Now is the time to amaze us all with your New Year's Resolution prose or poem or prosetry! Did you all make a New Year's Resolution? Yes, No, Maybe. It's your character, or the focus of your poem, that we're interested in for this prompt. Did his/her New Year's Resolution get the hero/ine in trouble? Did it set them on a golden path? C'mon, tell us about it.
Here's mine:
Burning Resolve by Madeleine Maddocks
I chew my lip and stare down at the hand set in my warm palm, willing it to beep or ring, as I sit on the edge of my bed. My bedside lamp gives a yellow glow across the darkened room. The lacy bedspread and curtains are comforting and cosy, but I’d rather be out, instead, with Duncan. Just the sight of him makes my insides quiver like a bouncy castle full of excitement. He said he’d phone. I recall his warm breath against my cheek as he asked me for my number and his warm eyes like soft fudge smiling at me when I sent him the text business card. So why is he taking so long?
I begin gnawing at my lip again, my heart is pattering like a wind-up toy and my stomach feels as though it’s all at sea. My thumb hovers over the buttons of my phone. No, I promised myself I wouldn’t be needy. It's my first ever New Year’s resolution. From now on I’ll never do the chasing ever again. I’m going to play it cool, play hard to get and this time make Duncan do the running. My heart can’t take another battering, not after James. What is it with people like James? That when you’re kind and considerate they see it as desperate and needy and take advantage.
I recently read that the person with the most power in a relationship is the one that has the least to lose. So I figure I’m going to take control, be the hard-hearted bitch if necessary, rather than get hurt again. If only I felt stronger and more determined. Instead the resolve churns about my insides like a virulent virus and I know the antidote would be to call him now, get it over with. But I mustn’t. I just can't give in. I must try. I’m worth the wait. I’m worth the wait, I chant.
I jump as the phone trills and vibrates in my hand like an excited puppy wagging its tail.
“Hello Duncan” my voice is husky with excitement and anticipation.
“Hello Gorgeous!” he says “Did you miss me?”
My girlish laughter fills the room.“It’s only been a couple of hours since you brought me home!”
“Seems like an eternity to me”
(382 words)