Day Fifteen

Ted's Thirty Day Awakening

Even though the morning had been decent, possibly even a little above average, the afternoon was one of the worst Ted had experienced in years. Each letter Ted opened was more painful than the one before. They all wanted money, and were taking him to court, and wanted to know how big his tax return was and suggested that he send it to them. Each letter implied that Ted had the money to pay his bills—in full.

It was a flashback to two years ago when the bankruptcy lawyer he contacted said, “You should have plenty of money to pay for bankruptcy, you stopped paying on your condo a few months back right? Why you should have at least twelve or sixteen thousand in the bank by now, right?”

Ted had just under $10 in the bank ($15 if he closed his savings account and withdrew the five dollars that had to be there to keep the account open). Things were not that much better today but the demands for payment were an emotional crescendo, and as he opened the rather bulky letter from the bank’s attorney, he broke down. Not only had the bank taken the condo back (which was understandable) the court had awarded them a judgment of just over $150,000. So now the bank, the same place he had not made a payment to in over a year, was expecting Ted to write them a check for $150,000. And the lawyer would be adding just over $200 a month to that fee until it was paid off. Ted was now the bank’s sharecropper, he would no longer be earning money for himself as much as earning it for the lawyer and the bank (if he ever earned any again).

Ted was getting firsthand experience as to just what can happen should you stumble and fall in life. The banks and court system were quick to place their boots on your head, take your money, and keep you in poverty—forever. This is what happens when you don’t have the funds to please the system, Ted thought. Ted was mere weeks from joining the ranks of the homeless. It’s amazing just how far a person can fall in eighteen months, with an added push from the legal system.

“Six, seven, eight,” Ted counted as he shook the bottle, and sleeping bills bounced into his hand. A quick swig of water followed by a swallow sent the pills on their way and soon had Ted sprawled out on the couch asleep. His final thought, at least they can’t touch me in my sleep.

A few hours earlier, Ted had been listening to HPR-1 and was fascinated by a story on the origins of language. [The story that interested Ted, starts at 14:39.]

It would seem that hearing a language for the first time, can be quite exciting, at least for Ted anyway. Too bad the day did not end on the same note of wonder and excitement as it had begun. Not much of a way to end the middle day on his path to turning his life around.

<== Day Fourteen   |   Day Sixteen ==>

Ted’s Thirty Day Awakening is Serialized Storytelling with frequent updates. Each update is being written the same day it gets posted. There is no telling how the story will turn out. In fact, no one knows what Ted will be doing tomorrow, let alone thirty days from now. Clicking on any is like opening up Ted’s diary or having the ability to read his thoughts. Here you will uncover more personal notes from Ted concerning his story.


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