Drowning

Susan feels the pressure of her mounting debt and financial struggles.

Susan looked down at the bills spread across her kitchen table yet again.

 

“How could this have happened?” she thought.

 

Her mind began to scan back through the weeks and months leading up to this moment.  She’d been doing this all day.

 

When had this all started?

 

She thought back to the trip she and Najiv had taken to Cancun five years before.  That was a great trip. That had been a happy time.

 

Sure, they had overspent a bit, and had to leave a little extra on the credit card, but it didn’t seem like a problem.  They’d pay it back soon enough, she had thought.

 

Then the store closed.  What a surprise.  Mary, calling her into the back office, a resigned look on her face. 

 

“Susan, we are shutting down.  We’re financed to our ears and we just can’t get the business to pay the bills.” She had looked so tired. “I’m sorry.”

 

Yes, she found another job, but she didn’t make close to as much.  She remembered all the news reports at the time: the economy, the bailouts, the financial crisis…

 

That had been the best job she’d ever had.  That job was a big part of why she and Najiv had bought the house.

 

The house.  What a beautiful idea it had been.  Everything she’d ever wanted; the big front porch, the crown molding, the swing in the backyard….

 

Were they going to lose this place? They’d been so happy here for so long.  This was where little Aman had been born. 

 

Where would he play now?  Would she need to take him out of swimming lessons.  She couldn’t see anyway they could keep those up.

 

Her mind went back to the bills, the pressure, that dreaded word: bankruptcy.

 

Her chest was tight, she could feel a pressure in her throat.  For a moment, she closed her eyes, she could feel her heart racing.

Author's Note

I channeled some of my own fears into this piece. Financial and debt problems scare me. Having just 'bought' a house, I feel some pressure on that front right now. One of my clients helps people with consumer proposals and personal bankruptcy, which also inspired this story.