New Years Resolution - Part One

Snowflakes flutter down from the partially clouded sky, the lights of he city erasing all but the brightest of stars. My eyes lazily follow the small white motes as the slowly descend, finding them a fine replacement in my inebriated malaise.

I lean back against the cold hard bricks beneath me, adjusting my thick black woolen jacket as I fight back the cold. I take a swig from the bottle of scotch beside me, the glass having gone unused for the best part of the past hour. I had expected more of the building to be here, to sit up on the roof like they had done in years past. However, with the sudden freezing shift in the weather it made sense that I would be the only person up here waiting for the fireworks.

This year had been a bit of a rough one, between languishing in unemployment and burning through most of my savings just to keep a roof over my head it had simply not lived up to the hopes I had at the start of it.

Despite this, up on the roof top with a decent bottle of liquor helped to make up for the year behind me. The crisp night air and the dancing snowflakes feel almost like a bit of a cleanse, a sense of hopefulness for the next year creeping into my heart as the minutes slowly count down to the new year.

It could have merely been the scotch talking, the dozen or so standard drinks now circulating through my system and filling me with a sense of warmth, but I slowly begin to imagine just what I should set as my new years resolution.

"Could just make it find a job" I chuckle, taking another swig from the bottle before collapsing back as staring up at the night sky. My gaze locks on a singular point, the one start seeming to flicker and flash in the inky blackness despite the bright lights of the city around me.

"Or maybe something more in my control" I muse, prodding at what had become a softer belly beneath my warm jacket. "Maybe something for fitness? Or learning a new skill, something like painting... or maybe another qualification could be good" I continue, my intoxicated state making it hard to really stick to a single thought for all too long.

The above almost appears to respond to each thought, the bright spot shifting and pulsing in a manner that I merely disregard as atmospheric interference or even just my eyes straining in the dark.

"Could always try to travel, or at least get out and socialize more" I mutter, placing the bottle back down against the brick roof with a clatter. "I mean, given how things are going maybe I should plan a move to someplace less expensive. I could always do something cheap, maybe starting to practice music again...Then again, maybe a bit of spending on revamping my style or starting to date again could be worth it."

My thoughts are cut short as I ear the first loud crackling bang on the horizon, a long drawn out series of blue streaks soon rising up from the buildings around me. I glance around, watching as the fireworks begin to fill the sky, flashes of colored light adding themselves to the night sky.

Despite this, the singular point of light from the distant star remains strong amongst all the bright flashes. The cacophony of sound soon begins to make my head ache, the flashes of colors in my peripheral vision soon leading me to stare up the sky once again.

Looking at the star I let out a sigh, the cold finally creeping its way through my thick clothes as I begin to feel the chill.

"Alright..." I groan, taking the bottle as I begin to shift my legs in preparation to heave myself up. Staring at the star I grin a little, my eyes straining to focus through the drunken haze on the flickering light. "Star light, start bright and all that..." I chuckle, taking a breath before I start to make my resolution.

Opening my mouth to speak the, easily broken, promise into the world I freeze up. My eyes go wide as I watch a bright white flash splay out directly overhead, the star finally vanishing behind the blinding expanding white radiance. The edges flicker with shades of red, blue and green in a manner that forces me to shift my eyes around to try to avoid looking directly at it.

Despite the size of the blast I don't hear an accordingly large explosion along with it. In fact, the night sky begins to grow entirely quiet as the mote of white light seems to slowly expand in size.

"What kind of firework..." I wheeze in pure awe, the breath and words begin stolen from my throat as the air is suddenly ripped from my lungs. The light rapidly expands further and further across the sky, the realization that it was drawing closer only hitting me as I watch it consume the neighboring skyscrapers.

I try to clamber to my feet only to simply remain laying in place, my arms and legs no longer responding as I'm forced to watch the white light slowly begin to swallow up the rooftop around me. I silent scream escapes my lips as I soon find myself floating, the feeling of the cold air and hard bricks vanishing in an instant.

The white void is all I can see, endless and eternal, before I finally pass into unconsciousness.