Week 9 - Theme (LH)

Mundane Task - describe someone doing a mundane task, then rewrite the story to include an underlying theme

She opened the first envelope and pulled out the bill. The gas company asked for $74.00. She filled out a check and placed it in the return envelope. The next envelope contained a bill for water. This time she made the check out for $42.00. Thirty-six of that would go to the water company. The other eight dollars helped the Borough pay for stormwater management. The third bill she opened requested student loan repayment. She sighed as she wrote a check for $600. Her husband looked up when he heard her.

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She ripped the envelope open with her whole hand, demolishing the neat creases and leaving a crumpled ruin at her feet. The paper inside was a nut being released from its shell. She contemplated the gas company’s logo as she unfolded the paper. It was sturdy and classic and boring. The bottom of the page contained the verdict: $74.00 for the month of March. She furrowed her brow and tried to figure out how the bill could be so low. March had been unusually cold. Certainly they had run the radiators more than $74-worth. She raised her eyes to Luke’s face on the other side of the coffee table. He moved his finger line by line down the credit card bill to verify each transaction. As his head moved back and forth nearly imperceptibly, she realized they had not spent many evenings in the house together in March. Their spring schedules made it difficult to find common time. She felt grateful that they could prioritize paying the bills together this weekend, and considered the lower gas bill to be a silver lining to all their running around.

She pulled the water bill out of the next envelope. The $42.00 bill was typical for the winter months. She and Luke would use more water when they planted the garden in the spring. Suddenly, she realized that it was already April and they hadn’t talked about garden planning yet. In addition to the typical carrots and tomatoes, every year they experimented with a more precarious plant. The first year they tried starfruit. Last year they tried to nurse a pineapple. That took a lot of water. She found herself gazing at Luke again.

“Babe, it just dawned on me that it’s getting pretty late to plant the spring vegetables. We haven’t talked about the garden at all this year,” she said.

Luke pulled himself from the credit card summary and met her eyes.

“You’re right. I think March was so wintery it didn’t even occur to me that spring would still be coming. I guess we should just plan for summer crops then. Honestly, I can’t imagine that our spring garden would do well, anyway, with the amount of time we spend out of the house these days.”

“Yeah, good point,” she responded, “Until my semester ends I can’t be trusted to remember to water the beds. Let’s plan a time to plan the garden! Want to go to Greenhouse for dinner on Wednesday and get inspired by what’s on the menu?”

“That’s a great idea. I actually told Matt I’d get drinks with him on Wednesday, though. I haven’t seen him since Jen had the baby. But what about Tuesday?”

“I have a paper due on Wednesday, so I should stay in on Tuesday. You know I won’t be done by then.”

“Well, we’ll find a time that works. I’m looking forward to it,” Luke smiled, “How are the bills coming?”

“Good! Good. Nothing too surprising. We aren’t spending too much on heat lately. I have one more to go.”

“Awesome. I’m going to finish up the credit cards, then I guess it will be time to head to Tina and Henry’s, right?”

“Yeah, just about. Ok, final push!”

She ripped off the back of the last envelope and unfurled her student loan bill. She couldn’t keep her face from twitching as she read $600 on the line next to “due by April 17.” Usually, when she opened this bill, her mind instinctually reminded her that she never would have met Luke if she didn’t spend all that money on school. For four years, paying her student loan felt like a sacrament to the spirits that brought them together. They monthly payment kept rising, though, as her income increased. Six hundred dollars felt hard to swallow. Her mind was quiet as she wrote out the check and placed the payment in a fresh envelope. She sighed heavily after sealing it shut.

“You ok, babe?” Luke asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about how never-ending bills are. It used to be sorta fun, knowing that we could afford it all. Now it’s just tedious. Anyway, I’m done. Are you ready to go?”

“Yep. Let’s head out.”