Story

I told Nate, who is great, that I had made a New Years Resolution to finish a short story this year and that as the end of the year draws near I'm no closer to finishing one than I was at the beginning of the year. In his infinite wisdom he has triple dog dared me to finish a story by January 1, not just a first draft, but something that feels done. I've picked up this challenge and lobbed a similar one back at him, except in the form of a fairy tale instead of a short story. Whoever does not finish owes the other person a book. And we've decided that if we both finish Alex owes us both a book. Sorry Alex.

I've two short stories in the works at the moment that would have the advantage of not being written from scratch (since we are dealing with a short time period).

Here is an insanely brief excerpt from each:
The clock reads 12:17. A notebook lays open on the desk.

I wasn't always a monster.

OR

She took my hand and inspected it in the same manner she handled the puzzle pieces: turning it over, looking at it from multiple angles, calculating how it might fit into her life.