The Fifteen Minute Novel is a novel written fifteen minutes at a time with each week day’s section starting with the sentence from the previous day. At least it is attempting to be a novel. For now I am just aiming at one continuous story, worked on for fifteen minutes each day. Started Friday January 1st, 2021 (in case you want to search for the beginning. I can’t wait to see where it ends up. It could be good, or it could be a mess. We’ll have to see. For now, here is today’s fifteen minutes.
Day 27: “Let me just get the keys.”
“Let me just get the keys.” The salesman said.
James nodded and smiled politely as he turned and trotted off towards the office. James looked at the tired looking Studebaker. He knew he should pass it up. In a sea of forgettable vehicles he knew that going for the one which actually stood out to him was probably a bad idea.
‘It’s only a test drive,’ he thought.
While he was pretty certain he could pick up a basic tool kit at the big box store he planned to visit at some point, he knew that even if he weren’t hiding, the small apartment he was living in wasn’t the place for storing all the things he would need to seriously work on the car. He could only tweak it to keep it running, not give it a complete overhaul.
“If it doesn’t run there is no point in thinking about it,’ He reminded himself as the salesman emerged from the building keys in hand. ‘I’ll go for the drive, point out the faults and then look at the forgettable vehicles.’
The salesman returned and James flicked his eyes to his name tag. Gary smiled at him and held up the key ring. He wiggled them and they jingled merrily. The two men climbed into the car, James behind the wheel. When he turned the key, the engine coughed and sputtered but then caught. Gary frowned and said something about older cars that James ignored. To him it sounded as though the vehicle hadn’t been driven in a while, not as though it had engine problems.
James drove the car off the lot and, not knowing the city, took a right out of the lot as it was the easiest. He tuned Gary out for the most part as he listened to the engine and felt the way the vehicle moved. James nodded absently at Gary’s comments and when a turn was suggested, James took them to prove he was listening and so that he didn’t get lost.
Eventually the test drive was over and James realized he didn’t want to leave the Studebaker on the lot and take home one of the forgettable vehicles. As they pulled back into the lot he weighed the pros and cons as he thought Carson might see them.
The vehicle did stand out, but it wasn’t a flashy sports car or a muscle car. It wasn’t even in collector’s condition. While James sold off all of his collection before the shooting, he was known for collecting both sport and muscle cars. While he had repaired several cars similar to the Studebaker he was now driving, they were always sold off.
‘And it has been so long since I was the one repairing and not simply collecting that I doubt anyone would remember it.’ James justified. ‘Surely they can’t be watching everyone driving an older car.’
James pulled the Studebaker back into its designated position. ‘It will depend on price though.’ He added to himself.
“It runs better than I thought something this old would,” James said keeping his tone grudging.
Ten til Midnight 