It's hard to believe that over 100 times Julia, Rick and I have done a weekly Free Write, sometimes together in a cozy cafe, sometimes in different countries. However, I trust Julia and numbers.
Happy New Year to all those who have read our Free Writes, the production of 10 minutes of writing, no stopping, no correcting.
It's interesting to compare what each of us has produced, some similar, some totally different but still within the prompt. This time: fiction, memory, philosophical.
This last prompt of 2025 - New Year's Eve
D-L's Free Write
Shirley knew she could still change her mind. She watched her husband, Brad, talk to his brother, Tom.
She knew they were talking about the Boston Bruins as they did every New Year's Eve.
Her sister-in-law Chrissy was showing yet more photos of her grandchildren. Shirley's son and daughter were off skiing as they had every New Year's Eve for the last three years.
Her bags were packed and hidden. The airline ticket for Japan was hidden.
The language school where she had worked for the last ten years wanted her to open a branch of the school in Tokyo. They had made sure to bring her Japanese to fluency.
"Stupid," Brad had said as Shirley studied the language.
He was a good man, had been a good father.
He lacked imagination. He hadn't wanted to go to Paris when her company had offered two free trips. "Too many Frenchmen. What'll I eat?"
His food tastes were simple. Read boring. Nothing yellow. Almost no fruits.
The divorce lawyer told her that none of those things were legal reasons for a divorce.
He would be hurt. She regretted that.
The two couples watched the ball descend in Times Square. The CNN announcers disappeared as Brad turned off the TV and her in-laws struggled into their coats for the one-block walk home.
As Brad turned off the lights, Shirley knew what she had to do. "We have to talk, Brad."
Rick's Free Write
Garrett had never really established a New Year’s Eve tradition that lasted more than a couple of years.
When he was a kid, his parents would let him stay up to watch the Times Square ball drop with Dick Clark on TV, but he usually fell asleep around 1030 and was carried up to bed.
When he was married, he and his (X) wife would go to a movie with his brother- and sister-in-law. But then they moved to Texas. And even after Garrett and Melanie moved to Dallas too, the couples did not revive the tradition. The in-laws had gotten strange – something to do with his mother, but they were caught in the wake.
After he divorced and moved to France, Garrett and his new partner would join a large group of Anglophones for NYE, everyone bringing some nibblies or dessert. Some of the group would drive a few miles to a nearby tourist town, then take a train back to the village (a 5-minute journey). But Garrett begged off, heading home by around 1030.
There was still a ball drop, but now it was 6 am the next day, so they’d watch the fireworks from Sydney and Singapore before bed and set the alarm to get up and watch New York.
The biggest excitement now is trying to calm the dog during the local fireworks.
Julia's Free Write
Out with the old, in with the new. I’m sure we’ve all heard that one. Sometimes associated with a change in our lives, sometimes with a relationship, sometimes with a major move.
And, yes, most often with New Year’s Eve.
Interesting how most of the world seems to think that, somehow, this time, the New Year will bring major changes, an improvement in the many things that have gone wrong.
Somehow human nature has us hoping for better, and at no time is that hope as strong as New Year’s Eve!
Only 14 hours left, so maybe I’ll see how much of the “old” I can still eliminate before the “new” turns up.
One thing will definitely remain: our Free Writes!
Rick Adams is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices.com, a weekly newsletter reporting the top stories about the airline industry. He is the author of The Robot in the Simulator. AI in Aviation Training.
Visit D-L.'s website https://dlnelsonwriter.com, She is the author of 15 fiction and three non fiction books. Her 300 Unsung Women, bios of women who battled gender limitations, can be purchased at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/300-unsung-women-d-l-nelson/1147305797?ean=9798990385504
Visit Julia's blog. She has written and taken photos and loves syncing up with friends. Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/
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