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Write a short story in which the last line is the countdown to midnight on New Year's Eve.

Posted in Winter on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 96 stories

A FEAST TO REMEMBER

Submitted to Contest #22

In the far-away land of Arbainia, where the animals could talk like humans and the birds could perpetually be seen flying in the clear, remote firmament, their wings glimmering like kaleidoscopes, something inexplicably bizarre was happening. An obscure murkiness had recently engulfed the island with its freezing touch and foggy winds, the reason for it beyond all comprehension. The king, frail-hearted as he was, had apparently been killed while investigating the elusive mist, or the Jwelalur, as the locals began to call it. He had been enve...

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DOOMSDAY CLOCK

Shortlisted for Contest #22 ⭐️

Harold Spitzer was thrilled to be celebrating New Year’s Eve, 2030 in Times Square. Tonight, he and his family would be in the midst of the crowds at midnight, but none of them minded. They’d watch the ball drop, then take in other New York City sights over the next few days, about as far from Pasadena as they could get.A nuclear physicist at Cal Tech, Harold had two years ago joined the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as a junior member of the Science and Security Board. His knowledge of foreign countries’ nuclear arms meant he was an imp...

20 likes 5 comments 5
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Last Call

Submitted to Contest #22

 At the end of a long winding road, there’s a bar. It sits at the top of a hill and should be known for its spectacular view of the bay — but it's winter in San Francisco, and tonight all you can see is fog. Still, it’s a pretty nice place. The fire in the fireplace is real, the drinks are generous, and the bartender is always ready to listen.   I should know. My name is Pete, and I’ve been tending bar here forever. Like all little neighborhood dives we have our regulars, but I won’t be seeing any of them tonight. It...

15 likes 6 comments 6
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THE NIGHT BEFORE

Submitted to Contest #22

Birds clattering while sitting on electricity wires. Our caged parrot had found a new word of the day, “Hurray”. Not to be left out, Richie, our new kitty that recently became my alarm clock , caressing my cheeks and got me woken. Our dog, Beethoven, had been bathed clean and the lawn, close by the house, mown neatly to the ground level by the gardener.It was a hazy, sunny atmosphere at the brisk of dawn. The weather devoid of humidity that one’s lips could bled open on trial to extend his/her chin. The trees that claps its leaves and bade u...

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Room 306

Submitted to Contest #22

The Christmas decorations hung from every corner of the care facility. The staff had put on a little New Year’s party during the residents’ lunch. Most would be long asleep by midnight that night. They wore party hats, had noise makers, and were given a glass of sparkling juice with their mid-day meal. The staff made the rounds at the tables, asking them to share stories of New Year’s Eves gone by. The stories ranged from times their children all gathered around for the evening to neighborhood parties in decades past. For a few, it was the n...

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Dating Dilemma

Submitted to Contest #22

It's New Year's Eve but it sure doesn't feel like it. I am drinking champagne but that's just because it's what you're supposed to do, isn't it? You're also not supposed to be alone on New Year's Eve either. As I sip champagne in front of my companion, the television, I am thinking, this is the worst New Year's Eve I can remember. I stay up for the final countdown but as I have no one to kiss I spend half an hour sending messages to all my friends and family, who are no doubt enjoying themselves with their ...

11 likes 1 comment 1
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Numbers

Submitted to Contest #22

The pizza had arrived at her door exactly 6 minutes earlier than expected, which was the first good omen of the new year to come. Bonnie had smiled as wide as she could when she answered the door, probably scaring the delivery man, but she couldn’t help it – when food came 6 minutes early, it was always good. 10 minutes meant they had rushed it. 5 minutes meant it was basically late (as her dad said, “Early is on time and on time is late”) and it was already hopeless if her doorbell rang right when it was “supposed” to. But 6? Not only was i...

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Party Crashers

Submitted to Contest #22

“Boys! Breakfast!” a young woman shouted as she wiped her hands on her waist apron. Two sets of pattering feet sounded through the quaint home. But an addition set crept up behind her without a creak from the wood flooring. The figure made its final approach. It spread its arms wide surrounding her. With a slight squeeze around her waist, he whispered into her ear. “How’s your morning, dear?” “Plato!” she laughed, “what are you doing?” “Loving you.” He kissed her on her cheek. “Plato,” she said, letting his name fade from her lips as she mov...

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New Era

Shortlisted for Contest #22 ⭐️

“Run.” Ira was struck for a moment at the bluntness of the way the word was communicated silently with just a quick movement of hands. Unnoticed or ignored by those in the crowd, but so plainly visible to her. The hands had raised from the old man’s sides and the fingers had pulled back like he was pulling the trigger on two pistols aimed at her head. Ira swallowed hard. Her father’s cold, blue eyes met briefly with her own as his hands returned to his sides. In those wizened eyes were worry. The little wrinkles around them creased togeth...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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Winter Gardening

Shortlisted for Contest #22 ⭐️

We gather with Mr. Schultz in the wrought-iron fenced front courtyard of our building seven minutes after midnight. With little grass, but edged garden beds, there are plenty of spots for Mr. Schultz’s new year’s dig. I do not bring my midnight-sipped champagne out of respect for this man I have come to care for deeply over the last thirty-six hours. Others do. Cocktails, mocktails, wine. Even though I know several are drunk, the group tempers its celebrating out loud. Marina debuts her faux white fur jacket, a ...

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Donor

Submitted to Contest #22

    Our grant contract for 2020 wasn’t renewed.  We tried calling the media, we tried fundraisers like getting 10% of sales  in restaurants, we tried begging for extensions, but we’re too late.   Our grant expires on January 1, 2020 and it’s December 31, 2019, unless we get $10,000 by midnight, we’ll have to close our doors, and we have 237 dogs and 56 cats.  We called NPR stations to make announcements, we had news articles written, “Animal shelters closing, loving dogs and ca...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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“TWENTY YEARS LATER TIME FLYS”

Submitted to Contest #22

“Hurry up, find your shoes, we are going to be late.” Sarah yelled at her twelve-year-old daughter.“Quit yelling, Sarah. No one is late it’s only seven o’clock.” Her husband countered.Sarah shot Robert a angry look as she finished wrapping her pot luck dinner dish.“Ah, mom, why can’t I go with you?” Their daughter Sally complained. “I’m old enough. I don’t want to spend another New Year’s Eve at grandma’s. She’ll just want us to eat herring and watch stupid channel seven. She always raves about Dick Clark’s New ...

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What of perfection

Submitted to Contest #22

60.That’s how it has to start, right? You need a countdown for your story to work, but most importantly, you need it to be long enough for you to have the time to actually tell your story. You have thought about it a little, and you think you’ll end with the last ten seconds – that way, it’ll have reached its full dramatic potential – so it seems obvious that your countdown needs to be longer than that. To summarize, you need a number of seconds bigger than ten, which would preferably have something to do with the way time is measured.Well, ...

8 likes 4 comments 4
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Crossing

Shortlisted for Contest #22 ⭐️

So it’s like this: this is the year I die.I have always known this. I have been waiting. Outside, the crowds are gathering already in anticipation of the new year. Through the walls of my apartment, I can hear them talking and laughing, giddy off new beginnings and champagne. I want to join them, but it doesn’t quite seem appropriate. I’m not sure what the etiquette is for dying at a party, but I have to assume it’s frowned upon. I say I’ve always known. I suppose I’ve only really known since I was sixteen, but most days that feels...

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Ineffable Fireworks

Submitted to Contest #22

"So you mean tonight we will end here?" I said to start the conversation. Tonight is New Year's Eve. Everyone is downtown down there. Watching various kinds of shows until later in the peak at midnight, they will light fireworks that are very magnificent from year to year. This man next to me never answers my question. I'm confused, when everyone is busy celebrating, he instead pulled me here. On the hill behind the city. This hill is beautiful. I can see everything from here. The rays of light from each of the city's performance lights look...

7 likes 0 comments 0
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