Edits/Additions to part one
Debt
Part One
Rob Finch owns a home furniture store on Magnolia. He does not speak much, because he does not enjoy speaking. He believes that an ambiguous question is a rude one. He also believes that people should earn their money, meaning that lazy people are useless. In fact, he believes many things, but he does not normally talk about them.
His son, Mark, arrives at his store every day after school to work before going home. It is never very busy, and some days there isn’t a single customer, but that doesn’t diminish Mark’s reasons for working there.
The store was opened two generations before Rob. As children the Finches see it as a family heirloom. When it becomes a job this quickly changes, but Mark was still a child. To him the store meant a number of things, whether he realized them or not. The store meant he never had to worry about getting a job after high school. It meant that his family’s imprint on the community was still apparent. And most importantly although least apparent, it meant that he and his father had a strong relationship, because most of their time spent together was within the store. This he did not realize, but it would come quickly and heavily within a short while.
Today is Thursday, and Mark did not see a single customer in the store. He left early for home, and upon arriving began his daily routine. This included delaying his schoolwork, eating a bowl of cereal, and opening the mail. He opened the mail today like everyone opens the mail; quickly tossing aside anything that looks familiar while hoping for anything that isn’t. One letter was unique and Mark did not know what to make of it. In many ways it looked familiar, being very formal and including the thin strip of clear plastic that reveals a bill’s contents. But the postage stamp struck him. It was larger than most, and though it included an eagle as the postal service proudly parades, the eagle’s wings were completely outstretched, as if it were just standing.
Curiosity led him to open the letter. Two feelings first overcame him- pity, and anger, the former eventually exceeding the latter. Then he was sad.
Part One
Rob Finch owns a home furniture store on Magnolia. He does not speak much, because he does not enjoy speaking. He believes that an ambiguous question is a rude one. He also believes that people should earn their money, meaning that lazy people are useless. In fact, he believes many things, but he does not normally talk about them.
His son, Mark, arrives at his store every day after school to work before going home. It is never very busy, and some days there isn’t a single customer, but that doesn’t diminish Mark’s reasons for working there.
The store was opened two generations before Rob. As children the Finches see it as a family heirloom. When it becomes a job this quickly changes, but Mark was still a child. To him the store meant a number of things, whether he realized them or not. The store meant he never had to worry about getting a job after high school. It meant that his family’s imprint on the community was still apparent. And most importantly although least apparent, it meant that he and his father had a strong relationship, because most of their time spent together was within the store. This he did not realize, but it would come quickly and heavily within a short while.
Today is Thursday, and Mark did not see a single customer in the store. He left early for home, and upon arriving began his daily routine. This included delaying his schoolwork, eating a bowl of cereal, and opening the mail. He opened the mail today like everyone opens the mail; quickly tossing aside anything that looks familiar while hoping for anything that isn’t. One letter was unique and Mark did not know what to make of it. In many ways it looked familiar, being very formal and including the thin strip of clear plastic that reveals a bill’s contents. But the postage stamp struck him. It was larger than most, and though it included an eagle as the postal service proudly parades, the eagle’s wings were completely outstretched, as if it were just standing.
Curiosity led him to open the letter. Two feelings first overcame him- pity, and anger, the former eventually exceeding the latter. Then he was sad.