Write about someone scrambling to finish a goal in the last few hours of the year.

Posted in Winter on Nov 1, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 123 stories

“Unexpected Turn of Events” by Saniya Khakwany

Submitted to Contest #74

Time had flown by quickly, every year Sasha would make New Year resolutions, but every year she would fail to achieve them. This year she thought to make a list that was easy to accomplish, but yet again, the year was about to come to an end, only a few hours left and yet she had not been able to complete a single thing on the list. With the horrible day she had at work and the bad lucky she got when she arrived only two minutes late at the bus stop, she felt flaky and depressed for many reasons. Another additional being that she was unable ...

59 comments 59

Read story

“And the Ball Drops (Wayne's POV)” by Nainika Gupta

Submitted to Contest #74

*Nainika’s Note* Hello everyone! I’m sure we’re all ready for 2020 to be over, and as my last story of 2020 (AND MY FIRST TIME DOING ALL 5 PROMPTS!!!!), this is a collaboration with the wonderful Maya Emerson!! She took Cressida’s POV of this collab, and it doesn’t really matter what perspective you read first!! (It’s in the link in my bio) I hope you have a wonderful and safe New Year’s!! Enjoy Wayne’s story :) “ITS NEW YEARS EVE!!!” I’m rudely awoken by my eight-year-old nephew jumping onto my stomach. “Urk,” I groan, rolling over. “Uncl...

55 comments 55

Read story

“Just a bit of Courage” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #74

Title: Just a bit of Courage Author: Haripriya Author's Note: Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a great day! This is my last story of this entire year, so I hope you enjoy it! I can't do it. I can't!! I just...just can't. I know it was one of my goals to achieve this year, and there is only precisely 9 hours left for this year to be over. But, I'm too scared. I am the opposite of unabashed. I'm sorry Grace, I just can't do it. You were right in saying I was just a big embarrassed person, a big scaredy-cat because, in reality, I a...

93 comments 93

Read story

“A Promise to Future Me” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #74

I wake up in the middle of the night, my body jerking upright. I just remembered something. And I know that I cannot get back to sleep without handling it. I ignore the fact that Benjamin is not in bed, even though it stings, more than the cold tonight. I walk over to my desk, shivering due to the cold, pulling on my sweater tighter. Turning on the lamp, I flip feverishly through the pages of my journal, the smell of ink as familiar as the back of my hand. I land on the page I’m looking for, the list of goals I had written down carefully exa...

20 comments 20

Read story

“And the Ball Drops (Cressida's POV)” by Maya -

Submitted to Contest #74

Author's Note: This is a collab I did with Nainika Gupta! She is a really amazing author so you should definitely check out her part (Wayne's POV) and all the rest of her stories. I put the link to her page in a comment. Hope you enjoy reading this!On the morning of December 31, the streets are way more crowded than usual. People bustle down the sidewalk on their way to meet friends for breakfast, while others sit on cold benches sipping steaming thermoses of coffee or hot chocolate. The license plates of the many cars parallel parked down t...

125 comments 125

Read story

“Dancing Trees” by Maggie Deese

Submitted to Contest #74

It was t-minus two hours until the Sapling Festival began. Jaxton stood in the midst of the pitch-black field behind the stadium trying to get those darn trees to dance. In front of him loomed two large, voluptuous trees off to his right and left and, in the middle, a tree that matched his seven-foot height. The three trees stayed stock-still waiting for Jaxton's instruction; he hated that about them. The trees were obedient things, always ready to pounce when given the signal. They were good at that, waiting. It was getting them to ...

29 comments 29

Read story

“counting down your hearbeats” by Ru .

Submitted to Contest #74

The beach will be small. But somehow, it’ll be enough. Two lonely strangers will tumble over its coast like driftwood into the clutches of low tides. Deep within their rib cages, their hearts will be crumbling sandcastles, awkwardly patted together by the children they once were.The woman will stash sand dollars into her coat pockets, saving them to play checkers later with her daughter. There'll be scallop shells wreathed into her hair. The man will have plastic wrinkles melting from his eyes. Years will be carved into his face, making him ...

42 comments 42

Read story

“Where Is It?” by Lauren :)

Submitted to Contest #74

Today is New years eve. I am glad that it is soon to be 1979. One thing that I haven’t done though. My resolution for this year! I forgot about it! I have to figure out what it is! Right now! I only have 7 hours till it’s 1979! I better hurry!HOUR 6I think that I would have put my resolution in my journal from last year. I keep my old journal on my bookshelf near my living room. Maybe. That was where it was 2 months ago. But then again I did rearrange my house. I’ll check over ...

15 comments 15

Read story

“Skylines and Soulmates” by Maya W.

Submitted to Contest #74

“I knew you before we met and I don’t even know you yet. All I know is that you’re someone that I’ve always known. All I’ve ever known is how to hold my own, and I don’t even know you, but I still wanna hold you close.”Mariko hopped off the subway into the large, cosmopolitan streets, her long hair flicking to the other side of the head. She had been in New York for a few weeks at this point, but still had no idea where she was going, or even what she was doing in such a large city. Mariko had loved the thrill of Tokyo as a child, but thrill...

28 comments 28

Read story

“all in 13 hours” by 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚝💙

Submitted to Contest #74

I looked back at the list that held my new year's resolutions. I had done almost everything on the list except the last. 12. Learn to driveI was 16 and still didn’t know how to drive a car. I had always been too afraid to ever learn how. Everyone had been pressuring me to learn and I always wanted to but I just didn’t have the time. There was so much going on throughout the year and it was about to come to an end in 13 hours. I had time, 13 hours seemed like enough time but knowing me and my luck it would probably be too late to ev...

9 comments 9

Read story

“The End of an Epoch” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #74

Liam Hepworth was a toddler when his father helped to save the planet from the Millennium Bug. However, Chris Hepworth’s Y2K triumph was only a temporary fix as the world’s Unix computers retained their life expectancy of 2,147,483,647 seconds. This time span may seem like forever, but at precisely 03:14:07 on January 19th 2038, every 32-bit computer will automatically reset to December 13th 1901 and chaos will ensue.#Liam embraced a career writing computer code and pursued his late father’s long-term goal of averting disarray at t...

8 comments 8

Read story

“Roses and Flowers” by Yellow Lemon

Submitted to Contest #74

Aaron stretches himself, as he sits on the comfortable peach colored couch. Sipping on a cup of hot coffee, he looks at Rose, whose wild hair, for once, is slipped in two pigtails. Concentrating hard on the recipe she is making; Rose doesn't notice Aaron staring at her. She lifts the cream colored batter, moves it around, in a 'Rose' sort of way, and plops it back in the mixing bowl. She rubs the back of her hand against her rosy cheek, and Aaron tuts, as it leaves a small imprint of flour. He gets up from his now too-comfortable couch and p...

3 comments 3

Read story

“The Show Must Go On” by Philip Clayberg

Submitted to Contest #74

I almost wish we hadn't volunteered. But every previous year on New Year's Eve, we'd sat in the audience, watching the magic unfolding across the neighborhood lake: the streaks of light rising into the night sky, the explosions of colors, shapes, and sound, and the clouds of smoke drifting slowly away. This time was different because the people who normally took care of it had moved away and everyone else said that they were too busy. Someone had to take care of it. “The show must go on,” as they say on Broadway. A week before New Year's...

28 comments 28

Read story

“How to say good-bye” by Kat Sencen

Submitted to Contest #74

My stomach turned as I grabbed a piece of paper from the tall stack on my desk. This is one of my last chances, I thought. Please, please, please don’t mess this up. And I understand if you’ll get mad at me if I can’t do this, I added, looking up at the sky.I glanced at the digital clock by my nightstand- it was 9:53. Just two hours and seven minutes to make things right.Or at least, make things a little right.I grabbed my pencil and drew two pupils. They look around the same distance from each other, I thought, relaxing a bit. That’s one of...

17 comments 17

Read story

“Kai's Honesty Tour” by Keandra Smith

Submitted to Contest #74

“Thanks for reaching out. Have a Happy New Year.” Kai read the text and responded back, “Thanks, same to you!”. On January 1, 2020, Kai made the goal of being more honest. She was a quiet soul, a “yes woman”, someone who didn’t know how to use the word “no”. However this year, she decided to be more honest with how she felt and if she would have known what 2020 would bring, she may have changed her mind. This year showed people’s true colors and required her to use her honesty more than she wanted. Some relationships were mended and othe...

5 comments 5

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone keeping track of time with tally marks on a wall — until one day they discover that all the marks are gone.

Thriller and Suspense – 133 stories

Write a story that takes place across ten days.

Kids – 100 stories

Write a story that takes place across ten seconds.

Kids – 256 stories

Write a story in the form of a top-ten list.

Middle School – 115 stories

Contest #74

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Countdown

$50

Prize money

727

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 01, 2021 EST

Won by Scout Tahoe 🏆

Title: Kindergarten

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Write about someone scrambling to finish a goal in the last few hours of the year.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 123 stories

“Unexpected Turn of Events” by Saniya Khakwany

“And the Ball Drops (Wayne's POV)” by Nainika Gupta

“Just a bit of Courage” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

“A Promise to Future Me” by Writer Maniac

“And the Ball Drops (Cressida's POV)” by Maya -

“Dancing Trees” by Maggie Deese

“counting down your hearbeats” by Ru .

“Where Is It?” by Lauren :)

“Skylines and Soulmates” by Maya W.

“all in 13 hours” by 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚝💙

“The End of an Epoch” by Howard Halsall

“Roses and Flowers” by Yellow Lemon

“The Show Must Go On” by Philip Clayberg

“How to say good-bye” by Kat Sencen

“Kai's Honesty Tour” by Keandra Smith

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone keeping track of time with tally marks on a wall — until one day they discover that all the marks are gone.

Write a story that takes place across ten days.

Write a story that takes place across ten seconds.

Write a story in the form of a top-ten list.

Contest #74

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

727

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: