Countdown!

Title: Countdown!

Author: Haripriya

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! 

10:

I carefully bite the humongous popcorn kernel I accidentally got, as I foraged through the entire jar. I look down at my buttery popcorn and look at mom, who looks at dad, who looks at my little brother, who looks at his toy. Everyone's glare is now back at the flat screen T.V. I too eagerly look at the T.V and back at my popcorn, trying to find a bigger piece than the one I just found. The house is filled with echoes, screaming and shouting from New York's Times Square as I see the countdown light up. "10" I see.

9:

The second changed and the crowd's screaming grew louder and louder. We hear claps, which almost sounded like thunder. I stare at mom, who's leg is shaking with anxiety. She carefully removes her slippers while looking into the T.V. so focused. I see her forehead sweat as she is trying to calm herself from all of this excitement. But I try to ignore all the things mom is doing and focus on my popcorn. I glare back down and try to taste another buttery kernel, and still decide to look back at the T.V. to wait for the next second to change.

8:

I see my dad who is slowly and intriguingly slurping some cold water, which he desperately needed because he too, was anxiously looking at the countdown timer. In the back of my mind, I knew that he was secretly whispering to himself, for the numbers to change soon. I just had a feeling that he was doing this without any one of us knowing. He is slurping even quicker, and I notice his frustration when he has accidentally finished his ice water, and see him get out of his seat to get more ice cubes.

7:

My mind quickly diverts from dad's failing attempts to reach the ice cube, to my little brother's squeaky toy. For some reason, he is also really waiting for the seconds to change quickly, as if he even knew what was happening today. I see his Sponge Bob Square Pants squishy slowly inflating, and as he squeezes tightly on it, deflating, and this was happening like a rotation. I also spot his choo-choo train. He is trying to push it with all his might while squishing the poor Sponge Bob, and when the train started moving, his eyes moved back to the T.V.

6:

The sounds coming from his train were really distracting me, and I wanted to yell at him to stop playing with it, but that's when I noticed that I was on my last popcorn. I had a mix of feelings. I felt really sad that I ate all the other kernels so quickly, but then again, it was worth it, because the taste of melting hot, buttery, and a little cheesy popcorn going into your mouth right out of the microwave is just so tasty. So I guess I had to munch on the last one very slowly.

5:

As I picked up the last popcorn kernel, and slowly put it to my mouth to munch on, I notice the crowd's roars are getting higher and higher. I had a feeling that something exciting was going to happen right that second and my sixth sense was correct. As I carefully stared at the T.V. I noticed huge fireworks had just been released into the night sky, which made my family and the crowd there really surprised. I noticed that when it blasted, it made colorful patterns like hearts, rainbows, and lots of stars, which made the crowd surprised.

4:

Everyone was still eagerly waiting for the countdown timer to go faster. I could spot mom going even closer to the T.V. and crossing her fingers, almost yelling at the timer to go faster than it already is. I also spot my dad finally coming back with his successful attempt at collecting the ice cubes. Though I was wondering why it took him such a long time to do such an easy task. But that thought quickly shook out of me as I continued to much on my very last popcorn kernel, trying to really savor its taste.

3:

My brother started to laugh, for absolutely no reason. He continued laughing and laughing, and even though we were all asking him why he was laughing, he couldn't respond, because he's laughing was almost non-stop. His giggles got me really mad because I couldn't hear the music on the T.V. I told him a million times to stop laughing (which I was pretty sure that it was fake) he never listened to me. So I took his Sponge Bob toy, which I immediately regretted because, after that, he started becoming a tiger and attacking me, so I quickly threw it back to him. I also had pleaded him to stop scratching me, and as soon as he got the toy, he did. 

2:

Now it was almost the end of the timer. Everyone was staring at the clock (except for my little brother, and also if you're wondering, yes, he did eventually stop laughing like a maniac, because he got angry at me for taking his toy) as we sat there, trying to listen to its ticking sound. I glance down at my watch and read the time: 11:59 pm. I too, wish that this second would go by really quickly.

1:

"WHOOOOOOO!!!" we hear the crowd cheering, and after they did, my brother too started howling, almost exactly like a stray dog does after it gets hurt. 

"FINALLY!" I hear mom and dad exclaim loudly, even louder than my brother's howling.

I too jump up from my seat in delight, and yell, "2020 is over everyone! As per my watch, it's 12:00 am and Jan. 1st!!!" 

As I say this, everyone else also jumps up and down in celebration, just like everyone on the T.V.

I hope the new year will be better, and safer than 2020. I think as I drift to bed.

~The End~