S15E06 - "The Price You Pay" - Horror Hill

**Erik Peabody** (0:02)
Chilling Tales for Dark Nights.
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Hello, listeners, and welcome back to Horror Hill. I'm Erik Peabody, your host and narrator. Our tale this evening is Beyond the Blackout by Elias Witherow. Jack is a guy with a lot of problems. He's not making enough money, his wife has another kid on the way, and it's looking like he might be about to lose his job. Like so many in similar situations, Jack has increased his drinking to try and cope. Not a great idea even in normal circumstances, but after a particularly inebriated evening, he awakens to find himself somewhere nice. Blue skies, green grass, a mellow pond, and not a care in the world. But something else is in this serene setting as well. Something that doesn't like Jack one bit.
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And now, from author Elias Witherow, I give you Beyond the Blackout.
I pulled into the bar parking lot and stopped the car. I sat there for a moment, letting the engine idle as I thought about what I was doing. I knew my wife and kids were at home waiting for me, but I just couldn't bear to face them right now. The thought of spending another evening with them while avoiding the elephant in the room made me physically sick. I closed my eyes and cursed myself. Everything was going to shit. My wife was pregnant with our fourth child, and I simply wasn't making enough money to support us. Over the last six months, our quality of life had slowly declined, and it was becoming harder and harder to explain to the kids what was happening. My wife and I loved each other, but the financial difficulties sprouted endless arguments that could last late into the night. In truth, I was scared. I didn't know what was going to happen to us. I didn't know how to pull my family out of this terrifying nosedive. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Couldn't stop thinking about that day when we'd be kicked out of our house.
I started having trouble sleeping and my mood worsened. I'd find myself snapping at the kids over little things. So instead of taking out my fear and frustrations on my family, I started to drink after work. At first, it was just a beer or two. Something to take the edge off. But after a month, I began to stay later and later, drinking more and more. It was time I needed to think. It was a few moments of peace.
My wife hated the habit and I didn't blame her. She never argued with me about it, but when I came home reeking of beer and whiskey, she'd get a look in her eye. That said everything.
I never really was a drinking man before I fell on hard times. Even in college, I never drank much. Certainly never to the point of being seriously drunk. I just didn't see the point.
But now that my life was crumbling before my eyes, I found comfort in it. It was a space I could enter and push my thoughts to the edge of my tired mind. And tonight, I needed a drink. Before leaving work, my boss told me they were conducting layoffs in the coming weeks. He didn't go into details, but as I sat in my car, I realized he was unofficially informing me that I would soon be jobless. I felt sick. What the hell was I going to do? How was I going to provide for my family? Growing up, I never expected this. Why would I? The thought of my kids made me terribly depressed. They depended on me. They looked up to me. How was I supposed to tell them that their father was a failure? How was I supposed to tell them daddy couldn't pay the bills?