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Set your story on New Year's Day.

Posted in Holiday on Dec 29, 2023

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✍️ 49 stories

NYNM

Submitted to Contest #231

NYNM " New year, new me," sighed Meghan. She always heard people say it every year, yet nothing changes. She wants to make it her dream to show everyone that the meaning could be true. This past year has been tiring and eye opening for her. When the year twenty-twenty two started; she had a dream of changing her life completely, but God had other plans. Meghan was a twenty twenty one graduate, and working at McDonald's since she was sixteen. It was tiring working a full time job, and trying to find a decent college to attend. Most children h...

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Vulnerable Complexities

Submitted to Contest #231

“Happy New Year!” My best friend screams into the karaoke mic while the two of us lay on her bed in her one-bedroom studio apartment. “Happy New Year, Lana…” I say gently in my red solo up full of chilled rose, eyes tracing the yellowing trim of the front door. Another year, another red solo cup, and another soft gaze through the tiny window. Lana’s apartment was on the top floor, and it met the gaze of each firework that dared to brighten the darkened room. Darkened because Lana and I agreed that to successfully move into the new year we mu...

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New Year Low

Submitted to Contest #231

Content Warnings: Mental health, substance abuse “Have you ever considered you might be depressed?”  “No,” I said, rolling my eyes, hoping it would help beat the allegation.  Of course, I had considered it.  I looked around my studio apartment. There was a small pile of untouched Christmas gifts covered in a layer of fallen pine needles, the sink was stacked high with dishes, and a mound of coats, gloves, and scarves littered the entryway bench. My sweatpants had certainly been worn for at least a part of every day i...

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FIRST DAY OF A NEW LIFE.

Submitted to Contest #231

DAY ONE. A young man in a military uniform is standing in front of a tall metal door. A siren and flashing lights tell every guard the door will open. Aiming snipers standing in towers just in case someone tries to escape. Private Logan used to be his name, but now it’s only Mike Logan. That’s what a five-year plus one-day sentence in a military prison does to you. It takes from you everything you had, even your dignity; your name is the only thing you have left after. There’s a big unlocking sound heard way back of the prison court. Mike ...

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New Year's Nightmare

Submitted to Contest #231

Katie lurched awake in a gasp.  She clinched at her throat, sitting straight up in bed, looking around the dark room.  The red numbers on the cable box clock read 6:03.  She put her icy fingers to her forehead.  Her head was pounding and her throat was dry as sand.   She squinted her eyes and glanced at the nearest bedside table.  Did she remember to put water next to her bed?  Even in a drunken stupor, she knows that after a night of drinking she needs water for when she wakes up.   Why ...

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Canvas of Unity: Harmony Cove's Awakening

Submitted to Contest #231

Dawning Visions in Harmony Cove In the quaint coastal hometown of Harmony Cove, as the first light of the New Year peered over the horizon, a quiet resolve awoke within me, Isabella, a local artist known more for my reclusiveness than my communal spirit. The town, once bright and bustling, had felt the weight of passing years and changing tides, its soul diminishing like the fading paint on the old lighthouse that peered over the bay. It was in this location, a blend of natural beauty and nostalgic decay, that I decided to venture out of t...

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New year, new mistake

Submitted to Contest #231

When Isobel opened her eyes, she had no idea where she was. The dark room around here wasn’t very revealing either. Isobel gave her eyes some time to adjust to the looming black around here and tried to sum up the things she did know.One, today was January the first. Two, when she felt under the covers, she discovered that – thank God - she was still wearing the same, tiny black dress she had worn the night before. Three, she was lying in a bed but had no idea who the owner was. And finally, four, her head was pounding like a little, tiny go...

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Cleaning Up Bottles With You on New Year's Day

Submitted to Contest #231

Callie made her way on quiet feet through the living room, picking up stray bottles and stepping over friends and strangers who’d found odd places to sleep. One hung halfway off the arm of the couch, feet on the ground and head on a pillow on the sofa seat. Two were leaned against each other in the middle of the room, somehow sleeping sitting back to back. And there, just before the doorway to the kitchen, was Graham. Back on the ground, feet on the wall, hands behind his head. Except he wasn’t asleep, his eyes were on her. She stopped and ...

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Last Champagne Toast

Submitted to Contest #231

There is an elephant tap dancing on my head. That is the only plausible explanation for the pounding happening inside my skull. I risk opening my right eye. It is immediately assaulted by the sliver of sunlight that sneaks in through the gap in the hotel room’s drapes. My lid closes quickly, which only makes the pain worse. Someone has managed to stuff an entire package of cotton balls in my mouth. That is also the only plausible explanation for why my mouth is so dry. Every drop of saliva has disappeared. The only evidence that my salivary...

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Better Off Dead

Submitted to Contest #231

Last YearIt was a new year. Outside my window, a group of children were engaged in a snowball fight. As I watched them, I imagined what I would say to him.I knew you, once. Now, it’s all business. Every communication starts with “hello” and never “hi.” Every word, chosen carefully, deliberately. Only a quick ask, signed with a “best,” and never a “love.” It happened so swiftly… “we” can never be “us” because “us” lives in the past now, the direction opposite from our path of travel.Even though you aren’t here, I will never be without you. “Y...

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Cabbage Cooked With Sage

Submitted to Contest #231

He seldom called me by my given name. He claimed Mama named me Grace as an aspirational goal, a name I’d probably never really deserve. He’d introduce me to his friends as his niece Grace, and called me Gracie in front of them, but when they weren’t around, he called me some version of Loose Lips, I guess because I was the one who reported his various infractions when we were younger, like his smoking (not just cigarettes), his collection of dirty magazines, and his calls to several 1-900 numbers.  “Loose lips sink ships!” he’...

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A New Year Party

Submitted to Contest #231

Being surrounded by famous people looked different than what she had always imagined. She’d have preferred just the handful of people she’d admired sitting comfortably, having a chat with a hot beverage. Instead, she was in a room of people she’d never heard of, others she wasn’t particularly a fan of and others she knew their names and faces but not their work. Bringing her glass to her lips, she took a sip of her champagne as her gaze scanned the room, feeling some regret for agreeing to come to this New Year’s Day gathering. Home underne...

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HOPE'S NEW YEAR

Submitted to Contest #231

NEW YEAR'S DAY Happy New Year to me. 2023 was a roller coaster ride for me. It has been four years since I last saw my love Jaxon. Recently I received a letter about Jaxon. In the letter it says Jaxon is alive. I spent Christmas trying to wrap my head around this. I spent New Years Eve alone. I watched the ball drop. It was beautiful. I was a bit jealous watching the couples kissing. I wish I was kissing Jaxon. I cried because I want Jaxon here with me. Today is New Year's Day, the beginning of a new year. The beginning of new choices. N...

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"A New Year's Transformation"

Submitted to Contest #231

The sun crept lazily over the horizon on New Year's Day, casting a golden glow on the cityscape. In the heart of downtown, a group of friends emerged from their slumber, nursing headaches from the wild New Year's Eve party they'd attended the night before. Margaret, Jake, and Aleesha stumbled into the cosy living room of Jake's apartment, which was strewn with confetti and remnants of a lively celebration. Despite the remnants of the revelry, there was an air of unease. Two of their friends, Max and Lily, were noticeably absent.  “Ugh...

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There's a First Time for Everything

Submitted to Contest #231

    Jan regained consciousness-eyes closed- with the horrible sensation of his head spinning and the room rotating at the same time. It was as if he was riding the most evil and ingenious tilt-a whirl ever invented . He didn't dare open his eyes as he puked the vile contents of his stomach that held such appeal as amber ale and cheesy nachos only hours earlier. Even in his pitiful state, he attempted to keep the vile smelling vomit as far away as possible from himself and his favorite outfit as he lay on the cold hard flo...

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