'Added Value' by Sarah McPherson

1. If Deborah takes out a £40k loan for a kitchen extension with an additional bedroom above at an interest rate of 6% over five years, how much will it cost her in sleep and sanity when the builders fail to meet the agreed schedule and she and her family spend an unplanned winter with nothing but plastic sheeting between them and the snow outside the empty window frames at the back of the house?

2. If Steve is made redundant from his job as an accountant when Deborah is on maternity leave following the birth of their third child, and Deborah’s employer only pays her statutory maternity pay, how long will it take before they are unable to pay their bills, and which of the essentials—heat, water, food, that loan hanging over them—will they choose to default on first?

3. When the children are hungry, how many days will Deborah go without eating?

4. If Steve and Deborah lose their house, how many weeks will it take for them to get onto the housing association list, and how much will their kids hate the temporary accommodation into which they have to cram two adults, three children, and all the belongings they were able to bring with them?

5. If Kate and Lucas pay 70% of market value for Steve and Deborah’s old house when they buy it from the bank at auction, what profit will they make when they sell it on six months later, after renovating it and completing the extension?

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Sarah McPherson loves folk tales and myths and finding the weird in the everyday. Her flash fiction has been widely published, nominated for Best Small Fictions, longlisted for the Wigleaf Top 50, and selected for Best Microfiction 2021. She lives in Sheffield, is a serial crafter, and spends her weekends doing live action roleplay in the woods. Find her on Bluesky as @summermoth.bsky.social, or at https://theleadedwindow.blogspot.com/.