In the garden, children handle sparklers like magic wands. Hot trails glimmer for a moment, spelling out names or patterning the dark with lines and circles, before vanishing. You stand watching in the doorway with a glass of wine, eyes tracing the designs as they faint. Somewhere in the house a CD player is turned up and it takes you a moment to place the song. A gaggle of voices in the other room start to sing along but fall away after the first verse. You tap the beat on your glass before taking a sip. The wine is sharp but nice and you drink again, deeper this time.</p>
“Hey stranger, is this where you’ve been hiding?”</p>
A woman’s voice behind you. You turn and smile, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she leans into you.</p>
“Having fun?” you ask, and she looks up at you before nodding. “How long to go?”
“Not long now,” she says.</p>
In the distance a banging sound echoes. You think of earthquakes and thunder before you see the whole sky illuminated pink and white for a moment. The children in the garden all stop to look up, sparklers fizzing still in their gloved hands.</p>
“The fireworks are keen,” you say, and you both stand in silence waiting for more but none come.</p>
Back in the house, the CD player is turned down and a tense hush forms. Quiet for a while. The only sounds a faraway siren, a dog barking. Then in sudden unison, every voice shouting a countdown.</p>
TEN</p>
NINE</p>
 “Here we go,” you say, squeezing her close, your eyes both fixed on the sky.</p>
EIGHT</p>
SEVEN</p>
“Any resolutions?” she asks.</p>
SIX</p>
FIVE</p>
“To spend more time living life,” you say, “and less time waiting around for it to start.”</p>
FOUR</p>
THREE</p>
“Mine is to capture down every moment I feel boundless,' she says. 'I’ll write down where I was and why I felt it. The first one is tonight because you never know what the New Year will bring.”</p>
TWO</p>
ONE</p>
“Good things,” you say. “I have a feeling.”</p>
You hold on to each other, eyes reflecting the sky as overhead, fireworks blossom like orchids under a hot sun.
