A short horror story. Please enjoy!
The grate near the door opened again. The sliding sound of paper on metal and the plop. The delivered mail fell on a pile of mail so tall it almost reached the door handle. The mail tumbled down the hill of paper and came to rest at his feet. Dirty work boots surrounded by empty beer bottles. His eyes rested on the newly delivered mail.
The same stamp and the same sender. Important mail for Rich Masters. Rich’s eyes glazed at the amount of mail. The bills, it was always the bills. It started with the house foreclosure. The lender wouldn’t take the time to help with forbearance. They kept saying they needed more information. Even the nonprofit Rich was working with couldn’t help. Once you lose the house you lose dignity, With the dignity left the wife. She said he didn’t care anymore. She took what she wanted and left the credit card debt. At least the debt stayed and the bills. Why did I go to school? The thought floated for days in Rich’s mind. $100k in student loans, $200k on a failed dream of the family home, and $40k in credit card debt. That of which Rich didn’t even get the spoils of. Now he sits and watches the mail rise day by day. Week by week. The mountain of bills.
No-one can help. The lender gets bailed out if they make a faulty loan but the client gets bills. Thousands of bills. If you don’t pay your bills you get sued. The lender can sell your bills for more profit but you sure can’t. You get bills. Rich’s mind ran crazy for weeks. Searing and burning with fear and sadness. The failure he felt in life had taken every bit of strength he could muster. His heart was gone and everything felt like hell. No faces to the bills, no voice to communicate the hardships, no helping hand or information. No one taught Rich how to budget, how to save, how to fix debts. How to live. What was school for? A fancy degree for bills. Bills, bills, it ate at him.
The red and blue lights filled the windows. The knocks came swiftly at the door. The mail man said the house didn’t smell right. Rich’s face had melted into a goo of decomposition. His body rotted into the floor and mail. When the police finally budged through the door all that remained was the bills.
Housed and Fed 