On D-Day, a Lucky Strike named Chance rides in a GI’s pack, witnessing landing, loss, and the long echo of silence, showing that sometimes the bravest act is never to burn. On June 6, 1944, a Missouri farm boy lands at Omaha Beach with a ration box on his chest and a single Lucky Strike inside. That cigarette survives the landing, the long march through Europe, and the silence that follows the war home. Told through the eyes of an unlit cigarette, *Death of a Cigarette* is a story of courage in many forms: the spark that burns bright, the voice that steadies, and the choice to endure without flame. From the tobacco fields of Virginia to the Stars and Stripes Museum in Missouri, Chance bears witness to memory, sacrifice, and the legacy passed quietly through generations. Lyrical and haunting, this novella reminds us that sometimes the bravest act is not to burn at all. "A masterful strike of symbolic storytelling, Death of a Cigarette: A Story of Survival, Memory, and Legacy by Timothy Webber captures the courage of service and the interconnectedness of memory. Imaginatively recounting the long journey of a sentient cigarette as it's harvested in the tobacco fields of Virginia, assembled to life in a crowded factory, deployed overseas as a K-ration, and left miraculously unsmoked on the death-strewn beaches of Normandy, the author has cleverly crafted a silent but wise spectator to history in the making. Linguistically rich, this strange but affecting novel is a haunting testament to sacrifice, selflessness, and unspent purpose, transforming a familiar story of humble existence into an unconventional and unforgettable historical novella." Self-Publishing Review, ★★★★ BookLife Reviews Webber's solemn, respectful memorial of World War II's D-Day unfolds through an unconventional lens: the voice of a Lucky Strike cigarette, belonging to American soldier Philip Martin, that survived the invasion of Normandy at Omaha Beach. The story begins when a young couple visits a Missouri museum on the anniversary of D-Day, discovering the single, unlit cigarette in its display case. From there, the narrative switches to the perspective of the cigarette itself, introduced as Chance, starting with its origins as Virginia tobacco leaves named Eva Mae and Ella Mae. As readers learn more of Chance's journey—his blending with French wrapping paper Henri, the fellow cigarettes he travels with from his factory, their shipment overseas to Philip—they glimpse a side of war that not many are privy to, where "real men, with breath and boots and plans" see their dreams dashed, comrades killed, and lives fundamentally altered. Webber strikes a balance between the devastation of combat and the levity that comes with a carton of anthropomorphic cigarettes, juxtaposing deafening explosions and the metallic taste of fear with a pack of smokes that each have a distinctive personality: there's the serious, patriotic Winston; spotlight-stealing Sally; go-with-the-flow Marley; and, of course, Chance—who knows he's been "made from love and rumor and paper proud enough to call itself French, and that the world beyond our coffin was vast and waiting." Philip's experience in the war leaves him reeling, coping with painful trauma and the loss of friends as he tries to fit back into a civilian world grown too small for his battle-weary perspective. Webber brings him—and Chance—full circle in the end, restoring lost relationships and sparking hope when readers learn the couple visiting the museum are Philip's descendants. The story's unorthodox protagonist bears witness to the griefs of war and reminds us that "it's the ordinary things that carry the most weight." Takeaway: Compelling portrait of war through the lens of a soldier's cigarette. Comparable Titles: Michele Phoenix's Fragments of Light , Leon Uris's Battle Cry . Production grades Cover: B- Design and typography: A Editing: A Marketing copy: A- So why tell a story through a cigarette? Honestly, it started in a pretty ordinary way. I was half-watching a video one night when an ad for a vape popped up, and it made me wonder, what were these things meant to replace in the first place? That thought took me back, past corner stores and health campaigns, all the way to World War II. That's when the idea clicked: a cigarette that never got smoked, carried through the war, with a story to tell. That's how Chance showed up. If you noticed some familiar names, Winston, Sally, Marley, you're right. They nod to cigarette brands, but they're also personalities in their own right. I figured if one brand was going to get a voice, the others deserved one too. The settings and timeline stick pretty close to history: tobacco fields, the factory process, supply ships, D-Day, even those big steel "hedgehog" obstacles on the beach. The people and voices are fiction, but the backdrop is real. My goal was simple, mix the imagined with the historical in a way that feels alive and respectf