The First Ten Seconds

Submitted into Contest #74 in response to: Write a story that takes place across ten seconds.... view prompt

15 comments

American Happy Holiday

          The first ten seconds of the New Year are the happiest moment for most people. The one sliver of time for the next 31535090 seconds that it takes for the earth to make a full rotation around the sun. For just that quick piece of the night, nothing else matters except for a new beginning. As soon as the time hits 0 and the ball reaches the base, the roar begins.

            Most will tell themselves that Christmas is the best time of the year. The songs and movies have definitely told them so, but this first ten seconds completely overrules that. The holiday stress is over, but the ten seconds goes by too fast for anyone to realize just how monumental it really is.

            Little kids, pretending to be drunk like their parents drink their sparkling cider and cheer- too young to realize that they want to kiss each other yet. In the bathroom, a couple- oblivious to the time- miss out on the festivities due to being too in love to wait another hour for their hormones to calm down.

            Millions of champagne flutes are raised in unison to polish off whatever little drips are left in the bowl-like basin of the glass. Couples kiss each other on the lips before moving to their friends for pecks on the cheek and hugs for their young ones with an accompanying scream of, “Happy New Year!”

            Uncle Mason puts his hands a little too far down Aunt Mary’s backside when he kisses her. His niece and nephew laugh, unsure yet what that means. A little girl attempts to hug her brother but is shoved away by the young lad, too embarrassed to show affection to the sister he loves dearly. A single mother downs her drink and hugs her son- she is happy now, but tears of loneliness and regret will follow. Uncle Henry- who spent twenty years in the Navy and never married- throws up violently in the kitchen and slips on it. He hits his head and is okay, but the children scream laughter at their goofy uncle- they don’t realize how much the man actually suffers as he continues the show for the tykes.

            A teenage girl tells her boyfriend, “I love you,” for the first time. They are watching the scene from outside through the window. They take sips of the champagne from the bottle he lifted from the table when no one was watching. They both cringe after each sip, wondering what “Brut” means on the label as their minds grow foggy and balance becomes an increasingly laborious task. They will claim food poisoning to explain the vomiting to their parents (who know better) the next day.

            A confused elderly gentleman- the oldest one at the party- shouts, “Merry Christmas,” never aware of his faux pas. Others will surely laugh about it in conversation at least for the next two weeks. At least he is one of the few older people who still celebrate the day.

            A number of old folks don’t realize what has happened, nor do they care. They are sound asleep in the beds of their homes or retirement communities, dreaming about past loves and friendships from better times. To them, the past is happier than bringing a new number closer to death. In those ten seconds, the older men and women are forgotten.

            People smile and scream, some with tears of pure joy in the corners of their eyes. For those ten seconds, life is transcendent of itself and doesn’t exist. Promises are made, love is spoken, and half-drunk resolutions are decided before being forgotten by early-February.

            At that moment, a twelve-year-old boy, who just has learned the attraction to women tugs at his crush's sleeve and wishes her a happy New Year to no avail. Behind him, a young girl tries something similar, but with identical results.

            A baby starts to scream in that instant, drowned out by the thundering roar of adults, she will not be heard for a little bit longer, and by the damage will be done. Her fear from the chants of the adults has solidified inside and her buzzed parents will have to stay up all night until she falls asleep around nine in the morning, by then the hangovers will be in full effect.

            Those ten seconds are filled with bliss for the entire room. They may stay an hour longer, maybe a few will even stay until early dawn, trying to feel the way they felt right when the year was brought in, but none of it will match this.

            The next day, they will wake up with sickness and headaches. A few will wake up pregnant, not realizing it yet, but that can be a story for another moment in the year. Some of the former partiers will have parents or in-laws coming in to consume what foods are deemed to bring good luck for the year, others will watch the bowl games on television throughout the day, and yet more will just sleep until late in the afternoon, waking up with the same sunken feeling they will carry with them until the first ten seconds of next year, forever doomed to repeat the cycle.

            Within the next few days, work will resume, bills and mortgages will go on to be the primary focus, kids will go back to school- bringing fighting and bad grades with that, and the world will continue its harsh emotions toward each other.

            Within ten seconds, men in black suits will kiss their women wearing their best dresses. Children will shout with the adults as they melodically ask, “Should old acquaintance be forgot?” Champagne is spilled or consumed. Screams and merriment are voiced as love is shared. In those ten seconds, the world is happy and stress is nonexistent. Life will go back to normal tomorrow, and the rest of the year will be filled with sadness and anger, but for ten seconds, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters but joy then.  

December 24, 2020 16:50

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15 comments

Writer Maniac
12:02 Jan 07, 2021

Wow! The story was beautifully written, and I could really see every scene happening in front of my eyes, so well done! The kind of magic that only comes before New Year's was accurately portrayed, and I felt like I was there too! Loved it, great job! P.S. I would love to get some feedback on two of my stories 'Game Over' and 'Not Worth It' which I'm really proud of :)

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Chris Buono
16:41 Jan 07, 2021

Yeah I can definitely do that! Thank you!

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Antonio Jimenez
03:13 Jan 03, 2021

Wow, this was amazing. A lot of people wrote stories about the ten-second countdown, but you did the opposite and it came out great. The last two sentences really hit it out of the park. Awesome! Would love for you to check out my stories and let me know what you think. Thanks and Happy New Year!

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Chris Buono
04:08 Jan 04, 2021

Hey, thanks a lot. Of course I’ll check out one of your stories.

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Chris Buono
04:08 Jan 04, 2021

Hey, thanks a lot. Of course I’ll check out one of your stories.

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Lucía M
19:07 Jan 02, 2021

This made me feel infinite, there's no other word to describe it. I often forget about how differently I experienced New Years Eve each year while growing up. Every perspective you included is charming and certainly relatable to many people out there. Thank you for this story, it truly made me smile. Also it would mean the world to me if you could check out my latest story! Its on this same prompt and I would love to have your opinion on it :)

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Chris Buono
19:28 Jan 02, 2021

Your comment absolutely just made my beginning of 2021! Thank you so much! It really means just everything that you took the time to tell me your thoughts on my story. I will absolutely read your story :)

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Chris Buono
19:28 Jan 02, 2021

Your comment absolutely just made my beginning of 2021! Thank you so much! It really means just everything that you took the time to tell me your thoughts on my story. I will absolutely read your story :)

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Chris Buono
19:28 Jan 02, 2021

Your comment absolutely just made my beginning of 2021! Thank you so much! It really means just everything that you took the time to tell me your thoughts on my story. I will absolutely read your story :)

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Isla Wren
15:01 Jan 02, 2021

I’m new here, but wanted to say I enjoyed all the different New Year’s perspectives. “Merry Christmas” made me laugh out loud. The only part I thought was a tiny bit inconsistent was the paragraph about the crying baby immediately followed by the one saying the entire room was filled with bliss. Even if those lines had been spread out a few paragraphs, I don’t think I would have noticed!

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Chris Buono
16:21 Jan 02, 2021

Thank you so much! I was trying to make it more like blissful for the drunkenly unaware people at the party juxtaposed with what actually happens. I suppose I should have tried a better job at it. Thank you for reading my story! :)

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Malini S.
14:57 Jan 02, 2021

Loved it, Chris! I enjoy the writing style and the gradual parts of the future slipped in, and how it still ends positively. Good job :)

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Chris Buono
16:22 Jan 02, 2021

Thank you! I very much appreciate you reading my story and commenting on it!

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Hema Saju
06:03 Jan 04, 2021

You're really doing it!! This is a wonderful piece of writing.

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Chris Buono
06:18 Jan 04, 2021

Thank you so much!

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