21:30 I quietly looked around the room, sat down and stared into my empty glass, it had contained some kind of homemade Porto Rican concoction. I love the occasional drink, but this time I felt no desire for it. I was ready for a cosy, peaceful night with one of humans I feel most close to. My sister had gone to grab some more orange juice so I was stuck by myself for a few minutes. I really didn't want to be there but I understood why we had to go. She'd already promised that we'd show up so we had to AT LEAST make an appearance even though I didn't know a single soul in the room. She came back, she had a friend with her. Luckily, she didn't really know them that well either so I could follow her conversations quite easily. I casually turned to my sister with begging eyes. I tried to sound relaxed but somehow my request for the time sounded more desperate than curious. 22:38 Both of us gasped in shock but for totally different reasons. She couldn't believe it was already time for us to leave. Time had slipped away from her and she ran off to say goodbye to everyone. I gasped because I couldn't believe we hadn't already missed the new year. For those few minutes we'd been at that party, time had stood almost completely still. I impatiently waited the door with my coat on. Together we ran to the nearest tubestop hoping to catch the fireworks in time. 23:00 "Happy New Year in the Netherlands" I shouted as we ran down the stairs. The time difference meant that at that very moment, the fireworks would be going wild back at home. It also meant the cat was about to be getting his yearly night of terror. A few delays and drunk screams had passed. We'd finally managed to wrestle ourselves a good spot on the tube. The London tube will always contain the most interesting people I'll ever see... especially at new years eve. There were all sorts of interesting characters: the 15 year old "I can't watch that series because it's bad for my anxiety" girls, people who's gender I'll never be able to guess based purely on the way they look and those that shamelesly stare directly at you regardless of whether you've noticed them. Of course the drunk "I ironically wrote the wrong year on my forehead because I'm that funny" couldn't be missed either. 23:30 Everybody came pouring out of the tube at our stop and the realisation that we weren't the only one's with this plan kicked in. The pedestrian lights were red but everyone kept crossing the streets, ignoring the tooting cars desperate to arrive at their new years destination. The quiet, peaceful streets of the richer area of London was suddenly overrun with drunk youngsters, happy families, cute couples and my sister and me. 23:50 The grass felt like a muddy slush, the smell of fireworks covered the entire area and the hill was hardly even visible because of the amount of people blocking it. At first we complained to each other, we couldn't possibly see a way up that hill and it appeared to be totally blocking our view of London. "Wait, turn around" she said and there it was: London. The sky was lit up, we were far enough not to be totally overrun by people but close enough to enjoy the fireworks display in person. Everybody turned silent a few minutes before the countdown. Suddenly, the crowd managed to synchronise starting somewhere at the top. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. HAPPY NEW YEAR! 00:00 We hugged each other while the phrase "happy new year year" circulated like wildfire. My sister and I both went quiet, we were too busy enjoying the view and of course quite preoccupied with the chocolate we'd brought along to eat at new years. Even though we were quiet, the new year definitely did not start quietly. The people behind us couldn't contain their excitement and Woohoo'd throughout the entire display. It wasn't allowed but some fireworks went off behind us as well. How would the police ever find out who it was such a large crowd anyway? The smell and sound of fireworks became stronger, I turned around to see a young couple who'd just lit some sparklers together. They looked so sweet, I decided to take a picture of them and in the happy spirits they decided to smile and pose for the camera (it's a shame that picture ended up incredibly underexposed and blurry but it's the thought that counts). As the fireworks grew louder and bigger, we realised that we were probably approaching the end of the show. The woohoo's behind us grew louder and louder and soon everyone was cheering together, ready to welcome the new beginning with open arms. 00:30 The final display had finished, time for everyone to head back. Since everybody had the same plan of taking the tube we decided it would be easier to hop on a bus that would take 60 minutes but would drop us off right in front of her doorstep. We both spent the first half laughing at all the drunk videos coming in from my brother, the bus started to fill up more and more but everyone remained calm. In fact, most people were silent. There was a certain sense of serenity in the bus. It was almost as if everyone understood that it was time start with a clean slaight. I feel ready for a new chapter, the reader was getting bored, needed a break and there's a need for some character development in my story. Kudos to you if you read through all of that. One of my new years resolutions is to write, draw and reflect more. Hence, that highly descriptive passage on my final 3.5 hours of 2017.
2018 feels like it's going to be a good year so let's try to keep it that way for as long as possible.
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Hi There!
I'm a university student who loves to keep themselves busy with anything but university work. I also enjoy looking like a banana as you can tell from all the yellow coat pictures. I've somehow managed to turn into a music and photography geek. I'm not entirely sure how that happened but let's just go with it. That seems to be my life motto at the moment.
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April 2018
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