In the seven and a half months Resolution had, enjoying a well-deserved break from a job that required him to work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, he was sad to know on this final December day, his hiatus would end.

In a few hours, at the stroke of midnight, when some intoxicated person recited their New Year's Resolution with conviction, it was Resolution a shadow man who would come to their aid invisibly and keep them on the straight and narrow forcing them to keep that whispered promise. It was his calling after finding himself at the gates of Hell many years ago. What could he do to avoid eternity in the wrong place? He was offered a hundred years of servitude. His reward was a better place to spend eternity, but only if he was successful. Resolution, (short for New Year Resolution,) had only been on this job for five years, so he had many years to serve yet.

He stood on the street corner and inhaled a cigarette enjoying the ecstasy of that feeling of nicotine slamming through his body, it was a powerful addiction, one he couldn't shake. Though he promised himself he would get on top of this habit and force it away, he hadn't been successful. There was nothing else to do.

After his last wisher, Percy Carter, got what was coming to him in an ambulance accident because he wouldn't remain faithful to his wife. Resolution made the decision to end it, so he could move on to his next job of salvation. He wondered who his next subject would be, in a few short hours, he would know.

If nothing, the nearly eight months of respite had taught him how long life could be when you served no purpose. It had been fun listening in on conversations while people were unaware of his presence, and the occasional punking of people, but when you had no one to share life with, it lost its charm. He was ready for this next challenge.

As the evening grew dark, Resolution felt excitement come alive. He would have a purpose again in a few short hours. He paced the sidewalk until fireworks shot into the sky, church bells pealed resoundingly across the city. The new year had arrived.

Resolution only had a few moments to take in the glory when the whispered resolution reached his ears. He was shocked to find a woman asking for help. Resolution had never had a woman, before. His body vaporized and flew across the city, landing in an apartment on the third floor of Mason Street, apartment 3B. Resolution stood in the corner of the room where Loretta Andrews raised her glass in a lonely toast to the air. She hadn't seen him yet, and he studied her face taking in her sadness, and what he perceived as loneliness.

She had made the decision to put herself out there. Loretta was an agoraphobic who worked from her apartment, had her groceries delivered and never left her self-made prison. The world was filled with danger, and she couldn't face it alone.

As soon as she got to the staircase that led outside the building the cloud of doubt took her breath away. Yes, she missed seeing people and walking through a park, smelling the crisp air, but after an attempted mugging, her already forming fear of leaving the nest, had been escalated.

Resolution cleared his throat.

"Who are you?" Loretta froze to the couch with the champagne glass emptying on her knee.

"My name is Resolution and I am here because you made a New Year's Resolution with such earnest, you conjured me. I am here until you make your resolution come true or are no longer alive."

"Are you here to murder me?" Loretta bit her lip and Resolution chuckled.

"No, Loretta, I am here to help you release this grip of fear."

"Are you some kind of psychiatrist?"

"On the contrary, I don't do psychiatry well. I act like your conscience. I will try to reintroduce you to the world outside, and you won't be alone, because you will have me at your side."

"Well, that's something." Loretta said slumping into the cushions of the couch, the glass falling to the floor, breaking. Resolution hurried to her side checking her pulse. Loretta was out cold.

He busied himself finding a broom and swept the remnants of her champagne glass into a paper bag, tossing it into the trash and sat patiently at the kitchen table staring at his new ward.

Lighting up a cigarette Resolution inhaled deeply. His mind tried to wrap around what he had witnessed. Loretta would be a tough case to crack. He wondered how long she had cloistered herself in the apartment. Loretta was a hoarder. There were pizza boxes, delivered half eaten cartons of food with an unhealthy dose of bugs crawling in the refuse. It was disgusting.

Resolution took advantage of the time Loretta slept and found garbage bags in the hall cupboard. He began stuffing the detritus into the bag until it was full and set it by the door. He also found bug spray and sprayed it around trying to kill the flies while roaches disappeared.

The second full garbage bag rested by the door, and then another. He moved to the bedroom where the musty smell of dust and body odor assailed him. This woman had a problem, and he was to be the solution. He spent another hour in Loretta's bedroom finding a laundry bag and stuffing the sheets and dirty clothes into it.

Maybe his first attempt would be to get her down into the laundry room in the basement. This would still be in the building, but with his help she would accomplish the task of leaving the apartment though not the building. Baby steps toward freedom.

When Loretta woke, she looked around the apartment, seeing bags of refuse lined up at the door.

"What's going on?" she called out, grunting as she got off the couch. Resolution came out of the bedroom with a bag of laundry in one hand and a bag of garbage in the other.

"Good morning."

"Oh my God, who are you?"

"You don't remember me? I am your New Year's Resolution. My name is Resolution."

"My what?"

"You wished to be part of the world again. I am here to help you achieve your wish."

"I don't remember what happened last night." Her eyes narrowed. "Have you been smoking in my apartment? I smell cigarettes."

"Sorry, I didn't want to leave you alone, I was cleaning. or didn't you notice?"

"My apartment didn't need to be cleaned." Loretta sat back down and put her head in her hands. Her pain was palpable. "My goodness, I must have over indulged last night."

"A common occurrence on the eve of the new year." Resolution murmured.

"Why are you still here?" Resolution brought her a cup of coffee he had brewed for this exact purpose of helping her realize the new reality, that of not being alone anymore.

"Thank you." Loretta accepted the coffee. "How did you know I take it like this?"

"Loretta, I know everything. You brought me into your life to help you through this crisis."

"I need to take a shower. What have you done to my nest. All these bags!" She got off the couch and carried her coffee into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Resolution could hear the water turn on. Loretta was taking a shower. He continued to scour the grey greasy sink and then opened the refrigerator door and shuddered at the contents. This woman was impervious to germs, and bacteria. She could have killed herself in the squalor of the apartment, alone.

Loretta came out with a towel on her head, just as Resolution cleaned out the old food from her refrigerator.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to keep you from succumbing to a listeria outbreak. When's the last time you cleaned this fridge?"

"Is that your forte? Insulting and shaming people?"

"No, that was not my intent. I am just giving you a dose of reality. What you have going on in here is worse than anything outside this place as far as doing self-harm."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Our first outing is doing your laundry."

"I'm not leaving." Loretta folded her arms before her.

"You aren't leaving the building today, that's too much. I will go with you to the laundry room down in the basement. Don't worry, I'll protect you." It took some convincing, but eventually he talked Loretta into going down into the basement throwing trash bags ahead of them as he made his way.

She loaded several machines and bought soap and fabric softener out of the dispensers on the wall.

Loretta paced back and forth while Resolution kept his foot on the door of the laundry room so that no one was able to come in while she was doing her laundry. Loretta transferred the wet clothes into a dryer. And then piled everything back into the laundry bag dragging it up three floors and going into the apartment. She leaned against the door panting not only from the excursion of three flights of steps but having left her apartment for the first time in months.

"I'll help you fold." Resolution removed the bag from her clutched fist and shook the clothes out on the couch. Then he helped her remake the bed.

"Thank you. I couldn't bring myself to even go to the laundry downstairs."

"What made you so afraid?" Although he knew, Resolution wanted Loretta to talk about her irrational fears.

"I was mugged several months ago. They grabbed my purse and knocked me down onto the sidewalk. The man had a knife and told me if he caught me outside, next time he'd kill me."

"I see that. Why didn't you go to the police?"

"Because he would kill me." He could see her reliving the memory of fear and decided to change the subject.

"Okay, next step in repatriating you to the world is to carry down the garbage. You are going to the side of the building with these bags. I moved most of it to the back door, grab the rest and let's go

"No, I am afraid." Loretta dug her feet in.

"Loretta I am with you. You will not be alone." It took him some time to convince her, but when she realized they were getting rid of the bugs in the apartment, she grabbed several bags while Resolution picked up the remaining bags he hadn't already thrown down the stairs. They went down the flights of steps and Resolution went out the door and filled the dumpster with his bags and then took two bags from her and made her carry out the last bags. She took little steps, Resolution could see she enjoyed the crisp winter air as they made it to the side of the building. After tossing her bags in the dumpster, Resolution grabbed her hand and didn't let her run back into the building immediately.

"Breathe deep, Loretta. Breathe in the fresh air. Look at all the Christmas lights. You are missing out on life, Loretta. I am here with you to protect you. You have nothing to fear." Loretta opened her eyes, seeing all the lights and breathed in deeply. Even though darkness was unsettling, she felt the confidence that Resolution gave her.

"You won't let me go anywhere alone?"

"Not until you are ready." Back in the apartment Resolution lit up a cigarette.

"Please don't. That smell makes me nauseous. He snubbed out the cigarette. Maybe they were good for each other.

Loretta worked from her home the next day, Resolution sat on the couch, occasionally leaving to step outside for a cigarette. Having to leave her for short periods of time and come back was building Loretta's confidence and making him smoke less. The months passed and Loretta was ready to go to the grocery store.

"Are you excited?" Resolution asked, pulling her down the sidewalk.

"Nervous."

"Nonsense, you got this Loretta. We practiced walking around the block. Can you smell spring in the air?" She stopped and looked at the budding bushes and trees, listened to the birds chirping.

"Yes, I can. Thank you, Resolution for helping me. I never thought I'd do this again." They entered the store, and Loretta took things from her list and put them in the cart. They left the store, each holding a bag of groceries. "That felt good." Loretta said as they stepped outside. Resolution fell in step beside her.

"Oh, look at the kids running in the park," she remarked. Resolution turned to see realizing that they weren't playing; the kid was running from the other who held a gun in his hand.

"Loretta, get behind me." Resolution tried to put himself between the gun wielding kids when the shot rang out. The kid being chased zigged and the stray bullet hit Loretta in the head. The groceries fell to the sidewalk before she did, with the cranberry juice breaking open spilling the maroon juice all over.

"No." Resolution dropped his bag and was on his knees. "Loretta hang on," he pleaded.

"It's okay, Resolution. I made it to the grocery store with your help. The worst of my fears has happened. I don't feel anything. No pain, no worries, just gratitude for your help."

She breathed out a long exhalation and her body went limp. There was nothing he could do.

Holding Loretta in his arms as she faded from this life was more than he could bear. Resolution wept.

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