The First Ten Seconds

          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.