It was dark. The last day of the last month of the last year. It was probably raining but it wasn’t worth climbing up to the window to see out. The last minutes were passing rapidly. Perhaps it was time to start fiddling with the radio.
Brittle plastic and awkward knobs, the radio was old and needed persuading to tune to a station, crackle and music.
Tinned food stockpiled, first aid kit to hand. Bunkered down in blankets. The world was going to come crashing to an end.
That would serve all the fools right for trusting in this technology, they’d given over their lives to it, sold their souls and now it was too late.
It was safer in the dark but the matches and candles were to hand.
A voice on the radio. A countdown.
Three, two, one…
Braced, tense. What would happen? Explosion or a grinding to a halt?
Silence then the first fireworks shot overhead.
The voice on the radio continued.
Nothing.
The world went on.
Wondered what the fuss had been about.
This week we asked you to write a piece of fiction or creative non-fiction about a countdown, starting with “Three, two, one.”
It could be about anything – New Year’s Eve, gathering your nerve, disciplining your kids. We wanted you to use your imagination and have fun with it.
I went for abstract this week and managed to get in beautifully under the word count, 177. It’s got to be a miracle!
I Spy with My Idiosyncratic Eye 
Nice Job! There’s just something about a countdown that makes people think of bombs and other things that go boom. I also thought of Y2K – and my boss at the time, who was pretty sure the world was going to end. It was SO hard to go into work and not rub her nose in that! LOL
Hehe, I don’t remember meeting anyone who was overly afraid there was just all the hype in the media. Thanks for stopping by. :)
Great, tight writing. I really thought the description of the radio was a perfect fit here; it seems to be a tangible reminder of something older than the feared technology. There was such an uproar about that countdown, and then nothing. I like that you captured it here.
Many thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. :)
This is so great! Love how efficient your writing is. Just enough to draw me in. Really like your writing style. It brought me back to that time -Y2K. So true, what was the big fuss all about anyway?
Good stuff!
Thank you, I like that description ‘efficient’. My husband compared it all to letting a firework off in the rain! :)
Loved it. (And I remember where I was the night of y2k.)
Your opening was perfection.
Stopping by from Write on Edge.
Many thanks, it’s crazy how long ago that all seems. :)
Clever! I love how short and punchy your writing was … very fitting for the subject matter. Very well done!
~ Devon
Reading with Joey
Clever! I like how short and punchy your writing was … a perfect fit for the subject matter. Very good!
Thank you, I’ve been working on keeping it brief. :)
Great post. It brought me back to when everyone was stressing out about Y2K. I really want to know more about the character.
I’m glad that I took you back, thanks for visiting. :)
Great post. Very Y2K. And I appreciate your brevity.
Hehe, that makes it sound like I usually suffer from what my father would call ‘verbal diarrhea’! Thank you. :)
It was dark. The last day of the last month of the last year. Y2K was a bit of a fizzle. There are always kooks who get ready for the end of the world. This soul seemed not to be Too, disappointed, just prepared. A great take on the prompt
Many thanks, the Millennium never quite lived up to the promised hype! :)
It reminded me of the Y2K scare…
A very creative response to the prompt!
That’s what inspired me. Thank you. :)
I did enjoy the uncertainty. I felt like I could be anywhere, listening to that radio. Then, when the fireworks went off, I felt, for an instant, like the fourth of July. Then, when the listener wasn’t elated, I thought ‘maybe not fireworks after all’. I want to know more! (And isn’t that the perfect place to end?)
Thank you, you always leave such positive comments. :)
This was great! Lots of great lines here, and this was one of my favorites-
“Brittle plastic and awkward knobs, the radio was old and needed persuading to tune to a station, crackle and music.”
It’s so descriptive-and really captures that sense of everything winding down.
This piece reminds me of New Year’s Eve 1999, and all the Y2K speculation. The new year came…and nothing happened!
Great writing!
Yes, the Millennium was my inspiration. Thank you. :)
Oooohhh, I’m very curious about this and want to know more!
Hehe, many thanks for stopping by. :)