HAPPY NEW YEAR
Written by Elsa Dechert - 2005
Joe sat at the bar twirling the empty glass in his hand. It was his fifth or maybe sixth drink for the night thus far. But the night was young, and as the floating tray zoomed gently past his ear, he grabbed another drink and held it close. It was fizzing slightly and he watched as the liquid turned from sapphire blue to a crimson pink, and back again. Back and forth, like the ocean he had read about on Earth. The Nebula was his favourite drink and he’d been drinking them since he first knew what a Nebula was. Reflecting on this, he turned and faced the crowd. Masses of bodies were pressed close together as they danced in time with the music. The crowd was like an ocean itself as swayed together in a rhythmic trance, yet each body flailed wildly arms raised and eyes clothes, smiles cemented on their faces. Absolute exhilaration as they danced as if they didn’t have a care in the world. And they didn’t, for a while.
At first Joe thought he was seeing things as one of the female dancers opened her eyes and caught him surveying. Her dress glistened in the lights, sweat and particles that swirled around them. She smiled and took the few steps towards him.
‘What’s your resolution?’ she crooned and supported herself against the bar.
Joe gazed at the woman and pondered the question. What was his resolution? He hadn’t thought much about it. She waited, her eyes sparkling like stars, insisting he tell her, as though she couldn’t bear to not find out, his secrets. She swayed somewhat and he reached out to steady her.
‘Mine,’ she continued, mumbling ever so slightly due to apparent loss of motor skills, ‘is to find a nice man,’ pause, ‘and to settle down,’ pause, ‘and to have some children. Is that too much to ask?’ significant pause, ‘can you be that man?’
Satisfied with her question, and not really waiting for an answer, she closed her eyes again and nodded her head in time with the music. Joe smiled to himself and assessed the situation. The woman seemed to be talking to the wall behind him and her eyes that had shone with anticipation just moments ago, now seemed hazy and unfocused.
Not to be fazed by lack of response, the woman continued proudly, ‘Shall I buy you a drink?’
Joe watched with amusement as the tray floated past at that moment and she selected a Nebula and Solaris from it. She thrust them both forward, her inability to move one hand forward to Joe, and one hand back to herself preventing her from acquiring a drink. Joe took them both and placed them on the bar. His amusement was now confirmed and he gestured that she take a seat next to him.
‘YOU KNOW,’ she bellowed, mistaking the change of song and the silence that followed, for a deafening roar that she could not be heard over, ‘THIS IS PRETTY EXCITING. THE COUNTDOWN AND SUCH,’
Joe nodded and watched as she took the Solaris and sipped it importantly.
As if reading her mind, which was not impossible, the DJ cut the music again and the whole room went dark. Disco lights were replaced with lasers of many colours and a huge mirror ball lowered itself from the ceiling. The lights bounced off the mirrors and suddenly they were in a see of millions of rays of light. The screen behind the DJ turned suddenly into a huge number 10 and the sea of people screamed and cheered. Moments later, in its place was an even bigger number 9, it looked so real you could reach out and touch it, as the woman was attempting much to Joe’s delight. The crowd were catching on, and an instant later his thoughts were drowned out by the cries of a thousand people chanting, “EIGHT”. The woman, not sure what number followed, screamed wildly and leapt off her chair clapping. That seventh Nebula, hitting Joe at the same moment that “SEVEN” was called, resulted him in standing up too and screaming “SIX” louder than any of his fellow companions. “FIVE” seconds was all that remained of a time of no regrets and the hysteria was almost too much for some people. This is what they lived for and it was soon to be over, another era about to begin. “The rhythm had caught up and you could now hear a pin drop between “FOUR” and “THREE” as even the woman prepared herself for the moments to follow. “TWO,” “ONE,” HAPPY NEW YEAR
The walls and floor shook and people screamed and stamped their feet in absolute exhilaration and anticipation. The cheers were roaring and thunderous and the feeling in the air was as it was this time every year, a feeling of renewal.
As expected, the roar of the engines drowned out the roar of the crowd. The ground shook a little as the ship left the planet. Joe looked outside the window and saw what remained on the planet as the ship rose further from the ground. All that remained were the errors and mistakes of the last year. The problems and blunders that fed off of a perfect existence were all left on the planet. The building and technology were smaller than the glitter that rained around him and he held the woman’s hand as they entered the torrent dance floor and danced to another year on another planet where they could start again and anew
