A Resolute Year's End

As he looked outside of his frosted window on a Thursday evening, Jack sighed with contentment and rested his head against the frame. Was that the smell of peppermint? With its bustling streets and gently falling snow, New York once again displayed a picturesque resemblance to a scene out of a Hallmark Christmas postcard. He thought to himself that it would perhaps do him some good to go for a walk outside. Though Christmas was over, a fully decorated room still greeted his eyes as he turned away from the view; he had been putting off taking down the decorations his family had put up on the weekend previous.

Jack picked up the mug sitting upon a small coffee table and took a sip out of it, savoring every drop of warm chocolate that entered his mouth. Serenely walking into the kitchen, he crouched to set the now empty mug down onto a plate, which lay at the very top of a large pile of unwashed silverware. Though it meant extra work, Jack lived alone; the choice seemed like a good decision at the time, and he had no reason to regret it if each day continued to be as peaceful as the last. 

He straightened up with a groan and examined his clothing to see if it could be deemed "acceptable" for outside wear. The dark green Christmas sweater he was wearing had brown stains in odd places, and the black T-shirt he was wearing underneath had a large tear, but his beige jeans were not so beat up that he would be arrested on charge of indecent exposure if he stepped outside. He made a promise to himself that he would use it later before pulling on a new sweater and a snow jacket, the former of which itched slightly.

Sweeping his sandy-colored hair out of his eyes, he put on a gray beanie and located his wallet, before taking out the keycard to his apartment and unlocking the door. The fluorescent buzz of the lights above his head mingled with quiet piano music as Jack stepped out into the hallway. There was a small "ding," next to the empty stairwell, and the pristine doors of a glass elevator slid open as a mother and two children bustled out, laughing and singing as they made their way down the hall.

Jack avoided the family as he passed, and his footsteps echoed on the sparkling marble floor as he walked towards the elevator, fading at once when he stepped in. On the panel next to the door, Jack pressed a button marked with a golden "L" upon its surface, and waited as the elevator descended down the apartment complex, catching glimpses of families making their way back to their rooms. It made him feel strangely lonely, but he shook the thought out of his head as a smooth female voice said, "You have reached the lobby." The elevator doors slid open again, and Jack stepped out into the shimmering lobby, bedazzled with a crystal chandelier above the front desk. Really, when Jack had first arrived at the place, he had thought that he had accidentally stepped foot in a luxury hotel, and had been thoroughly surprised when his mother informed him over the phone that it was a new apartment complex that her friend owned and that he would be living there for the next year.

As he was about to step outside, he heard a voice ring out from behind him, louder than all of the buzz and chatter of everyone around him. "Attention!" All the chatter died at once as people swiveled around to see where the voice had come from. A well-dressed man in a black tuxedo was holding a microphone, beaming at the crowd, and Jack recognized him as the owner of the apartment complex, Mr. Owens. He smiled as he opened his mouth to speak again.

"As most of you know, today is New Year's Eve." New Year's Eve! Jack had completely forgotten the date, not helped by the fact that he usually spent New Year's Eve alone. Owens continued, saying, "Because of this, our humble estate would like to host a challenge..." There were several skeptical glances and murmurs from the crowd at these words. "...the winner of this challenge will receive five thousand dollars and a month's stay in the luxury suite of this apartment complex, free of charge and all paid for by our sponsors." Owens' smile became wider as there were more titters from the crowd, before putting a finger to his lips in a "shushing" gesture. "What must you do to win this fabulous prize, you may ask," said Owens, clearly enjoying himself immensely as the crowd held its breath. "Why, the resolute details are on that table at the far corner next to the doors! Good evening to you all, and I wish all of you the best of luck." Owen indicated towards a small office desk behind Jack, before stepping off the stage.

The crowd immediately began to jostle their way towards the table, chattering excitedly, and Jack found himself buffeted by the crowd towards the desk, heat surrounding him as he was engulfed completely. Sweating slightly, he allowed himself to be pushed forward towards the desk in front of him, until realizing far too late that he was about to be pushed into it rather than come to a stop before it. With a groan, Jack gingerly got to his feet, and bending over, blindly groping around for one of the brightly colored documents that now littered the floor after he had crashed into the desk. His vision still blurry from vertigo, he squinted and could barely make out the black splotches of text in front of him; he gave his head an experimental shake, and looked back at the paper, which read, in large black font, ”THE ANNESWORTH LUXURY APARTMENT COMPLEX PROUDLY PRESENTS: THE FIRST EVER NEW YEAR’S EVE GRAND CHALLENGE!” Jack glanced further down the paper, which listed the sponsors of the challenge as well as the cash prize, before coming to a stop at a bolded section titled, ”Rules.” 

Below the text, there was a paragraph written in green ink, which stated: “A week ago, the inhabitants of this apartment complex took a mandatory survey on two of their New Year’s Resolutions. We have selected two that have been deemed reasonable enough to be completed in a timely manner; these will be the tasks that will be assigned to you tonight. Some of you will have the same tasks; others of you may see a difference in your assignments. The deadline for completion will occur at midnight, when the one year transitions into the next. All applicants who complete their given tasks before midnight will receive the prize listed at the top of this document. However, the first person to complete both of the tasks will receive an additional prize, which was provided generously by an individual who has chosen to remain anonymous. We wish you good luck should you choose to compete.” Jack flipped the page and saw a liability waiver, as well as the resolutions, written in gold at the very bottom of the paper. Upon reading the second resolution, his eyes momentarily widened in shock, before he smiled; however, remembering that he only had until midnight, he hastily filled out the waiver, brought it to the front desk, and received a pin that designated him as “Participant #277.” Jack, now with a feeling of mounting apprehension, walked out of the gleaming doors of the complex into the snowy evening.

5:21 PM:

Resolution 1: Win a marathon

Location: Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Staten Island

Status: Incomplete

A pink glow was cast over the streets of New York City as the sun began to sink under the horizon; Jack shivered as gentle wisps of wind sent snowflakes falling onto his uncovered hands. He suddenly wished that he was back inside, but the thought of losing a large sum of money over a bit of cold seemed to stiffen his resolve, and he trudged onward. Gingerbread and nutmeg wafted through the air as a woman across the street opened the bakery door, filling Jack with warmth and making his stomach grumble slightly, but he ignored this unpleasant sensation and kept walking on towards his destination. He could hear the shouts of vendors and party goers as he made his way down the street, and the various disconnected noises of traffic around him. After a few minutes, he could see a large crowd gathering at the center of the bridge on his left; he quickly walked towards it. 

The apartment staff had set up a little desk in front of the bridge as a check-in station, verifying participants and allowing them to cross past the yellow caution tape that restricted the entrance. Jack showed them his pin and pointed up to the sky with his index finger, then made an “O” with his right hand, before quickly holding up his right pinky. After this, he brought both of his arms down sideways and used both of his hands to point in the direction of the bridge. The staff looked confused. “You go that way for the marathon.” Jack nodded to show that he had understood and walked towards the crowd. A man with a megaphone was standing on a podium on the side of the bridge, which was currently deserted aside from the mass of people gathered in the center. “The marathon will start in ten minutes. Please take a watch from the box in front of you and attach it to your wrist. This will provide you with the route you must take in order to reach the finish line. Personnel and apartment staff will be placed throughout the route to ensure that you complete it fairly. Good luck.” These words, heightened by the megaphone, echoed throughout the evening as the wind swirled around the assembled congregation of participants. Jack looked around and counted roughly fifty people, some of them in much better shape than he was, and in workout clothes; this did not look like it was going to be a trivial matter. 

After Jack had stretched for a few minutes, the man with the megaphone returned and began the one minute countdown to the start of the marathon. There was a scuffle to get to the front of the crowd, which Jack lost, and defeated, he returned towards the end of the queue. 30…29…28… Everyone around Jack began to get ready, rubbing their hands together to get rid of the cold or breathing in short spurts; he tried to crack his neck but immediately regretted doing so, as he now felt like an icicle had been lodged between his spine and throat. 10… Was that the winter chill creeping up his back? 5… Jack suddenly became very aware that he had a cramp in his right leg. 3…2…1… A whistle blew and the crowd surged forward, giving cries of pain as participants were elbowed in the stomach or their feet stepped on. Someone tripped, which immediately caused a pile-up near the center of the mob as the people previously running next to the fallen individual fell over their rolling body. Jack, who had been jogging in the back, narrowly avoided the accident, and was inwardly thankful that he didn’t have the sense to move further up the queue before the marathon started.

After around three hours of jogging, around half of the participants had either given up or had been left behind by the main group. Jack was making steady progress up the line, overtaking a woman that looked rather like she had been hit over the head with a frying pan. There were now only ten people in front of him, but among these were the athletes who most likely attended the gym for at least a few hours each day of the week. When they had run around five miles, Jack was starting to get tired, but the man leading the group showed no sign of fatigue in the slightest. Knowing he would have to think outside of the box in order to win this race, Jack thought back to the official rules of the contest to think of a loophole. Had there been anything in the rules about not sabotaging fellow participants? He didn’t think so. Jack knew he would run out of energy in the next few miles, and forming a plan in his mind, he began increasing the speed at which he was jogging, overtaking the runners in 7th and 6th place. Upon jogging past the people in the lead of the marathon, they laughed at him, clearly thinking he was inadvertently wasting all of his fuel without a second thought. But they did not know that with his laziness, Jack had a talent for thinking up extreme ideas in order to make things deliberately easier for himself.

And so Jack ran on, using every technique he had learned from his days in middle school cross country to pace himself for the next two miles. Once seeing a glimpse of the upcoming harbor, Jack stopped and took a rest under a nearby oak tree. Pulling out his phone out of his drenched and sweaty pocket, he texted a number labeled “2 Favors, Jetskis,” and then got up. Jack was antisocial and mute, and he did not have any friends; he had “favor people,” as this was the name given to people he knew. Jack had looked at a map of the marathon and vaguely remembered the locations of all the checkpoint stations where staff were positioned. There were none around the harbor, because there was only one possible route, or so the coordinators thought. The water in the harbor was a frosty four degrees, and nobody in their right mind would dare to take a swim in its dark and freezing waters; therefore, the staff wouldn’t be patrolling around the area for the express reason of not wanting to waste personnel. Jack walked down a nearby hill onto the sand of an outcrop next to a bridge, or the “only available route” to where a man in khaki shorts and a cap was waving at him from next two green jetskis. “Hey! Jonathan! What up?”

Jack nodded at the man and showed him his phone, which displayed a map. Pointing at a marked location, he quizzically looked at his smiling acquaintance. “No problem,” the man said with a slight accent, ”we go there no problem! Take around five, ten minute, yea?” Jack gave a thumbs-up, and together, they got on their separate vehicles and sped off towards the shore across, the water frothing and bubbling in their wake. After a short period of time, they reached a secluded rocky area where Jack parked his jetski before getting off. Facing the man, he put his right hand to his chin, moved it down, and extended it towards him. The male smiled and waved, and with that, Jack vanished into the trees behind him. 

After trekking through the damp trees, Jack found himself in a park, and moving quickly, ran using the path towards the opposite end. After following the path for an additional mile, he saw the finish line for the marathon, and breathing a sigh of relief, crossed it with cheers from the staff around the area. The head coordinator congratulated Jack and gave him a small gold token that looked very much like a doubloon, and informed him to give this to the front desk at the apartment complex. 

9:07 PM

Resolution 1: Win a Marathon

Location: Manhattan College, NYC

Status: Complete 

Jack walked away from the endpoint of the race in triumph, breathing heavily. The night seemed so much more enjoyable now that the hardest task was out of the way, and he had secured a chance at winning the grand prize and the additional prize, as long as he hurried to the hotel. But who would make it faster than himself, assuming that all the other participants had equally physically challenging tasks? Jack put his hands in his pockets and walked through the street, admiring the twinkling lights around him and the beautiful confections hanging from the shops he passed; smells of freshly cooked fish, spices, steak, and other savory foods wafted towards him from the many restaurants near him, their doors hanging wide open in an attempt to draw in more customers. The gleeful shouts of families and friends alike were a melody against the beautiful symphony that was the crashing waves on the shores of the Harlem River. Snow was still falling, and Jack looked up, feeling gentle sensations of cold as they fell upon his face. 

Observing the list with the assigned tasks he still carried with him, he smiled. He did not know why the organizers would use a resolution they could not verify as a challenge, but he didn’t care. The resolution had been one of his very own, and surprised as he was about it being used, he did not complain. Everything was perfect. All too soon, he was back at the entrance of the Annesworth Luxury Apartment Complex, and cold as he was from his sweaty shirt, he walked through its gleaming gold doors with a cheerful grin, which lit up his entire visage. Walking to the front desk, he handed the gold doubloon to the receptionist at the front desk and waited. “Congratulations. Please wait in your room. Mr. Owens will be up with the prizes shortly.” And with that, Jack walked up the stairs to his room, closed it, and hummed to himself; looking outside at a bustling New York City, he heard his room door open as the clock struck twelve.

12:00 AM

Resolution 2: …

Location: …

Status: Complete

Winner of the New Year’s Eve Grand Challenge: Jack Annesworth, of Suite 1123.