicked the Zippo to life.
Anna drew the flame in hard as Elston motioned it evenly into a dance with the face of the tip of the marijuana cigarette. He snuffed the flame by closing the lid as he spied the developing ember and pulled the joint from between her soft, wet lips and blew on and stoked it from the dryness of his own.
He handed it back to Anna and she pulled deeply but exhaled quickly. Over and over again, occasionally passing it to Elston for a puff.
“Is there any place you’d rather be?” Elston asked but she didn’t answer. She just smiled at him and he smiled back.
(Please leave any comments, questions or suggestions in the comments section of this or any other page at DependableFlame.com. This is a work of fiction and any similarity of the characters or situations herein to those that have happened in real life should be seen as coincidental.)
Great post. I just recently got a Zippo liter and spent some time learning how to fill it with lighter fluid and how to replace the flints. I had no idea that you just squirted the lighter fluid on essence a sponge in the bottom of the lighter. For me, the Zippo is a fascinating tool. And the history is pretty awesome.
Thank you Brian, I really appreciate you taking the opportunity to share your insights here! Petrol Lighters definitely function off of some pretty basic principles that surprise many folks when just starting out using them. I recall being pretty dumbfounded when I discovered how simple the whole system is as I had no idea either that you just had to squirt fluid down there into the wadding to fuel them. Knowing all of the historical relevance of Zippos, the simple way they are fueled seemed like something I should have already been aware of.
Thank you for sharing A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 5: The Place To Be. Your writing truly captures the essence of a peaceful morning by the lake, contrasting with the overwhelming responsibilities and demands of everyday life. I appreciate the detail and care put into describing Elston’s process of refilling his metal Zippo lighter, highlighting his perspective on environmental responsibility and his disdain for disposable products. The scene of Elston and Anna enjoying their joint together, with the help of the freshly refilled Zippo lighter, is both relatable and serene. Overall, your writing immerses the reader into a tranquil moment, providing a much-needed escape from the chaos of daily life.
Thank you Anoth, I am glad you enjoyed the story and that it was at least a small escape from the chaos of life as you described it. All of the plastic employed in producing so many consumer products these days really does weigh on me. I don’t believe that God will abandon this earth or allow it to be destroyed but rather, one day He will make all of creation new again to meet His original intention in the garden but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be good stewards of the earth and all that the Lord Jesus has blessed us with.
Interesting… In this particular part of the story, the author seems to be setting up the conflict between the two main characters. The dialogue between them is tense, and there’s a sense that they have different perspectives and goals. The descriptions of the surroundings and the actions of the characters create a vivid and engaging scene. Overall, it’s an intriguing start to the story, and I’m curious to see where it will go.
Thank you Aly, I appreciate you stopping by to check out this installment of the story and hope you will continue to frequent the site and keep up with future additions. While the scene may be somewhat tense, I would not read too much into that by way of thinking Elston and Anna share differing goals. Elston is simply at a place in his life where he doesn’t mind making his opinion known but he is committed to Anna and doing whatever is necessary to keep her happy.
Very tastefully executed! I loved this even though I have not had the pleasure of reading the previous chapters. This was very refreshing from the simple explanation of using a Zippo verses a Bic. I really enjoyed this, it put a smile on my face. I love my Zippo and it is everlasting in my opinion. It has outlived every bad situation I have faced being the most dependable tool I own.
Hey Tammy, I am glad that you loved this installment of the story and hope you will go back and read the previous chapters. Not that the story won’t make perfect sense any way but the background into the characters that the other installments provide may give a little clarity to certain issues. Everyone loves the Zippo lighter and I consider myself one of them but maybe with just a caveat or two.
Totally rad dude. Elston sounds like the fellow from a smoky novel that intrigues me. Now that lighter looks like he has been well experienced with what it needs.
If I were Anna, I might look to have my own sole source of satisfaction. No mention of her age but from the looks of it, getting her own doobie to smoke and not sharing seems like it would make the experience last longer.
Great imagery and to the point diction. Keep up the good work.
You think Anna may be bogarting the doobie, huh? I suppose we are all guilty of this from time to time but in the end I think Elston is just happy to be there with her and while he may have relied on the ganja himself to varying degrees over time, he’s gotten to the point where his main concern is Anna because he sees her as the value in his life over all those other distractions that work and extended family often provide. I really appreciate your insight Elridge and hope you will continue to follow these stories!
Wow, that is a lot of effort just to light a joint. I love that using these vintage lighters helps the environment, as you don’t need to be going through cheap plastic lighters that add up as they get thrown out.
I love that you have made this process into a light-hearted story, that I felt compelled to read until the end. I didn’t realize that there was so much precision that went into filling up a vintage lighter. How often do you need to repeat this process?
Well, Michel, with the frequency that I myself over-fill lighters with fuel, one might wonder whether there is really that much precision that goes into it. It does help to develop a routine though and it’s one of those chores that definitely gets easier with time, experience and much repetition. I am glad you saw it as a light-hearted story because that is the exact mood I was aiming for with such technical descriptions of the actual chore seeming a little boring.
Reading this post I have visions of Elston and Anna on the edge of the lake, sharing a joint, and enjoying the moment. Elston stays calm, even when he realises that he needs to refill his lighter. This is a moment that most smokers fear, when they cannot light that cigarette. But Elston is well prepared.
It is great to see the inner workings of the vintage Zippo lighter that he uses. And even when he overfills it, he just talks to himself and fixes his mistake. I look forward to reading the continuation of the story.
Thank you Liné, I am glad you stopped by again and also that you are enjoying these stories. You really picked up on many of the unspoken emotions between Elston and Anna, that were really only hinted at through the details of the story. I hear what you are saying in regards to smokers and there short fuses when it comes to getting that cigarette lit. Your words harkened my back to when I used to dip snuff and thought I’d run out or lost my can of Copenhagen. Talk about panic setting in!
I just wanted to say that you did an outstanding job of crafting your explanation like a story, which kept me captivated from start to finish. And I now have a clear understanding of how to refill a lighter. Although my husband has done it a few times in the past, I never really grasped the process until now.
I particularly appreciate how Elston views plastic lighters as a symbol of our society’s disposable mindset, which he actively opposes. In a world where so much is designed to be disposable and replaceable, it’s refreshing to encounter someone like Elston who is willing to take a stand and make a small but meaningful difference.
Thank you Miadinh for the nice comment, I have really been enjoying working my knowledge of old cigarette lighters into this more creative genre of fictional stories and am glad that you both enjoyed the read and learned about petrol lighters as well.
I was raised by a father who never tossed anything in the trash without first attempting to repair it and I wish that more folks out there today had the same mindset.
I really enjoyed the way you wound your zippo around the story! I appreciate that you showed that the plastic lighter relates to life and it’s disposability. It is impressive that you created all this from that. Truly! Now if we are talking about the zippo, my husband has his and lives by it! He gets frustrated when the flint gets low and it doesn’t have the same flame he is used to so I can relate. This is a great story-written article. My only concern is about the substance being smoked, but that is a personal thing and not taking away from the story! GREAT JOB!
Thank you for the nice comment about the article. Not to dwell on your content about the substance being smoked but there are references to alcohol everywhere in our culture from advertising in print and television to portrayals in movies and elsewhere. Alcohol destroys lives everyday. Cannabis is simply a plant that can be used for tremendous benefit if folks would just get over and stop believing the lies the governemennt has ben promoting since at least 1937.