Also make sure to look out for the method bird throughout the story... he's very useful.

Background: It took place during the recession between late 80’s and early 90’s. This is when American’s finances were in jeopardy and there was a high unemployment.

Pairings: The Taste of Watermelon and The Fly in the Ointment

A little information before reading:

Hi! I'm Raymond (Carver) the Elephant and this is my family. That's my mom behind me, along with my brother, my daughter and her kids, my ex-wife, and the one in the very far back...that's my daughter's unmentionable boyfriend.

Even though I love them, they do get needy sometimes- well more like all of the time. They always ask me for money and I can't say no because then they won't come back to see me. Even if I don't have it I still find a way to help them.

But, I'm over it. I refuse to give them any more of my hard-earned money.

Dependence

Oh alright! Haha, Ill send you 1k just send me your cashapp!

GIMME ME MY MUNNY!!

Heck no! Not again.

2 minutes later...

Irony

I know, I know what you're thinking... why would I do something like this? Well the truth is, I know it was morally wrong to feed into my family's excuses for my money, but I'm willing to bear this heavy weight on my shoulders to support them. 

What is wrong with me? Why do I keep doing this to myself? I wish I could just resist the urge. "I guess I thought I had to. I wanted to, anyway. I tried to, so help me God." 

So, I decided to walk home and think about the decision I had just made.

Repetition

Guilt

When I got home, I dozed off and dreamt that

The dream reminded me of how supportive my father was to my family. I looked up to my father, and it is my duty to fill in his shoes and support my family.

Dreams

It was going so well. I was finally in a state of happiness, but I suddenly woke up unsure as to why my brain would ruin this for me. I didn't want to let it bother me, so I dozed off once again, attempting to return back to this memory. Yet, I appeared somewhere completely different...

"My former wife was in it, though she wasn't my former wife in the dream. She was still my wife. My kids were in it, too. They were little, and they were eating potato chips." I felt like I was finally back home and whole again.