Destination Unknown

They say hind sight is 20-20. In my case it was 20-20 with binocular vision. I know exactly where I messed up, and that makes it even more painful. Regardless, here I am now, struggling like life was a well and I fell down it.

Sometimes I just look up at the sky and wonder. What the hell is all this and how did I end up here - was it my doing or was it fate? And I inevitably try to crawl out. Scratching the earthen walls vigorously, only to be stuck at the bottom.

But that's all just self pitying bullshit, and I apologize sincerely. I'm not writing for your sympathies, I'm writing simply to make sense of it all.

So I was headed to Vegas right?

It's bright, smokey, and soaked in booze.

And it is now seven hundred dollars richer. Not that I regret it - it was worth every cent. What can I say - blackjack plus gin and tonic, plus a fat paycheck. It could only have ended up one way; inebriated defeat. It's what I expected. I greeted it with open arms. What the hell did I care?

---

Walking down the strip with Joe, who was shit faced to the point where he was no longer goofy and lanky, but smug and stiff, I struggle to slide my foot in reality's door. Shadowy figures with hoods approach us at every crosswalk, smacking stripper's calling cards against their hands in an attempt to draw more attention to themselves.

"You want a good time?" they collectively mutter, expressionless and distant.

I grab a card and look down. Andrea is only forty four dollars and has red hair and a thong. I flashback to better days and cringe seconds after. The card gets stuffed into my pocket to get reviewed later.

Signs, as bright as the stars used to be, dowse the strip in a fiery ambience. In the distance the Mirage erupts with a pang, complete with orange lights, neon water, and the scent of pina coloda.

I unsheathe a cigarette and light it with distaste. I hate smoking.

We keep walking, destination unknown. Intoxication was as far as we thought this one through. In Vegas, that's enough to go on, and often times the only thing left in your pocket.