Steven had been sitting for fourteen hoursbehind his large, oak dining room table which
was covered with three mountains of paperwork, a calculator, a stale cup of coffee, an ashtray brimming with cigarette butts and three pencils that recently had their erasers reduced to nubs.
Tomorrow was April 15th and he had to somehow finish his income taxes and get them in the mail or suffer a severe penalty. There was a glass of water nearby along with a half full bottle of aspirin which was near his blood pressure medicine. He took three more aspirins out of the bottle and immediately popped them in his mouth and downed them with a large gulp wishing he had something stronger than water.
Every year it was always the same. Why did he always wait until the last minute? He kept telling himself next year would be different, but it never was.
His head was throbbing,his neck was sore and his back ached.
“ When will those pills kick in? “ he thought.
He was exhausted and famished but knew he couldn’t stop to rest or eat as time was running out and he wasn’t even halfway done.
He grabbed a small pile of papers and looking through bloodshot eyes began adding up the totals on the bottom of the receipts. He was almost finished with that when he realized he had made a mistake and had to start all over again. This happened more than once. His exhaustion was taking its toll.
He was not only physically exhausted but was mentally exhausted as well. Fear began to set in as he thought if he made the slightest mistake the Internal Revenue Service would come down hard on him with draconian punishment. He absolutely hated this time of year.
His young son arrived home from school and as he entered the house he told his dad they were discussing why April 15th was called Tax Day and none of the kids seemed to know why.
“ Do you know why Dad ? ”
“ Because son, it is very taxing !!! “
was covered with three mountains of paperwork, a calculator, a stale cup of coffee, an ashtray brimming with cigarette butts and three pencils that recently had their erasers reduced to nubs.
Tomorrow was April 15th and he had to somehow finish his income taxes and get them in the mail or suffer a severe penalty. There was a glass of water nearby along with a half full bottle of aspirin which was near his blood pressure medicine. He took three more aspirins out of the bottle and immediately popped them in his mouth and downed them with a large gulp wishing he had something stronger than water.
Every year it was always the same. Why did he always wait until the last minute? He kept telling himself next year would be different, but it never was.
His head was throbbing,his neck was sore and his back ached.
“ When will those pills kick in? “ he thought.
He was exhausted and famished but knew he couldn’t stop to rest or eat as time was running out and he wasn’t even halfway done.
He grabbed a small pile of papers and looking through bloodshot eyes began adding up the totals on the bottom of the receipts. He was almost finished with that when he realized he had made a mistake and had to start all over again. This happened more than once. His exhaustion was taking its toll.
He was not only physically exhausted but was mentally exhausted as well. Fear began to set in as he thought if he made the slightest mistake the Internal Revenue Service would come down hard on him with draconian punishment. He absolutely hated this time of year.
His young son arrived home from school and as he entered the house he told his dad they were discussing why April 15th was called Tax Day and none of the kids seemed to know why.
“ Do you know why Dad ? ”
“ Because son, it is very taxing !!! “
