What if the black and white smoke signals from the Sistine Chapel weren’t just symbols… but sentient?

In this short story, I reimagine the smoke of the papal conclave as two ancient beings—mystical smoke-spirits locked in a sacred duel inside the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Inspired by the spiritual weight of the moment, and a dash of Lost-style mystery, I wrote "A Tale of Soot and Spirit: A Short Story About Two Colors, One Choice."

As black smoke wrestles with fear, habit, and power, and white smoke embodies trust, hope, and surrender, each round of their battle mirrors the secret ballots cast below. It's a meditation on the tension between tradition and transformation, and the mysterious grace that can come when we stop fighting.