Voice Sample of "When You're Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris

The speaker talks about their first experience with someone asking for a cigarette when they were 20 years old and had only been smoking for two days. They were in Vancouver, British Columbia, after spending time picking apples in Oregon. They stayed in a cheap residence hotel with a Murphy bed, which they found enchanting. Their greatest pleasure was repeatedly folding the bed away and looking at the empty spot. The first time someone hit me up for a cigarette, I was 20 years old and had been smoking for all of two days. This was in Vancouver, British Columbia. My friend Ronnie and I had spent the previous month picking apples in Oregon, and the trip to Canada was our way of rewarding ourselves. We stayed that week in a cheap residence hotel, and I remember being enchanted by the Murphy bed, which was something I had heard about but never seen in person. During the time we were there, my greatest pleasure came in folding it away and then looking at the empty spot where it had been. Pull it out, fold it away. Pull it out, fold it away. Over and over until my arm got tired.