Hank's last hazy memory occurred at 11:59. 

The party hat couldn't hide his sour mood. 

She enjoyed reading the obituaries and pretending the dead had been personal friends. 

Denise spent all of December trying to get through the New Year's resolutions she'd never bothered to pursue. 

 The New Year's party was just the adult version of show and tell. 

Frank suddenly realized he wasn't the fool on the hill as he'd always thought but one of the small-minded townspeople who jeered at the man. 

 They dozed off among the piles of empty boxes and torn wrapping paper. 

 The Hollywood couple's witty banter and sexual chemistry devolved into bitter recriminations and seething resentment. 

His rogueish charm didn't seem to work on the judge but the jury was smitten. 

The rudder broken, the ship sinking, the selfies still being taken. 

 Dead these long years and unlike Scrooge, I wouldn't be getting any surprise visits from him on Christmas Eve. 

 During the entire party, the dog followed the doddering woman around knowing she'd eventually drop something worth gobbling. 

 The holidays crept on Helen leaving her stuffing stockings with mismatched slippers and old Halloween candy. 

 The inviting holiday lights hid the sickening savagery that had made its home within. 

 Over the years we'd seen her bright shining light dim from time to time but never die out. 

Dan's dreams were utterly boring: flipping through an automotive magazine (something he wouldn't do in real life); jogging around town; and vacuuming his house, another activity that he didn't do very often when awake.  

Priscilla proudly took credit for such innovations to the English language as "bestie" and "Yolo" but only because she knew there was no way of proving otherwise.

When Derek's coworker flirtatiously invited him to slide into her DMs, he had no earthly idea what she was talking about since he despised social media and still refused to upgrade from a flip phone, 

The starlings startled the mourning doves who had been sitting on the branch like worshippers at a pew. 

Isabelle preferred dramatic endings to long-term relationships. 

Death felt overwhelmed by his workload and was considering retiring but without a replacement, this plan would prove to be problematic. 

 The twinkling lights, eggnog, and carols did nothing to enliven the desultory holiday party but instead made it even less cheery. 

 She clung to the side of the raft still hoping for a better life. 

 His self-made maze inevitably led to heartache. 

A fragment of a dream: the windswept forest hid a secret. 

   She had the intensity of a chihuahua stuck in a dryer. 

 His pet crow's incessant cawing for corn kept Carl on edge. 

Dave had hoped after his near-death experience he would see the world in a whole new light but everything seemed to have retained its dullness. 

The senator was too decrepit to walk the halls of Congress unaided but his mental gymnastics were legendary. 

As Frank lay awake he felt like the rosy-fingered dawn wanted nothing less than to choke the life out of him. 

 They were of blood and bone, but their hearts were like seahorses and seesaws, simple yet elegant.