Cath sat over her laptop; her neck craned uncomfortably towards the screen. She had clicked back and then forward about five times on the same item before finally pressing ‘Add to Basket’. A new fuel injector for her ship; £2700. She navigated to the next page, then got to payment processing. Debit or Credit. Cath flipped over her debit card in her hand and typed in its card number. She knew that buying it with a credit card would add insurance to the purchase, but she’d sworn them off after her dad ended up in mounds of credit card debt while she was growing up. It nearly tore the family apart, so she vowed to avoid debt like the plague.
She filled in the billing details, then the shipping address. Her friend’s house back home in Pontypridd. She’d be taking a passenger ship back to Earth to collect it, most likely before the end of the month. Her ship had been out of commission since the original part broke and she was beholden to public space transport, which ran very infrequently and was incredibly uncomfortable. Nothing like flying solo.
This outlay would mean rice, beans, and toast for the next few months while she recouped the funds from her meagre doctoral stipend. Standard fare for her life nowadays.
Today's prompt: credit card
If you'd like to participate too, the contest can be found here: @mariannewest/day-1557-5-minute-freewrite-tuesday-prompt-credit-card