Gaye handed out paper and pens. A few people groaned but tradition is tradition and this had been a family ritual ever since anyone could remember. She fetched the Box of Broken Promises and began to read last year’s resolutions. The prize was a book token.
“Lose weight, Roger?”
Roger blushed and wrote it again.
“Congratulations to Martine who has given up smoking.”
A ripple of applause.
Gaye blenched and crumpled the paper in her hand.
“What’s wrong?” asked Roger.
The signature read Paula, but the sheet was blank.
It was the closest thing they had to a suicide note.
Oonah Joslin lives in North East England and writes mostly poetry and flash fiction.
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31 Comments »
« January’s Table of Contents | Home | THE ANNIVERSARY • by Lyndon Perry »
Terrific, Oonah. You establish the light mood masterfully, leading us nose-first into that slam-dunk of an ending. Great great flash.
I love this story, it says everything it needs to say in so few words, and is so powerful. Wonderful, Oonah.
Great read and terrific writing.
Great flash, Oonah.
*shiver*
Excellent.
Oh my. That was fantastic.
Why, Thank you, Anonymous one! And thank you to all you others too and A Happy New Year to all the editors and readers. Don’t be too hard on your relatives.
Mine? To lose weight - again!!!
My resolution is…
Great story, Oonah.
Brilliant, Oonah.
How do you do this so consistently?
Thank you dj.
And Jumbo
Oonah,
what a great chill factor this has. The shock of the final sentence is like being doused with iced water.
Cheers
Mark
Well done. Very nicely done. Everything seems so casual until that last line then the story is drawn tight.
Oof! Beautiful, Oonah. That last line is like a punch in the gut.
I think I would’ve committed suicde, too, if I had to go through that tradition every year. :-0
Great story.
The first time I read this, I knew it had to be our New Year’s Eve story. Very fine flash indeed.
Thanks to Mark for plunging into the iced waters
Guy, very generous comment. Thanks
Hey Nathan from over in Micro Horror, Thank you for stopping by, Man! Everybody, give his mag a shufty.
Rena - families - can’t live without’em…….
Camille, Wonderful responce to this one.
Merci et Bonne Annee a tous x
Oonah
Great story - powerful ending.
Hey, Avis! Thanks.
Very, very good.
Wonderful, Oonah. You got me. And in so few words.
That ending was key.
Happy New Year!
~Heidi
Thank you Stuart and Heidi and a Happy New Year to you both
I’ve stopped reading these every day because what’s been posted lately hasn’t really appealed to me.
I’m glad I decided to skim back through the ones I’ve recently missed, though. This one was was worth it. Thanks!
Dear KJ, That is such a compliment. Thank you
I am glad you enjoyed my story. I hope you will keep reading. I have plenty of others in the pipeline here on EDF and you can check out my web site for more.
Very pleased to hear from you.
Oonah
Brilliantly written. This is a fine little masterpiece, Oonah. Powerful, gripping. The ending hits you like a truck. One of the finest short shorts I’ve ever read.
Thank you so much, Barry. That is praise indeed and I am vastly pleased. I am quite stunned by the response this story has attracted.
Oonah
[...] Resolution Posted on November 30, 2007 in Table of Contents Did you like this story?A new and interesting story is posted every day. [...]
[...] noted with great pleasure that January’s most-read story was “Resolution“, by Oonah V Joslin. The story was published on December 31st, but was well-read throughout [...]
I’m here late in the day, but as usual, a great flash, Oonah,
Jennifer
Thanks Jennifer. Glad you liked it.
Wow!
Thank you Renee!