Good morning, House of Madness residents:
Have you ever done something you knew to be wrong, yet simply ignored your instincts for your own personal gain? If not, kudos to you, and if so, perhaps Sal Piven can show you what real consequences are. As always, I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Head in the Clouds
It had been a long time coming, but the weekend getaway Sal Piven had been pining for had finally arrived. Two days and two nights in beautiful Atlantic City to just gamble along the boardwalk, and catch some rays by the ocean. Being a hit man may not be the most prestigious work, especially since his last hit had been a fifteen year old kid, but a job is a job, and life goes on; well, for Sal it does anyways.
After a few hours of losing at craps and winning at blackjack, Sal went back to his room and got changed into his bathing suit, complete with matching sun shirt; it's 2023 afterall, and even your friendly neighbourhood hit man has to worry about skin cancer and man tits. On his way down to the beach Sal couldn't believe how quiet it was, not only in sound, but other than the woman and her two little children playing off in the distance, the beach was as derelict as a whore house on Sunday morning. "Perfect!", Sal said to himself as he laid his blanket down on the sand, and began to soak in the sun's rays.
After applying the sunscreen on his face, Sal looked up at the beautiful sky, and admired its blueness as he watched a plane go by overhead. Then he saw it. A cloud. Not just any cloud, but a cloud that looked so menacing, that it sent a chill down his spine. It wasn't just that the cloud looked menacing, it was that Sal would be God damned if that cloud wasn't the spitting image of the kid he just offed two days prior; it even seemed to mimic wearing glasses as the boy had, and the crew cut hair couldn't be ignored either. "This is why I'm here", Sal said "To get all this fucking shit out of my head!" he said to the seagull on his left if someone had been watching. Sal slammed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, and when he opened them, he knew the cloud would be different, and he could laugh at himself later for being such a fucking pussy. Only when Sal opened his eyes, not only was the boy still there, but the cloud actually seemed to be closer than it was before, and he could even make out the ear pods the boy was wearing on the day Sal ended him. "Too much sun!" Sal said to himself, but even he knew this wasn't the case.
Instead of packing up and heading inside, Sal decided to close his eyes and have a little nap on the beach, afterall, how long had it been since he'd had a good night's sleep, let alone a solid nap? As the sun gazed down upon his bare legs and cheeks, something still felt amiss to Sal, and he very slowly slitted open his eyes, knowing that he'd see nothing, but also knowing he'd go insane if he didn't take the slightest of peeks. Now the boy was almost right on top of him, and Sal could make out the pimples on the impossible boy cloud's face. "WHAT DO YOU WANT!? YOU'RE DEAD!" Sal screamed into the ocean air, and as the boy's mouth opened and Sal was swallowed whole, the little girl playing by the ocean said "Where did the man go that was over there, Mommy?", to which her mother replied "I've no idea dear, who'd leave the beach on such a beautiful day? Why, there's not a single cloud in the sky!".
NB
