I did a really poor job getting the word out this week about this project and I am sorry about that. In my defense, I am a teacher at the beginning of a new school. My own (biological) kids have seen me for maybe an hour total this week. The fact that I am here now with two stories to post is a definite victory.
Enough of my excuses. On with the show. Our two stories this week come from the mighty Debbie Felio and myself. It was actually a fun prompt and one we might revisit later on in the year.
Hope you enjoy reading. See you on Monday.

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Overdue
Tiffany Key

To Whom It May Concern;

Hello there. Thank you for reminding me of my debt. I do have lots of questions actually. One of my questions, for example, is how am I supposed to pay 700 dollars a month when I cannot even get a part-time job? I mean, I know the downfall of the economy is not (entirely) your fault but seriously, I have a Master’s degree and cannot even get hired at a gas station. Do you know how hard it was to walk into that Shell and ask for an application from a man who looks like he was tongue-bathed by a pitbull? But I smiled and said thank you, even laughed when I turned in the application and he said he’d have to make sure they had a shirt large enough for my “tig bitties”, as he put it. All that and I did not even get an interview.
And now I can’t go into that Shell even though it was the closest one to my house. I only applied because I could walk there which is a big plus since my car broke down back in June. I have been riding my younger sister’s bike to the grocery store, my main occupation now that I live back at home and help take care of my dad, who’s on disability. My mom never has time to go shopping because she is working three part-time jobs after she was laid off from the restaurant she was managing. Manager there for twenty years but then the new developments came and all those franchise restaurants…
And then my dad with his accident and now everything is just, well, exhausting. Every day I wake up tired and every night I lie in bed wide-awake, trying to unravel the mess of my life so I can find the little knot where I went wrong.
So, yes, I know I am overdue and no, I haven’t forgotten about you. It is just I have to have money in order to pay you. If things change, I will definitely make a payment but honestly, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.

Sincerely,

Mari